2018/19 Chair's Report
Chairwoman’s Report 2018-2019
Good evening and thank you to all of you who have taken the time to come to Folkingham
Parish Council’s Annual Parish Meeting.
It has been a mainly positive year where a huge amount has been achieved by the Parish
Council and beyond.
We live in a picturesque part of the world and now have 3 new welcome gateways to aptly
introduce visitors and commuters to our beautiful village. This has been part of our road
safety scheme, so the signs also ask drivers to ‘Please Drive Safely’ through our village. We
also have more passive 30mph speed signs which we are using with impact in various areas
of the village.
The Folkingham Fayre and Dog Show in July last year was a sunny and enjoyable day where
around £400 was raised for the local community. This money was divided between the
Parish Council and Millennium Green Committee.
Cllr Clark finally cracked the grass cutting code to enable us to ensure that all areas of the
village were accounted for and mown throughout the summer.
Cllr Robb ably assisted by Clerk Walken was able to obtain a grant to replace the old swings
in the children’s playground. This was a huge amount of effort on their part and I know that
the children appreciate it! There will also be new bins at the playing fields to help keep it
tidy and litter free.
Cllr Cameron – Clarke took charge of the villages 2 defibrillators ensuring that they were in
good working order and contained up to date equipment. Cllr Cameron-Clarke has also been
instrumental in setting up the village as a ‘No Cold Calling’ area which is a work in progress.
We were sorry to see him stand down from the council in April and thank him for the time
and effort he has put into the Village.
I would also like to thank Cllrs Phara Hansen and Kevin Edmeads who also stood down from
the Council this year.
The Councillors are volunteers and so any time residents can offer is always appreciate.
With this in mind I welcome our new members Cllr Booth, Cllr Watson-Grant, and Cllr
Sturrock to the Parish Council. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.
At last years AGM we took time to consider our budget and feel that we have managed to
balance our expenditure well, considering what is necessary with what is fair to spend on
different areas of the village. With additional subsidies slowly being squeezed we find
ourselves in a comfortable situation looking forward. This is mainly down to the outstanding
work of our Clerk Emma Walken.
I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the great community spirit that warms the
heart of our village.
The Pop In Club is now in its 18th year and continues to draw both villagers and those further
afield for a cuppa and a chat in a friendly environment.
Thanks go to those volunteers who arrange the Children’s Christmas Party which continues
to be a sell out success.
Thank you also to those who volunteer to cut hedges, plant trees, cut grass and generally
maintain the villages landscape.
Cheers to Kate and Brian at the New Inn who happily deliver hot meals to elderly members
of the community who are housebound, and, who have held several charitable events in
support of Residents.
The Village Shop changed hands this year. We thank Colin for the support he gave to the
village during his tenancy, and it is really pleasing to see the shops continued success under
the management of Naomi and Gemma, and the community spirit they have shown in
making it an affordable and friendly place to visit.
The Parish Council has made real efforts this year to communicate with villagers and take a
proactive role in dealing with issues raised appropriately. We hope that this has been
recognised and people feel that we are approachable and will continue to come to us with
comments and concerns.
We have appreciated the continued support of our County Councillor Martin Hill and our
outgoing District Councillor Mike King who have kept us up to date on what is happening at
County and District levels. We hope that our incoming District Councillor Jan Hansen
continues the good work and support shown to the village by Mike King.
In the next year we will continue to work with the Lincolnshire road safety partnership to
maintain the good safety record within our village.
We will also be looking into options to create a Neighbourhood Development Plan for the
Parish. This is a policy document which would give us powers to have a say on decisions
affecting the local area. This would include an updated version of the Village Design
Statement which was written in the mid 1990’s.
Finally, 2019 will see a new summer event in the form of The Folkingham Craft Fair and
Feastival. This year it is a combined event between the Parish Council, Millennium Green
and Village Hall Committees, with all proceeds divided equally.
We look forward to welcoming villagers and visitors to this day long event on Saturday the
13th of July from 10am including craft stalls, tea and cake during the day leading to an
evening of entertainment alongside a feast with bar on the Millennium Green.