Borwick Press Report Jan 2018

At the recent Borwick Parish Meeting AGM, Lisa Vines, Election Manager from Lancaster City Council, came to talk about the Community Governance Review which occurs every 10-15 years in the district.  After much discussion it was decided that Borwick would remain as an individual Parish Meeting and all present voted unanimously to maintain the status quo. There was little to report on recent planning issues as planning enforcement notices issued with regard to the Villa last year are still being resisted by the site owners and have now gone to appeal and no new planning notifications have been received.  With regard to highways issues some repair of potholes has taken place around the village and most of the gullies have been cleaned which has improved the drainage in many areas.  More complicated issues at Borwick Hall would benefit from a County Council site visit and Councillor Williamson agreed to progress this.  The Treasurer reported that the balance of account stands at £484 in the bank and £1318 in the Building Society.  St Mary’s Church asked for a donation of £500 towards their development project and Joyce Tombs gave a report on the ambitious plans drawn up including an extension, toilet facilities and new heating and the likely costs of the project were also discussed.  All present voted to donate £500 to the renovation and it was also agreed to contribute £500 towards the cost of new staging at the Memorial Hall.  The Clerk’s honorarium was also increased to £100 per annum to cover the rising cost of printer ink. The Meeting voted to adopt the NALC model financial regulations and also unanimously voted to set the council precept at £1000 for the coming year.  The Chairman (Dave Scott), Clerk (Claire Helme) and Treasurer (Sue Dowdall) were also duly re-elected for a further year.  The Clerk reported that the balance of account for the Poors Land Charity stands at £1927 with the rent received in July and that there had been no requests for funding from the charity for the last two years.  The annual village litter pick was set for Saturday 3 March at 10am and the date of the next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 16 May at 7.30pm in Borwick Hall.