Chairman’s Report

Chairman’s Report to Annual Parish Assembly to be held on Monday 30th May 2022

Since the last Parish Assembly in 2021 there has been the AGM and 9 full Parish Council meetings, most of which were attended by the County and District Councillors. The PC aims to meet every six weeks, primarily in the Committee Room at the Village Hall unless dictated by COVID regulations.

At the AGM on the 26th May 2021 the following appointments were confirmed:-

Footpath Wardens –              Mr Snellock and Mr Packer

Tree Warden –                          Mr Kirkham

Playground Equipment Warden – Mr Cheetham

Rep to Village Hall Committee –  Mrs Shaw

Snow Warden –                        Mr Davies

Snow Plough Operator –             Mr Longstreth 

The following were also appointed as representatives of the Parish Council to other organisations:-

Stinchcombe Hill Trust                                            Ms K Hudson

Stinchcombe United Charities                               Mrs J. Thomas

Dursley United Charities                                         Mr R Holloway

Village Hall Committee                                            Mrs M Shaw

Berkeley Stakeholder Group                                  Mr C Davies

Parish Councillors

The Council is operating at full complement, Simon Packer took over as Chair last year with Kath Hudson acting as Vice Chair.

I would like to thank Marian Shaw for her hard work as departing Chair and helping me as I settle into the role.

Since the AGM, Chris Snellock has stood down as footpath warden and John Thomas has taken it on. Laurie Bradley has also replaced Russ Holloway as Dursley United Charities representative. Many thanks to Chris and Russ for their work.

Kath Hudson has worked very hard on Speed Watch and getting the Vehicle Activated Sign (VAS) ready to install – more later.

We will all miss Richard Cheetham and are grateful for all his efforts over the years. 

Financial Matters

As a result of a survey last year, the precept for 2021/22 was increased from £3,550 to £5,500 to facilitate the provision of traffic calming measures in the village and exploratory Playground works. This will be maintained for 2022/2023.

Planning

There have been 28 planning applications within the Parish and Parish Councillors have seen, consulted and commented on them all.

Notification was received from Planning of a screening request for proposed 60 dwellings, public open space and ancillary works at land north of Taits Hill Road, which caused considerable concern among residents. A Residents’ Association was formed across Stinchcombe Village, Taits Hill Road, Clingre Down and Orchard Leaze, including parts of Cam parish as well as Stinchcombe, which sought advice from a planning consultant.

Facilities

A new bin and replacement flagpole were installed by the church – Many thanks to Craig Lawful for fitting them.  A further bin is ready for installation by the bus shelter outside the Village Hall.  This will replace the bin that DRC had at their entrance there.

A new notice board has been obtained and is ready to be installed to replace the one knocked over at Old Hill Lane.

The Playground group have presented their proposals at a combined Hall, Church and Parish Council meeting.  The designs look good but there are still a number of unanswered questions about insurance, maintenance and public consultations that need sorting.

Highways

Standle Lane has been completely resurfaced with thanks to all those who helped push this one through.

The Speed Watch group now have a preferred make and model of VAS and the evidence to support the recommendation.  The final steps are getting the nearby residents’ agreement to the installation, buying it, and installing it.  If anyone knows a “street works” accredited contractor, please let Kath know.

Design for the village gateways is complete with a series of options ready to go to residents for consultation. Work on the planters has gone ahead – thanks to all those involved

After the parking issues with the rugby club earlier in the season, we had a very constructive meeting with a series of actions that I am pleased to report seem to have solved this problem.

Footpaths and Rights of Way

There was a litter pick held in March this year had a poor turnout but nevertheless produced more than 20 bags of litter.

There have been ongoing discussions between the owners of Piers Court, PROW officers and Parish Council representatives regarding the use of public footpaths on Piers Court land.

General

It’s nice to see a lot more collaboration between the various village bodies in the last year, I hope that that continues – Don’t forget the Jubilee celebrations on the 2nd and 4th of June!

Thanks go to Kath Hudson and Nola Bradley for continuing production of the village Newsletter and to the team who distribute it.  Richard Bartlam continues to update and maintain Stinchcombe E-News for which we thank him.  Richard would welcome Stinchcombe news and photographs to include in E-News.

Summary

Thank you to my fellow Parish Councillors and Clerk for their help and support over the past year.  Thank you also to the Tree, Footpaths and all the appointed Wardens for their time and efforts in keeping our Parish running smoothly and such a pleasant place to live and to our County and District Councillors for their time and support which are very much appreciated.

Feel free to join us for the AGM and assembly on 30th May in the Village Hall.

Simon Packer