AT THE Nether Wallop Annual Assembly, attended by Cllr Edward Souter (chairman) and Cllrs Karen Addison, Ian Carpenter, Jon Cotterell, Ross James, Helen James, the footpaths officer and the clerk, together with six members of the public, the following topics were discussed:

Neighbourhood Watch — PCSO Catherine Williams report: Last year there was one dwelling burglary; three shed break-ins; one incident of staddlestones being stolen from the front of a property in Five Bells Lane and finally possible incidents of poaching near to the village.

Thefts from motor vehicles are beginning to increase again in the area, this often occurs during the day time when vehicles are left parked unattended at a local beauty spot car park. Our current community priority is drug use.

Test Valley Borough Councillor’s report: Read out on behalf of Cllr Peter Boulton, for the third consecutive year Test Valley Band D customers will have a tax increase of 3.7 per cent, equating to another rise of £5 following a number of years of no increases. All the departments of the borough council have made considerable efficiency savings.

Property investments and business initiatives are yielding about seven per cent returns.

The borough council received Wessex Area awards for ‘Best All-Round Business Friendly Council’ and an award for outstanding commitment to supporting small businesses.

Proposed ward boundary changes in this central Test Valley area to be renamed the Mid Test Ward. As well as Stockbridge this new ward will include Broughton, Longstock, Houghton, Kings Somborne, Lockerley, the Wallops, Mottisfont and the Tytherleys. This will result in an increased workload for the three elected members in 2019.

Nether Wallop, like other rural villages, have had several challenging and often locally unpopular planning applications and decisions this past year. Borough councillors have done their best to help and mitigate proposals where possible. The Test Valley enforcement process is being employed to force the owner of the Five Bells to undertake immediate remedial work. The borough council will step-in and undertake the work if there is no prompt action by the owner.

The footpaths officer added that the response to the fly tipping and highways issue in Ducks Lane had been excellent. The chairman was grateful for the borough council’s financial support to the hall.

Wallop Primary School: Janet Pettitt, the parish council’s liaison with the school will post the headteacher report on the council’s website. Janet requested that the council reinstate their sponsored annual ‘Pupil Improvement Prize’. This was unanimously agreed.

Footpaths: The footpaths officer presented a comprehensive report which is also on the council’s website.

It has been a good year with ‘Rights of Way’ staying in relatively good order given the resources available to keep them clear.

Finance: Helen James as the responsible financial officer (RFO) presented her report as follows: Draft accounts for the year to 31 March 2018 have been prepared. The accounts have not yet been audited. The draft accounts show an excess of income over expenditure of £177.83. Of this £1451.18 relates to the Village Green fund from donations and the net income from the renting of marquees. It is also worth noting that the pavilion underwent a thorough refurbishment during the year at a total cost of £3,777. Of this £1,850 was met from the general fund with the balance being funded from donations received from the May Fair. The general fund has risen by £653.65 to £12,194.68. The council has budgeted for break-even to maintain reserves. This balance is within the recommended level of being equal to the annual precept which has been set at £13,500 for the forthcoming year.

Highways: Ross James reported that after many years of planning and rounds of public consultations, Hampshire County Council have finally secured the funding and go ahead for the long-awaited traffic calming scheme for Station Road and Salisbury Lane, Over Wallop. Despite funding challenges faced by local government, the parish council successfully secured additional funding from the county council through the Lengthsman scheme, which has been used to support maintenance of local footpaths and minor highways. This year’s severe inclement weather and snow over the winter months has left the county’s roads in a parlous state. Councillors have continued to report issues and potholes to Hampshire Highways.

Village Green report: Read out on behalf of Viv Blandford, chairman of the Village Green Working Group. Secretary, Janet Pettitt; marquees, Trevor Johnson; mowing rota, David Greenwood; Ian Carpenter, parish council link. All supported by John Duckworth, Paul Beeson, Matthew Osmond, Peter Preston and Mark Lovell. Two new members Matthew and Mark are to advise on weed and feed requirements for The Green.

The green continues to be enjoyed by villagers, dog walkers and lots of passing visitors who are attracted by its beautiful setting.

Janet is now producing detailed minutes of meetings for distribution to Committee members and the Parish Council to clarify the Village Green team activities and requests.

Events over the year: On his retirement as chairman of the working group Richard Osmond was presented with a painting of The Green. Carols on the green in December were well supported. Thanks were given to Piers Bingley for arranging the event and to Jack Linstead for switching on the lights. Although ‘Curry and Rounders’ did not take place in 2017 after nine successful years, a new team of parishioners have volunteered to organise it this year. Events requiring marquees were as busy as ever with 17 marquee events during the year. Damage occurred to one marquee when the wind took it across The Green. However spare parts and canvasses have been procured and it is now repaired.

Viv replaced the faulty floodlight and added a second lower level light to illuminate the corner bridge.

David pruned the willow yurt (‘Wigloo’) and trimmed the low level branches of the willow trees. Daffodils were planted in the area next to Pat Brown’s fence and a few other locations. John cleared the flints that were damming the brook. There was a committee event to tidy the roadway over Stewart’s Bridge to enhance the visual approach to The Green.

Playing fields: Ian Carpenter reported that the pavilion has had a refurbishment and some minor plumbing repairs costing approximately £3,500. The work included all windows and doors inside and out, internal floors, walls and ceiling painted. Some additional repairs were undertaken in the porch area. It is intended to obtain quotes for preserving the wooden outside walls within the next couple of months. This work will keep the pavilion available for use by the village and football players for the next five years without significant expenditure.

The playing field and hedges continue to be well maintained by their contractor. Thanks were given to Gary Richardson for his work on the football pitch. A number of loads of hard core have been purchased for the car parking area which was becoming very boggy.

The ‘play area’ continues to provide a well-used facility for younger residents, however following a recent (self) inspection, it is clear that they will need to undertake a refurbishment to ensure appropriate ‘Health and Safety’. The borough council have been contacted for a visit by the responsible person for council owned and operated playgrounds, for advice.

The tennis court is well used and provides a reasonable income. Some work needs to be done to repair the outside fence and cut back the surrounding hedges. W Cullen was thanked for his work on the playground.

Nether Wallop Village Hall: The chairman reported that the hall has successfully completed its first full financial year having first opened in January last year. It is owned by the Nether Wallop New Hall Village Trust and will remain so for the foreseeable future. During the year one of the tasks and challenges was to sort out how the hall should be managed and run. The outcome has been an agreement whereby the trust has handed over the running of the hall to the parish council using a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ to run the hall for the benefit of the parishioners. A lot of work has been done setting up a booking system, maintenance program and ensuring that all the correct licenses and regulatory documents are in place.

Financially the hall has just fallen short of breaking even in the last financial year. However, it has provided a community asset for activities and events in the village which the old hall was no longer able to do. A regular program of bookings means that the hall has been well used and provides a great venue for all kinds of events The indoor bowls winter league was a great success. The monthly film nights are a great success and thanks were given to Ian and Sally Courcoux for organising them.

In conclusion it has been a really successful year for the new village hall and I would like to thank all those people who have put so much time and effort into making the hall such a success. The chairman added that Charles Rogers has now taken on being chairman of the trust from Gen Tim Toyne Sewell.

Chairman’s address: The chairman thanked all councillors for their time and effort. All the various activities/management of village projects mentioned during the meeting do not happen without an amazing community spirit. The clerk had resigned in March and he was grateful to the previous clerk for coming back. He gave special thanks to Helen James who has taken on the role of RFO.

Points from the floor: Tim Toyne Sewell wished to thank the chairman and parish councillors for all the work they do on behalf of the village.

Pippa Grob