Amport Parish Council

Caroline Unwin

THE Annual Parish Council meeting of Amport Parish Council was held in May when the first action was to elect a new chairman.

Since only one councillor put himself forward, Ian Long — a long-standing member of the council, he was duly appointed. There were four vacancies on the council and the decision was made to co-opt the three candidates who were present at the meeting onto the council (The fourth applicant did not attend). The new members are Teddy Martin who is a chartered surveyor and Fergus Stewart, husband of Jo Stewart the neighbourhood watch co-ordinator; both live in the centre of the village. The remaining candidate was Nick Hoare, a previous member of the council.

Council Officers: The chairman then asked for volunteers to take on the various responsibilities of the council. Cllr Nick Hoare will be vice chairman; Cllr Alan Maddern, financial officer; Cllr Gary Benton, footpaths officer; and the post of schools liaison officer will be shared by Gary Benton and Cllr Sarah Hammer.

Since there is no councillor who lives on The Green, the post with responsibility for The Green will be left vacant for the time being. Planning matters will be dealt with by a sub-committee consisting of the chairman and vice chairman and Cllr Teddy Martin, with the help of the councillor residing nearest to the application in question.

Presentation for proposed new garden centre: A team including the director and developers of a firm called Rosebourne Ltd, together with representatives from Test Valley Borough Council planning department, gave a presentation of the application which is being submitted to develop the land at Weyhill previously occupied by the nursery garden.

They are hoping to construct a building of approximately 3,000 sq m which will include a café, convenience store and, they hope, a post office, as well as a plant sales area. There will be parking for about 230 cars. The building will be low and will be lit by LED lighting and the area will be landscaped with indigenous trees and shrubs, to keep the impact on its surroundings to a minimum. Plants will be grown off-site but delivery lorries will avoid the narrow village roads as far as possible. They are planning to employ up to 80 people and jobs will be available at all levels of experience. The garden centre is planned to open by Mothering Sunday 2016 and opening hours will be: Monday to Saturday: 9 am-6 pm and Sunday: 10 am-4 pm.

The Green: It was agreed that the contractor should be asked to do more to keep The Green tidy, including removing grass cuttings and mowing more frequently at times of maximum growth. Footpaths: The first cut will take place at the beginning of June. There was a request that, if money was available,this should be used to arrange for overhanging trees and bushes to be cut back, particularly on land with absentee landlords; this is normally the responsibility of the landlord.

Amport and Monxton footpath maps: A map of local footpaths has been produced by the Amport and Monxton community charity and has been provided free to every house in the villages. Extra copies can be obtained for £1 from The Hawk and The Black Swan pubs in the villages.

Fetes on The Green: The 2nd Andover Sea Scouts will be holding their annual fete on 21 June. The date for the village fete this year is 11 July.

Next meeting: The next meeting is on 15 June at 7.45pm in the school.