Annual Parish Meeting

The Parish Council: - Cllr. C.W.Bishop
The monthly meetings of the Parish Council have been attended by members of the public who have shown an interest in many local matters, including planning, and in particular a number of questions have been raised regarding the emerging Taunton Deane Core Strategy.
The Council, has provided grants to the Village Hall to assist in the maintenance of the recently established very popular children’s play area and also the web facilities. Grants from Taunton Deane Borough Council towards the cost of maintaining the recreation area and burial ground grants, also Hillfarrance Green have been distributed.
The likely closure of the Post Office/Shop was brought to our attention and with the assistance of Taunton Deane a survey has been carried out to ascertain the facts before undertaking consultations on the future possibilities – This will be one of the first tasks of the new PC.
Four members of the PC have decided not to seek re-election and I would like to thank them for the service they have given in the interests of the community. Seven persons have been nominated for the new PC and as a result there will be no election for the PC.
I would like to express my thanks to all members of the PC and our clerk, Marcia Maunder for their support.

Somerset County Council: - Cllr.Tony McMahon.

At S.C.C. our revenue grant has been cut by £27 million for this coming year, this is due to the spend, spend, spend, attitude of the previous government, this is an unprecedented 11% cut. And there are more cuts in government funding to come in each of the next 3 years.
But it is not all about cuts. The County council has been:
Negotiating robustly with EDF to ensure the county secures long-term gains from the Hinkley Point C nuclear development. If it all goes ahead – as is expected – 5,600 jobs will be generated and significant funding will be sought to cover the development’s impact on transport, emergency planning, flooding, skills, tourism, education, landscape, rights of way, etc. Special emphasis on emergency planning in the light of recent events in Japan.
Ensuring the county’s exemplary waste management record continues, with the ‘Sort-it’ roll-out in Mendi0 and South Somerset continuing well and the roll-out in West Somerset due to start this Autumn.
Taking stock on the potential closure of the 4 Household Waste Recycling Centres by seeing if all 18 county centres can in fact continue to be kept open, even if hours are reduced.
Working with a Ramblers group to deliver maintenance and improvements to the Rights of Way network, particularly in the Mendip area. This work has now been expanded across the County and the county council is continuing to look for new ways of engaging volunteers in delivering services.
Seeking broadband funding from government to bring high-speed connectivity to areas of the county currently poorly served. The County Council is seeking support from District councils and local MPs to make sure our bid is successful and we are very hopeful that we will bring this essential improvement to our largely rural county.
Rethinking how money can be saved from the library budget. The county council has listened to library users and has changed the ways the savings will be made. Every community where closures were proposed has responded positively to see if local involvement can allow a library service to remain. And no changes will now be introduced until this October, at the earliest – and some much later – to allow changes to be implemented as thoughtfully as possible.
Continuing to help pupil attainment rise. With the county’s support pupils across Somerset have enjoyed record GCSE exam success, with an increase of 5% in those achieving A-C grades.
Keeping children’s centres open. Recognising the vital role they play, all 41 of the county’s Children’s Centres will remain open, unlike in many neighbouring counties.
Securing funding for major road improvements. Robust negotiating and a successful bid has already brought £15m of government funding for a major new road scheme – the Northern Inner Distributor Road – to Taunton. With the £4.3m already received from developers, this has the potential to unlock 3,600 new jobs and 900 new homes.
Starting pilot schemes to reduce night-time street lighting with a number of volunteer parishes. Whilst care always has to be given to considering the fear of crime and health and safety issues that lighting sometimes addresses, there is local support in many areas for reducing light pollution – and making savings.
Tackling winter weather by using around 800 tons of salt to keep out 870 miles of primary routes open. Our robust stock management systems have ensured there have been no shortages this year and all the planned salting took place.
Lobbying for funding to mend potholes. As a result of successful negotiations with central government, almost the whole of the coming year’s highways grant will be spent on maintaining the county’s roads. The scheme for the public to report potholes directly, as well as via parish councils, has also been very successful. Since we enabled people to record potholes via the county website more than 800 have done as the problems have become visible, leading to repairs being undertaken faster.

