John Williams (Vice-Chair)

Anne Williams (Treasurer)

Jane Stirling (Clerk)

Jon Allen

Veronica Mellings

Guests

Richard Jackson

Chris Laidlar

Peter Marquis

Jenny Marquis

Jonathon Dean

Elaine Dean

Apologies

Sue Williams

Anne Williams

Election of Chair

Jane proposed John Williams to continue as Chair for another year. This was seconded by Veronica. There were no other candidates.

Chairman’s Report to Parish Meeting AGM

This has again been a busy year for the Parish Meeting.  Several long-standing issues have continued to feature in our discussions, but new issues, such as a defibrillator and action on hospital closures have been introduced as topics of discussion. We have also updated our knowledge on our responsibilities.  Our Parish Meeting has only very limited powers and is dependent upon voluntary action by residents or by what it can persuade Shropshire Council to do. Greater efforts have been made this year to encourage Parishioners to attend meetings.

Finances

No Council Tax Precept has been requested for 2017/18 and any minor costs will be supported by fundraising activities or donations.

Highways

Long-standing issues to the west of the village have hopefully been resolved by  drains, which should stop water collecting outside Veronica’s and George’s houses and alleviate dust in dry weather. Potholes at the Castle carpark entrance must be the next issue to be resolved.

Cycling

Management of cycling events is generally satisfactory. Forest Enterprise has now filed the list of events and uplifts for the current year.

Planning

The committee continues to monitor planning applications.  Nothing contentious was noted over the current period, except the poultry units at Hopton Heath. Although out of our Parish, we have been following the appeal following the turning down of planning. A much smaller development has been approved at The Hurst at Clunton despite its closeness to the Clun River.

3-phase project

There is still no update on the 3-phase project.

Website               

Thanks to Jon for running the website and setting up a Facebook page for those who prefer this method of communication. Efforts are being made to advertise the website and increase the number of hits.

Defibrillator

Efforts are underway to raise funds for a village defibrillator.

Membership

I must again express my thanks to all the members of the Committee for their help and support over the past year.

Minutes

Minutes of the AGM meeting of 25^th May 2016 were approved by all and signed by the Chair.

Matters arising

Jon asked for relevant material for the Parish website and Facebook page. There have been few hits on the website and Jane suggested that the website address was difficult to remember. Jon suggested buying a more relevant domain name. Peter Marquis suggested that linking the Parish website/Facebook to the Hopton Castle Preservation Trust might increase the number of hits. Jon and Peter will discuss this in more depth

Financial statement (provided By Anne Williams)

On 17/11/16 Ted Laidlar was paid £27.93 from the parish account leaving £354.79. Because of this expenditure an audit will be necessary and Anne has already filled in the relevant forms. Anne suggested setting a petty cash holding in the future.

Parish Meeting history

Veronica, who has been a member since 1984, gave a brief summary of the history of the parish meeting. The main points were:

• We are called a ‘meeting’ rather than a ‘council’ because there are insufficient members to constitute a council;
• Purpose: to protect the village, keep it tidy and assist residents with community problems. The Meeting deals with many community issues such as road maintenance, foot paths, signage of thoroughfares, power supplies, road gritting, planning applications and stream maintenance. In the past, village lighting and community skips have been debated and rejected because of cost. Grants from South Shropshire District Council have been used to enhance the village. The Meeting has erected a notice board and set up modern communication channels via the internet. The Parish meeting oversaw the building of 2 houses (16, 17). In 1997, the meeting discussed a local housing plan, although no further houses were built.
• External issues such as mountain biking in Hopton Woods are discussed. More recently, county issues, such as NHS closures have been on the agenda.

Any other business

• Veronica Mellings reminded us that the deep potholes from Bury Cottage to Llanhowell have not yet been viewed by ‘Highways’. These may be just over the parish border, but still need to be flagged up to Shropshire Council.
• John Williams asked if anyone at the meeting would like to become a member. All declined.
• There was some discussion about the defibrillator. Firstly, the most likely place to house it would be the telephone box but, despite being listed, this is in a state of disrepair and has been disconnected. Peter Marquis reported that BT would be willing to sell it for £1. An estimate is needed for getting to telephone box in an appropriate condition. Jon reported that he has done some research on the defibrillator and the requirements for first responder training and insurance, but will do more in the next weeks. The cost of setting one up would be about £2000; thereafter it would require a small amount of expenditure for maintenance. Chris Laidlar commented that this might prove too expensive for a small community despite our distance from medical care. Jon suggested involving Hopton Heath and Bedstone in the project. Jon will call a meeting at the village hall in late June to set up an organisation group made up of volunteers from the three parishes. Decisions will be made at this meeting of how to fund and authorise the project.

Next AGM

8^th May 2018

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