Poor but Proud

I see in the parish magazine there is a note about a trust administered by the parish council, the one where there is a distribution at Christmas to the aged of this village.  Not a lot, up to £10 in the past, so enough to put a smile on your face.

The trustees, the parish council, have decided, that because of advice from the Charity Commission, probably global advice, that in future these distributions will no longer take place and instead they will have  to submit an application form to beg for money.  I say beg because that's what it amounts to.  I suspect that the cash will sit there for years because those who badly need the odd shilling over Christmas will probably think it is not worth advertising to the parish council that they are short of money.  It's bad enough filling forms in for claiming benefit and as you know, and while most of us have no trouble filling in forms and claiming the cash we are entitled to, the elderly don't usually get their full whack, because they have different values, especially about asking for money.

They suggest friends and relatives nominate them, even worse in my view, whole can of  worms opened when outside interference is involved.  Best to leave things as they are and stick with an annual distribution, then everyone has a smile on their face at Christmas.  They have managed to ignore the Charity Commission in the past without getting their wrists slapped so why change old habits now.

Movement on the bridge improvements at last, as a road closure starts again early November. There is one thing, all this delay must be putting a few pounds in certain pockets, unfortunately not mine. 

More Expense

Things are looking up, we have September minutes up on the Parish Council website, and at a respectable size.

What a pity they are not published how they used to be when you could scrutinise to your hearts content in the library, now from what I've seen so far you don't even get them on the notice boards.

Money being spent on welcome to the village signs, what for, the ones we have are perfectly alright.  What are they going to do, tack them on or put them separately?  At least the  wall money has been paid.

Then there is the little item on stuff for future meetings:

Victoria Institute- consider purchase by Parish Council

How barmy can you get.  It's been decided we have no use for it and they still want to put their necks in the noose and considering most of them are friends of the VI,  I do hope they will declare an interest.  Then there is the other little nugget:

It was noted that the Trustees have now successfully obtained the residents’ support for a sale of the Victoria Institute having addressed and taken all steps to look into the restoration of the building. It was noted to be an example of how to successfully engage with the public on such matters.

What a laugh, more like an exercise in how to waste money trying to achieve the answer you want regardless of how much it was going to cost.  So now they are going, well trying, to buy by the back door.  Will we have a public meeting for that, I don't think so.  Mind you, I did warn you, persistent buggers.  Might be a bit of a conflict of interest all round when it comes to the price. If they don't get the library sewn up you can see where their sights will fall next. Good to see it's not their own money they are contemplating spending. 

Bit ironic really, they are starting to think of that little cash pot as their own private piggy bank and the only reason they (or should I say we) have  the cash is because of the expertise of the ex clerk, David Wright, he who got regular stick from certain quarters, and who are  now in office.  Without that cash they wouldn't have a pot to pee in.   All fur coat and no knickers springs to mind.

We have Lift OFF

Well somebody did tell them that the July 30th minutes of the parish council were lacking in content and we now have the complete document mysteriously worded of course to keep us in the dark as to the actual conversations.  We also don't have to use our zoom button to read, which makes a pleasant change.

We still don't know when Network Rail are coming back to complete the bodged first attempt of the railway bridges.  Mind you an improvement to the railway crossings will be welcome, for those of us stuck at Haxey Gate for hours (feels like) when the train must surely be still somewhere near Gainsborough.

The wriggling starts around the Misterton Centre, half of them don't want it I understand, because it was linked to previous parish council members.  What they really want to do is duck out at the first opportunity and spend on the old library.  At least some members have budgetary concerns, but not enough it would seem since they are to make an offer for the site and the field at the rear in line with the valuation.  However you have to remember that this was July and things have moved on a bit since then, namely interest from other parties, hence the lot going up for auction.

While I've no objection to land purchase, if only to stop further building, buying the old library site is fraught with trouble and expense, more than we can afford, not to mention the additional costs of  demolition and removal of asbestos.  Then what, a full rebuild and at what cost to current and future Misterton residents. West Stockwith has a small village hall, but then it has nothing else, similar to other villages which have nothing but their village hall.  Misterton has an abundance of buildings that can be used and that's the problem.  Mind you if only 40 odd people turn up for an important meeting you could stuff them into the Church Hall.