Report from the Deane Vale Benefice 2011 – Rev. Alison Norris

The work for God in the parishes of Oake, Hillfarrance, Heathfield and Cotford St. Luke has been exciting this year.
In September, a new church school opened in Oake. The Christian atmosphere in school has been palpable. It is a wonderful new opportunity for church, school and village to engage together.
Hillfarrance continues its sterling work of thinking up imaginative ways in which to engage with the community; providing monthly breakfasts and lunches in church, engaging in many charitable enterprises and meeting the spiritual needs of the people –for example a new monthly prayer group which has proved really popular.
In the Autumn the parish of Heathfield with Cotford St Luke learnt that they had secured a loan from the Diocesan Board of Finance to purchase the only remaining central plot of land in Cotford St. Luke, on which to build a church. Our lovely church building at Heathfield has been magnificent in providing sacred space for the parish, but the numbers and needs of young families in particular has meant that St John the Baptist has become too small for main services of worship. It will still have a unique place in the parish for special events and quiet services
The new church will be visible to the community in Cotford St Luke and will seek to be a place in which to worship God and from which to serve Him. On 16 th January the Archdeacon of Taunton came to bless the land. The hard work of grant-finding and fundraising now begins.

Oake , Bradford & Nynehead C of E (VC) Primary School: - Nick Gilding

Following the closure and amalgamation of Nynehead and Oake & Bradford schools in July 2010, the new Oake, Bradford & Bynehead Church of England (VC) Primary School was officially opened on September 28 th 2010 by Bishop Peter of Bath & Wells.
Currently we have 83 children on roll in 4 classes, all located in the new building. The new classrooms are spacious and well-equipped with the latest technology. We also have use of a mobile suite of 30 laptop computers, which the children have enjoyed using to great effect. The pre-school, Little Acorns, came under the wing of the school in October 2010 and is thriving, with 16 children attending. Mrs. Haines and Mrs. Lewis have worked very hard to make the pre-school such a busy and happy place for the children. Many of you will know Lynne Haines and will wish to know that she has decided to retire at the end of the summer term. I am extremely grateful that Mrs. Haines stayed with us for this year, to help with the changes that have occurred. We will, of course, mark this occasion more formally in the summer.
We have an extremely dedicated staff and supportive community who have worked tirelessly to ensure that the children are given every opportunity to make the most of their time in school. All the classes have been enjoying a range of historical, geographical and scientific topics throughout the year. Wherever possible, the pupils’ experience has been enhanced by visitors to the school or going out on trips and other first-hand experience. The PTA have been fantastic in raising funds to provide resources and funds for trips, as well as organising social events. All the staff would like to express their thanks to this committed group of parents, without whom life would be very different.
An amazing array of clubs have been offered so far this year: rugby, football, netball, first aid, ocarina, recorder, choir, brass band, gardening and chess. The pupils are also in the final stages of creating the first edition of our school newspaper. Huge thanks should go to the staff and parents who give so much time and energy to ensuring that we can provide such a rich and diverse range of opportunities beyond the classroom.
We have continued to enhance the environment still further during the year. Two wonderful outside play areas have been built. There is challenge to be found for all the children in the equipment that wraps around the playground at the front of the school. Meanwhile, the pre-school and reception class children have their own purpose-built outdoor play area complete with bridge, tunnel, living willow dome, speaking tubes, sandpit and covered safety surface, for all-weather outdoor play.
Work commenced this week on renovating the original school building. We will be improving facilities by: enlarging the hall back to the original size, modernising the toilets, updating the staff and group rooms and enhancing the storage space for our resources. Work should be completed by the end of May.
It has been a very busy but extremely enjoyable year at Oake, Bradford & Nynehead C of E (VC) Primary School. I would like to thank all the children, parents, staff, governors and the wider communities that we serve for all the support that they have given the school.

