Annual Parish Meeting Report 2011
The Annual Parish Meeting for North Elmham took place on Wednesday May 4th with Caroline Payne in the Chair. District/County Councillor Bill Borrett was also in attendance together with 10 parishioners. Minutes of the 2010 Annual Meeting were signed as correct.
Financial statements were then presented, firstly by the Clerk, Kevin Webb, who had circulated the Receipts and Payments Account of the Parish Council for the year ending March 2011. Various questions and comments were dealt with and it was suggested that the inclusion of a few more details would be helpful in the future. Thanks were expressed to Mr. Bev King who had once again undertaken to act as Internal Auditor of these accounts.
The Church and Townland Charities Account was presented by Mr. Reg Neve. From this account 48 parishioners had each received a £25 Christmas gift and donations had been made to the Eastgate Centre, the Memorial Hall and North Elmham Pre-School Department.
Mr. Arthur Smith pointed out that receipts from this charity were, in fact, shared between the Parish and St. Mary's Church and it was agreed that this should be shown in the accounts statement in the future.
Mr. Neve then presented the North Elmham United Charities Account, from which 38 parishioners had each received a £25 Christmas gift. Parishioners were reminded that various small charities had been amalgamated over the years into the main charity when their incomes became too small to warrant separate accounts.
Mr. Arthur Smith reported on the School House and School Lands Charities. From the former, 8 ex pupils of North Elmham School had received grants towards their further education or training. There had been no requests from the School for financial assistance from the School Lands Charity. The meeting was assured that the School was aware of these available funds and that there was regular publicity regarding educational grants in Elmham News. On behalf of the trustees Mr. Smith thanked Mrs. Jeanette Fletcher for her work as Clerk to these charities and Mr. Bev King who had once again acted as the independent examiner of the accounts.
The outgoing Parish Council Chairman Mrs. Caroline Payne then gave her report for the past year, outlining the most important matters that had been, or were being dealt with by the Council. She paid tribute to the hard work and dedication of all the Councillors over the year making special mention of those who were resigning - Robin Don, Reg Neve, Colin Smith, and Anne Ketteringham and wishing "good luck" to those who were standing for re-election to the Council together with the seven new candidates. Mrs. Payne also announced her resignation from the Council.
Mr. Bill Borrett then gave his report as District and County Councillor where, he said, they were all facing a big financial challenge from the Government resulting in the need for cuts and greater efficiency. He particularly spoke on the pros and cons of the proposed incinerator at Kings Lynn and answered several questions from parishioners on this subject Gravel extraction proposals had also been a major concern but he felt he could be reassuring that the local sites would remain as "unacceptable". Mr. Borrett was thanked by the Chairman for all his assistance concerning the Parish Council's efforts towards purchase of the Village Green, and for help in resolving the problems of the Safe Route to School.
Following the end of the formal business of the evening, Mr. John Labouchere said he wished to thank the Parish Council on behalf of the village for all the work of the past year and also to compliment the committee responsible for the excellent Community Plan which he was sure would become a model for other communities to follow.
Mrs. Payne then presented gifts to the retiring councillors and also to Jane Smith who is also retiring as News Correspondent. Councillor Colin Groom then paid a warm tribute to Mrs. Payne who, he said, had been an excellent Chairman and would also be much missed as a Council member.
Jane Smith