Annual Parish Meeting 2022 – Minutes

Cllr Suzanne Wickham (Wiltshire Council).

Cllr Phil Whittaker (Bratton Parish Council).

Sian Morgan (Bratton History Association).

The minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 19^th May 2021 were approved for accuracy, adopted and duly signed (proposed Cllr Ligo, seconded Cllr Rayward).

Cllr Ligo, Chair of the Parish Council 2021-2022, provided a report and tabled the PC’s Annual Report for 2021-2022.  The Chair’s report is included in the Annual Report and Cllr Ligo explained the differences between the Annual Parish Meeting and the Annual Council Meeting, making reference to the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972.

He stated that he was pleased with the standard of village presentation and welcomed the continued provision of pre-school facilities.

Cllr Cole proposed a vote of thanks to Cllr Ligo for his chairmanship of the Council over the past five years. This was supported by the meeting and Cllr Ligo was sincerely thanked for his term of service.

Wiltshire Councillor Suzanne Wickham had presented apologies for absence.

PCSO Alice Moore reported the following:

·         She was part of the Warminster neighbourhood policing team, responsible for the Westbury rural area.

·         The PCSO’s role was to deal with lower level issues such as neighbour disputes and anti-social behaviour. It was confirmed that PCSO’s did not hold the power of arrest.

·         PSCO’s also participated in events such as attending village fetes, carrying out pre-school visits and giving talks for older school children.

·         A crime report for incidents during past year in Bratton was given:

o   137 incidents were recorded

o   80 of these incidents were logged as crimes. The previous year had seen 91 crimes logged so this had been a reduction.  The level of crime in the parish was reported to be very small.

o   Other non-crime incidents were reported to include road traffic accidents, safety concerns regarding missing people and general suspicious incidents which turned out not to be crimes.

o   There were several high volume properties in the parish producing the majority of those incidents; the police continued to work closely with other agencies to seek resolution where possible.

·         Attention was drawn to the Wiltshire Police Bobby Van, which is a charity organisation working with the police service.  The service was run by volunteer retired police officers who provided free home security checks in Swindon and Wiltshire. Registered disabled and those over 65 are entitled to free visit. Information on the service would be provided for inclusion in the Bratton Parish News.

Georgina Dahl (CSW Co-ordinator) reported the following:

·         She had taken over the co-ordinator role in January 2022; only one set of sessions had been run this year as the device was shared with Edington and West Ashton parishes.

·         Seven sessions had been run; 49 excess speeders had been recorded with the highest speed being recorded at 48 mph.

·         The Police had attended the sessions in support of the CSW.

·         At the present time the CSW had 4 sites, although one was due to be suspended due to a change in speed limit which would require a new survey to be carried out.

·         The CSW had 7 volunteers and more were required; it was confirmed that training would be given.

·         Sessions were scheduled to start again on 16 May 2022 for a three-week period.

Cllr Cole gave a presentation on the progress of Neighbourhood Planning for Bratton, a copy of which is appended to the minutes.  A resident stated that he had not seen the results of the survey and Cllr Cole confirmed that these would be published on the website and had been reported at a public meeting.  The information was available on request as well and he would arrange for a copy to be sent to the resident. It was planned to include a summary report in a future edition of the Bratton Parish News.

Cllr Ligo reported on the arrangements for the celebration of the Platinum Jubilee:

·         Updates on event planning were routinely published in the Bratton Parish News and Cllr Jolly was thanked for her assistance in preparing copy for these articles.

·         A lot of work was being done to make it an attractive festival event and the team were following the guidance issued from Buckingham Palace.

·         The next meeting of the working group was scheduled for 9^th June 2022 to review progress.

·         The main events were highlighted as; a Jubilee proclamation at the Jubilee Hall with refreshments provided, the lighting of the beacon on the top of Pickett Hill with viewing point and bugle, historical walks, an open day at the Jubilee Hall on the Saturday with stall holders and a children’s party, a Sunday service on the village green and a picnic in the park supported by marquees with refreshments. Further details would be published in the Bratton Parish News.

·         It was highlighted that community engagement was needed to support the events and people were encouraged to ‘spread the word’.

Mr Mike Manson provided a report, a copy of which is appended to the minutes.

The Annual General Meeting of the Bratton Recreation Ground Committee was held and three volunteer members were nominated for the Committee –  Mr Mike Manson, Mr Peter Sharland and Mr Steve Lloyd were duly elected as members for 2022/2023.

The meeting received reports from local organisations and community groups:

·         Jubilee Hall Committee – a report had been provided from Mr Ken Davis, was read out by the Chair, is appended to the minutes and included in the Annual Report.

·         Reeves Orchard – Mr Peter Brabner reported the following:

o   The apple orchard belonged to village and was managed by small group of volunteers.

o   The Orchard had been established in 1936 and was later gifted to village.

o   The working group carried out seasonal maintenance as required to ensure the orchard was accessible to the public.

o   An apple juicing day takes place in the autumn.

o   There were plans in place for involvement with Bratton School.

o   New volunteers were always welcome.

