Newport Parish Council ANNUAL REPORT 2010/2011

                                                                                            

Chairman’s Report April 2010/March 2011

This is the first year of the newly elected parish council and it has been a very busy one. At
the annual meeting, in May 2010, I was elected Chairman, taking over from the safe hands
of Geoff Lumley. He did a sterling job and on behalf of all the members I would like to thank
him. It was the aim of this council to achieve Quality Status and I can tell you we are now the
first one of the new town and parish councils to attain this. This was mainly due to a first
class submission by our clerk, Mrs Maxine Yule and the hard work of members and I thank
them all.

After long discussions, we have now taken over from IW Council all the allotments in
Newport wards and to assist with their smooth running we have taken on a maintenance
man, Mr Alan Tombleson. Alan is well liked and an asset to this council. Also, we have local
forums with tenants to resolve any problems that may arise.

We have continued to use Newport Beacon as our monthly newsletter, which is delivered to
all parish households. We have, with help from Cllr John Ward, upgraded our website; we
also have a Twitter page and a new Blog and would urge people to use them if you can, we
value any input. We also have a new hardwood notice board on the grass area between
Carisbrooke Road and Castle Road, and a parish office at the Riverside Centre.

We have tried to continue to meet each month at different venues within the wards; however
this has not always been possible. These meetings are always, very business-like, but we
would like to see more members of the public. We are always pleased to see a member of
the press and a member of the Safer Neighbourhood Team. The Planning and Licensing
Committee meet fortnightly and we remain the main IW Council consultee on all planning
applications within our wards. They are always discussed at length in a very professional
manner with the help of the Chair, Shirley Smart and excellent advice from Assistant Clerk,
Mr Chris Hougham, thanks go to all.

It was very important to us this year, due to the economical situation of the country, that we
set our budget wisely, therefore we have set a below zero budget at 2010/2011 level. We did
not take over any of the IW council services offered. This year we have given nearly £5,000
of donations to various worthy causes and will continue to support the community in this
way.

In October Newport became the Island's first 10:10 town; this was achieved by encouraging
members of the community to sign up to reducing their carbon footprint by 10% over the
course of a year. This campaign will be incorporated into the Green Towns initiative later this
year. Our thanks go to Cllr Lois Prior for driving this forward. The Christmas Fair goes from
strength to strength and we hope to improve further this year. We have joined with Newport
Carnival, IW Radio and Hamilton’s Fine Foods to make it a full day event. We will be
continuing with the Christmas Poster Competition in an empty shop supported by Mountjoy
and hope to further enhance the Christmas lights.

Finally, many thanks to all members of the Parish Council over the last year for their support,
understanding and good sense of humour that they have give me as my first year as Chair.
But I must say a special thanks to our clerk, Maxine Yule who has helped me with all tasks
during the year. Cllr Peter Whiteman, Chair of the Parish Council, 30th March 2011
Newport Parish Council ANNUAL REPORT 2010/2011

                                                                                          

PARISH COUNCIL ACCOUNTS

The table below follows the receipts and payments for 2010/11 financial year; these are
provisional accounts that have not been audited. Local electors will have the opportunity to
question the auditor about them and full details of how this can be done will be posted on the
parish council website.

The Council Tax precept for 2011/12 is £127,245 which equates to £15.75 per household at
Band D for the year or just 30p per week.

Any questions regarding the accounts can be directed to me by telephone on 297367 or at

the parish office on 559119 or email maxyule@gmail.com
Maxine Yule, Clerk and Responsible Financial officer

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 MARCH 2011
31 March 2010 Current Year end 31st March 2011

RECEIPTS                                                                                                                       £                                  

127,248 Precept 127,257

1,699 Grants 100
736 Repayments 383
0 Allotments 7,708
0 Market stalls at Christmas Fair 145
3,053 VAT Refund 6,577
114 Bank Interest 692
132,850 TOTAL INCOME 142,862
PAYMENTS

53,758 General Administration incl. Salaries, training and audit 60,483

9,656 Communications 4,731
Maintenance of Dog Bins, Xmas Lights,
20,689 and Summer Flowers 29,276
0 Allotments 4,723
12,876 Projects 22,876
1,176 Meeting Room Hire 889
5,770 Donations to Community Activities 4,520
3,128 Elections 11,577
17 S137 0
107,070 TOTAL PAYMENTS 139,075
YEAR END TOTALS

43,750 Balance at 1 April 10 69,530

132,850 Add total receipts 142,862
107,070 Deduct total payments 139,075
69,530 BALANCE AT 31 MARCH 2011 73,317
Newport Parish Council ANNUAL REPORT 2010/2011

                                                                                             

GENERAL INFORMATION Website - www.newportwight.org.uk

Parish Councillors: Contact: Officers:

Peter Whiteman (Chairman) 537215 Maxine Yule, Parish Clerk – 297367

Geoff Lumley (Vice Chair) 825819 Chris Hougham, Assistant Clerk - 525781
Tony Coburn 524076 Alan Tombleson, Allotments - 07580032216
Mary Craven 825819 Parish Office - 559119
Debbie Dixcey 526508
Steven Falla 07989684213
Terry Goldstone 527457
John Hobart 07717716663
Richard Hollis 200986
Julie Jones-Evans 521068
Lois Prior 07890115547
Shirley Smart 523793
John Ward 07846809213
David Whittaker 526760

MEETINGS
The full Parish Council meet on the second Monday of the month, in every month except
August, when no meeting is held. We rotate the locations around the wards and start at
6.45pm. Members of the public are able to participate in meetings and there is 15 minutes
public question time at the start of every meeting, where issues can be raised that are not on
the agenda.
The Planning Committee meet once a fortnight on a Thursday at 6.30pm at the Riverside
Centre. Members of the public and press are welcome at all meetings.

PARISH COUNCILLOR ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS

Of the 12 scheduled full council meetings held between 1st April 10 and 31st March 11
Parish Councillor attendance was as follows:

Current Councillors:
Tony Coburn -12; Mary Craven -12; Debbie Dixcey –10;
Steven Falla -10 (elected 05/10, maximum 10); Terry Goldstone – 9 (elected 05/10,
maximum 10); John Hobart - 7 (elected 05/10, maximum 10);
Richard Hollis – 7 (elected 05/10, maximum 10); Julie Jones-Evans - 8;
Geoff Lumley - 12; Lois Prior – 10 (elected 05/10, maximum 10) Shirley Smart - 12;
John Ward – 9 (elected 05/10, maximum 10) Peter Whiteman –12; David Whittaker - 10

Former Councillors (all a maximum of 2):

Andrew Flambard – 0 (did not stand 05/10); Barbara Foster – 1 (did not stand 05/10);
Alexandra Goldstone - 1 (did not stand 05/10); Jackie Hawkins – 2 (did not stand 05/10);
Peter Humber – 2 (not re-elected 05/10); Clive Page – 2 (not re-elected 05/10);
Hugh Reid – 0 (did not stand 05/10); Melanie Swan – 2 (did not stand 05/10);
Questions relating to this report can be addressed to any of your Parish Councillors or the
Parish Clerk.