MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE PARISH
COUNCIL ON TUESDAY, MAY 5th 2009

Present: Clr P. Tulip (Chairman), Dist Clr W Inness. Cty Clr E Casling, Clr D Clegg,Clr A Dudley-Smith, Clr J Gaunt, Clr E Garnham (Acting Clerk), Cir D Knott, Clr C Martin, Clr C Wright. Clr D Woolgar,

Apologies: None

The Chairman presented his report (attached).

Cir Martin brought to the attention of the council that because he had missed more than 3 meetings without due notice he is no longer able to be on the council. He accepted that this is the case and stated that while he would be sorry to resign due to pressure of business commitments he had no alternative. The Chairman thanked him for all his input over the years.

Election of Chairman and officers.

Clr Paul Tulip was re-elected as Chairman, proposed by Clr Dudley-Smith and seconded by Clr D Clegg. All in favour.

Clr David Woolgar was re-elected as Vice Chairman, proposed by Clr D Clegg, seconded by Or Jackie Gaunt. All in favour.

Clr Christopher Wright was re-elected as representative on the Conservation Committee Clr Betty Garnham was re-elected as representative on the YLCA

Mr D Vickers is the present representative on behalf of the Parish Council for the Village Hall Committee. The Clerk was asked to ascertain whether the constitution of the Village Hall Committee required this to be a member of the Parish Council (The Clerk has since ascertained from correspondence in the files that it is not a requirement of the V H Committee but the council is at liberty to elect someone if there is a willing person, otherwise, any other person can attend the village hall committee meetings on behalf of the Parish Council- this information was supplied by the YLCA in 2006).

Public Session There were no members present.

Planning Application (Jefferson Arms)

Cir Dudley-Smith and Clr Knott declared an interest and left the room.

It was generally agreed that this was not a desirable development being in a poor position and detracting from the conservation rural aspect of the village. The councillors were against any further development of this site. There was major concern about reducing the public house facilities and the proposed 3 bedroom dormer bungalow was an unattractive building.

The Minutes of the meeting held on March 3^rd 2009 were approved and accepted. Proposed by Clr A Dudley-Smith, seconded by Clr David Woolgar.

Matters arising:

Horse Chestnut Trees. Selby DC had agreed to pay half the, costs of sorting out these trees. Clr C Wright will liaise with the tree surgeon re. a written estimate in view of the fact that the last one was presented last June. He also stated that the work would not commence until the autumn.

Website. Clr E Garnham apologized for omitting to put this in the parish magazine but assured the meeting that it will be in the June issue.

Keepers Cottage The Clerk had received a telephone reply from SDC regarding this. They stated that planning consent had been given a number of years ago and they were now trying to ascertain whether the building work had begun during the five year period and will come back to us in due course.

Allotments. There had only been 3 requests and Clr E Casling said that it appears to have been shelved by SDC due to the financial aspect.

Greenhouse on land at Derwent House. The Clerk had received a reply which stated SDC were looking into the matter and would come back to us within 21 days which had now lapsed.

NPower Bill. The Clerk had written to NPower stating that our last cheque was in full and final settlement but despite asking for an acknowledgement had heard nothing further from them.

Grass Verges on The Gale. The clerk had received one reply saying they would get the problem sorted but the Chairman had had telephone calls but the matter had not been resolved but now the verges were completely overgrown so the problem had more or less abated.

Verges in Southmoor Lane. (Westfield Lane). The Highways had replied stating that they had noted the problem and had already identified it and that the reinstatement of the verge and carriageway edge would be undertaken in March. It was noted that some work had been done but there is now extensive damage to the hedge and verge because the farmer had been running a tractor over it instead of using his own access. The Clerk was asked to write to Highways to point this out.

Flooding on the road between Thorganby & Wheldrake. This matter is being dealt with by York City Highways and the farmers concerned are being approached about the matter.

Dog Fouling. A reply had been received from the village hall committee stating that the caravanners were not responsible for the recent problems. Meanwhile the Clerk had contacted SDC re. dog bins and bags. They will supply them at a cost of £212.09 incl each and SDC will fit them free of charge. It was suggested that we contact the V H Committee to see if they are willing to share the costs, if so, one could be sited near the village hall entrance.

Internal Audit Clr Dudley-Smith and Clr Clegg had completed the internal audit.

District Councillor's Report. Dist Clr Inness said that the refuse collection will change on October 1st 2009. It will then be fortnightly instead of weekly with the following week on the same day a recycling collection which will include plastics. Large families may apply for larger bins. The green bins will be collected as usual. The company will be Enterprise.

