Ilmington (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Ilmington

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING: The annual parish meeting, chaired by Cllr Tony Wilkins, was attended by all parish councillors, district cllr C J Saint and 27 parishioners.

Mr Greg Woodall, secretary of the new playing field committee, gave a report on the work of the committee. He said there were representatives from anyone with an interest in the playing field, and the new committee had got everyone talking with more co-operation. The main expenditure at present was the sanding, and it had been decided to continue with this for the next three yeas because the condition of the turf was fantastic. The playing field committee was responsible for finding the money for this, which was around £2,300 a year. This would be made up of revenue from the clubs and grants. Additional facilities were being considered, and the committee had decided that it should consider all requirements together, including the car park and pavilion. A feasibility study was being carried out on either extending the present pavilion or building a new one.

Mrs Sheila Ribbans congratulated the parish council for starting the work to implement the new parish plan, and she hoped some people would volunteer to help. People were particularly wanted to help form a natural history group, and possibly create a wildlife habitat in the playing field.

In the absence of Mr R Shurey, the clerk read a report from him on the progress of the defibrillator scheme. He hoped it would start in Ilmington in the first week in July. By then there should be about 35 villagers who had gone through very thorough training given by Coventry and Warwickshire paramedics.

Mr Rob Hawkins, chairman of the village hall, gave an account of its finances. He said that the operating income was down on last year, but that since the parish plan had been produced the hall had been used more. The fixed overheads were much the same as last year, but they had spent about £1,000 more on maintenance and repairs. This included internal decorating, and floor and kitchen repairs. The final balance of £2,700 was lower than they would like.

Mr Richard Leadbetter, treasurer, presented the accounts of the multi-sports club. He said it had 370 members, and had a surplus of around £1,000, with cash in hand of £34,000. This would be needed if the surfaces of the courts had to be replaced, although at present they were perfectly satisfactory. The club had been talking about having another court, and they were extending their hut to include a disabled toilet, and hoped to build a practice wall.

A housing survey had been carried out by the Warwickshire Rural Housing Association, and the clerk read a summary of its findings: 340 forms had been distributed and 129 were returned. This was a return of 38 per cent and 73 per cent of the respondents were in favour of a small housing scheme.

Cllr Saint reported that there had been a 100 per cent turnover of police in the last 12 months. There was now a stable and effective team, led by Sgt Darren Fretwell.