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

Parish Council Minutes 31st May 2018

31st May 2018

MINUTES OF THE HEMPSTEAD PARISH COUNCIL

Thursday May 31 2018 8pm in the Village Hall
Present:

 Part Time:

Members of the Public:

The Parish Council meeting opened at 8.01pm

  1. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

    Mr Sean McCarthy was nominated and duly elected unanimously. He thanked the other councillors for their continued support.

  2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

    Simon Howell District Councillor and Country Councillor Simon Walsh both sent apologies but had promised to attend the Parish Assembly the next evening.

  3. REPORTS OR CONTRIBUTIONS FROM DISTRICT AND COUNTY COUNCILLORS

    Both had submitted Annual Reports for the Annual assembly meeting.

  4. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD April 26 2018

    A minor amendment was noted then it was agreed that they were true record of the meeting.

  5. MATTERS ARISING

    not covered elsewhere. There were none.

  6. PLANNING

    The application for an extension to one of the cottages at Bullsbridge Farm was discussed and agreed to present no problem. Consequently, no comments would be passed to the planning department.

    The plans for one of the Barn Conversions at Ruses Farm, which was a listed building were seen as equally unproblematic as far as the structure was concerned. However, there were strong reservations about the unclear siting of the driveway in respect of the public rights of way in the vicinity. It was agreed that the Clerk would pass appropriate comments on to Uttlesford Planning Department to ask them to ensure that there were no hinderances to the continued use of this popular track and that it was checked against the definitive map at ECC.

  7. CORRESPONDENCE

    Tricia Ridgway had asked if there were any extra commemorations taking place to mark the centenary of the end of the first World War. The possibility of displaying the biographical details of some of those named on the war memorial was discussed and it was mentioned that Gavin Rowden had given a presentation some years ago and may still have appropriate details. Mr Weedon agreed to contact him.

  8. HIGHWAYS AND PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY

    David Drane Report: The Highway Ranger team had been working on railings on Anso Road up to the 30mph sign and had done a good job and would be coming back to paint them.

    Several areas of potholes had been marked and repairs were awaited.

  9. ENVIRONMENT

    Flooding: So far there had been little action on investigations that had been promised within three weeks by Chris Stoneham. The latter had contacted John Sladen saying that some had been done and more were planned when traffic management was available. Fortunately, the dry weather had prevented any incidence of flooding.

    Byway: No reply had been received to Mr Welbourn’s request for information on the deeply rutted byway.

    Watercourse Mapping: Mrs McLean and Mr McCarthy had completed their section. Though Mr Sladen had not yet finished his section. Mr Welbourn has made progress with his section north of the B1054 but the area south of the B1054 was as yet not completed.

    As further progress is hampered by vegetation growth it was agreed that as the village area was mostly completed a meeting with Jo Ludlow might be useful and should be arranged.

    Village Sign: The Clerk reported that the agreed work was due to begin on 4th June. He would meet with Mr Simmons to get quotes for the top of the sign and the grouting of the paving on the War memorial.

  10. FINANCE

    The clerk reported that new audit regime requirements are more detailed. Although we are largely compliant, in fact the EALC said we were one of the few fully compliant Essex councils for the transparency arrangements last year, there are areas to address such as updating Governance and Financial regulations. However, this has been acknowledged in the increase of Clerk’s hours for this year.

    The Clerk presented the draft Annual Summary that would be available at the Parish Assembly the next day. He also presented the first of the bi-monthly finance summaries that would be prepared for the council. It was also decided to put it onto the website for wider circulation.

    Financial Report for April/May 2018
    Date PAYER/PAYEE PURPOSE Amount Balance
    18-May-18 B/P to: Julian Basham CUTS 1/2 & FUEL -430.00 5,403.62
    30-Apr-18 B/P to: Hemp V.H.M.C PLAY AREA GRANT -2,000.00 5,833.62
    30-Apr-18 B/P to: EALC Subscription -136.46 7,833.62
    30-Apr-18 B/P to: SH & A McCarthy BOUQUET N.HALLS -29.99 7,970.08
    30-Apr-18 S/O to: Martyn Long S/O MONTHLY SALARY -191.54 8,000.07
    30-Apr-18 S/O to: HMRC PAYE PAYE -47.88 8,191.61
    30-Apr-18 S/O to: B D Kitchen WEB SUPERVISION -80.00 8,239.49
    10-Apr-18 UTTDC GEN PRECEPT RECEIVED 4,375.00 8,319.49
    03-Apr-18 B/P to: SH & A McCarthy CLEANUP EXPENSES -29.00 3,944.49
    03-Apr-18 B/P to: EssexHeritageTrust SUBSCRIPTION -25.00 3,973.49
    03-Apr-18 S/O to: Martyn Long S/O MONTHLY SALARY -153.28 3,998.49
    03-Apr-18 S/O to: HMRC PAYE PAYE -38.32 4,151.77
    03-Apr-18 S/O to: B D Kitchen WEB SUPERVISION -80.00 4,190.09

    An extra meeting to agree the end of year financial and governance statements may be needed.

    Payments soon needing authorisation: Julian Basham’s invoice for £330 and CPRE Subscription £36 would be on the website soon, ready for authorisation. These payments were agreed.

  11. COMMUNICATIONS

    It was agreed that as well as the bi-monthly finance reports it would be useful to put the reports from District and County Councillors onto the website.

FUTURE MEETINGS – Thursdays June 28, July 26 and September 6 all at 8pm in the Village Hall.

The meeting ended at 9.05 pm