White Colne
Parish Council
White Colne
Parish Council
White Colne
Parish Council
White Colne
Parish Council
Parish Council Minutes
Meeting held on 17 September 2007
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at The Village Hall, Bures Road, White Colne
on Monday 17th September 2007 at 7.30 pm.
Present : Cllr M Abrahams, Cllr S Adlem, Cllr J Brace, Cllr K Nolan (Chairman),
Cllr C Pearcey, Cllr J Taylor, Cllr J Watt
Also Present: Clerk D Williams, District Cllr G Spray, Police Community Support Officer
and 6 members of the public attended.
853. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE -
854. DECLARATION OF INTEREST – Cllr Taylor declared an interest in minute 867 if Boley Road is to be discussed, as she is a resident of that road. Cllr Watt declared an interest in minute 863 as the proposed web site designer is his father in law.
855. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES OF LAST MEETING
The minutes of the last parish council meeting of 16th July 2007, which had been previously circulated, were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
856. WINNERS OF FLOWER AND ALLOTMENT CUPS
The following winners of the flower and allotment cups were announced:-
Best Container Display in Front Garden – 34 Colneford Hill, Barbara Husk
Best Front Garden Display – 5 Colne Park Road – Ray and Angela Constable
Best Allotment – Martin King. Tim Webber was commended for recycling on his plot.
The cups will be presented separately as not all the trophies had been returned.
PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
The meeting was suspended for questions and statements.
No questions.
The police community support officer introduced himself and said that there were 6 reported incidents in the village in August.
District Cllr Spray advised members that when responding to Braintree District Council (BDC) regarding planning consultations, the parish council should be clearly supporting or clearly against the proposal. She also said that the Local Plan Review is available on the District Council web site.
The meeting was resumed.
857. CONSIDERATION OF WHETHER GREEN ISSUES SHOULD BE INCLUDED WHEN PLANNING APPLICATIONS ARE REVIEWED BY THE PARISH COUNCIL
Cllr Adlem said that the parish council should consider whether environmental and sustainability issues should be considered when reviewing planning applications. A discussion followed and Cllr Taylor proposed that the council writes to BDC seeking their views on this issue. Cllrs Abrahams, Adlem and Watt agreed to prepare a letter and send to the clerk for onward transmission to BDC, with a copy circulated to all members.
858. PLANNING APPLICATIONS
(a) 07/01537/FUL – Land adjacent 52 Colchester Road -
(b) 07/01445/FUL – Colneford House, 40 Colneford Hill – removal of lean-
(c) 07/01691/OHL – Land adjacent Vent House, Bures Road – diversion of low voltage overhead line, to be of standard wooden pole construction – No objections subject to neighbours’ views.
Cllr Nolan reminded members of the guidance given from BDC Planning Department regarding the wording for responses and the clerk was asked to circulate this to members together with the link to the BDC web site for the Local Plan Review.
859. WHITE COLNE MEADOWS PROJECT
Cllr Taylor said that the flower meadows have been cut and baled by Mr. Hadley. We hope to start on remedial works to the pond very soon. Our next event will be on Trafalgar Day Sunday October 21st when we shall be holding environmental and family games, plus lighting the beacon at the end of the afternoon. We have our autumn management meeting on 20th September and sadly, no other members of the public have put their names forward to sit on this committee. The question of access to the Meadows will be one of the items on the agenda of that meeting.
860. VILLAGE HALL
Cllr Adlem said that she had joined the management committee. The application for a grant for the kitchen to Awards for All was not successful, but BDC had awarded a grant of £4,760 from the Rural Community Development Fund. Cllr Taylor proposed that the parish council contribute £1,000 towards the complete refurbishment of the kitchen etc of £9,100 from the amount budgeted for the village hall, and this was agreed. She said that VAT is an issue as the VAT inspector had queried repayment of VAT paid on village hall expenditure as hall lettings are regarded as a business activity. She said that the clerk is seeking further guidance on this from Rural Community Council of Essex.
