Metheringham Parish Council
Metheringham, Sots Hole and Tanvats Annual Village Meeting Minutes
Minutes of Metheringham Annual Village Meeting held on Tuesday 28th April 2009 at 7.00pm in the Village Hall
PRESENT: Councillors: Dr M J Allen (Chairman), Mrs J Honisett(Vice Chairman), Mrs R Creasey, N Dobbs, P D Ford, Mrs R Parker, Mrs S Peek, M E Reynolds, A Waddington, Mrs A F Webb, G W Chambers (District Council), J C Rose (District Council), Mrs P Bradwell (County Council) and Ms S N Wetherall (Clerk).
INVITED GUESTS: Phil Davies – Vulcan to the Sky XH558
Warrant Officer Alan Murray – RAF Red Arrows
90 members of the public
APOLOGIES: Councillor G H Roland
1. Introduction: The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Annual Village Meeting and emphasized it is a village meeting for the village electors. Copies of the agenda were available for members of the public.
2. Notes of the last meeting: The notes of the Annual Village Meeting held on 29th April 2008 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
3. Annual Parish Council Report: A copy of the draft annual report for 2008/09 was available for members of the public. The chairman gave a presentation giving an overview of the parish council’s achievements over the past year and the projects and priorities for the forthcoming year.
4. Question Time Session: There were no questions or statements from members of the public.
5. Reports from village organizations: There were some very interesting and entertaining presentations from the village groups, to start the presentations Silver Sounds Band played three pieces, the band consists of youth and senior members, who attend on a voluntary basis, the group are self supporting. L.I.V.E.S. First Responders are volunteers who work very closely with East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS). Senior Citizens meet every Thursday morning at the Methodist Chapel and have regular outings. Starlite Twirlers have been applying for grants and busy fundraising to obtain money for their new costumes which have been designed by them. They have two major competitions this year and would like to thank all the villagers for the support they give. Metheringham and District Swimming Pool Association (MADSPA) have been applying for grants and fundraising to purchase a new solar system,volunteers are urgently needed. Mission X Youth Group is being run and funded by Metheringham New Life, the group meets every two weeks on a Friday at the Methodist Chapel, members have been litter picking, gardening etc to raise funds for a trip to Romania. They are hoping to run a kids club during the school holidays for 8-11 year olds. Metheringham New Life meets in the Village Hall on a Tuesday evening. Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue have been busy working in the community, promoting home fire safety and road safety. They have an arson task force team and are working with young offenders. In 2008/09 there have been 85 incidents, this has dropped considerably since 2007 when there were 147 incidents. Station visits and open days are now a regular occurrence, also home fire assessment visits, where qualified officers will check smoke alarms etc free of charge. Metheringham Amateur Dramatic Society (MAD) gave another wonderful performance with their musical numbers from ‘The Shakespeare Revue’ and said ‘please give us a rest’; new members are always very welcome! The Army Cadet Force are involved with the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, anyone from the age of 8 years to retirement can be involved. The group meet weekly and carry out drill and turnout, orienteering, weekend camps and the annual ten day camp, which is great fun but very exhausting.
6. The meeting was adjourned for refreshments, a chance to view exhibits and socialize with representatives from the village organizations and guest speakers.
7. Guest Speaker - Phil Davies – Vulcan to the Sky XH558: Phil Davies introduced himself and gave an excellent presentation giving the life story of the Vulcan XH558, it was the first Vulcan to fly and remained in RAF service until 1986 so it was also the last in service. A group of Vulcan enthusiasts decided it should be back in the air, a massive 2.7million was raised to start the project. A further 1.3million was raised in 21 days, quite an achievement. The first flight took place on 18th October 2007 and the first public display was at Waddington Air show on 5th July 2008. The first public show for 2009 is on 14th June at Cosford and will be back at Waddington on 4th and 5th July. Phil Davies said he was extremely privileged to be involved with the project.
8. Guest Speaker – Warrant Officer Alan Murray – RAF Red Arrows: Warrant Office Alan Murray introduced himself and stated the Red Arrows have 91 shows planned for 2009, the team are currently in Cyprus finalizing their training schedule. On 18th May they should be granted public display authority, this gives them authority to fly at public events. The first display for 2009 will be 24th May at Southend Air show. The Reds DVD was played. The Red Arrows are used by the RAF as a recruiting tool, they promote the hawk and display the RAF as a force of excellence. Each year approximately 40 candidates apply to join the team, they are then shortlisted down to 8 but only two of these will be successful.
The Chairman thanked everyone for the excellent presentations and taking the time to attend the meeting.
9. Date, time and venue of next meeting – To be announced.
The meeting closed at 9.34pm