Chairman: Mr. Steven Potter Clerk: Mrs. Jane Potter

The meeting was also attended by:

Mr. Kevin Ascott, Brian Oliver, Mrs. Sue Owen, Mr. Mervyn Perriman, Mrs. Maureen Stock and

Mr. Gavin Strathern (Parish Councillors).

Mr. Don Nowell (Chairman, Purleigh Village Hall Management Committee)

Mr. Bernard Steeples (Purleigh Playing Field Association)

and seven members of the public.

Apologies were received from Mrs. Dawn Dack (Headteacher, Purleigh Community Primary School) and Mr. Keith Gower (Parish Councillor) who were unable to attend due to prior professional commitments.

The Chairman extended a very warm welcome to everyone present and thanked them for attending.

The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 19^th April 2007, which had been approved at the Parish Council meeting held on 11^th May 2007 (Minute 12/05/07), were distributed amongst those present. There were no matters arising from the Minutes to discuss.

Reports were then given by representatives of the following organisations regarding their organisations’ activities during the past year:

The Chairman reported that the Parish Council had started the year last May with elections, but as only five candidates had been nominated, four vacancies had had to be filled by co-option. Fortunately, only four names had been put forward and consequently the Parish Council had been pleased to welcome Maureen Stock, Keith Gower and Mervyn Perriman onto the council, and to welcome Lawrence Cooper back onto the council.

The Parish Council had held its normal twelve monthly meetings at which councillors had made 87 attendances out of a possible 100, with 4 members attending every meeting. District Councillors John Archer and John Sears had regularly attended meetings, as had PCSO Stephen Butler. The Parish Council was grateful for the time they had taken listening to Members’ concerns and in keeping the council informed.

The Chairman reported that highway matters had taken up a lot of council time during the year. In the interests of highway safety the Parish Council had worked with the County Council to try to improve the parking situation outside Purleigh Community Primary School, only for the agreed scheme to be deferred to the next financial year due to a lack of funds. The Parish Council had also spent much time getting measures proposed by Mundon Parish Council reversed, as these had directed all heavy goods vehicles through Purleigh instead of Mundon. The Parish Council had been unsuccessful thus far in getting speed-calming measures adopted in Chelmsford Road, Barons Lane and Hackmans Lane, although the long-awaited Speed Indication Device had at last appeared in Fambridge Road. The Parish Council had also held its annual meeting with the local highways officer, during which various potholes, drainage problems, overgrown hedges, narrow and uneven pavements, and defective signs in the parish had been drawn to his attention.

As always, one of the Parish Council’s largest expenses during the year had been the provision and maintenance of the playing field and its associated facilities. Vandalism had been rife. Windows, guttering and down-pipes had been broken, the rear doors in the hall had been smashed, the verandah had been set fire to, and the flagpole rope and weight had been removed. The Chairman reported that despite the hard work of the Purleigh Playing Field Association, who had painted the exterior of the pavilion, more graffiti had been daubed on the building almost as soon as they had finished. At this juncture the Chairman thanked Mr. Mick Elliott, who was present, for painting over the graffiti once again. Moles had also been a problem on the playing field during the year, but action had been taken to remove them. The expense of all this, along with general maintenance, running costs, grass cutting and insurance, meant that the playing field had cost almost £5,000 during the year, which fortunately was somewhat less than it had cost in recent years.

During the year the Parish Council had made grants to Purleigh School to subsidise the cost of swimming for Purleigh children, to the Knightswood Satellite Service who provided subsidised travel for a day out once a month for Purleigh’s senior citizens, to the Village Hall towards renewing the kitchen flooring, to the Essex Air Ambulance and to Farleigh Hospice. The Parish Council had also continued to employ Andrew Macmorland to cut the grass in the churchyard, cemetery, village hall and opposite the shop and the Parish Council acknowledged the superb job he did.

During the year Members’ had commented on 53 planning applications as well as on a review of Purleigh’s conservation area. The Parish Council had also lobbied the County Council successfully to reinstate the mobile library stop at The Bell. The Parish Council had continued to provide allotments, and had also installed a new notice board at Pump Corner, for which it had gratefully received grants from the District and County Council.

The Chairman concluded his report by recording the council’s sincere thanks to Brian and Rose Dilworth for keeping the pavilion clean and tidy, to Jim Ovel for undertaking the many, often unpleasant, jobs around the parish which usually went unnoticed but without which Purleigh would be a lot less appealing, to John and Jill Challis for keeping the War Memorial garden bright and colourful throughout the year, and to the Clerk for keeping the Parish Council on the straight and narrow, dealing with the ever increasing burden new legislation placed on the council, and responding to numerous consultation documents.

