1. The Parish Council

(Figures refer to attendance record - out of a total of eleven council meetings)

Tim Mousley (Chairman)	11
Andy Bowditch (Vice-Chairman)	10
Stuart Dowding	9
Sabie Girling	8
John Guy	8
David Rimmington	9
Barry Whitlock	10

David Lyon (Parish Clerk)
Ron Warwick (Footpath Warden)
David Lyon (Tree Warden)

Flood Action Group
Stuart Dowding
Peter Girling
Ray Lodge

2. Grouping Order

The Parishes of West Tytherley and Frenchmoor were grouped under a common parish council following applications to TVBC by their Parish Meetings. An order giving effect to this was signed by the Borough Solicitor on 11 January 2002. David Rimmington was elected unopposed to represent Frenchmoor on the parish council which was named the Parish Council of Greater West Tytherley. This held its first meeting on 15 April 2002. Subsequently, at the request of the Parish Council, its name was officially changed to West Tytherley & Frenchmoor Parish Council. The two parishes retain their separate identity and have separate electoral rolls (currently 417 for West Tytherley and 30 for Frenchmoor). Buckholt remains a separate parish outside this grouping.

3. Code of Conduct

The Parish Council adopted the model Code of Conduct on 15 April 2002 and all Councillors are now required to sign that they accept the provisions of the Code when making their Declarations of Acceptance of Office. Included in the Code is a requirement for Councillors to notify the Monitoring Officer at TVBC of financial and other interests. Copies of the Register of Interests are available for inspection by electors. Failure to accept the Code and its obligations may result in a Councillor being disqualified.

4. Recent Legislation

Legislation which came into effect during the year included:

Race Relations (Ammendment) Act 2002 - The Council resolved to acknowledge the general duty placed upon it by this Act

Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 - no areas of open country where people will have access rights appear to fall within either Frenchmoor or West Tytherley

Freedom of Information Act 2002 - The Council resolved to adopt the “Model Scheme for Local Councils (Core Classes only)”. The information which has to be made available to the electors under this scheme is in practice already available under existing arrangements. Currently the possibility of putting the Minutes of the Parish Council and other material on the new village website (www.westtytherley.com) is being discussed with the webmaster (Mr Koetser)

5. Finance

The Precept for 2002-2003 was set at £6250 with a budget for expenditure of £8889. The new “lighter touch” audit process was introduced during the year and was applied to the audit of the 2001-2002 accounts. The cost to the Council was less than in recent years, partly because the internal auditor, Robert Horsford, gave his services free, for which the Council is extremely grateful.

6. Police

Only nine crimes were committed in the Parish during the year. Good relations have been maintained with the local police and the Council is pleased that PC Chris Day has continued the practice, established by his predecessors, of frequently attending Council meetings and providing an update of events on his beat. The Neighbourhood Watch remains active, under the chairmanship of Peter Collinson.

7. Relations with HCC and TVBC

Councillors Mike Woodhall (HCC) and Neville Whiteley (TVBC) attend Council meetings and their reports are a valued contribution, and through them good relations have been maintained with officials of their respective Councils.

8. Recreation Ground

The Recreation Ground, which was given to the village by Mrs Singer, was registered with the Land Registry during the year. Plans are in hand to replace the fence on the west (roadside) boundary. The equipment in the children's play area continues to be inspected annually by RoSPA.

The possibility of building a tennis court on the recreation ground was investigated, but was found not to be feasible because of limited space. An arrangement was made with Norman Court School for villagers to use the school courts during the summer holidays. In the event no one took advantage of this opportunity, but the Council is grateful that the Headmaster, Kevin Foyle, gave his permission for the scheme.

9. Highways & Footpaths

In response to Focus Group pressure TVBC has been encouraging Parishes to erect road name signs, particularly to help the emergency services locate addresses. The Council has given priority to signs for Red Lane, Church Lane and the road through the centre of the village, shown on maps as North Lane, but not accepted as such by many residents. Residents were polled and the name “The Village” was finally selected for the road between the junction with Church Lane and Dean Road to the south and No.1 of the row of 14 houses to the north, with the name North Lane being reserved for the road running from No.1 north towards Winterslow. Unfortunately erection of the signs had to be deferred until the 2003-04 financial year by TVBC for budgetary reasons.

A Traffic Calming scheme, under the Parish Partnership scheme, was implemented by HCC Highways Dept. Consultants, W.S.Atkins. The proposals involved white lining, relocating traffic signs, and an experimental build-out on the corner of Church Lane and Dean Road, the object of which is to slow traffic down as it passes the Primary School. The scheme is far from complete.

