AGM Chairman’s report 2021

My name is Michael Judd, welcome to you all, hope you are well and staying safe.

I begin by thanking once again the voluntary contributions of the committee consisting of Stephen Short, Ken Crabbe, Ian Craig, Bryan Sheldon, Sophia Watts Hilary Brand and Emilie Stevens for their tireless hard work and support throughout the previous year’s activities, especially George Bisson who has once again undertaken the secretary’s role which has been in very difficult times.

The decorating and lighting of the village has now entered its forty-second year and my thanks go to the dedicated people, especially our volunteers, along with the committee who are determined to decorate the village for the benefit of all who live, work and visit Lyndhurst. General communications are always on going with our monthly meetings, the publication ‘What’s On’ advertorials, website, social media and our notice boards.

The Christmas decorations in the village of Lyndhurst have always tried to set the bar at a very high level and continues to be rated one of the best in the New Forest and Hampshire. With this in mind, I was pleased on behalf of the team, to receive the award ‘Parish Champions’ for 2019.

My thanks to our treasurer Joan Bisson who continued the hard work to keep our accounts in good order. The general costs to present the Christmas display’s is between £6000-£8000 year on year and without the retail sponsorship this would not be possible.

Our electrical engineers are R & M Electricals and our thanks go to Ben Chiverton in particular, who carried out the work to our specifications with the Committee being focused and moving forward in implementing all health and safety issues. This has involved publication on contact details to all new and existing outlets.

Our thanks also go to the Community Centre, R & M Electricals and Lyndhurst Fire Station for their support in relation to storage of equipment.

During the past years, due to Hampshire County Council guidelines to obtain the relevant licenses, stress tests on all the catenary anchors were required. With the constant health and safety changes, a structural engineer was required to assess the catenary wiring and anchor points across the village and sign them off as compliant before we could obtain the relevant licence especially as Lyndhurst has the A35 as the main road.

This was undertaken at a cost of £1500 with the unfortunate result that the fixings and catenaries in the village were not up to standard and were condemned accordingly with the result they could not be signed off and were duly removed.

As you may appreciate this decision was deeply disappointing and upsetting as we were ready for the string light installation to progress as usual.

Decisions had to be evaluated with the current situation and basically there were four options that could made in relation to obtaining the licence and public liability.

a) do nothing

b) utilise the present strings to run horizontally in the village.

c) purchase addition Christmas Tree Lights to run horizontally in the village.

d) To install up-lighters in the village at various vantage points.

We all felt that we should do something and after long discussions, views with our electrician and costing, it was voted that we install 52 up-lighters throughout the village.

We all knew that nothing would replace the string light effect, especially in the middle of the High Street, but hoped we could start with a blank canvass offering a warmth of colour throughout the village alongside our existing traditional Christmas displays with opportunities for further displays in the future.

We all believed doing something, rather than doing nothing, was the best way forward.

After consulting and agreement from the owners of relevant properties the installations were completed.

During this period, we were asked by the Parish Council and the retail sector if the catenary wiring could be reinstated. We agreed that we could undertake a viability and feasibility study and after considerable work over the past 9 months the cost for full installations was ascertained with an estimate in excess of £50,000. This again is all subject to an initial stress test on anchor points to be signed off by a structural engineer before anything can proceed.

We as a committee believe this is a highway and engineering undertaking and passed it on so that we can concentrate our efforts on the village lighting, and decorations as usual.

We understand the passion and enthusiasm of all the village from which we are an integral part and believe we are in a transitional period going forward welcoming any constructive ideas and criticism that may be received. I am sure that 2021/22 will be a challenging year to all concerned, especially in the present climate.

This year we will again be presenting a Christmas display, however this can only be achieved by the continued support of the community and businesses of Lyndhurst.  Once again, my thanks go to you all.

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