We hope you have all received your Kirk Ella & West Ella Annual Report by now. There were difficulties I have to admit. At one time the printer was working from home; another time there was difficulty to manage to have it delivered because of the COVID restriction. However, we persevered and at this stage I must thank Councillor Doreen Kaye for all the help she gave me to put it together and Mandy, our Clerk, who dealt with both the printer and delivery agent.

Our aim had been to restart our Parish Council Meetings again in May but as the time goes by this is beginning to look less likely until after all the restrictions are lifted. One difficulty is obtaining a room for our next meeting where we can abide by the COVID rules on distancing and numbers although all the councillors have had a COVID vaccine. There is a terrific amount of business waiting to be done to make our plans come to fruition and though as a chairman I have the authority to do so much, in a democracy it is prudent for all the councillors to be involved in the decisions especially on spending. Our clerk is booked on an ERYC course “Recovery & Support Workshop” on restarting community work and valuable information on any possible funding opportunities to help with the catch up.

Meanwhile I did mention in the Annual Report the possibility of more information boards and Councillor David Robinson has spent hour after hour researching information and finding old photographs of our parish with the great help of Francis Davy from AWAKE (Anlaby, Willerby & Kirk Ella) U3A a local historian. Obviously, expenditure for the construction and erection of the boards needs to be sanctioned at our next meeting. Our historical trail booklet continues to sell well and all proceeds go to such projects.

I must also thank again the hard workers who planted daffodils in the autumn last year. There has been a splendid display this spring and people have been very impressed. Just one disturbing note though, the wife of one of our councillors witnessed two youths on bicycles deliberately ride through a display in West Ella kicking the heads off with their feet. Unfortunately she was too far away to speak to them but it is sad that they had not been taught the word “respect”.

Lastly it was with great sadness that we heard of the passing of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, whose 100th birthday the whole nation had hoped to celebrate. We are now wondering if there is any way that we should or could have a memorial to the longest serving consort of a monarch in British history. There are many memorials around the country to famous people. Please let us know your thoughts.

Stay safe
Margaret Raymond
Councillor Margaret Raymond
Chairman - Kirk Ella & West Ella Parish Council
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