Parish Council Minutes 11th December 2008

• Mr S McCarthy (Chairman)
• Miss D Frost
• Mr J Sladen
• Mr A Thomas
• Mr A Weedon
• Parish Clerk

Apologies:

126. COUNCILLOR RESIGNATION

     since the previous meeting, Mr McCarthy has received the resignation of Ms Sally Phillips. This has been necessary due to work commitments leaving her with little time to commit to her role as Councillor.

127. MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 30 OCTOBER 2008

     were taken as read and signed as a correct record by the Chairman.

128. MATTERS ARISING

     from previous Minutes, not dealt with in the main agenda.

     Mr Weedon is still to put up the Dog Control Orders in the churchyard and on the Glebe. – Action AW

129. CORRESPONDENCE

     Hempstead PCC	request for assistance to pay church clock service and future grant towards churchyard grass cutting – Mr Weedon expressed an interest and left the meeting – both these matters were then discussed at length and Miss Frost proposed that the clock service be paid at this meeting, this was seconded by Mr Sladen. The Clerk was asked to seek further advice on whether the Council is able to assist with the grass cutting costs. Mr Weedon returned to the meeting. – Action CD
     Information Commissioner’s Office	new model publication scheme for adoption from 1 January 2009 – following discussion IT WAS AGREED to adopt the model scheme and the relevant information compiled at the next meeting. In addition, further advice would be sought from Mr Cockman, (Internal Auditor). Miss Frost will liaise with the website editor to set up new tags within the Parish Council section for Statutory Documents etc. – Action DF/CD
     Stop Stansted Expansion	request for financial support received to assist with legal representation – IT WAS AGREED that a £50 donation be made.

130. MEETING REPORTS

     • North Uttlesford Community Forum
       no meeting since last report
     • Parish Planning Workshop
       Mr Thomas attended this meeting and gave a brief report of the issues covered.
     • West Essex Area Forum
       No one was able to attend the meeting on 19 November.

131. ENVIRONMENT

     Common land issues – Mr McCarthy reported on the discussion he had with Mr Haylock regarding the ownership of the land at the village pond. IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY AGREED that Mr Haylock re-registers this land to Parish Council ownership at no cost to the Council. – Action DH

     Miss Frost was concerned with the damage to trees and verges caused by large vehicles including the double-decker school buses. She will contact ECC who contract the school bus services to discuss further. – Action DF

132. FINANCE

     The Clerk presented the council with a draft budget for 2009/2010 which was fully discussed. As further information was required regarding the possibility of churchyard grass cutting the Clerk was asked to contact UDC to ask for an extension for submission of the Precept which is due 9 January2009. The Clerk was asked to circulate the budget as agreed so far. – Action CD/CD

     The following receipts had been received and banked since the last meeting:

     S McCarthy	PRoW Realignment (Inv 23)	£100.00
     Hempstead & District Gardeners Club	Donation	£200.00
     M Long	PRoW Realignment (Inv 26)	£100.00
     T M Sills	PRoW Realignment (Inv 21)	£200.00
     J Rennie	PRoW Realignment (Inv 24)	£100.00

     Approval of the full council was given for the following payment since the previous meeting:

     Audit Commission

     Audit fee for 2007/08

     £141.00

     The following accounts were approved for payment and a cheques drawn up:

     J Basham			Grass Cutting	£90.00
     Society of Local Council Clerks			Annual subscription	£61.00
     Hempstead PCC			Church Clock Service	£161.00
     Stop Stansted Expansion			Donation	£50.00

     It was noted that prior to the Remembrance Service Mr J Basham had cut the greens and picked up the leaves at no charge – the Council expressed their gratitude.

133. HIGHWAYS

     Mr McCarthy reported on two meetings with Ian Hurwood, ECC – the outcome of the meeting with the Commons Commissioners was still outstanding.

     Mr Thomas was still getting no response to correspondence with the Highways Department with regard to outstanding issues including access to Harvey Way, 40mph limit extension etc. Mr McCarthy will send an email to D Forkin (Area Manager) to complain of the lack of service. – Action SM

134. ENGAGING OUR YOUTH

     Mr McCarthy proposed that this item be removed from the agenda for the foreseeable future – this was unanimously agreed.

135. FOOTPATHS

     • Re-alignment scheme
       The Clerk had sent out the agreed invoices and all but two were now paid. Miss Frost had started to prepare a free hand map in OS style of the new path layout and brought it to the meeting for discussion. Discussion ensued about the extent of the map, the size of the paper it will ultimately be printed on etc. Mr McCarthy confirmed to Miss Frost that the format was what had been anticipated and would be grateful if she would continue. – Action DF

136. MAINTENANCE PROJECTS

     • Drinking Fountain
       Work was expected to commence within the next 3 months.
     • Backdrop to War Memorial
       work on the preparation of the bed for the hedge was in abeyance until the new year.
     • Village Sign
       Miss Frost had contacted Mr Shires regarding the re-capping of the village sign and it appeared he had forgotten about it. Miss Frost suggested the issue of the sign be left now until the spring.

137. COMMUNICATIONS

     Website – a refresher was due in early 2009.

     Newsletter – next newsletter deadline 26 January 2009.

138. EMERGENCY PLAN

     The road drain opposite Firs Cottage has been installed. Mr Haylock still awaited a report from the Environment Agency and will continue to monitor. – Action DH

139. PLANNING

     • UTT/1803/08/FUL – Lakehouse Farm
       Removal/Variation of Conditions – following discussion no objections were raised.Action – CD
     • UTT/1883/08/FUL – Highbanks, Bumpstead Road
       Removal of Condition – following discussion of the full council, the Clerk was asked to write to the Planning Department with the concern that the property still carry a condition to remain a single residential unit and that part of the property could not be sold as a separate entity.Action – CD
     • UTT/1798/08/FUL & UTT/1800/08/LB – Church Farm Cottage, Church Road
       erection of single storey extension, internal alterations and demolition of outbuilding – still to be considered – Clerk to ask for extension for comments.Action – CD

140. VILLAGE HALL

     nothing to report

141. STANSTED AIRPORT

     Mr Weedon reported briefly on the recent protests at the airport.

142. COUNCILLOR RESIGNATION

     Mr Thomas tendered his resignation from the Council due to his imminent move from the district. Mr McCarthy thanked him on behalf of all the councillors for all his work and wished him every success in his new life in Dorset.

     Future meeting dates – Thursday 8 January, Thursday 5 February and Thursday 5 March 2009.

     The meeting closed at 9.55pm.