To comply with the Parish Council’s duty to promote racial equality, the Chairman also reported the following ethnic monitoring data. The Parish Council had one employee, white British, who had not applied for training or promotion during the year. No patterns of inequality arising from this data could be detected by the council.

As Mr. John Archer and Mr. John Sears (District Council Ward Members) were both unable to attend the meeting, a District Council report was not given.

As Tony England (Police Constable 2999, Neighbourhood Policing Team, Purleigh) and PCSO Stephen Butler were both unable to attend the meeting, a report on local policing was not given.

The Chairman gave Mrs. Dawn Dack’s apologies (Headteacher, Purleigh Community Primary School), as she was not able to attend the Annual Parish Meeting due to other commitments.

He did however read out a written report submitted by Mrs. Dack for the meeting’s information. Mrs. Dack’s report commenced by thanking the Parish Council for its continued support with the swimming pool at Purleigh Primary School, which was still of great benefit to the children and provided them with a wonderful life skill.

The School’s major event during the year had been the visit by Ofsted and the publication of the Inspector’s subsequent report. The school had been awarded Grade 2 for overall effectiveness with the report commenting that:

"Purleigh Community Primary is a good school with some outstanding features. Parents agree and in the words of one, 'Purleigh Community School is a wonderful school which has numerous qualities that make it so. The school focuses on developing the whole child, and pupils are cared for and supported outstandingly well. This makes an excellent impact on their personal development and well-being, which is outstanding. Pupils develop a real awareness of their role as citizens in the community and one parent wrote, 'My child is always scolding me for wasting electricity and not re-cycling! Pupils are kind, considerate, mature young people who never fail to recognise the rights of others and their own responsibilities.

Pupils achieve above average standards and make good progress during their time at Purleigh. Children enter Reception with levels of attainment that are generally below those expected. They leave at the end of Year 6 with standards that are significantly above average. Pupils do particularly well in writing and make exceptional progress because leadership of English is excellent. Progress is not quite as good in mathematics and science but the school is already aware of this and has appropriate strategies in place to remedy the situation. Pupils use their writing skills effectively across the curriculum. This cross-curricular style of working is a particularly effective component of the outstanding curriculum, which also benefits greatly from the excellent links the school has forged with other educational institutions and agencies. A particular strength of the curriculum is art. The school is adorned with a superb array of high quality three-dimensional art work.

Teaching is good overall because teachers take time to plan interesting and enjoyable work for the pupils. They make good use of interactive whiteboards, which pupils appreciate. Assessment is particularly good because high quality professional development for teachers has resulted in a common understanding of, and agreement about what levels pupils are working at. Marking and academic guidance are exemplary. However, teachers do not always ensure that pupils are given sufficient time to work independently or to investigate and explore things for themselves, particularly in science and mathematics.

Outstanding leadership and management keep a finger on the pulse of the school at all times and leaders are pro-active in seeking out ways to make improvements and raise standards. The particularly outstanding leadership of the headteacher has ensured excellent improvement since the time of the last inspection. Writing was a weakness but is now a strength and all other issues have been tackled effectively. The knowledgeable governors do an excellent job and hold the school to account well for its performance."

Mrs Dack’s report concluded that the school was delighted with the Oftsted report as it had identified how good a school Purleigh was. It was noted that a full copy of the report was available at www.ofsted.gov.uk.

In response to a question from the floor, Mrs. Owen, explained that Purleigh School was well subscribed, as it took pupils from a wide geographical area and not just from Purleigh.

Mr. Potter, a Trustee of the Foundation, advised the meeting that the Trustees had met on 25^th February 2008. The investments had generated an income of £354 during 2007, which had been available for disbursement. Of this £50 had been awarded to Purleigh School, £40 to the Sunday School, £50 to the ‘Small Saints’ group, and a £40 book token had been given to each of three students going on to further education. The remaining income had been reinvested as capital.

Mr. Don Nowell (Chairman, Purleigh Village Hall Management Committee) commenced his report by paying tribute to Tom Potter, one of the committee’s longest serving members, who had died in January. Tom had served both as Chairman and Treasurer of the Village Hall Committee, and had made a huge contribution to the success of the organisation. Tom’s loss was being keenly felt by the committee, who were indebted to him for his contribution over many years.

Mr. Nowell reported that the committee had recently installed a new kitchen floor and thanked the Parish Council for its grant of £250 towards it. It had also had some new electrical sockets installed so that the quilters could use the hall for their activities. Vandalism had been a problem during the year and after a window had been broken, a ‘No Ball Games’ rule had been invoked on the advice of the Police.

