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Minutes of the Annual Assembly of the Parish Meeting held in the Trust Room on Tuesday 1st May 2007
Present: Cllr J Hawkins (Chairman of the Parish Council) and Mrs. Elena Davydova (Clerk to the Council) with Cllrs. Ferris, Fletcher, Griffin, Rutherford, Tulloch, Winnen and 11 members of the public.
APOLOGIES were received from Dart Sailability Group, Dart Steamship Childrens Fund, and The Police.
MINUTES The minutes of the meeting held on the 9th May 2006 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
ANNUAL REPORT FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL
Councillor Jonathan Hawkins gave his annual report to the Council and the full text is presented below:-
Another year has passed, and we are all one year older. The past year has been a busy one for this council and particularly for your Parish Councillors, and I would firstly like to thank all of them for their hard work and commitment. Once again it has been an eventful and challenging one, and it is a time to look back at the past twelve months.
We only have to look out of the window here to see how lucky we all are to live in such a wonderful area. We the residents of Kingswear and Hillhead are indeed lucky to have all of you who put so much into our community.
In this ever busy world it is often hard to find time to think of and help others, but the dedication and time you put into your organisations, show that Kingswear has a vibrant and exciting community. It is a community that cares for each other, its environment and for the future generations.
For the past three years I have been honoured to be our Parish Chairman. When I was a child I remember our neighbour Bill Todd being Chairman, a nicer man you would find hard to meet, I never imagined that I would one day have the honour of wearing this chain of office, I thank you for giving me that opportunity.
In politics it is impossible to please everyone, no matter how hard you try.
Planning is one of those that is hard to please everyone. During the past twelve months we have had a number of successes in stopping the ever increasing demand of developers on wanting to make large amounts of money with little regard for what they leave behind. Our village is under constant pressure and I know that this council does its best in protecting our village. I know that I have upset some of you this year over one particular planning application. However I do believe that my record of protecting our unique environment is a good one. Waterhead Creek, Light House Beach, Kingswear Woods, Beacon Rd. are important to many of us.
The Parish was at the forefront of discussions over the Passenger Ferry and evening service. With financial help from Devon County Council we were pleased to ensure that our evening Ferry service and winter Sunday service was saved, this is a real life line for many.
We have concentrated on a number projects. The Cemetery and Jubilee Park are looking better now than they have for many years. Sadly the recent storms have caused much damage and cost to the council, we hope that it will not be too long before all the works are completed.
We were pleased to help the Waterhead Creek Preservation Group with their project of a new path and Glade area, it further shows the commitment of the community in looking after this special part of Kingswear.
The closure of Light House Beach is a constant concern, the rights of residents using this beach is important to our council. We would like to thank Dart Harbour Navigational Authority for their support.
Continued concern over parking, congestion and speed are issues we know are important to you. With Devon County Council in partnership with ourselves a new interactive sign on Brixham Road, was provided. I believe this has helped reduce speeds, but often it is the locals who are speeding and who should know better.
Improvements to the footpaths continue, both in the village and Hillhead, the provision of benches along the river walk has been popular, I must declare an interest as it is one of my dogs favourite walks and to be able to sit and watch the river from there and have a rest is much appreciated, by both of us.
We are in continued discussion with Devon County Council to provide a path for residents waiting at Hillhead for buses to Paignton. This is a very dangerous place to wait at present and we hope that this maybe achieved in the coming year.
At the centre of every village should be the school, and we are fortunate to have Mark Oakshot, his Governors and staff. Recently they received their Ofsted Report and it was one of the best in Devon and they must be congratulated in this excellent result, and it is a credit to the all of them. It is important that our children are given the best possible start in life and it was nice to see their exiting new playground and toilets completed.
August saw the return of our very own Regatta. Our village has always taken part in our bigger neighbours and it was nice to see them take part in ours. Congratulations to everyone involved, it was a true community event.
Sadly I missed this years Remembrance Sunday, this year we had guests from France, recognising the important part Kingswear played in the Second World War. I feel strongly we must never forget the sacrifices of previous generations ensuring our freedom. I hope some of you will join us in June when we commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Falklands War and the sad death of Col. H. Jones V.C.