Oak Tree short mat bowls club – Cheryl Low

We have just completed our second year in the first division. It was a pretty tough season and we ended up sixth, not quite as good as last year.
We have just started playing our friendly matches with fourteen matches so far booked. These are really very sociable evenings and every club member gets a game.
In March we held our annual Triples Charity Tournament in which sixteen teams were invited. It was a very good final between Staplegrove and Cerne Abbas, and we were delighted that Staplegrove won. We donated a total of £500.00 to our chosen charity Children’s Hospice South West. We also donated £167.00 to the Air Ambulance from our charity evenings we play with Kingsmead.
We have two club nights a week, Monday and Thursday 7-10pm. New members are always welcome.
Our thanks go to the committee for donating the hall for our charity matches, it is very much appreciated.

Oake Mini & Active Living Day Centre – Vivienne Russell

We have had another interesting year with various activities, Bring & Buys, outings etc., also four new members and a new helper. We are happy to have new members for more information please ring Vivienne Russell on 01823 400488.

Police Report. – PCSO Simon Bramley

23/03/2011	Oake	Harassment	Under Investigation.
26/03/2011	Oake	Non dwelling burglary.	Empty disused house broken into nothing stolen.

There has been a reorganisation of Officers and beats at Wellington and Taunton Police Station. The changes that take effect from the 18 th April are that Wellington Station is taking 2 extra rural beat areas that are currently covered by Taunton.
The current beat manager for Oake ‘PC Jo Jeffery’ has had her beats changed and increased from 2 to 3 and will no longer the beat manager for Oake. PC Matt Leigh who is currently Beet manager for Wiveliscombe and Monument has also had his beats changed from 2 to 3 and will be the beat manager for Bradford on Tone including Oake, Monument and Blackdown from the 18 th April.
We have also had an extra PCSO posted to Wellington Station to work on one of the new beats.
There is a Public PACT meeting on Friday 13th May 2011, 7:00 p.m. at Burton Place, behind Taunton Police Station. Attend the Enquiry Office. PACT meetings are for the public to attend and express their point of view on what you the police should be making a priority for the next 3 months. They are very important to the Constabulary and a lot of support and time is given to the priority’s that come from PACT meeting. If you feel strongly about a Policing issue
The Parish of Oake remains one of the lowest crime areas in Somerset with only 16 reported Crimes over the year. This is a drop of 4 from the year before.
In September PCSO Jon McAttier transferred to Minehead which is closer to his home and I moved onto the Beat from working in Wellington.
Below are the crime figures for the Bradford on Tone Ward/Beat and that part which are for Oake. These figures are not the official statistics that the force will release latter this month but give you some idea of the crime in the area.

Crime Type	Total Crime for Bradford on Tone Ward	Crime for Oake
Dwelling burglary.	2	1
Non-dwelling burglary.	19	5
Theft (all types).	32	2
Malicious Communication & Nuisance phone calls	8	4
Criminal Damage	8	2
Assault (All types)	3	1
Fraud	3
Causing Alarm Harassment or distress	1	1

Women’s Institute. – Fern Dunn

We now have 15 members and have had a successful year. We have had a varied selection of interesting speakers, including some local residents. Adrian Dyke told us the intricacies of beekeeping, Rev. Alison Norris told us about her experiences as a female vicar, and Phil Nadin told us about his experiences in the Computer Industry.
Several of us attended the Tone Valley Group's annual carol service, last December at St. Mary's Church, West Buckland, and recently on March 24th we hosted the Tone Valley Group's Spring Group meeting in Oake Hall. This was attended by over 60 ladies from the group, and our guest speaker was David Andrews who gave a talk and played music from the 1950's.

Tree Wardens report:- Roger Earthrowl

Nothing to report this year.