·         Bratton Primary School –  The Co-Chair of the Governors reported the following:

o   The school had 152 pupils currently registered.

o   It had been a challenging year for the school with the ongoing effects of covid, which had placed a huge burden on the staff and governors.

o   There had been significant leadership changes and challenges – there had been no substantive head in the school since March.  Wiltshire Council had provided a good level of support to the school and had provided an Acting Head for a year’s secondment.  A new Head Teacher had now been appointed (Emma Williams from Calne) who would be starting in September.

o   The children continued to make good progress despite the challenges; and the school was looking forward to restarting engagement with the village community.

·         Bratton Pre-School – Emma Osmond reported the following:

o   She outlined the background to the establishment of the pre-school in Bratton reporting that the vision had been to have 3 staff and 12 children in the setting.

o   This had now risen to 10 staff and 40 children; 21 of those children lived in Bratton and Edington with the remainder coming from Westbury and Trowbridge.

o   Covid had been a major challenge.  The setting had not had chance to hold the planned open day however, a virtual tour was available on the website.

o   The OFSTED had been delayed due to the impact of the covid pandemic.

o   It was reported that there was a recruitment crisis nationally; which meant staff were difficult to find and retain.

o   The setting was providing work experienced to 2 volunteers.

o   It was acknowledged that the outside area was not in the best condition and it was reported that plans were being established for improvements however, funding the project would be an issue as all the funds remaining after operational costs were met were returned to the setting for improvements.

o   Mrs Osmond thanked the parish council and the community for its support.

o   In response to a question from the Chair she confirmed that, in her opinion, the large majority of children in the setting would go onto the Primary School in Bratton.

o   A resident highlighted that the pre-school would now constitute one of the largest employers in the village and it was felt that this should be recognised.

·         Tidy Bratton Group – Mr Peter Brabner reported the following:

o   The group was a monthly gathering of volunteers who carried out litter picking and tidying in central areas of the village.

o   The next meeting was scheduled for 26^th May 2022 at 10 am meeting at the Duke.  All were welcome to attend.

o   The group was one element of how the village was cared for; other elements included the parish council contractors, Wiltshire Council and the local parish steward who visited the parish for 2 days each month.

o   The work of the group helped towards the preparation for the CPRE competition, which the village had won in 2019.  This year the village was entering the Laurence Kitchen award to find the winner of winners. Judging would take place at some point in July – date unknown.

o   Further information on the work of the group was available from Mr Brabner, contact details in the Bratton Parish News.

·         St James Church – The Churchwarden provided a report, which was presented and a copy of which is appended to the minutes and included in the Annual Report.

·         Bratton Baptist Church – the Rector provided the following report:

o   It had been a disruptive year with a spike of covid cases however, the church was now returning to normal with regular services and activities.

o   Esther McManus had joined the Chapel in a training capacity.

o   Work in the wider community was continuing – the Church provided a weekly community café with a good number of regulars, children’s groups and seasonal lunches – all of which were proving popular.

o   The Church was seeking to co-ordinate help to Ukrainian refugees coming into the village.

·         Bratton History Society Association– Mr Manson provided a report, a copy of which is appended to the minutes and included in the Annual Report.

·         Women’s Royal British Legion – a report was presented, a copy of which is appended to the minutes and included in the Annual Report.

·         Women’s Institute – No report.

·         Royal British Legion – Mr Monaghue provided a report, a copy of which is appended to the minutes and included in the Annual Report. It was reported that £3,500 had been collected in Bratton towards the Poppy Appeal so far this year and volunteers were sought to help with future collections.

·         Gales Ground Allotments – Mr Renfrew reported the following:

o   There were a number of issues relating to the allotments, which he and the PC were currently dealing with.

o   Allotment holders were to be invited to a meeting on 11^th May 2022 at 7.00 pm on the allotments.

o   There were some vacant plots and anyone interested in becoming a tenant was encouraged to attend the meeting.

o   The cost of the allotments was confirmed at £20 per annum per plot and the benefits of growing fresh fruit and veg were highlighted.

·         Four Villages Link – Cllr Rayward reported the following:

o   Work had continued throughout the covid pandemic.

o   Leaflets were available on the work of the Link, which provided hundreds of trips into hospital each year.

o   The AGM was scheduled for Tuesday 10^th May 2022, all were welcome to come and refreshments would be available.

o   The Link was keen to recruit more volunteers, especially drivers.

The Chair thanked everyone for their reports and highlighted that the theme word in all reports had been ‘volunteers’. The work of so many volunteers in the village was acknowledged and all volunteers thanked for working so hard.

Questions and comments were invited from the local electorate:

·         None.

The Chair thanked everyone for attending.