Annual Parish Meeting
Oh you Scothern Clarion readers – what a great lot you are. We did not have five and a half people attend our annual meeting as per usual – there were thirty seven of us!
But it wasn’t the numbers that were the best bit. The Clarion reporter spotted about five non-Clarion readers, but every single one of our readers who spoke up (and nearly all of them contributed) had something positive to say about the future of our village. You can see the draft minutes on the village website but to paraphrase –
Yes – you do want allotments
You might be prepared to put up with one or two on Grange Park but not quite sure
You do want more use made of Grange Park and are quite happy if some imaginative programmes are considered - like a memorial walk, orchard, maypole, sheep – along with more village events being organised there, e.g. something for the royal golden jubilee next year.
There was virtually unanimous support for action to improve broadband speeds (perhaps not surprising since Clarion readers are almost by definition switched on and on-line) but not at absolutely any cost. David Mason of Northing Lane tantalised us by describing several options he is investigating and it is great to have someone of David’s talents on the case on our behalf.
There was a groundswell of opinion from the floor that somehow we had let the village lose a bit of its visible character by allowing the standard county council replacement of street furniture and the like. Are we prepared to make some effort (and maybe spend some money) in resisting standardisation and giving the appearance of our village a bit of its character back? Well, the annual parish meeting with its record attendance gave a resounding “Yes” to that, so I guess we are. Parish Council take note.
Other issues were raised in a very positive way and you can find more details by visiting the village website in a few days when it is updated. The excellent report from our thriving cricket club should also be there.
The Clarion has been to a lot of public meetings over the years, and it is very rare that so many people are prepared to speak, and speak in such a positive and constructive way. We should be proud of Scothern for the way the residents approached this annual parish meeting and we should be grateful to our new Chairman, Ian Reid, who did such a good job in keeping it all together, in spite of his complaining at one stage that it was like herding cats – to say nothing of that Christmas tree he kept on about.
Boundary Commission changes
At the beginning of the annual parish meeting District Councillor Stuart Curtis told us about some proposed changes to the areas for district councillor in West Lindsey. Put simply our district councillor would become part of a Nettleham grouping. Stuart queried whether this was best for us, as he felt we and Sudbrooke had more in common with , say, Langworth and Barlings . The full details can be found (with difficulty) on the Boundary Commission’s site. If you feel that Stuart is right (or, I guess, wrong) you could email the commission at reviews@lgbce.org.uk .It’s worth giving some thought to; if we don’t agree we must say so now.
Annual Parish Council Meeting
On the same night as the Annual Parish Meeting there was the Annual Parish Council Meeting – different and not quite so much fun, especially as our councillors did not get to leave until after 10.30 p.m. and they had clearly begun to flag. And yet some members of the public actually stayed until the end – above and beyond the call of duty you might think; however, thank you to those hardy few for being there for us as they say nowadays.
New council officers and new councillors
This was the first night of the new council year, so there was a quite a bit of routine business to go through – Ian Reid was elected Chairman, Dave Black Vice Chairman and Jenny Walkley Responsible Finance Officer. Then we co-opted three new Councillors – Catherine Roberts and Cathie Nicoll from Church Street and Richard Noon from The Alders. This means the council is now fully staffed for the first time in quite a while and that is good news for Scothern, since from the tone of the Parish Meeting, there is plenty to be done.
Transparency of council finances
As it was the annual meeting most of the business was routine, but one very important decision which was made was in respect of transparency of the council’s finances. There has always been a right for residents to see the council’s accounts but the Clarion understands that this right has not been exercised in living memory – and frankly whilst this is very comfortable for the council it probably isn’t very good for local democracy. In future the annual accounts will be displayed on the council website, and monthly finances will also be shown on a schedule attached to the minutes (also on the website). It might take a week or so to get this up and running, but as soon as it is the Clarion will provide you a link.
Change of route of footpath
One non-routine piece of business related to the proposed change of footpath 149 which was mentioned in issue 8 of the Clarion (see below how to check out issue 8 if you have lost it). You may recall that when the Alders was built one piece of business was not completed properly – the footpath maps relating to the land on which the Alders stands were never altered, so the official footpath goes through some of the houses and gardens there – not good if you want to sell in the future. An application has been made to formally change the route of the footpath to more or less where it is now used, with an additional re-routing around a paddock at the rear of The Oaks. The council has considered this application and decided it is of benefit to local residents and has informed the county council accordingly.
Did you know?
Apart from a tiny select few (you know who you are) this Clarion is only sent out to Scothern residents. And that’s how it should be. But every now and then you might be on holiday, or visiting friends and want to have a quick look at it. Or maybe you’d like to see a back issue you missed or have deleted. Well you can – just Google “Scothern Clarion” and you should find our blog. It’s virtually the same as the original with maybe the odd email address or telephone number redacted to protect residents’ privacy. Try it out – you never know when you may be far away and need a Scothern fix.
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