He also told us that Selby District Council had been judged as "Excellent" by the audit commission. The Chairman thanked him for his report.

County Councillor's Report. Cty Clr Casling told members about the preliminary planning for a Bio-Science Park, being submitted for the North Selby Mine Site at Escrick which was under discussion. There were many issues of concern regarding traffic,roads etc.

The Chairman thanked Cty Or Casting for her report.

Cty Clr Casling was asked to inform the Highways Depts that we were unimpressed with the publicity of the recent road repairs in Wheldrake Main Street and the road from Wheldrake to Escrick which caused no end of problems for Thorganby residents and could she ask them to ensure that these roads are not closed again at the same time as we had to get to Wheldrake or Elvington via Crockey Hill for two weeks.

Purchase of a Strimmer. Mr D Vickers had requested that the council purchase a new strimmer as soon as possible as the old one is beyond repair. He had submitted a quote of £270.00 but two more quotes are necessary and Clr Wright and Clr Tulip will endeavour to find two more. It was agreed that a decision could be made before the next meeting to expedite the matter

Invoices for payment.

Harlands £417.16 (servicing of lawn mower) Zurich Municipal £205.00 (annual insurance) YLCA £100.00 (annual sub)

York Road Garage £8.99 (petrol for mower) E-On £92.88 (street lighting)

The council unanimously agreed to pay them.

The precept of £l,000 had been paid into the bank

It was noted that the grass cutting grant will be fixed at 3.5% for 2009.

Clr Dudley-Smith suggested that we should look for other tenders for next year.

Report on meetings attended by members

Conservation - Clr Wright will be attending a meeting next week Village Hall – Mr Vickers was not present so there was no report. YLCA – Cllr Garnham said there were no matters of interest to the PC.

Election of 3 councillors to interview a new clerk.

There are two applicants and Clr Dudley-Smith proposed that the Chairman, Vice Chairman and the acting Clerk should form the interviewing committee.

Mazars Audit Return. It was suggested that Mrs Grant (our auditor) should be asked to complete the necessary forms for a fee. The Clerk will arrange this.

The Chairman was asked to write a letter of thanks to Carl Martin which he agreed to do. The meeting closed at 9.30 pm.

Thorganby Parish Council Chairman's Report — 2008/2009

I am pleased to present the Annual Report for Thorganby Parish Council for the year ending May 2009. This has been my first year as Chairman and despite some initial concerns, I have found that I have enjoyed the position and have had some enjoyable meetings. Also, however there have been some less enjoyable meetings with a certain amount of frustrating situations sometimes these frustrations were beyond our control.

I should first of all like to thank District Councillor Bill Innes for his regular attendance at Parish Council meetings and for his continuing help and support. I am sure that without him and his good advice, we all would have had a less easy role as councillors

I wish to thank a number of individuals for the work they have done for the village over the last 12 months.

Vice Chairman, David Woolgar who has supported me as Chairman throughout the year; our Parish Council representatives on the various committees including the Heritage Committee, Charitable Trusts and the YLCA and members of the Council for their dedication and contribution during the year. Sadly at the start of my becoming the Chairman I received a note of resignation from Peter Southon. This was a sad situation brought on by family problems and I am sure we all pass on our best wishes and thanks for all the hard work Peter did as a Parish Councillor.

Thanks go again to Dan Vickers who has continued to cut the grass around the village and who has given much of his free time to the Church and the village.

It is with regret that we have lost the Parish Council Clerk this year. She has helped support the Council this past year despite having already given notice and worked in difficult conditions to ensure that the work of the Clerk was completed. We have had the joint help of Councillors Betty Garnham and Jackie Gaunt to ensure that the Clerks work has been continued while we searched for a replacement. They have both worked very hard behind the scenes to do the work for the Council. I think they deserve a heartfelt thanks for their work. I am pleased to say we have had two expressions of interest for the post and will be carrying out the procedures to interview and choose one of these candidates to take on the role permanently. I hope that the new Clerk will find it a less fraught endeavour within the role, than it has been in the past.

The Parish Council has carried out numerous activities during the year including:‑

We have reviewed numerous planning applications over the year and have had additional public interest in some of the more controversial applications. We have with the help of a number of the villagers, continued to try to retain the role of the Jefferson Arms (now known as Mama Mia) as a local pub.

We have persuaded Highways to carry out necessary repairs to footpaths and roads. The bank balance remains in a healthy condition thanks to the help and support from the Council members and our internal auditor.

I fully believe that the Parish Council, has quietly worked for the good of the village of Thorganby and achieved a significant amount to the benefit of the inhabitants

Thank you all for your attention and I wish you all good health and prosperity for the year ahead.