Metheringham Parish Council News - Summer 2009

Specific issues are dealt with by working groups with appointed leaders:-

Working group - Leader
Allotments - Cllr Mrs Honisett
Children's Playgrounds and Playing Fields - Cllr Roland
Consultation and Questionnaires - Cllr Waddington
Fayre & Feast - Cllr Reynolds
Forward Planning - Cllr Dr Allen
Highways, Footpaths and Car Parks - Cllr Waddington
Risk Assessment - Cllr Ford
Street Lighting - Cllr Reynolds
War Memorial and Spring - Cllr Mrs Webb

All planning issues are dealt with by the appointed Planning Committee, this consists of Cllr Mrs Honisett, Cllr Mrs Creasey, Cllr Mrs Parker, Cllr Mrs Peek, Cllr Mrs Webb and Cllr Waddington.

Allotments - Metheringham
The Parish Council are progressing negotiations with the land agent to acquire further land in the village for use as allotments. A proposal was presented at the Annual Village Meeting and the council will be progressing this over the coming months. If anyone has any comments or requires any information relating to this please contact the Clerk.

Annual Village Meeting 2009
A big thank you to everyone who attended the Annual Village Meeting on Tuesday 28 April. The evening was a great success. It began with a presentation from the chairman giving an overview of the parish council's achievements over the past year and the projects and priorities for the forthcoming year. The village groups gave some very interesting and entertaining presentations, including the Army Cadets, Fire & Rescue, MAD singers, Silver Sounds Band, Starlite Twirlers, Senior Citizens and LIVES. This year's guest speakers were Phil Davies from Vulcan to the Sky XH558 trust and Warrant Office Alan Murray from the RAF Red Arrows, both gave excellent presentations and the evening ended with a raffle. If you have any suggestions or comments regarding the Annual Village Meeting please contact the Clerk.

Parish Plan
Parish Plans are intended to be evolving documents, outlining how a community would like to develop over the next ten years, and usually include an action plan detailing how these developments can be achieved. The next step is the formation of a Steering Group, this will be made up of volunteers from the community. A small number of people have volunteered to join the steering group. An informal parish plan meeting will be arranged with Community Lincs to establish the plan of action for the group. So if there is anyone out there who is still interested in joining the group it is not too late, please contact the Clerk as soon as possible.

Recreation fields
The Parish Council is in the final stages of negotiations with Lincolnshire County Council. The Council is now very close to signing the Heads of Terms agreement for the lease of the Star & Garter field. Metheringham Parish Council and Lincolnshire County Council are totally committed to providing better facilities for the community.

Quality Parish Scheme
The Rural White Paper, published in 2000, confirmed the Government's support for parish and town councils and underlined their important role as the first tier of government closest to local people, in giving local leadership and being at the heart of local communities. Consequently, the Quality Parish and Town Council Scheme was launched in 2003 with the aim of providing a benchmark minimum standard for parish and town councils across the country. The Quality scheme is open to all parish and town councils in England, irrespective of size. It aims to enable parish councils to work more closely with others in the delivery of local services and to better represent their local communities. Whatever the circumstances, Quality status brings real benefits, not only for the Quality council, but also for the people who work with it and more importantly, the community it serves. Quality status is now high on our list of priorities, as the accreditation demonstrates the ability to deliver efficient services to local residents and speak with greater authority to principal councils when seeking delegated functions which can be better carried out locally.

The Benefits of Quality Status

1) The community:

• more responsive services - the Quality council will be capable of solving local problems without recourse to the principal authority
• real contact and discussions with its Quality council
• a local access point providing information on services
• a council which is more accountable, visible, representative and provides community leadership

2) Benefits to the parish or town council itself:

• greater credibility in the eyes of the local community, voluntary and private sectors, and principal local authorities
• greater civic pride
• more representative of the local community
• better ability to articulate the needs and wishes of the local community
• more will be achieved by working in partnership with other organisations
• ability to demonstrate that it is effectively and properly managed, which will instill greater confidence in the community
• can deliver more local services - if the council wishes to
• greater involvement by the voluntary and community sector and by principal local authorities (e.g. developing community led plans, market town health checks etc.)
• a better informed community
• a well trained clerk, through the Certificate in Local Council Administration

3) Principal Authority benefits

• reassurance that the Quality council has been independently assessed and is therefore capable of working together with the principal authority to deliver services on their behalf or in partnership
• reliable evidence of the competence of the Quality council, through the four year re-assessment process
• proof that the Quality council is willing and able to be fully involved in local issues (this will be particularly valuable when implementing new initiatives)
• stronger partnership working, with the town or parish council bringing their local perspective and experience to the table. Quality councils should be more innovative and pro-active and will want to share their ideas and experiences
• increased confidence that the Quality council is representative, competent, well managed, and thus capable of taking on and sustaining an enhanced role.

The Quality Criteria
Quality status requires a council to show that it is:
representative of the whole community, communicates with its residents and is properly managed and responsible.
To apply for Quality status, the council must submit an application form, together with the required supporting evidence for the ten sections;
* Electoral mandate,
* Qualifications of the Clerk,
* Meetings,
* Communications - Mandatory,
* Communications - Discretionary,
* Annual Reports,
* Accounts,
* Code of Conduct,
* Promoting Local Democracy and Citizenship,
* Training.

It was resolved at the Annual Meeting of the Council to apply for Quality Council Status, it is anticipated this will take approximately 20-30 hours to compile the portfolio for submission.

Village Centre Regeneration Project
The cross which has been chosen is similar in design to the original cross dating from 1911. The cross will be manufactured from Stretton white stone. The original stone base will remain in place, but will be professionally cleaned to integrate with the new top section. The new cross is now complete at the stone masons, but there have been unexpected delays with the installation which are out of our control. It is dearly hoped the project will be completed very shortly.

Ms Sharon Wetherall
Clerk to Metheringham Parish Council
0800 6343307
clerk@metheringham.org.uk