Baydon Village News

By Barbara Furber

 

Baydon’s annual Parish Assembly 2012

 

 

The Baydon Parish Assembly was held in the St. Nicholas School Hall on Friday 18th May. Cllr Andrew Knowles chaired the meeting and began by welcoming all newcomers. He was, he added, delighted to see such a good attendance.

 

Cllr Knowles was pleased to report that several new councillors had joined the Parish Council and all were very hardworking. Baydon, he said had been put on the map because of the many projects such as Community SpeedWatch and Traffic Calming.  

 

Cllr Tamsin Witt then gave a report from the Traffic Calming Working Group (TCWG) in which she thanked those involved in the Community SpeedWatch. It was thanks to the many volunteers that data collected has helped to get physical speed measures in place. Thanks were then extended to Mark Austen and Tamsin Witt.

 

Cllr Knowles listed the grants that have been given to local village groups – The Cricket Club had received a grant from Wiltshire Council with matched funding from the Parish Council, as had the Baydon Young Peoples Association (BYPA) in respect of their hall.

 

The Parish Council had funded a Youth Worker who is yet to begin, given towards the St. Nicholas Church’s leaking roof; safety fencing has been put in place at the Parish Field; also new litterbins and Christmas tree lights have been purchased.

 

Cllr Knowles added that Carols around the Christmas tree in December saw a record gathering and he hoped that the villagers would also fully support the Diamond Jubilee Celebration planned for June.

 

Cllr Knowles suggested it was time to review the Village Plan, he also said that the council was looking into helping the new BYPA committee run the hall so that the village together could benefit from an improved facility. This would of course be reflected in the precept.

 

Purchasing a Defibulator was discussed. Those present felt it was a good idea to look into purchasing 3 or 4. County Cllr Chris Humphries said that the Marlborough Area Board might fund this project.

 

Cllr Knowles thanked the Parish Clerk Mrs Rowan Cockcroft who has been, he said, a corner stone but who was unfortunately resigning. It would not be easy to replace such a brilliant clerk, added Mr Knowles.

 

Thanks also went to County Cllr Chris Humphries for his support and to Tony Prior for all that he had achieved through hard work in his years as Chair of the Parish Council.

 

County Cllr Humphries then gave a brief report explaining his role in the Wiltshire Council. The various village groups then gave their reports; Alison Tomkin spoke on behalf of the Link scheme, which had completed 876 tasks this year. Volunteers were always needed, she said.

 

Mandy Dore spoke for Friends of Baydon School, and the read a report from Alison Jones concerning the Mother and Toddler Group that meets on a Monday.

 

Kim Austen, Treasurer of the BYPA said that the hall had 4 regular users but no Youth Club as yet. She thanked Mrs Venice Marriott for all her hard work and BYPA Chair over the last 10 years and made a plea for a new Chair to take her place.

 

Lee Hogan invited everyone to tea at the Cricket Field on Sunday to watch Baydon Cricket Club’s first match of the season.

 

Wendy Appello reported that the Brownie pack had 17 girls to date and a waiting list.

 

Denise Dawson of the Little Crickets pre-school said that 43 children attend and that they had recently received a grant of £1,000 for play equipment. She also reported that the Ermin Close Neighbourhood Watch was working well.

 

Mark Austen reported that the Baydon website was well used, invited all local clubs and associations to make the most of the village website, plus explained that the live village webcam overlooking the Green was currently one of the most visited areas of the website.

 

Brydgette Byron-Edmonds reported that the Village magazine’s costs had increased but fortunately so had the advertising. She extended her thanks to all the distributors and requested recipes and gardening articles in the future.

 

Tony Topp, Church Warden, asked for help with the Village Fete to be held on 16th June. The Church, he said, had raised 75% of the £20,000 needed for the roof repairs and was pleased that they had been loaned the rest of the money.

 

Pat Rhodes reported that the Baydon Social Group was well into its second year and very successful.

 

The Firework Group, said Trevor Dominy, thanked the village for their support. In 7 years the committee had not charged an entry fee because of generous donations from villagers. He also thanked Jonathan Smith for the use of his field and the Parish Council for their support.

 

Don Carmichael spoke on behalf of the Baydon Bikers who met in the pub on the first Monday of each month.

 

Mr Bernie Gribble then gave an interesting and informative talk on the history of footpaths.

 

Mr Knowles finally reminded everyone of the Village Diamond Jubilee Celebration to be held on Sunday 3rd June, the Beating of the Bounds at 10.30am on Monday 4th June, and the Church / School Fete on Saturday 16th June.

 

The meeting closed at 9.35pm.

 

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