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Carlton Childrens Playing Field Report 2009-2010
For Carlton and Chellington Parish Council open Meeting Thursday 15th April 2010
Trying to put a positive spin on the fact that the barbeque summer of last year never materialised, at least the grass remained green and luscious all summer long. In fact the playing field probably gets more usage when the weather isn’t tropically hot when the slide suddenly looks less appealing! The committee has welcomed two new members this past year. Lucy Whysall has joined as our PTFA representative and Doug Neil has kindly stepped into the shoes of Anne Geerts on behalf of the Parish Council.
Several repair and maintenance issues were addressed this past year, with a couple more in the pipeline as the year ends. All the swing frames, hopscotch and seats were repainted on a rare warm day earlier in the summer. New flat swing seats were fitted to the other frame which hadn’t been done last time. Two horizontal wooden bars were kindly donated and fitted to replace deteriorating ones on the multi-activity frame.
In between the two bouts of snow when the playing field could actually be seen, the decision was taken to remove the football goalposts which were causing concern due to their lean. The committee had previously discussed if and when to repair the goal mouth areas which had become considerably eroded over the years, and with the goals removed this could now proceed. An application has been made to the FA for a Goalpost safety grant which would pay 50% towards new goalposts with the result hopefully known within the next 6 weeks. The committee has decided to replace the posts with new, smaller sized frames which are more suitable for the age range of children the playing field is primarily aimed at.
I would personally like to thank the committee for their support and time they have generously given this year. The time and labour that they have volunteered means that our expenses have been kept to a minimum as we have managed to do several repairs ourselves without the high cost of outside contractors.
The finances for the year 1st April 2009 to 31st March 2010 are as follows;
Income (solely from bank interest as no fundraising has been done this year): £1.24! Expenses (cost of painting materials/swing seats): £134.17
The committee balances as of 31st March 2010 are; Community Current Account: £3188.06 Deposit Business Saver Account: £1113.68 Petty cash: £25.22 Total: £4326.96
Our aims within the forthcoming weeks, are new goalposts will be bought and erected in time for at least the final of the World Cup. Unfortunately as to whether or not England are playing in it is sadly out of our hands! Nevertheless we hope the children of Carlton and beyond continue to use the playing field as a source of recreational and health benefit.
Emma Simpson (Chair)
N.B: Since this report has been written the goal mouth areas have been levelled and seeded with grass seed. They are currently fenced off to try and let the seed germinate and establish itself. When new goal posts are purchased it is aimed not to put them in exactly the same place to allow these aforementioned areas to recover further once the fencing has been removed.
Any issues raised which can’t be answered can be directed to myself on either (01234) 720832 or at emsimpson@btinternet.com which I will endeavour to answer on my return on 20th April 2010. |