EASTON IN GORDANO PARISH COUNCIL
At the Annual Assembly of the Parish Meeting
Mr G Duck, Chairman of the Parish Council, in the Chair
Approximately 11 Local Government electors present
The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Monday 22 April 2002 were, save one amendment, confirmed and signed.
Page 2, fifth paragraph, alter bridging to dredging.
No matters were raised under this Item.
The Chairman presented his report and thanked the Committee Chairman and the retiring Clerk for their work throughout the year.
The Financial Report was circulated and the Chairman gave a report on the income and expenditure during the year.
The Chairman gave the report on Morgan’s Charity
The Trustees met on 4 December 2002 and after discussion with the staff at the local Health Clinic it was agreed to donate £15 each to 5 elderly parishioners, 1 very mentally handicapped person and 2 young families, making a total of £120. This left a balance of £23.17 to start the year.
The Chairman thanked the Trustees for their continued work.
6 REDEVELOPMENT OF THE VILLAGE CENTRE & THE COMMUNITY CENTRE
The Chairman said that the proposals represent a major venture and need the whole of the community to have an input and he would welcome comments from the floor.
Cllr G Hunt said that a Public Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 7 May and anyone who has not yet filled in a questionnaire should do so after looking at the various displays around the village. The committee wants as many questionnaires back as possible.
Mr P Derrick asked what will happen after the Public Meeting.
Cllr G Hunt said that this depends largely on the results of the consultation as a commitment has been made that no major decisions will be taken without the agreement of the community. At the moment we are waiting for the response to the consultation.
Cllr Hunt said that the whole scheme started with problems about the maintenance of the Community Centre. The Parish Council carried out investigations and a report was drawn up outlining the options and the likely costs. One option was for demolition of the existing building and rebuilding a smaller Community Centre on the present site with the remainder of the land sold off.
From the SRB Group’s consultation it was quite clear that there was great concern about the precinct area and the Parish Council felt it might be an appropriate time to consider the two areas together.
At the Public Meeting it will be made quite clear that there is a division in the community. Nearly 50% of people would like the Community Centre to stay where it is and nearly 50% want the Precinct redeveloped to include a community centre. Therefore a decision has to be made as to whether to redevelop the existing site, partial redevelopment and sell off the rest of the site, or whether to sell off the whole site and put the money raised towards the redevelopment of the Precinct to include a new Community Centre.
Cllr P Derrick asked how much clout will be generated by the Public Meeting. Supposing 80% of people present express a desire to keep the present building and do it up, is that the route we would take.
Cllr Hunt said that this possibility has been discussed at some length and it was felt that the Committee would not wish to prejudge the result but at the end of the day the Committee would not want to spend time pushing for something that the Community does not want.
At the same time there are real problems with the management of the present Community Centre. The Committee is now down to three members. The estimated amount of money required to bring the present building up to standard has been estimated at around £500,000 and up to now it has been felt very unlikely we would be able to get the sort of grant we would need to do it.
Mr P Derrick asked if it should be agreed to sell of the community centre and land, would it go on the open market and could it be confirmed that any money raised from the sale of the present building would have to be used for the purchase of a new Community Centre..
Mr Hunt confirmed that this is the case with the money raised from any sale. There has been no discussion as to selling it on the open market and we do not have an up to date valuation.
Mr Derrick asked what would happen if the highest bidder wanted to leave the land undeveloped. He said he is concerned about the future of the site and it may be of interest to a lot of people who are also very concerned about what is done with the site.
Cllr Hunt also pointed out that housing the Youth Club is still a major concern in the discussions.
The Chairman recorded a vote of thanks to the Chairman of the Community Centre Management Committee, Mr Wallis and his helpers for keeping the building running as well as it does.
No matters were raised under this Agenda Item
The Meeting closed at 8.35pm