Recently many of us saw the sad fire at Kittery Court, the speed the fire spread was frightening it was indeed sad to see such an historic part of Kingswear be so badly damaged. Let us hope it will not be too long before it is fully repaired.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Elena our new Parish Clerk, she was only been with us a few months but she is doing a very efficient and conscientious job. I would also like to thank Mike Stevens for his help over the past year, to know he is there for help and advice has been a huge reassurance and assistance.
Thursday will see our Parish Election, those of us that are standing for election I wish well, but we will be losing a number of Councillors who have worked hard on your behalf: Irene Fletcher, Sadie Rutherford, Gerald Griffin, Peter Varney and Rickie Swinglehurst are all sadly leaving us, they have all worked hard for The Parish of Kingswear and our Community, many thanks to you all, you will be sadly missed and a very hard act to follow.
Thank YOU once again for all you put into our village and making it such a special place.
REPORT OF THE COUNCIL ACCOUNTS
Elena Davydova, Clerk to the Council, stated that the Council is only required to present the most recently audited accounts which are for the year ending in March 2006. The paper circulated at the meeting gives these accounts as signed-off by the District Auditor. The Council’s recent income and expenditure may be more of interest so Clerk also attached this year’s Council Statement of Accounts and Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2007 to clarify the current financial situation of KPC. Last year the Council held the precept at £10000 but this year (2006-2007) it was reduced by 20% to £8000. Last year the Council was obviously pleased that it was able to reduce its precept by such large amount, but expenditure exceeded income by £5500. However, this should be reduced by an outstanding VAT refund of £3500 that is currently being processed.
REPORTS FROM OTHER ORGANISATIONS
Junior Sailing Group
Mr. Paul Rampling, RDYC RYA Principal, reported that last year was a very successful year for Junior Sailing at RDYC: we instructed 42 children at various stages of RYA Youth and National Sailing Schemes. This year, we started a week early on 28 April, with a near-full complement of 45 children (17 club members and 28 non-members). Supporting this I have 96 volunteer helpers on the books, of which 30% have Kingswear address.
Junior Sailing will continue each Saturday morning between 9am and 12 midday until 14 July, followed by DRYSA week (21 to 25 July) when a similar number of children drawn from all the Dart clubs will have a week of fun and instruction. RDYC is always the main provider of helpers, boats and children even when it is not our turn to organise it: this year it is Stoke Gabriel’s turn. After DRYSA week there will be a team racing event and a series of evening points series races culminating in a prize giving and BBQ on 11th August.
The Squib “Baby Hippo”, which was gifted to Junior Sailing in 2004 by Lynne Maurer and Roly Boyden was sold at the end of two years valuable service with Junior Sailing.
Our fleet this year consists of 7 Oppies, 6 Gulls and 6 Toppers supplemented by Bosuns and RS200s kindly loaned from BRNC. In addition, some RDYC members kindly allow their J80’s to be used for sailing in the advance group.
In summary, Junior Sailing is in good heart, it continues to give many of the children the confidence, self-reliance and fun that comes from a well-conducted introduction to sailing and the sea.
However, I must sound a word of caution: with increasing legislation in the form of Health and Safety, Child Protection, etc., the supporting administration has become complex. RDYC is a RYA Registered Training Centre and the RYA is the sports governing body for sailing. The conditions for compliance are stringent and every year a senior member of the RYA inspects us. I am happy to report that last year we came through with a “clean sheet” – no pick-up points. To be outsider, this looks good – we are running a well-organised training centre – but as regards recruiting new helpers at the administration level, it may be leading some to believe they are not suitably qualified. I would go as far as to say that at the end of 2007, we might even have a crisis if some of the key helpers decide to step down. My aim this year is to carve up the Junior Sailing administrative burden into more manageable chunks thereby encouraging new helpers to step forward. Without volunteers, Junior Sailing will cease to exist.
