May 2022
Thimbleby Annual Parish Meeting
Chairman’s report 2022
Getting back to a semblance of normality following 2 disruptive years of pandemic lockdowns, during which we have not held these meetings. The good news is that we managed to carry on council business as usual thanks to technology and adaptability on the part of all concerned.
Untimely death in February of our long standing clerk Chris Newton was a shock; our thoughts are of course with her family. Since then we have run a very successful recruitment campaign, and we have a very experienced new Clerk in place; a warm welcome to Mr Andrew Everard.
In autumn 2021 the council stated its top 3 priorities as being:
- asset maintenance
- speeding and traffic,
- village hall.
Traffic & speeding. The council has received 3 letters from residents on the general subject of traffic and speeding; and 18 letters requesting we purchase and deploy a speed indicating device. We recognise the issue and will use it to help us direct funding in the future. We have requested an Archer survey, however for reasons unknown the authorities who organise this appear unwilling at this time.
Asset Maintenance. The parish council successfully applied for grants to enable two maintenance projects to be funded:
- Harper Garth Bus Shelter - works have now completed and the shelter has a new roof and woodwork; once again fit for purpose. Funded by LCC
- Village Pump - the brick surrounding walls are due to be raked out and repointed in lime mortar. Funded by ELDC councillors grant.
We also recognise that the 3 public benches are in need of maintenance. The notice boards will require attention shortly.
Broadband - The Council have discussed the issue around broadband speeds (or lack thereof) in the village with the team at LCC. At one point the upgrade looked like it may happen in late 2021, but project changes now suggest 2023. There could be the opportunity to run a “voucher scheme” application, which might speed up the process; a village co-ordinator would be required to manage this.
New website - During 2020 we were mandated to upgrade our existing website capability to a version which better caters to visually impaired users. Despite this being an unforeseen level of effort and expenditure I’m grateful to all those involved in planning and executing the migration successfully. This does mean that we have the opportunity to use photographs of the village on the website; if you have photo’s you are proud of and would wish to see used on the website please let us know.
Grateful to: the unsung village residents who keep both their own property in good order, but also public areas, for instance by way of litter picking, cleaning the phone box, weeding the village hall front garden, cleaning the church, spreading rock salt.
We do always need more resident engagement; we believe we have a reasonable idea of the needs of the village, but if you engage with us we can increase our confidence that we are doing the right things.
Finally grateful to my fellow councillors, some of whom also carry other responsibilities in support of village life…
Councillor Mark Jamieson
Chair of Thimbleby Parish Council