Moulton

Parish

News

ANNUAL PARISH REPORT  
April 2009
MVH

You are invited to attend the ANNUAL PARISH MEETING for MOULTON on THURSDAY 14 MAY at 7.30pm in the Back Room of the Village Hall.

All Electors are entitled to raise any matters regarding the Parish so come along and give your views an airing. The Meeting will include:

  • Presentations of the Moulton Individual Citizenship Award and the Moulton Group Citizenship Award
  • Information on the Village Design Statement for Moulton
  • A brief report by the Police Community Support Officer, Tom McDermott
  • An update on the development and work of the Community Litter-Pick Team by Ray Pearson
  Chair’s Report
P Vernon

In a very busy year, the Council has worked in partnership with other agencies, for example Cheshire County Council, Vale Royal Borough Council and the Cheshire Neighbours Credit Union during the year on a number of developments and improvements on behalf of the Parish. As a result:

  • We were successful in obtaining a grant which was match-funded by Cheshire County Council to improve the path from Eaton Hall Farm to the River Weaver and the Council undertook some improvements to the path at the end of Niddries Lane
  • The Credit Union launched a facility to be available on a regular basis in the village hall again run by village volunteers – see the notice board by the Co-Op for details.

Unfortunately we had to take the decision to fell two trees on the garages area at the rear of Regent Street as they were beginning to damage the roadway, but we are pleased that the wood has been recycled with most being put to good use by a local carpenter.

The tremendous amount of work undertaken by members of the community on behalf of, and for, the community never ceases to amaze me. Following the presentation by representatives of the Middlewich Clean Team at the 2008 Annual Parish Meeting a group of volunteer litter pickers has been set up by, and under the co-ordination of, Ray Pearson of Lodge Drive. This positive action taken by these members of the community contributes to the improvement of the village for all of us - you can hear more about this and how to help at the Annual Parish Meeting. I would personally like to thank the support given to me in my year as Chair by our Clerk, my fellow Parish Councillors and the community of Moulton.


Pauline Vernon, Chair Moulton Parish Council

Money

Parish Council accounts information for 2008/2009:

Your Parish Council expenditure and income is listed below:

Expenditure

  

Employer costs

£6,365

Admin - telephone/post/stationery, office facilities, internet, publications, training, bank charges, etc.

£1,030

Subscriptions

£553

Insurance, Audit, Data Protection

£2,722

Electricity/gas supply - Village Hall (£2552) & War Memorial

£2,685

Grants to voluntary organisations

£1,439

Newsletters / Annual Report 

£213

Vandalism

£660

Grass cutting / grounds maintenance

£3,400

Regent Street garages area

£1,547

Community promotion (Best Kept Garden, Citizenship Awards, Christmas Tree, Poppy Wreath, Tree Planting )

£731

Litter collection & playground basic inspections

£1,800

Hall hire for meetings

£238

Development (Police Community Support Officer) - half-year payment 

£1,407

Playing field - field maintenance, cleansing, bins

£4,982

Parish Plan Implementation grant - Village Hall

£3,000

VAT 

£2,583

Reimbursement - Playing Field Trust for VAT on playground equipment

£8,222
 

£43,577

Income

  

Precept

£23,034

Playing Field Trust - re-imbursement

£5,789

Regent St garage plot rents

£2,531

VAT repayment

£2,239

Interest

£142

Grants (Parish Plan Implementation Grant and Parishes Footpath Improvement Grant)

£4,000

Other (reimbursements, online PAYE filing payment, insurance claim)

£1,043

Carry forward (from 2006/07)

£11,661
 

£50,439
   
Online
 Moulton On-Line
Moulton Parish Council now has a fully operational website where you can find out tons of information about various organisations in the village as well as accessing the latest information concerning council meetings and events that are happening in the future. www.moultonpc.org.uk
Garage

Regent Street Garages
Moulton Parish Council’s Garages Committee is working to upgrade the area at the rear of Regent Street where the garages are located. Newly-erected garages will now have to conform to maximum dimensions of height, width and length as well as tighter control of construction materials. Wood and asbestos will not be permitted. A new lease agreement has been drafted with the help of the Vale Royal Borough Council Legal Services and each garage has recently been numbered to aid identification. Sadly, a small number of lessees have allowed their garages to fall into disrepair by lack of maintenance as a result of which the area has become a village black spot so the Council is currently working with these lessees to seek improvements.