Carlow Bequest Trustees
Clerk gave the report. Mrs Carlow left sums of money to eighteen different organisations including to the “The Chairman and other officers for the time being of the Kingswear Parish Council for the use at their discretion in helping and benefiting the old people living in the Parish of Kingswear”. When the estate was finally wound up the money amounted to £13,000 to each organisation. The money is quite separate from the Council funds and cannot be used to reduce the precept. The Councillors and the Clerk are the Trustees. We are still looking for appropriate uses for the money given by Mrs Carlow and the fund now stands at about £17,360. The Bequest continues to fund the Senior Citizen’s lunch in the Village Hall which was again a great success in January with the Royal Castle Hotel providing the catering. As in previous years we appeal to the public for suggestions on good uses for the Bequest. Many elderly people – which in Kingswear possibly means the majority – do not need financial help but there are some that could benefit. And these are the very people who would not ask for it. I am sure that if Mrs Carlow would be very pleased if her act of kindness is able to help someone so please do not be too proud to ask.
Kingswear Combined Charities
Mr. John Holman stated that he chairs two charities, the Kingswear Combined Charity and the Maxey Trust. The main activities of the year were:-
Fireworks Fund:- The fund started the year at £1014 and currently stands at £1383.81 and this is considered to be ample for the provision of an improved display this year. The fireworks last year cost £1000 and the current fund was greatly helped by the £600.00 profit raised by the barbecue (Zannes).
Grants (from main Charity Fund):- £250 to Martin Giblin on 19th June 2006; £400 to Kingswear Primary School (Catering unit) on 25th September 2006; £300 to James Unwin on 19th February 2007. It should be noted that all grant recipients must produce a report on how the funds were spent for the Kingswear Combined Charities.
Photo Competition Prizes:- Sadly there were only a few entries for the photographic competition, however, it will be run again this year hopefully with a much greater number of entrants, the following awards were made:- £100 to Anne Hutchings; £25 to Lynne Maurer; £10 to Murrey Devlen (Returned as a donation).
Herald Express:- The Kingswear column in the Herald Express is now produced by Mr. Mike Trevorrow and he kindly denotes his fee to the fund and this is a major source of income. The Committee have provided Mr. Mike Trevorrow with the funds (£250) for the purchase of a digital camera to aid with his work and he has been updated on the work of the Combined Charities.
Wishing Well:- This year a donation of £300 was made to the Kingswear Primary School on 23rd August 2006 and the fund currently stands at £492.04. There are outstanding costs of £160 for the metal box to be replaced and £48 for a new sign.
Badminton Club
The membership of the Badminton has taken off since last September with approximately 23 members of which 7 are considered to be junior members. Luckily not all members attend and this combined with the new rules that speed up each match (to approximately 7 minutes) enable members to play 5 or 6 matches each evening. Weekly subscriptions (£2) do generally cover the cost of the hall rental and any extra income was used to pay towards a Christmas Party and it is hoped to do the same this year. It is hoped that any unallocated income may be donated to a local charity.
Kingswear Historians
Sent apologies for non-attendance but were preparing for trip to London to collect the vintage Fire Pump that would hopefully be displayed on Kingswear station. It will currently be stored at a secret location whilst discussion about its display takes place.
Kingswear Primary School
Kingswear Primary School has had an outstanding year to date. In January we received a government Ofsted inspection. We were graded good in every area with the exception of Personal Development and Well Being in which we were graded outstanding. Although we know that we have a good school it was really pleasing to have our opinion rectified by the inspectors.
"Kingswear is a good school, it provides a well rounded education where pupils thrive both academically and personally and where they achieve well"
As a result of our inspection and the media coverage interest in the school has dramatically increased. For the first time in three years we are full in reception, and our role should be over 50 in September. Combined with an excellent learning environment, things are really on the up!
We are really proud of our school and hope you in the community are too. Our sincere thanks once again go to the Maxey Trust and Kingswear Combined Charities for supporting the school this year. Thanks to Jonathon for his continued support of the school and long may it continue.
Finally I mentioned last year that we are a community school and, therefore should be used by the community. Any organization that would like to use the school is more than welcome. The community has given so much to us, it would be nice to give something back.
Kingswear Regatta Committee
In August 2007 Kingswear Regatta was reinstituted - we think the first one for over 100 years. The Kingswear Historians Society might be able to help us with a more accurate picture!
