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June 4, 2011
Metheringham Parish Council News Summer 2011
Due to a recent Community Governance (Parish Review Exercise) the Parish Council now consists of thirteen Councillors. At the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 17 May 2011, Cllr Dr Allen was re-elected as Chairman and Cllr Ford was elected as Vice Chairman, as Cllr Roland has stood down from the position, due to work commitments. The Chairman thanked Cllr Roland for his support. Cllr Ford was also re-appointed as the Responsible Financial Officer and John Wood was re-appointed as the Internal Auditor. As Clerk I would like to thank the Chairman, Responsible Financial Officer and all the members for their support and help during the last four years.
Annual Village Meeting
The 2011 Annual Village meeting took place on Tuesday 19 April. We would like to thank everyone who attended the event and made the evening a great success. The Chairman gave a presentation detailing of the Parish Council achievements over the past four years and thanked the four retiring members Cllr Mrs Honisett, Cllr Waddington, Cllr Mrs Webb and Cllr Mrs Creasey for all their commitment and efforts to the village during their time as Parish Councillors. This year's guest speaker was Richard Greener from the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership; he gave an excellent and informative presentation. The village groups gave some varied, interesting and entertaining presentations: Metheringham Scouts/Cubs and Beavers, Metheringham Methodist Church, Metheringham & District Swimming Pool Association, Mission X Youth Group, Metheringham Amateur Dramatic, Metheringham & Dunston LIVES, Metheringham Senior Citizens and MACLA. The 2010/2011 Parish Council Annual Report will be delivered to your door very soon, so please take the time to read it and find out what the parish council have achieved for the village. We would like to hear your views. If you have any suggestions or comments regarding the Annual Village Meeting please contact the Clerk.
Armed Forces Day - Flag Raising Ceremony
A flag raising ceremony to support Britain's third national Armed Forces Day has been arranged by Metheringham Parish Council. The Armed Forces Day Flag will be raised at Metheringham War Memorial Garden, High Street, Metheringham, on MONDAY, 20th June. At 10.15am, guests will be welcomed and at 10.20am prayers. The flag will be raised at 10.30am to honour the British Armed Forces, past, present and future. Please come along to show your support.
Best Kept Village Competition
The Parish Council entered the village into this competition last year and we achieved third place in the large village's category, which was a great achievement. We have entered again this year and hope to be placed in the first three again. With your help we can achieve this. One of the areas where we were marked down was the lack of flowers/hanging baskets, so it's time to get planting!
New Council
As I have already said, four experienced members retired from the council at the elections. Four new members were elected uncontested, I would like to welcome them to the council, they are Cllr Mrs Joanna Finegan, Cllr Mrs Fran Pembery, Cllr Paul Saffin and Cllr Mrs Sally Wilson. There were two vacancies left to fill and following procedures set by NKDC, notices were placed around the village and on the website for the co-option of two members. At the Annual Meeting of the Council on 17 May 2011 a vote was taken to co-opt, so I would also like to welcome Cllr Mrs Margaret Kristen and Cllr Mrs Linda Lacey.
New Equipment
The Parish Council are constantly getting requests from the children of the village for better sports facilities; for example multi use games area and skate park on the playing fields. The Parish Council has some Sec 106 monies (currently held by NKDC), from the developers of Barley Close and this has to be used to improve outside facilities in the village. The Parish Council has agreed to purchase and install a 'multi goal end' on theplaying field; the delivery of this is imminent. Following requests for further seating in the Prince's Street play park it has also been agreed that two picnic benches will be installed. A new finger post sign has been purchased to give directions to the Bowls Club. This will be erected in the Prince's Street car park adjacent to the footpath leading to the Bowls Club.
Parish Council Staff and Contract Staff
The team of staff that do an excellent job to keep the village clean and tidy are Paul Chambers - Village handyman/gardener and Pavilion Caretaker, Anita Ford - Public Toilet Caretaker, Yvonne Gash - Shiregate Play Park Warden, David Honisett - Village Caretaker and Michael Cummins - Contracted Parish Dog Warden.
Parish Council Surgery
We have been running the Parish Council surgeries in the Info-Links office for the past three years, but unfortunately due to financial constraints North Kesteven District Council have closed the office on Saturday mornings. If you have any questions or queries for the Parish Council, relating to any issues or suggestions you have about the village, please drop in on one of the dates below. The forthcoming surgeries will be held on Sat 4 June / 3 Sept and 3 Dec, at the PAVILION, Prince's Street, (next to the school and swimming pool) Metheringham 10.00am - 12.00pm.
Recreation fields
Unfortunately after six years of negotiations no agreement has been reached regarding a new lease for the use of the Star & Garter field by the Metheringham Primary School. The Parish Council fully sympathizes with the school regarding the difficulties it experiences when using the demised land for recreation purposes.
Ms Sharon Wetherall (Clerk) 0800 6343307 Clerk@metheringham.org.uk
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