861. FINANCIAL MATTERS
Payments
The Clerk reported that since the last meeting, the following payments
had been made:-
Cheque Payee Details Amount £
996 Claire PB & Jonathan PR Ltd – newsletter printing July 60.00
997 Essex County Council – search fee for village green ownership 14.00
998 Ordnance Survey – History Group map copying license 55.81
999 Braintree District Council – Code of Conduct advertising costs 80.32
1000 G & D Plumbing & Heating Ltd – safety check to village hall boiler 82.25
1001 White Colne Village Hall – Meadows project use 40.00
1002 White Colne Village Hall – History Group use 30.00
1003 D Williams-
1004 Pauline Adlem – History Group expenses 117.85
1005 Sarah Adlem – History Group expenses 85.45
S/O Colne & Stour Countryside Assoc – subscription 5.00
S/O P Norris – reimbursement of Broadband expenses 22.99
S/O P Norris – reimbursement of Broadband expenses 22.99
S/O P Norris – reimbursement of Broadband expenses 22.99
D/D British Gas – village hall gas 49.80
TOTAL PAYMENTS £ 1,408.78
2.Funds Received
Since the last meeting, the following funds have been received:-
Newsletter advert 25.00
H M Customs & Excise – VAT refund 5,272.01
TOTAL RECEIPTS £ 5,297.01
3. Financial statement & Bank Reconciliation
Following the above transactions there is a credit balance of £ 16,826.47 of which £ 2,468.15 is the current balance
held in reserve for the White Colne Meadows project. There is £ 4,698.53 held in reserve for the
Local Heritage Initiative Fund. Thus the balance of unallocated funds is £ 9,659.79
Bank Balance 16.07.07 £ 12,938.24
Plus total receipts £ 5,297.01
Sub Total £ 18,235.25
Less Total Payments £ 1,408.78
Bank balance 17.09.07 £ 16,826.47
Cllr Abrahams suggested that the council places surplus credit monies in an interest bearing account. Cllr Taylor
considered that this was against the spirit of the Countryside Agency grant funding. Cllr Nolan said that it could be
argued that we were holding money in an interest bearing account to combat inflation. It was agreed that the council
opens an interest bearing account and the clerk was instructed to liaise with our bankers Nat West to open an instant
access account with an automatic sweep leaving sufficient on current account for working capital, and to complete the
formalities.
862. GRASSCUTTING CONTRACT
It had been decided earlier this year to review competitive quotations for the grasscutting contract. Two quotations were received and it was agreed to renew the contract with Mr R Mortimer for 12 months from January as this was the lowest quote overall. The clerk was instructed to advise those who had quoted.
863. WEB SITE CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
Cllr Watt said he had obtained a quotation of £150 to redesign the web site and £20 per month to maintain the site from Mr B Alderman. Cllr Taylor proposed that this be paid until we can update the site ourselves, and all agreed. The clerk was asked to liaise with Mr Alderman.
862. PARISH EMERGENCY PLAN AND PARISH EMERGENCY PLANNING OFFICER
Cllr Taylor suggested that the council should reconsider a parish emergency plan in view of the flooding throughout the country this year. Cllr Nolan said that if we wish to update the parish plan then guidance can be found on the BDC web site in parish information. Cllr Watt said that he would review and present proposals at the next meeting, and he also agreed to be the parish emergency planning officer. Cllr Pearcey said that he would assist if required.
865. STREET LIGHTING
Cllr Nolan said that the cost to the parish council to replace the unrepairable street light in Bures Road is £872, and that Essex County Council (ECC) would not take over responsibility for maintenance for the future. After discussion it was agreed that a note would be placed in the November newsletter advising that the parish council are unlikely to replace the light in view of the cost and seek comments. This would then be an agenda item in November. Cllr Taylor said that one person had responded to the newsletter article seeking views on the Colchester Road lights, saying that they did not want any more. One person had said that the Bures Road light should be replaced. Cllr Nolan said that now that some hedges had been cut back the Colchester Road footpaths were easier to negotiate, and the need for increased lighting there was not so great. It was agreed not to proceed further regarding increased Colchester Road lights.
