-
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Mr David Drane
-
REPORTS OR CONTRIBUTIONS FROM DISTRICT AND COUNTY COUNCILLORS
Councillor Howell updated the Council on the progress with the District Plan.
-
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD Tuesday September 5 2017
These were agreed to be an accurate account of the meeting and signed
-
MATTERS ARISING
Not covered elsewhere. There were none.
-
ENVIRONMENT
Flooding – The postponement of the training for water course monitoring until the Spring was discussed. However, October until April is the best time for inspection due to the decrease in foliage. It was agreed that Mrs McNeill should try to arrange dates when convenient for volunteers possibly in January or February.
Clean-up Day – clean-up day on Saturday 4th November. Notice to go in Newsletter.
Base of Fountain – No quotes had been received as yet but would continue to be sought. The promised £650 grant from UDC had been received towards this project.
Mr Weedon reported that he would need a quote for the fountain work if applying for a grant from Friends of Essex Heritage at their January meeting. No quotes had yet been obtained for the work. These would be chased up.
The encroachment of brambles around the fountain had been cleared by Mr Basham even before he had been asked. The Council expressed their appreciation.
Village Sign – This was showing signs of needing attention. Mr McCarthy volunteered to ask Mark Halls for advice but this had not yet been possible.
Christmas Tree A budget of £100 was agreed and Mrs Scott would ask her brother to deliver one at the same time as the church tree. Mrs McNeill volunteered to help and the Clerk agreed to sort out existing decorations and lights.
-
CORRESPONDENCE
The clerk reviewed several items of correspondence and consultations. Most significantly these included an item indicating that the mobile library service is starting to plan cuts as at many stops there are very few or no clients. As the vehicles are due to be replaced and are very expensive it is likely that alternative strategies such as the use of volunteers may be tried. The Council considered this inevitable but regrettable.
-
PLANNING
UTT/17/2728/HHF No 6 Harvey Way The application for a rear conservatory was agreed by the Council to be uncontentious so no comments would be sent to the Planning department at Uttlesford District Council.
UTT/17/2328/HHF Turpins Cottage. The Parish Council expressed concerns about this planning application for an oak cart lodge. The proposed development is in a sensitive open plan position in the very centre of the village adjacent to two Village Greens. It would be particularly close to the boundary of the historic area known as ‘The Ring of Trees’ which is both a scheduled Ancient Monument and registered Village Green.
The building itself will be almost four metres high and would exert an intrusive presence right in the middle of the village conservation area. There is no tradition or footprint of a building in that position. The Parish Council would greatly appreciate it if a more appropriate site could be found.
-
HIGHWAYS AND PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY
Road Safety Schemes – Mr Welbourn reported that he would put in the three schemes to the Local Highways Panel as previously discussed by the extended deadline.
Also he had answered the Essex stakeholder survey but it gave little room for constructive comments.
-
FINANCE
The Clerk said that the Budget would have to be agreed at the next meeting in time to approve the setting of next year’s precept. He would prepare a draft to enable discussion. As reported by email the second part of the precept £4177.5 had been received and also further grant from the transparency fund £396. This is now the end of these transparency fund grants. A bursary of £33.75 had been received to partly cover the cost (£45) of the data protection course attended by the clerk.
The annual subscription for membership of the Stop Stansted Expansion campaign of £25 is now due and the clerk has just put it on the website for authorisation. The Council has received a request for donations to the Essex Air Ambulance. It was agreed to donate £50.
-
COMMUNICATIONS
Mr McCarthy had contacted EE the main provider for mobile phone reception in the area and reported the poor service for in the village. The company said that the area should be getting adequate coverage. He tried to take the matter further and mentioned that the church could possibly be available for the siting of a mast. The calls proved unsatisfactory but he said that he would continue to pursue the matter.
-
VILLAGE HALL
The Village Hall Management Committee meeting and AGM were to be held on Friday October 20.
-
DATA PROTECTION CHANGES
The Clerk had attended a course on the changes and agreed to explore the issues further and report back to a future meeting.
-
ASSETS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST
As the original nominations for assets of community interest are due to expire it afforded an opportunity to review the list. It was decided that many of the nominations were redundant or referred to land actually under direct control of the Parish Council anyway. Therefore, it was decided to proceed with the nomination of just two sites. These being: The Bluebell Inn, The Village Green (housing the War Memorial and Bus Shelter). The Pond area was already registered to the Parish Council.
