Hempstead in Essex
Resting place of William Harvey and Sir Eliab Harvey and birthplace of Dick Turpin

Parish Council Minutes 2nd November 2017

2nd November 2017

MINUTES OF THE HEMPSTEAD PARISH COUNCIL

Thursday 2 November 2017 in the Village Hall

Present:

Part Time:

  • District Councillor Simon Howell

Members of the Public:

The meeting started at 8.01pm

  1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

    County Councillor Simon Walsh
    Mrs Sara Scott
    Mrs Nicola McNeill

  2. REPORTS OR CONTRIBUTIONS FROM DISTRICT AND COUNTY COUNCILLORS

    The Clerk alerted the Council to County Councillor Walsh’s report that had been circulated by email. There were no issues arising

  3. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD Thursday 5 October, 2017

    These were agreed to be an accurate account of the meeting and signed

  4. MATTERS ARISING

    Not covered elsewhere. There were none.

  5. ENVIRONMENT

    Flooding – The date for the training of volunteers to map and establish ownership of the water courses in the parish had been set for 9th December and the Village Hall had been booked. Mrs McNeill agreed to liaise with Jo Ludlow and six volunteers had been identified

    Base of Fountain – Mr McCarthy and Mrs Scott had met with a contractor who suggested that the brick area could be renovated without taking it up. He would quote for pressure washing, grouting and sealing as well as attending to the overgrown surrounding area by trimming and re-turfing. Mark Halls had quoted £1950 plus vat to carry out the more substantial re-furbishment originally envisaged.

    Christmas Tree – Mrs Scott and Mrs McNeill had agreed to decorate the tree that Mrs Scott was organising.

    Clean-up Day – This is planned for Saturday 4th November. Volunteers to meet at 10am at the pond.

    Village Sign – Mr Sladen suggested that we should contact the person who renovated the noticeboards and discuss capping the sign with metal. This was agreed by the Council.

  6. POLICING

    There had recently been a daytime burglary in the Bramley Hollow area of the village. The thieves were disturbed by a shed alarm and only stole a small quantity of hand tools. They can clearly be seen on CCTV footage so the police have attended and the images distributed across Essex, Cambridge and Suffolk police forces.

  7. HIGHWAYS AND PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY

    Highways Report – Mr Drane told the meeting there had recently been good progress locally on road repairs. Long stranding potholes in Sewards End and Maple Lane Radwinter had all been repaired. He will continue to chase other outstanding issues.

    Road Safety Schemes – The three Road Safety Schemes that had been submitted by Mr Welbourn would probably be discussed at the next Local Highways Panel Meeting on 15th January. It was noted with regret that public attendance is no longer possible.

  8. FINANCE

    The draft budget for 2017/8 that had been prepared by the Clerk was discussed. It was agreed that the Clerk’s hours should be increased to more realistically reflect the increasing work load. The rise would be from 4 hours per week to 5 hours per week. Additionally, there has been a small increase in the grass cutting charges. The Council also decided to look at the possibility of installing Wi-fi in the hall which would make it more attractive to potential and current hirers. This would only proceed if it could be achieved within a budget of approximately £200 per year. The Clerk had already written to County Broad band because at their initial meeting they had promised a hot spot in both the Church and Hall.

  9. VILLAGE HALL

    Play Area Planning Permission: the revised maps had now been accepted but a biodiversity check list was now required. It was hoped that this could be done as a desk top survey as the actual usage of the area would not change with the development.

    The form would have to be returned by 16th November and Mr Franier was hopefully sorting out this issue.

  10. COMMUNICATIONS

    As yet no useful solution had been found to the problems of the very poor mobile phone service in the village.

FUTURE MEETINGS – Thursdays 14th December, 18th January and 15th February all at 8pm in the Village Hall.

The meeting ended at 9.02pm