Footpaths: - Jim Paul

S.C.C. have installed several new gates in the parish thus making it much better access for all. A new bridge to the railway at Hillfarrance has recently been installed after a 2.1/2 year wait.

Oake & District Village Hall - Kirsten Horton.

Oake Hall continues to attract regular bookings through the week and has consolidated its financial position, enabling the management committee to carry out regular maintenance as well as carrying out additional improvements. The carpet in the lounge and hallway has been successfully cleaned: several chairs have been reupholstered: replacements have been made to the crockery and we have purchased some high chairs and a baby changing table has been installed in the disabled toilet shortly. Additional stone has been laid in the car park to repair the incipient pot holes.
Our annual plant sale was held in May; the very successful annual village fête shared between Oake school and the hall committee was held in June and the harvest supper will be held again in 2011 after a break in 2010.
The hall newsletter is published four times a year and distributed free to every house hold in the parish.
The new play area on the hall recreation area has proved a phenomenal success. It is such a pleasure to see all ages enjoying themselves in the fresh air. The cost of insurance, additional sand for the sand areas, repairs to the equipment and the grassed areas and the regular safety inspections are all the responsibility of the hall management committee and we are keen to make the users aware that while we have support from the Parish Council, the main financial burden lies with the hall committee. Taunton Deane Borough Council does not contribute to this project. It has been decided to erect a ball proof fence along the full length of the northern boundary of the hall grounds as the hedge was being damaged by children breaking through to retrieve lost for balls and causing annoyance to our neighbour.
We are very pleased to have younger members of the community using the hall each week, particularly the Mothers and Toddlers group, Oake School and the two home educator groups . Short mat bowls and the Wilton Bridge Club use the hall twice a week and the Oake W I holds its meetings monthly. The monthly Whist session continues to attract players from further afield. Villagers were able to enjoy a delicious evening meal about five times over the year at the ever popular supper club.
We are fortunate to have a very competent bookings secretary who spends a considerable amount of time showing prospective hirers around the hall, particularly those planning family occasions as well as keeping the regular users in order!. The hall offers very good value as a venue for wedding receptions and the hall website continues to offer information to prospective hirers.
We are grateful to the Oake Parish Council for the support they offer the hall on an ongoing basis.

Bridge Club

Oake Village Hall provides excellent facilities for bridge players.
Wilton Bridge Club plays duplicate bridge in the main hall on Friday afternoons and Wednesday evenings (except the 3 rd week of the month when used by whist players). The sessions have proved so popular that the Club has had to close its membership for the time being and introduce a waiting list for new members. The Club has several members from Oake and the adjacent parishes.
Anne Harris holds bridge classes on Friday mornings and there have been some Somerset county competitions and several charity bridge days at the village hall during the year.
Wilton Bridge Club would like to thank all the committee members and other individuals who work to ensure the village hall is kept in such good condition and Annie Barrett for the efficient manner in which she deals with the bookings.

Badminton - Sue Earthrowl

A group of local ladies meets every Friday between 5pm and 6.30pm at the hall to enjoy the fun and exercise of badminton. This activity is supported by Somerset Active Living which has enabled our coaching sessions with Catherine Sertin to continue.
We welcome new members to this friendly group, beginners or improvers. Taster sessions are available.
Contact Penny Williams 01823 462898

Computers - Sue Earthrowl

The twice monthly cyber café has become a hive of activity in the IT suite at the hall.
The Oake village website oake.org.uk and the hall website oakehall.org.uk are updated at these sessions and we welcome contributions about local businesses, local history, local activities and news.
In addition residents use the computers to seek information from the internet and use the e mail facility. Help with this is available.
The dates are displayed around the village and we are able to open the computer room at other times if appropriate.
We thank the parish council and Somerset Active Living for their financial support which helps to maintain the computer equipment.

Signed Chairman…………………………….

Oake Parish
parishclerk@oake.org.uk

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