I seem to have “run out of steam” a bit with my column this month.
It’s not often that I am caught with nothing to say but we seem to be in a lull before we start on the new financial year which brings fresh projects as well as all the items the Parish Council has been responsible for over the years.
I was looking through some old Parish Council minute books from the 1940s with Claire Wickens at the Community Centre recently and we were amazed at the number of items that are still relevant today.
The condition of the pavements seemed to figure prominently as it does now and I have recently written to Hampshire County Council, on behalf of the Parish Council, to draw their attention to the deteriorated condition of the pavements around the village.
It is now hard to pinpoint which are the worst but some look as though they haven’t received attention since the 1940s! I was listening to a report on the radio today about how much Council Tax will be rising in England and Wales for the coming year.
The Parish Council have precepted for £60,053 for the financial year 1st April 2009 to 31 March 2010. We also receive some income from the Cemetery and the Allotments, although neither of these sites by any means pay for themselves, although this is our ultimate aim.
Details of how the money will be spent can be found on our website or alternatively members of the public are entitled, for a small charge, to request that a copy of the information is sent to them.
Councillors try to keep to their budgets, although this is becoming increasingly difficult when other bodies, also in efforts to keep to budgets and save money, pass charges down the line to us.
We have no-one to pass charges on to and so they remain our responsibility. Recent examples of this have been insurance cover for the Remembrance Day Parade, a contribution towards the cost of CCTV in the main car park and the prospect of having to pay a proportion of the cost of new “Welcome to Lyndhurst” signs for the village.
None of these items have previously been the financial responsibility of the Parish Council.
I was hoping to have details of the Parish Circular Walk for you this month but What’s On deadlines mean this will have to wait until the March edition. However, you might like to know that, although there is still some fine tuning, the walk should be up and running in the Spring.
This has been largely funded by Hampshire County Council and the New Forest National Park Authority in the form of a Countryside Access Grant, for which we are truly grateful.
If you would like to draw my attention to any matter concerning the Parish Council my contact details are as follows:
Margaret Weston,
Clerk to the Council,
Woodlands,
Fritham,
Lyndhurst,
Hampshire
SO43 7HJ
Tel: 023 8081 3218
Email: lyndhurstpc@woodlands.mail1.co.uk.
If the matter is not urgent please try to ring between 8.30 am and 6.30 pm Monday to Friday. Thank you. |