Well we could rabbit about this for ever, but lets wait for more up to date developments.

Somebody tries to make a shilling with a business in Misterton, which is an agricultural area and they stab them in the back.  Planning permission wanted on the ground behind the Social Club agreed, then some bugger throws his oar in.  What is wrong with them.  They object to one caravan, needed to be on site to tend animals, and a lot of them.  Something wrong there, very wrong. 

Still not GOOD ENOUGH

Well we have a correct set of minutes on the parish council website for the 30th July, only thing is there is only one page, and it's a blow up job to get them to a decent size to read, so somebody is not checking what they are doing or what they have done.  Very poor show.

Network Rail were at the meeting but what was said and done is not shown.  Problems with the parking on the Pudge, don't think the police will be really interested in that.  Damage to the wall of of the fabulous garden still not been settled, being pursued, well it is October now and when was it done, beginning of the year?

Anyway the bits what we really wanted to know are missing, or maybe it's deliberate to put us of the scent and keep us in the dark, especially when they are plotting to spend our money and hang a mortgage round our necks.  Let's hope somebody complains.

Accounts for 2012/2013

Well since there is nothing of real interest to tell you, and although the the latest minutes are on the parish council website but not on!  Two copies of the same set of minutes instead of the correct ones, so somebody wants a bollocking, I've decided to show the accounts, which although published on the website are not distributed around the village in hard copy like they used to be.  Since nobody usually looks on the website this seems a tad nontransparent, especially since how they spend our money is something we are all interested in.  I hope you can read them.

            

Keep an eye on your dog

Just when I thought nothing was happening of interest I heard this.

Lady taking the dog for walk (on a lead), stops to take stone out of her shoe, still holding lead, and some bugger stops his car and nips out and pinches the dog.  Fortunately it was found days later tied up outside the vets, so either too old to breed or neutered, for a good job.   Not the first time this has happened recently, by all accounts.  The buggers want catching and  soon, because if they get caught on the job there could be a few sore heads.  What with attempted burglaries, burglaries, laser lights through windows and other skulduggery, they must think we are a soft touch.

New business opening I hear, a new cycle store in Misterton, which is very brave.. The grand opening of Cycle Barn, takes place on Saturday 28th September, from 9.30 until 6.  Cycle servicing, repair, and sales unit above the Dovecote Café, Grovewood Road.  On the opening day, there will be drinks and nibbles, and anyone making a purchase will be entered into a prize draw. Owners, Nikki and Ben Jaggard-Smith, are selling bikes and accessories, and doing cycle repairs and servicing, and are looking at expanding into cycle hire.  They are  also going to start a cycling club with evening and weekend rides.  Just what you want to get the fat off your backside and belly.

Nothing further on the library auction yet, but I'm keeping an eye out for it.

A bit of this and a bit of that

Well the railway people look like they have run the job and supposedly not back until the end of the year although of course this is only gossip.  Cranes have been and cranes have gone, Soss Lane being the straw that broke the camel's back, no room to manoeuvre.  So they have left mighty big piles of this and that and left a bit of a trail of destruction.  No wonder the railways are in trouble if they carry on like this; doesn't anybody do a proper surveys now?  Concrete is coming from Ireland now, to do the bridge on Soss, again bits of gossip, so that should be interesting, assuming of course any of the stuff they have left is still here when they come back.

Article in Gainsborough Standard about that historic landmark, the Victoria Institute!  I shall wait with baited breath for the for sale sign going up.

According to the parish council agenda, they are considering a property strategy.  Don't like the sound of that, especially since the old library site is an item in the confidential session.  I have heard that they intend to put a bid in for library site, which given the potential for that site, will have to involve borrowing a lot of money. Knock it down and rebuild, a village hall?  Do we want one?  What ever happens some people appear to have grandiose ideas the cost of which residents are going to have to pay for years.  Bet we don't have a public meeting for that.  It is to be hoped that we have a few level headed members on the parish council to burst that balloon before it gets over inflated.  Try to borrow money on our behalf and you might find that whilst there was apathy on the Victoria Institute there is a completely different attitude on borrowing money, particularly when many of us already have mortgages to pay off and children to raise (and boy do they cost you money).  A substantial  rise in our council tax to pay for this, I don't think so.