The Regatta took place on Sunday 6th August and included rowing races, a tug of war and sports demonstrations. All the village societies were invited to participate in providing a stall for the fete which began at 11am. We were very grateful to all the Kingswear charities, individuals and businesses that supported us with donations.
We had a beautiful sunny day, with an attendance of over 400 people and the Regatta was deemed a successful village day. £2000 was raised which was distributed to Dartmouth Inshore Lifeboat, Kingswear Rowing Club and The Friends of St Thomas' Church.
We are planning to run the Regatta over two days this year - August 4th and 5th. Many of our villagers are keen veteran car enthusiasts so on the Saturday they will be exhibiting their prized possessions. Likewise we are giving our village dog owners a chance to participate in a fun dog show. As with last year we will have a fete on the Sunday and already many of the village societies have expressed support with new ideas for stalls. The rowing will take place over two days: heats on the Saturday and finals on the Sunday. We hope to introduce some 'fun' water events. This year the focus of our fundraising is Dart Sailability as well as the Kingswear Rowing Club.
Also along with The Waterhead Creek Preservation Society we are planning to clear out all the rubbish that has accumulated in Waterhead Creek and Jubilee Park. We are inviting all the village to participate. The Parish Council has donated a skip and the clean up will happen on three days:- Friday 15th June - 10am to 1pm; Saturday 16th June - 11am to 1pm; Sunday 17th June - 2pm to 4pm.
Kingswear Rowing Club
Kingswear Rowing Club is still growing. We have over 100 members from age 11 to 70. We now have three rowing boats: two four person boats and one two person boat.
The club has been well supported by the village charities as well as the parish council, for which we are very grateful.
The club supports the needs of all categories of rowers:- We have young people - the under 18s and under 16s who are training for Dartmouth and Kingswear Regatta; We have adults who are training for the Regatta Opens as well as the veterans: over 55 years; We have a large group of leisure rowers whose priority is to get exercise, socialize and enjoy the scenery of the River Dart. These rowers participate all winter weather permitting.
We try to keep subscriptions to the club as low as possible. Young people in full time education have free membership. People over 60 years pay £20.00 and the rest pay £30.00
Members of the Rowing Club were the instigators of the reinstituted Kingswear Regatta which took place in August 2006 and was acknowledged as a very pleasant village event.
The Village Hall
Dr. Barry Tulloch has taken over the chairmanship of The Village Hall Committee and thanks were made to the retiring chairman Mr. Vince Flanagan for all his hard work over the recent years.
The financial situation is considered to be on a sound footing with the two recent major expenditures being the exterior decorating of the hall last year and the refurbishment of the toilets this year.
Concerns were initially raised regarding the loss of revenue due to the library closure and other cancellations but this has been more that offset by the recent signing of new contracts.
Lower hall is currently being decorated and enquiries have already been made regarding its hire.
The Maxey Trust
Some years ago Mrs. Cecelia Maxey gave some land in Wood Lane for recreational purposes. However the ground is on a steep slope and unsuitable for the purpose and there was no money for any site improvement. At that time attempts to develop the land for housing had been thwarted due to the difficulty of providing on-site parking.
We were able to find a way around the planning restrictions and the land was eventually sold with outline planning permission. The resulting capital has enabled the Trustees to help the people that Mrs. Maxey had wished to benefit, albeit in a different way.
The stated object of the Trust is:- To support the recreation, education and welfare of the people of the parish of Kingswear and its vicinity with the primary beneficiaries being the children of the Kingswear Primary School.
You will note that the objects of the Trust are quite general although there is an emphasis on children. The Trustees will consider any application on its merits. On the whole we wish to support capital projects rather than day-to-day running costs.
In the past year the Trust has paid two grants totalling £50,276 to the Kingswear Primary School for playground improvements. There have been no requests for grants from other local organizations.
Since the terms of the Trust were changed to allow the land to be sold we have given grants to the School of £72,000 for various projects and a further £12,000 to the Sports Field changing rooms, which are also used mainly by the School.
In addition we have given £8,500 towards rowing and sailing activities in Kingswear.
Maxey Trust - Payments
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