Parish Council Chairman's Report May 2009
Apologies from Mr Holmes for not being a the meeting, many thanks to Mrs Miller for chairing this meeting in my absence and the Parish Council AGM to follow.
It has been a busy and eventful year for the Parish Council and I would like to thank my fellow parish councillors, ward councillors and the Parish Clerk for all the hard work they have put in during the year as well as the police – especially PCSO Elaine Buddle.
We are delighted to have an Olympic medallist in Eye Louis Smith – a wonderful example to our young people. Eye Parish Council setting up an award in his name, with his assistance, for the young people in this village.
It was an honour for me, as Chairman, to present John Bartlett with the Eye Citizens Awards on behalf of the Parish Council. John was our Ward Councillor for many years and was a very good friend to Eye and its people.
The Youth Club was under threat of closure but with pressure from the Parish Council and the Ward Councillors it remains open and well used. Thanks to those who worked hard on this and to those who continue to work at the youth club with our young people often in their own time.
It was good to see the young people involved in the litter pick in April – well done.
I believe we are very lucky in the policing we receive in Eye – especially from PCSO Buddle. She is a very dedicated officer and is dedicated to Eye – often attending Parish Council meetings in her own time after been on duty all day. She is accessible to everyone and deals with any problems/incidents with tact, diplomacy and is fair but firm. She regularly visits the Nature Reserve, patrols around the school and holds regular surgeries at the Leeds Hall for parishioners and liaises with the Parish Clerk.
The football clubs continue to flourish, there are 5 junior teams that play weekly and usually train once a week – another good example of our youth using their time positively and thanks to all those adults involved, again giving up their own time.
Congratulations to the senior first team for winning their division title and promotion to the next division.
The Parish Plan Sub-Group continue to meet on a regular basis – this has representatives from the Parish Council and other Community Groups in the village supported by officer from the City Council. This is a long process with the aim of providing a plan for the future for Eye.
Eye Community Space Group was set up this year and its chairman is Dave Richmond. The Group have obtained £100,000 Grant Funding to improve the open area at the rear of the Community Centre – levelling, wildflower area, picnic area etc to make the area accessible to the community and used all year round. Work is due to start later in the summer – many thanks to Dave and his group.
The new Garden Centre development is well underway and several of our members have visited the site. It is due to open in February 2010.
The village sign has been renovated and looks very good and money from the Community Leadership fund was used to refurbish this. £5,000 is given to each Ward Councillor from the City Council each year to be spent on community groups/projects within their wards. Others to benefit from this in this year were the Carpet Bowls Club, the Social Bowls Club, The Luncheon Club, The Junior Football Club and the Community Centre.
Our Village magazine – Eyescan is produced on a quarterly basis and is a very informative publication which the Parish Council use and thanks to all involved with it.
The Parish Council now have its own website and the agendas and minutes are posted on it together with other items of interest.
We had three new members co-opted to the Parish Council last July – Nigel Briers, Andy Goodsell and Amanda Walls and they have settled into the team very well and take an active part in the council.
We now have two further vacancies which are being advertised.
Our thanks to Dale McKean and Graham Murphy who are the outgoing members.
The A1073 continues to be a problem for tour village
but with the new road being build the end is in site – completion is
expected to be late next summer.
The carriageway from Eye Green to
Other improvements this year have seen the Cemetery Gates refurbished, the rear of the churchyard improved, the church wall repaired and rendered – grafittied but immediately redone and the allotment roadway repaired.
Thank you everyone for you support and lets continue to work together to make our village what it should be.
Michael Holmes
Eye Parish Council Chairman