This being the AGM of the Parish Council, the business of electing a Chairman and Vice-Chairman was the first item on the agenda.  Cllr. Roland Cundy was unanimously elected to serve as Chairman for a further year.  Cllr. Eric Cox, who has served as Vice-Chairman for several years, chose to stand down and Cllr. Geoff Markham was elected as Vice-Chairman.  Cllr. Cox was thanked for his hard work, especially with the Youth Project, and was presented with a splendid heather (Erica!).

Following the resignation last month from the Parish Council of Cllr. Gerald Cockcroft, three parishioners had expressed a wish to be co-opted.  All were excellent candidates, but, following a secret ballot, Andrew Pearce was selected.  The Chairman thanked all three candidates and hoped that the unsuccessful ones would apply if a further vacancy occurred. 

Another new face at the meeting was that of our Community Police Support Officer, Jenny Beckford, who will soon become a familiar face around Finchampstead as she begins her induction period.

Due to the ever increasing workload on the clerk, the Parish Council has appointed an assistant clerk, Sarah Smith, who will help mainly with Planning matters and will also man the Parish office on Fridays from 10am till 12 noon.  It is very important that you inform us of your views on planning matters.  The Parish Council gives its opinion to WDC on every planning application for Finchampstead.  However, letters of objection, received by WDC, are not copied to us. If you don’t tell us, we don’t know!

The new street map of Finchampstead is now ready for distribution to every household in the parish.  If you would like to help and fancy a bit of pre-summer exercise, please get in touch with the Parish Office.

The container library continues to be well used, so much so that WDC has agreed to provide the service for a further six months.

Finally, some good news on youth facilities in the area; WDC has conceded that provision is poor and that it may be possible to provide better facilities at the Rides.  This may take time and, of course, there are financial constraints, but it is a step in the right direction brought about by the efforts of Parish Councillors.

In this post-election period, it is worth mentioning that Finchampstead has a genuinely non-political Parish Council, whose members are united in their desire to make our parish a good place in which to live.

Cllr Chris Driver

The date this page was last altered was March 11, 2007.

Copyright © 2003 Finchampstead Parish Council