As an experiment, under the supervision of the Footpath warden (Ron Warwick), offenders subject to Community Service were used on several occasions in the summer to clear footpaths. The results were mixed, partly because of the distance the people concerned had to travel, and partly because the numbers involved were unpredictable and variable.

10. Floods

A Flood Action Group was established under the leadership of Stuart Dowding, with the object of implementing an action plan as recommended by the Environment Agency's consultants. In the event the 2002-2003 winter was nearly as wet as 2000-2001 and groundwater levels were again high in the centre of the village, necessitating pumping by several householders. It proved once again difficult to get any of the Agencies to take responsibility for giving a lead in finding solutions to the problem, or at least mitigating the effects of high water tables. A public meeting was called by the Council on 27 January 2003 which was attended by some thirty residents and representatives of HCC, TVBC, EA, Southern Water, and Testway Housing. Earlier John Mursell of HCC Highways had toured the village and a number of measures were agreed with him to improve the drainage of water off road surfaces. Subsequently an independent consultant hydrologist, Dr Paul Helliwell, toured the village and produced a set of recommendations, at no charge to the Council, mainly focussing on the need to improve drainage to the south of the village. The Council is grateful for the immediate response of Mr and Mrs John King and Mr and Mrs Galley who created drainage channels in their fields. However the groundwater problem remains to be solved and there appears to be no consensus among the parties involved as to what, if anything, can be done.

11. Planning

The Council commented on about 20 planning applications during the year. Some of these will have a considerable impact on the village, including plans for a large house on the Frenchmoor House site, and plans to convert the Old Corn Store at Church Farm into a house, and to restore or convert to a new use, the Cart Shed. Permission has been given for the redundant cart shed at Home Farm, Standing Hill, to be converted for use as a furniture workshop. The condition of the listed barn behind the Black Horse continues to give rise for concern.

TVBC Planning Services held a training session for Councillors in September and individual Councillors have attended other planning meetings, including Planning User Group meetings. TVBC Local Plan Review (Initial Deposit Draft) came out during the year, and was commented on by the Council. The changes proposed will have little effect on the village, which is not seen as a development area. New houses will remain confined to in-filling, and no changes are proposed for the Conservation Area.

It was not possible to make much progress with the proposed Village Design Statement during the year, and recently the message coming from central government is that emphasis should now be place on preparing Parish Plans, which have a wider remit, although they may include Design Statement material. The Countryside Agency has just produced its long-awaited guidance on Parish Plans.

Hampshire Wildlife Trust were unable to sustain their support for the Tree Warden Scheme, which has now ended. Training for Tree Wardens has been taken on by the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers. The year was a light one for the village tree warden, with only two or three applications for tree work to be commented on. As most of the village falls withing the Conservation Area, refusals by TVBC for tree work must result in the imposition of a Tree Preservation Order, which is not lightly undertaken as it is expensive. The remaining large beech on the Recreation Ground was felled and found to be very rotten.

12. MOD Munitions at West Dean

The Government proposes to close this site in 2004, with the loss of a number of jobs, although some employees will be relocated. The Council, together with neighbouring councils and local MPs, is concerned about the future of the site, which includes an SSSI, and is currently contributing to the discussion in a series of meetings and consultations.

13. Council Links

Council continues to belong to the Test Valley Association of Parish and Town Councils and is represented at its regular meetings, and to the Hampshire Association of P & T Councils. The latter provides a flow of information, especially interpreting the effects of government legislation on local government, and is a valued source of advice for the Clerk. The annual Parish Clerk's conference and other training events, organised by HAPTC has proved useful.

A new issue is Quality Parish Status, which, if achieved, could allow parishes to take over responsibility from District Councils for delivery of some services. At present the general view seems to be that this is unlikely to be feasible for very small parishes. A considerable investment in clerk and councillor training would be required.

14. First Responder Scheme

The Council is supporting this scheme, which is part-funded by the Countryside Agency, and which is now up and running in Lockerley. It is dependent on enough volunteers being trained to provide round-the-clock cover and more are needed in the parish.

15. Support to Local Groups

The Council continues to provide modest financial support to a number of local groups, including the Neighbourhood Watch, the Over 60s, the Care Group, St Peter's Church, King Edward's Hall (insurance premium), War Memorial maintenance, Primary School (representation on Board of Governors), and Test Valley School (Stockbridge) - provision of an annual prize, and the local newsletter (What's happening in West Tytherley). Mrs Mavrogordato resigned as editor and Mrs Campbell volunteered to take over. The Council is very grateful for the work they have put in to make this newsletter a valued source of information for parishioners. The Council is also grateful to Ken Fonteneau for making the splendid new notice board for our site in West Dean, charging only the materials cost.