Annual Parish Meeting - 2012

Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Pauline Lyons and this is my report as Chairman of Box Parish Council .

Traditionally thanks are given at the end of a report  but this time I would like to start with those thanks as the work of the parish council is very much a team effort.  I have been amazed at the range of letters, emails and general enquiries that arrive in the parish council office. 

Margaret Carey, the Parish Clerk has to deal with these, along-side the daily task of minutes, agendas, financial matters, pavilion bookings, etc, etc.  and at the same time keeping parish councillors informed.

So my particular thanks to her, along with the other members of Box Parish Council staff, namely the groundsman Mark Delahunty; the cemetery caretaker Sean Kissling;  the maintenance men (and much more) John Vineyard and Joel Arney; our road sweeper Craig Hannah and  office cleaner Shirley.

We strive to be a responsible employer, with all that entails.

To David Murray, our vice chairman I thank for being a level headed ‘sounding board’ and ideas man; and to the chairmen of all the committees, I thank for their hard work - much more than most of them realised I am sure!  Last , but by no means least - to all the other councillors, for their debating skills and contributions.

The current term started with the retirements of Fred Sheppard and Robin Parry. 

We thank them for their long service to the parish. They were replaced by Stewart Barnes and Elaine Savage.  Simon Wright, also left us earlier this year and has recently been replaced by John Thompson.  Welcome to him.

There have been several big projects this past 12 months for the council to deal with.

The first is to send out to all parishioners a questionnaire about what they want to see in the parish.  Many thanks to all who returned their forms in person or electronically.  You will have a presentation on the results of this survey by Andrew Thomas later.

The second is a booklet about the parish council and what it is responsible for, sent to all households. Our thanks to Philip Rayner for his work on this and we hope you found it useful.  The feedback has been positive .

The third is an internal document for the parish councillors to plan what work may be needed in the future on the maintenance of buildings, land, monuments, etc.    This includes the machinery to help this happen.

The parish of Box is a large geographical area, made up of a variety of landscapes and buildings.  Your parish councillors represent this.  They are a mixture of individuals who give their time and skills for no pay or allowances.  We debate issues arising and then vote, trying to represent the whole parish.

Of course we can’t please everyone all the time.  One person’s bright idea is another’s anathema.  Anyone is welcome to attend any of our committee meetings (with the exception of  the Personnel committee which deals with staff issues and is rightly covered by the Data Protection Act.)

Finally I draw your attention to the excellent parish website, which gives details of our agendas, minutes, contact details and much, much more.  My thanks to the webmaster who is also a volunteer.