Annual Report 2007-08

The Parish Council continued to support the Police and residents in trying to make the Parish a pleasanter, safer place to live.

The Parish Council continued to provide funding for 4 Police Community Support Officers to work in the Parish, and Councillors and Council staff liaised extensively with the police to target "hotspots" and pass on the concerns of residents.
The Council continued to host Community Action Meetings in its centres, where residents can liaise direct with Police on what matters to them.
The Council bought a mountain bike for the PCSOs, to help them get to trouble spots faster while still staying in contact with the streets.
The CCTV system set up at Hood Manor shops proved so successful that the Parish Council negotiated to have it made permanent. The Council tried to broker a deal whereby costs were shared between all the businesses there, but when this did not work out the Parish Council took over the payment for the service, and it is helping to make the area a safer place.
The Parish Council are continuing to press the Borough Council to make further improvements in this area.
The Parish Council were also instrumental in getting a temporary CCTV system installed at the Tim Parry recreation ground.

The Parish Council completed its programme of refurbishment of the 5 community centres it operates for the benefit of local people.

The Parish Council invested in new boilers for the heating systems at Hood Manor and Hood Lane community centres, making the heating systems there more efficient and more economical.
The Council bought new, light weight tables for the Tim Parry centre to make life easier for centre users.
The fence at Bewsey Barn was repaired and extended, and the trees and shrubs around the perimeter were trimmed back, to prevent inconvenience to pedestrians and centre users.
The floor at Whittle Hall community centre was sanded and re-finished, to extend its life, and a new fire escape door was installed to improve security.

The Parish Council continued to make efficiency savings, to save money and help save the planet.

The Council reviewed its own contribution to climate change and has been doing what it can to save energy and therefore money.  New efficient boilers and energy saving bulbs are only a small part of the story.  The Council now uses refilled ink cartridges wherever possible and has switched to a waste removal firm which sorts and re-cycles our waste for us.  There was a report on this in the last Newsletter and the issue of tackling climate change is covered on the Council website.

By careful management of the money the Parish Council was able to avoid raising the precept to taxpayers yet again this year, and was able to keep their hall hire charges unchanged for another year.

The Parish Council improved its communications with Great Sankey residents

The Parish Council website expanded and improved.  As well as details of Councillors and Council business you can now see what's on in the centres, check the weather and follow many useful links to local information and services. 

    www.thelocalchannel.co.uk/greatsankey

Four issues of this newsletter were printed and put in local shops, libraries, schools and community centres.  One issue, which like this contained the Parish Council's Annual Report, was distributed free to all homes in the Parish.  The Parish Council tried to encourage the people of the Parish to communicate back, by asking for people to give their views on a Parish Plan and by launching a scheme "What can the Parish Council do for you"  (see the back page for details of the re-launch).  Unfortunately the response has been disappointing so far, but the Parish Council will continue to encourage feedback from the people it serves.

The Parish Council faced and put right many problems

The Parish Council has encountered a lot of damage to its property this year through vandalism and theft. Two of the centres had windows repeatedly broken, 2 had lead stolen from the roof, another roof was damaged by heavy objects being thrown on to it and a wall had to be repaired after being damaged by having a football continuously pounded against it. In addition play equipment has been repeatedly damaged, defaced and dirtied and there is a constant battle to keep the playground free of broken glass. Although a fair amount of money had to be spent on fixing vandal damage, Parish Council staff managed to mend a lot in-house to keep costs down.

The Council would like to appeal to all residents to help in the battle against vandalism by being vigilant and reporting to the Police any damage they see being done.  You may not see results quickly, but all reported incidents help to set the Police staffing levels for the future.  The number to ring is 0845 458 0000

The Parish Council is continuing to try to improve life in the Parish

The Parish Council has set aside 2 sums of money - a Positive action Fund and a Pro-active Youth Fund - to try to make improvements to life in the Parish.

A Youth Group is looking at what the Council can do to help provide facilities for young people and children, on the basis that if young people have something positive to take part in they are less likely to be caught up in anti-social behaviour.