Members present:-

Mr C Tolley – Chairman,

Mesdames, S Clarke, M Scott, C Williams,

Messrs, G Ashmore, P Gilbert, L Higginson, G M Brewin (Clerk), J Goldsmith (Footpaths Officer).

Mesdames, B Hickling, (County Councillor), E Clift (District Councillor). Messrs, P Brown, G Lowe.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Tuesday 18^th March and circulated in advance to members were approved as a correct record and signed by the chairman.

Recycling skip: The clerk would contact the Recycling Officer for information on the effectiveness of the first delivery.

Anti-Social behaviour: The clerk read a letter from the Executive Director of the Elgar Housing Assn. setting out the current position on this matter.

Mrs B Hickling had sent a report mainly dealing with the problems of Footpath 53 and the need to resolve the actual line of this path which is now in the hands of the Worcs. CC Rights of Way Office.

There was no report from Ms E Clift.

The clerk advised that MHDC Electoral Services Officer had declared the following elected unopposed.

For Alfrick: Mr Adrian Biggs, Mrs Sandra Clarke, Mr Philip Gilbert, Mr Gareth Lowe, Mrs Monica Scott,

Mr Christopher Tolley.

For Lulsley: – Dr Philip Brown, Mrs Christine Williams.

The vacancy of one seat would be announced at the next meeting and the council can then proceed to fill this by

co-option

The clerk presented the accounts for 2002/3 previously circulated to members – see appendix A, which were approved.

The clerk’s salary, 3 mths, and expenses of £437.75 were approved.

The Footpaths officer’s expenses of £15.15 were approved.

Footpaths; Mr J Goldsmith reported that he had met the WCC Rights of Way Officer on site to resolve the problems of footpath 53 and he was hopeful that a resolution would be achieved but this would take time as a decision would be required from the Secretary of State. He had prepared a programme of work, see Appendix B, concentrating on items where there was a possibility of hazard to walkers, and had agreed the terms with the contractor doing this work. This was agreed.

Highways; The clerk read a letter from the Highways Agency indicating that very little could be done regarding use of 4-wheeled drive vehicles on ‘green’ roads. The large accumulation of debris on the Folly Road/Green Street intersection had not been cleared and the clerk would contact the Highways Agency again as a matter of urgency.

The replies to the survey are with the Housing Enabling Officer. The results are expected by the next meeting.

The clerk reported that he had written to the secretary of the Teme Valley Youth Group asking her to remind their skateboarding members to remove their equipment from the area after use. Some items which were considered hazardous had been left in the middle if the hard-surfaced area.

The following applications were considered:

01/00351/LBC Flue for Stove & Lengthen Party Wall, Oakapple Farmhouse Lulsley. No comment

03/00487/FUL Conservatory, Millbrook Lodge Alfrick No comment

03/00465/FUL Side Extension, 4 Folly Road Alfrick No comment

The clerk said that, as members could see from the correspondence received, the government was pressing parish councils to consider preparing Parish Plans and the council needs to decide if this is relevant to this parish’s future. It was agreed to discuss this at the June meeting.

The clerk is continuing to work with Mrs S Clarke to identify all those who might qualify for a distribution of the fund.

There were no additional matters to discuss

At the end of the meeting the chairman paid tribute to the work Mr George Ashmore had done as a member of the council for some twenty years and all wished him well on his retirement from the council.

Date Of Next Meeting:

The annual meeting of the council will be held on 13^th May following the Annual Parish Meeting at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

The meeting closed at 8.35pm.

Chairman