Thorner Parish Council

ANNUAL REPORT 201 6

WHO ARE WEAll Parish Council lors are volunteers and have

no links to any political party. We are all

independent and here purely to represent you

and look after the vil lage and its interests.

Council lors are unpaid and the only paid member

of the Council is the clerk who is employed by

the Council .

Parish Councils are elected every 4 years and inThorner we have 9 Council lors. I f there are morethan 9 volunteers then an election takes place.This year was election year and we only had 7volunteers, therefore no election was held. Theremaining 2 seats were fi l led by people whovolunteered after the official election deadline and were subsequently co-opted (voted by theParish Council) on to the Council .

The Parish Council meet at the Methodist Church at 7pm on the first Tuesday of each month

(except for May when the meeting is held on the second Tuesday.) You are very welcome to

attend, indeed the first part of every meeting is set aside for residents to speak and raise any

issues should they so wish.

Your Parish Councillors are:Richard Bould 2893899

Liz de Dombal 28921 59

Gwen Brown 2893372

Val Forster 2892758

Diane Gibbins 2893883

Victoria Goodall-Fawcus 2892258

Dave Johnston 289221 9

Tom Mycock 2892706

John Player 2893372

Your Clerk is:

Barry Riley 2640865thornerparishcouncil@gmail.c

Welcome to our Annual Report. This report aims to show youwhat your Parish Council have been doing on your behalfover the past twelve months and explain how your moneyhas been spent.

FINANCESThe majority of our funding is obtained via the precept,which is a small levy on the Council Tax Bil l of every

household in the vil lage. We also receive occasional

grants from Leeds City Council (LCC), rental income

from the Gardens (al lotments) and occasional donations

from individuals or groups. The summary accounts for

the year 201 5/ 201 6 income and expenditure are shown

later in this document

Good progress has been made over recent months to produce a draft Neighbourhood Plan document.

The work is being undertaken voluntari ly by a steering group consisting of vi l lage residents and members

of the Parish Council . Neighbourhood Development Plans are a recent planning tool which become part of

local authorities' pol icies, on which future planning applications decisions wil l be taken. We have decided

to base much of our evidence on the well regarded Vil lage Design Statement. This wil l ensure the work

done on that is given due legal planning weight. Our Neighbourhood Plan includes policies aiming to

preserve the character of the vil lage, support our green spaces and retain trees as well as heritage and

shaping future development.

Once we have a draft document, this wil l go out for consultation with the community and Leeds City

Council . Should this prove successful, the vil lage wil l then have the opportunity, in a referendum, to

endorse the Neighbourhood Plan, making it a statutory planning document. We hope to move forward with

this over the coming year.

The Parish Council discuss all planning

applications considered by Leeds City

Council within the parish boundary. This

includes all new developments, extensions

and any alteration works to l isted

buildings. We have the abil ity to support,

object or give neutral opinion on each

planning application and have made

comment on a large proportion of

applications over the past year. A number

of residents submitting applications for

developments have attended the Parish

Council meetings to discuss their plans

and make a representation to the council .

In addition, we have also received

representations from those wishing to

object to developments. In our position, we

are able to make comment (as is any

individual within the vil lage) on material

planning matters, such as scale, layout, design and materials,

loss of privacy, loss of l ight, parking, highway

safety, traffic, noise and effect on a listed

building and conservation area.

This year we have been actively seeking to resolve parking issues

on Carr Lane and have been liaising with the Police and residents to

see what can be done to address the problem. The issue of flooding

on Bramham Road and the subsequent damage/ dangers this

causes is also regularly on our agenda and we are hopeful that LCC

wil l be taking action in the near future. Despite numerous accidents

(some fatal) at the Carr Lane/ Wetherby Road junction, LCC have

thus far been reluctant to discuss significant changes to the junction.

However, LCC are now open to discuss options and we plan to hold

talks with Shadwell Parish Council and LCCabout how safety at the

junction could be improved.

The Parish Council is in constant communication with the Highways

agency with regards to repairs required in the vil lage. I f you are

aware of any issues, please make them known to the Parish Council Clerk and we wil l report them for you.

VILLAGE APPEARANCEFirstly our thanks must go to the numerous volunteers who turned out for the Annual Vil lage Tidy Day. The

sheer amount of rubbish that was collected on the day demonstrates how

worthwhile this event is and we could not do it without you.

We are fortunate to have many green spaces and footpaths within the

vil lage and in order to keep the vil lage looking good, we pay a contractor to

cut the grass, trim the hedges and keep the weeds at bay. This year the

contract was awarded to Countrywide Ground Maintenance for the next

three years. We also rely on the local farmers to maintain the footpaths

crossing their land and we thank them for their efforts.

Unfortunately, dog foul ing continues to be a problem throughout the vil lage.

We are actively addressing the issue with additional signs and regular

articles in our Newsletter. We thank those of you who clean up after your

dogs and request that al l dog owners in the vil lage act responsibly in this regard.

PARISH COUNCIL RUN FACILITIES

This popular facil ity is inspected and maintained by the

Parish Council . Each year, money has also been put aside

towards the replacement of the equipment and in 201 6 we

wil l be establishing a Working Group to look at upgrading the

Playground facil ity and the possibi l ity of introducing adult

fitness stations in the vil lage.

The Boules Court and Shelter are maintained by the Parish

Council . The facil ity is always available for use by residents

and is also host to the Annual Boules Tournament.

There are 1 8 Gardens of different sizes available to rent

in the vil lage and while al l plots are currently occupied

as we go to print. We have a waiting l ist and anyone

interested in renting a plot should go to the website for

detai ls.

WHAT ELSE HAVE WE DONE

The Parish Council is keen to ensure that we maintain

facil ities and services in the vil lage. As such, both prior

to and fol lowing the closure of the Post Office in 201 5,

we have been in discussions with the Post Office with

regards to providing some form of Post Office provision in the vil lage. While several different options have

been proposed, due to circumstances outside of our control, nothing firm has been agreed. We wil l continue

to lobby the Post Office to ensure that a service returns to the vil lage as soon as possible.

The Parish Council produces the Thorner Newsletter 3

times a year. This Newsletter provides an update on both

Parish Council and vil lage issues and also allows other

voluntary organisations in the vil lage to provide information

on their planned activities. Any organisation wishing to

include an article in the Newsletter should contact the

Clerk.

Final repairs/modifications have now been made to both

the exterior and interior of the substation building and the

facil ity is now usable as a storage area for the Parish

Council and the Historical Society.

The snow clearing equipment and the volunteers that use it were poised for action during the winter months.

Thankful ly, this year the equipment has had relatively l ittle use. However, our thanks go to those members of

the vil lage who are wil l ing and ready to provide the service when required.

SUPPORT TO OTHER ORGANISATIONSIn addition to funding Parish Council led projects, we also provide financial

support to other organisations and groups within the vil lage. This year we

provided financial support to St Peter’s Church, The Royal British Legion and

the Thorner Youth Fund.

Each year, we set aside money to assist voluntary groups with projects that wil l

directly impact the vil lage. I f you wish to apply for a

grant, please see the website for

more detai ls.

* Section 1 37 of the Local Government Act 1 972 allows local authorities, including Parish Councils, to incur

expenditure which wil l bring direct benefit to their area or any part of it, or to al l or some of its inhabitants.

http: //www.thorner-parish-council .org.uk ANNUAL REPORT 201 6