865. AUTUMN CLUSTER MEETING
Cllr Nolan said that the next cluster meeting is to be hosted by Colne Engaine Parish Council, and agenda items have been requested. It was agreed to include consideration of whether green issues should be included when planning applications are reviewed by parish councils, together with progress of the community speed watch campaign.
867. NEW VILLAGE APPRAISAL/DESIGN STATEMENT
Cllr Taylor said that our last appraisal was published in 2000 although we started work on it early in 1999.
We had a response of over 90% which since then has undoubtedly helped us to obtain grant funding of nearly £100,000 for various projects. Car parking is the only outstanding issue. Grant applications now look tired when we state that an appraisal was carried out in 2000. The appraisal was written by a group of 10 people – every councillor plus 3 interested residents – using software from the Rural Community Council of Essex (RCCE). The 10 people each had 10 houses in their patch and they were responsible for delivering and collecting the forms. The RCCE software cost £50. The forms were printed free of charge by BDC as we were one of the first of the parishes to carry out an appraisal. We also paid an IT student £200 to input all the data. The cost today for a similar amount of printing is probably about £350, and the overall cost for an appraisal could be £600. Cllr Nolan said that a resident had asked why the results on speeding in the last appraisal were not published and the reason was that it was not included, and so speeding should be included in any new village appraisal. Cllr Taylor and Cllr Adlem agreed to attend a course presented by Essex Association of Local Councils and prepare a report and recommendation at the next meeting. The council agreed to pay the cost of attendance at the course of £60.
865. CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED WHICH IS NOT DEALT WITH ELSEWHERE
From Essex Association of Local Councils giving details of a Councillor Training Day course. Cllr Watt agreed to attend and the council agreed to pay the cost of £50.
From District Cllr W Scattergood responding to the council’s communication regarding planning application 07/00990.
From BDC regarding the Local Development Framework Site Allocation Requests. Cllr Nolan said that this could possibly be included in any future village appraisal.
From Essex County Council (ECC) responding to the council’s communication regarding Highways issues. They advise us that Bures Road does not meet the criteria for gritting, and also that an advisory speed limit is not appropriate for a section of Bures Road. ECC say that broken white road markings will be reinstated along Colchester Road adjacent to the No Entry carriageway markings, for Colne Park Road, but a warning sign on Colchester Road advising motorists of the right turn to Boley Road should be discouraged unless the parish council wish to encourage additional vehicles to use Boley Road. Timescales for the previously agreed other works were also given. Cllr Taylor reported safety issues concerning Boley Road. Cllr Abrahams proposed that the council responds stating that we do not accept replies where we are in disagreement and we will discuss these issues with our ECC Councillor. This was agreed. A copy is to be sent to ECC Cllr J Pike advising him that Cllr Pearcey and Cllr Watt will contact him to arrange a meeting.
From ECC being a statement of community involvement.
868. ANY OTHER URGENT BUSINESS
Cllr Nolan said that he had made enquiries regarding ownership of the village green to ECC and the Land Registry and had established that there are no entries concerning ownership, however ownership could be by deeds as unregistered land. The parish council cannot claim the land as it is not fenced off and there is public access.
Cllr Watt gave an update on training for the community speed watch campaign.
Cllr Taylor said that the date for the Christmas carol service on the village green had been set for Saturday 15th December, and the clerk was asked to make the usual arrangements for the closure of the section of Colne Park Road at the top of the green. She is investigating arrangements for a Christmas tree on the green.
Cllr Nolan said that the stock of dog waste bags needed to be replenished and arrangements were made for this.
869. consideration of A REPORT ON THE amended DRAFT HEADS OF AGREEMENT FOR THE
TRANSFER OF WCPC LAND TO ESSEX CC IN RETURN FOR THE TRANSFER OF THE VILLAGE
HALL AND LAND TO WCPC.
Cllr Nolan said that the solicitor acting for the parish council had advised that the amended draft agreement will be sent to the parish council and ECC shortly. No amendments had been proposed by other parties.
There being no further business the parish council meeting was closed at 9.45pm.
Chairperson…………………………………………………. Date……………………………………….
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