A Result - SELL

Well I have to admit I didn't attend THE meeting, got a call out.  But, I have been able to fish around since and got a nice picture of the proceedings and a nice little nugget that has been passed to me for which I am truly grateful. 

Fewer residents than last time attended, which gives you an idea of the interest in this derelict building.  Despite the agenda being nice and simple, apparently some wanted to extend proceedings to argue the lost cause, which was expected.  In particular some trustees of the trust were spouting to the bitter end, unable to face facts.

In particular, one resident /trustee babbled about costs of insurance etc and how these had come down in recent years.  Not sure how she arrives at that considering this:

£10,000 on a feasibility study that might have been a grant but still came out of the pockets of Nottinghamshire residents.  Repairs costs in the intervening years since 2010, insurance premiums.  A tidy sum, to come to a conclusion that was arrived at in March 2010.  Well what happened, well bit of a long story but read this:
                                           _______________________________________

MISTERTON COMMUNITY TRUST

PUBLIC MEETING

SATURDAY 6^TH MARCH, 2010

CHURCH ROOM, MISTERTON

1.         ATTENDANCE

            Councillor H. M. Brand, Chairman of Misterton Parish Council, chaired the meeting.  Also in attendance were 43 inhabitants of the Parish of Misterton, aged eighteen and over, together with the Clerk to the Parish Council, Mr. D. Wright.  Councillor C. Burton (Misterton Parish Council – Walkeringham resident) and District Councillor R. A. Simpson were present as observers.

2.         INTRODUCTION

            Councillor Brand welcomed everyone to the meeting, and began by referring to the agenda, which invited the meeting to consider the following resolution:

            ‘We, inhabitants of the area of benefit of 18 years and upward, agree to the sale of the land and premises known as Misterton Victoria Institute.’

            Councillor Brand explained that, although the published notice of meeting also referred to the possibility of the building being demolished and the site being redeveloped as a sensory garden, advice received from the Charity Commission the previous day indicated that that was not a legal possibility.

            Councillor Brand then read out the relevant advice from the Charity Commission, which was:

            “Having checked the governing document of the charity, a Scheme dated 1 March 2006; the object of the charity is, ‘the provision and maintenance of a village hall for use by the inhabitants of the area of benefit’.

            “Clause (2) refers; ‘The land identified must be retained by the trustee for use for the object of the charity’.  If this cannot be done, then the objects of the charity have failed.

            “In these circumstances, it is not acceptable to keep the land for different purposes other than a village hall.  It would be in the best interests of the charity to sell the village hall on the open market, and obtain the best possible price, applying the income from the proceeds of sale for the benefit of the inhabitants, as determined in the Scheme.”

Councillor Brand then gave a brief presentation of the history of the building and its recent demise.  The building fell on hard times in 2002, when it was abandoned by its trustees.  It was then badly vandalised, and the interior was rendered derelict.  Over the next four years, the Parish Council voluntarily carried out repair and safety works, and eventually assumed trusteeship in 2006, together with responsibility for the Village Hall (former Temperance Hall).  The new charity was named ‘Misterton Community Trust’.

The Parish Council decided that the building had no future as a village hall in 2006, and called a public meeting, as required by the Scheme, on 10^th June, 2006.  At that meeting it was unanimously agreed to begin talks with the County Council about the possibility of incorporating the building into a rationalisation programme involving all the public buildings at School Corner.  Unfortunately, those discussions ground to a halt in July, 2009, when the County Council made it clear that the Victoria Institute no longer figured in its plans.

The Parish Council then formed a working group, comprising parish councillors and residents, to look at possible uses for the building.  Unfortunately, no viable and sustainable use had been identified.

In the circumstances, the Parish Council had recently decided that the building should be either sold on the open market (she gave details of expressions of interest already received) or, if legally possible, demolished and the site redeveloped as a sensory garden.

Maintaining the building in its present boarded-up state was a drain on the finances of Misterton Community Trust, which largely represented the balance of the capital receipt of the sale of the Village Hall.  If these funds were eventually used up, financial responsibility would then fall on the Misterton council taxpayers.  Insurance was the main expense, although the Parish Council’s insurers had indicated that the premium would reduce in 2010/11. 