Garden

Best Kept Garden Competition

Trowels at the ready as the Annual Best Kept Garden competition will soon be underway. Members of the Parish Council will be nominating front gardens from mid-June to early July for a final independent judging at the end of July. Lets hope for a nice summer !

Playing

Moulton Children’s Playing Field Trust

Moulton Parish Council administers the playing field on Main Road as the Playing Field Trust. Thank you to all the young people who use the new playground safely and responsibly. However, there are some people who are irresponsible and put everyone at risk: For example, people who walk dogs on the playing field but do not have them on a lead and/or do not clear up their waste. Remember: You are endangering your own and everyone else’s children – please PICK UP YOUR DOG’S WASTE AND BIN IT. If this is not heeded then the Trust will have to consider banning dog walking on the field. PLEASE DO NOT PERMIT YOUR DOG(S) TO FOUL THE PLAYING FIELD OR ANY OTHER AREA OF THE VILLAGE In addition, there are people who not only take alcohol on the playing field, particularly around the multi-games area but once consumed mindlessly smash the bottles, creating a potentially unsafe area for our young people to play. The Parish Council TAKES THIS VERY SERIOUSLY and reports damage to the Police and clears it up as soon as possible for which you pay via the precept but we need you help – if you know who is responsible for such activities then report them anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. If you see an incident of this taking place or come across damage done then report it by phoning 0845 458 0000 and getting a crime / incident reference number. Your reporting will result in the village being patrolled by the Police on a more regular basis. Below is the budget information to detail how the Trust is managing its responsibilities for the playing field in Main Road:

Expenditure

  

Field maintenance (grass and hedge/tree cutting, mole removal

£3,207

Electricity supply And annual inspection - Multi-games area

£   375

Emptying litter and dog waste bins and car park sweep

£   879

Play facilities safety inspections   2006/07

£   286

Play facilities safety inspections   2007/08

£   212

Insurance

£1,110

Administration and audit

£   480

Vandalism repairs and replacement

£   151

 

£6,700

Income

  

Carry forward from 2006/07

£   502

Reimbursement owed from Parish Council for VAT

£8,222

Hire of field to Moulton Youth FC

£    75

Interest

£    66
 

£8,865

Capital invested as at 31 December 2008 (income from which supports the costs of managing the facilities) £158,618
Design Statement

Moulton VDS
VDS is the abbreviation for Village Design Statement. Probably not too many people have heard of the term, but a VDS is a local initiative intended to influence the operation of the planning system by being adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document by the Local Planning Authority.

It should capture the essence of a village in terms of its architecture, landscape, history, settlement pattern, and open spaces. It must be consulted when new housing or other changes to the village are proposed.

As with the Moulton Parish Plan, Moulton VDS is amongst the earliest to be completed in Cheshire. Promoted by the Parish Council, the process started in June 2006 and is almost complete with the new Cheshire West and Chester Council accepted the pre-consultation document on the 16th March 2009.

We now have to have a consultation period of six weeks. This will take the form of statutory notices in the press, putting the draft copies in local libraries, adding the document to the Moulton web site and by press releases etc, so that there is plenty of time for people to have their say.

A local exhibition is planned to take place in the village hall at a future date probably in the middle of May when the residents of Moulton can make their comments. When all the suggestions have been collated and incorporated, the final document will be available for distribution in September.

Scout
School Citizenship Award
Congratulations to Callum Bloor and Harry Bennett, joint winners of this year's Parish Council School Citizenship Award. Both currently Year 6 pupils were voted for this award by their fellow pupils. Cllr. Pauline Vernon made the presentations of a certificate and book token to each of the boys at a school assembly prior to the Easter Holidays. For details of this year's Award winners of the Parish Council's Individual and Group Citizenship Awards, come along to the Annual Parish Meeting.
MDG

Moulton Drama Group

Moulton Drama Group's next play will be the comedy PLAY ON by Rick Abbott and will be directed by Moulton's award winning Derek Morris (Hindle Wakes). Tickets will soon be available from Christine on 01606 594190 or ticket@mdg.org.uk The play will run from Tuesday 19 May to Saturday 23 May 2009. Further details can be obtained at www.mdg.org.uk
   
  Editor Carl Turner
© Copyright Moulton Parish Council 2009
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