Mr. Nowell explained that in the year ending 31^st December 2007, the Village Hall had been used on 370 occasions compared with 299 occasions in the previous year. With the quilters joining the regular user groups who hired the Village Hall, Mr. Nowell was hopeful that the hall should be hired on even more occasions next year.

Mr. Steeples, Chairman of the Purleigh Playing Field Association commenced his report by explaining that the PPFA continued to work to raise funds for the playing field facilities and to support sport and leisure in the parish. The PPFA worked closely with the clubs who used the playing field, although some of these failed to see the PPFA’s relevance since all administration for fees and bookings had been taken over by the Parish Council, as required by law, in 1996.

The organisation’s fund raising had been curtailed since 2005 when it had been unable to raise enough support to run an annual fête. Nevertheless, the PPFA had run two successful fund raising events during the year, namely the Race Night at Latchingdon Football Club and the Murder Mystery evening in Purleigh Village Hall. Mr. Steeples explained that the PPFA had held the Race Night in Latchingdon Football Club because it had a large hall and an independent licence, which enabled it to charge reasonable refreshment prices, which Purleigh was not able to do since the Licensing Act 2003 had come into effect. Following last year’s successful event, the PPFA were running another Race Night in the same venue on 9^th May 2008 and hoped it would be equally successful. The PPFA had been fortunate enough to receive sponsorship from several local and regional companies, which provided a significant part of the funds raised. The evening also provided a good opportunity to chat with neighbours and friends who might not otherwise be seen in these days of busy workloads, long distance commutes and a lack of local events.

Mr. Steeples reported that the Murder Mystery events were a chance for the PPFA to provide entertainment and to try to help another worthy village cause, namely the Village Hall Committee who probably struggled even more that the PPFA did in getting volunteers to come forward to help. This year’s Murder Mystery evening would be held on 11^th October 2008.

Of the playing field user groups, the Cricket Club continued to flourish due in large part to the work put in by the Chairman, Mick Elliott, and a few loyal officers. This year and for the next couple of years the club had been lucky to find a new sponsor in Mr. Nick Brown’s Seabro scaffolding company. Mr. Brown had played cricket for Purleigh in his youth and had always maintained strong Purleigh connections. Mr. Steeples reported that the club needed all the help it could get in the face of escalating ground hire and equipment costs and the need for pitch preparation and maintenance.

The Brownies, which had been run by Karen Elliott sometimes single-handedly for years due to a lack of helpers was now facing a new problem. Having found new help, Mrs. Elliott was struggling to attract new Brownies. This was a great shame and the PPFA would hate to see another activity for youngsters fall by the way side after all Mrs. Elliott’s hard work over the years.

The Croquet Club seemed to be thriving, although Mr. Steeples understood that it too had been struggling to find support to keep its lawns cut as required. The PPFA rarely heard from the Football Club, other than to liaise with the cricketers when the seasons overlapped, as they inevitably did, with the resultant need to erect and remove goals and roll the field after winter damage. The PPFA also saw little or nothing of the Folk Dance Club or the Whist Drive.

Mr. Steeples concluded his report by thanking the committee members and friends who continued to come along and support the PPFA in its work to support the local community for now and for the future. The PPFA was rightly proud of its achievements over the years and hoped to be able to continue to support the Parish Council in improving the facilities and opportunities for local people. The PPFA’s current target was to further improve the playing field facilities by redecorating the interior of the pavilion to match the fine extension it achieved a couple of years ago. The PPFA would also consider supporting other worthwhile projects to make improvements for the village and its inhabitants.

The Chairman thanked Mr. Steeples for his report and repeated the Parish Council’s thanks to Mick Elliott and the PPFA working party who had painted the exterior of the pavilion. Their hard work had been greatly appreciated.

Mr. Elliott reported that dog fouling had become a persistent problem on the playing field. The Chairman urged anyone who witnessed a dog owner failing to clear up after their pet to come forward as a witness, as the Parish Council wouldn’t hesitate to urge the District Council to prosecute, as had been successfully done in the past. There ensued a brief discussion about whether or not dog fouling was also a problem in the churchyard.

In response to a question about Maldon District Council’s parish project fund, the clerk reported that details should be published in May 2008, but that it was unlikely that applications for redecoration or general maintenance costs would be eligible for funding. In response to a question from Mr. Steeples, the Chairman confirmed that a sum had been set aside in the precept 2008/2009 towards redecoration costs.

There were no questions from the floor.

The Chairman concluded by thanking the speakers and members of the public for attending the meeting and Mrs. Owen, Mrs. Stock, Mrs. Potter and the Clerk for the refreshments.

There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 7.55 p.m.

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Refreshments were then served.

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