The building continued to deteriorate, and the Parish Council, as trustee, was under a legal duty to act in the best interests of the trust.

At the conclusion of Councillor Brand’s presentation, the Clerk explained that it was now the responsibility of the meeting, as required by the Scheme, to decide whether the building should be sold on the open market.

The Clerk also explained that, at a meeting with the Charity Commission in 2005, senior Charity Commission officers had advised caution over attempting to revive failed charitable buildings, as, although done with the best of intentions, such initiatives were often unsuccessful, leading to a loss of public money.      

3.         DISCUSSION

A discussion then followed, at which the following main views emerged:

·         The Victoria Institute was an important Misterton feature, with considerable history, and every effort should be made to retain it as a charitably-owned amenity.

·         The Parish Council had not done enough to find a sustainable charitable use for the building – disputed by Councillor Brand.

·         The Parish Council was accused of acting too hastily, in an effort to market the building before the forthcoming Parish Council elections.  The matter should be left to the newly elected Parish Council.

·         The Misterton Centre should be relocated into the Victoria Institute – the Clerk explained why this suggestion was not viable.

·         Retention of the Victoria Institute as a village hall was a more viable proposition than creating a community centre at Millennium House.

·         A resident who had discussed the matter with the Charity Commission indicated that it was legally possible for Misterton Community Trust to gift the building to another charity – this was not an option given in the legal advice received from the Charity Commission.

·         With a question mark over the future of the Methodist Hall, it made sense to retain the Victoria Institute as a charitable building for a little longer, as further deterioration would be limited in the short term.

·         Although the Clerk assured the meeting that the grassed area to the rear of the building was not owned by Misterton Community Trust, Councillor Trossell and Mr. Stead argued that it was.

4.         CONCLUSION

Councillor Trossell moved, and Mr. Stead seconded, the following motion:

‘That consideration of the future of the Victoria Institute be deferred for a year, on the basis that the 2010/11 insurance premium would be met by Councillor Trossell and other friends of the Victoria Institute’.

The Clerk suggested that the resolution proposed by the Parish Council should first be disposed of, but Mr. Stead protested that, as Councillor Trossell’s motion was an amendment, it should be taken first.  The Clerk said that he didn’t mind which way it was done, as the object of the exercise was to ascertain the views of those present.

Councillor Brand then put Councillor Trossell’s motion to the vote, when there were 32 residents in favour and 7 against, and the motion was carried.

The resolution proposed by the Parish Council was not, in the circumstances, put to the vote.   

                                          __________________________________

Interesting and very embarrassing for certain people especially considering it is now September 2013. Mind you, they've only just decided to sell and if they drag their feet!  Well you know what they say, it's not over until the fat lady sings.

Don't forget to VOTE

I see the chairman of the trust that manages the Victoria Institute has now sent in a letter to the newspaper, setting out a much more sensible approach to the proceedings.  I suspect that the previous writer probably got a bollocking, very well deserved, for opening gob before putting brain into gear.

Still, there are many still bent on saving this ugly building.  Where they were years ago when it all started is a mystery.  One thing is certain, things can only get worse if they hang on and if they do then things could get really ugly.

Roll up roll up cast your VOTE - Saturday 10.30 - Methodist Hall

Well I've not seen the paper but I understand that a Trustee of Misterton Community Trust has written a letter to the Epworth Bells giving a totally opposite view to that reached by the rest of the Trustees.  Which begs the question, why are they a Trustee when they vote one way and spout another view in public.

Anyway, which ever way you look at it, asking us to tip up £250,000 to bodge up that building is ridiculous.  So. don't forget to turn up for the meeting on Saturday at 10.30 at the Methodist Hall and make your vote count.  You can be sure that despite what the Trustees have agreed, they will call up their troops to vote against the resolution.  Then what, well they had better not ask me for money via fund raising.  I'll stump up for God but not for a lost cause.

Then there is the library, what are they going to do about that without our consent.  Now up for auction I understand and that means cash available to pay up within 28 days, or you lose your deposit. That must be causing a bit of a turmoil within our little group and emptying of piggy banks.  It's in a prime spot so it should make a good price.  A tale for another day I think.