Back to Normal! Well, sort of. At any rate, we were at last permitted to hold face-to-face meetings again on 10 May in the Village Hall, albeit having to comply with all the covid-safe rigmarole which makes little sense to most people now. The emergency legislation enabling parish councils to hold online meetings ended on 6 May this year and online meetings are no longer permitted. The High Court may eventually come up with a ruling in favour of the local authority lawyers who are currently challenging the government’s stance on this.
The Annual Parish Meeting started at 7.30pm on 10 May in the Village Hall. Almost everyone was dressed up like a masked bandit in accordance with the rules. I was not wearing a mask as I have asthma. It has been a trial in recent months explaining my breathing difficulties to some people who have been persuaded against all scientific evidence that non-mask wearers are walking bio-hazards. The air quality had been very poor in recent days and my voice had become so croaky that I sounded like Kermit the Frog at times. Fortunately, new sound equipment had been provided by one of the councillors, for which we were all very grateful as everyone in the hall could hear all the speakers clearly. We did not reach the limit of numbers of people able to enter the hall under current covid-safe rules, so no-one was turned away.
The Chairman of the Parish Council opened the Annual Parish Meeting with his report outlining activities over the last year and ending with thanks to everyone for their support. We were also lucky to have several contributors from local organisations attending the meeting and giving their reports. We heard from representatives of St Peter’s Church, the Community Centre, the Sports & Social Club, Newdigate Infant School, Weald Primary School, the District Council and Surrey County Council. The reports were very interesting, particularly given the extraordinary times we have been going through, and they will be available on the website in due course.
The Parish Council’s Annual Meeting started at 8.10pm. The first order of business at this meeting is always to elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman. There had been no alternative nominations put forward for these positions. So, with one objection from a co-opted councillor, Mr Bill Kear and Mr Phill Crutcher were re-elected as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively. The Police report was the next item on the agenda with reports of a vehicle crashing on Henfold Lane, theft of a quad bike and a residential burglary on Burnt Oak Lane, an abandoned motorbike in Church Road and a smashed window in Winfield Grove on the fairly short list of matters reported to the Police.
The Horticultural Society had written with a proposal for planting in communal areas. The Parish Council supports these proposals which will enhance the appearance of the Village. The Finance Committee will look at the budget to see if a small donation for the purchase of plants is possible. The Council for Protection of Rural England (CPRE) would be delighted to hear from volunteers who could help with evidence for Natural England’s boundary review of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). If the boundary is extended to cover all Areas of Great Landscape Value, one-third of Surrey would be protected by the designation.
A meeting has been held with the organisers of a neighbouring Speedwatch and it is hoped that a Newdigate Speedwatch scheme will be up and running soon. Councillors will be meeting with Surrey Highways and the Police later this week to discuss how to implement suggestions made for traffic calming in the Village including speed reductions. Nine planning applications were considered at the meeting, most of which met with the approval of councillors although there were strong objections to two of the applications. Everyone is welcome to attend meetings of the Parish Council. The next meeting will be on Monday 14 June in the Village Hall.
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[mks_one_half]Lesley Bignell, Clerk to the Council[/mks_one_half]
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12th May 2021[/mks_one_half]
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[mks_one_half]clerk@newdigateparishcouncil.gov.uk[/mks_one_half]
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www.newdigateparishcouncil.gov.uk[/mks_one_half]
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