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HENHAM PARISH COUNCIL Minutes (unapproved) of Meeting Held on: Thursday 1st December 2011 Time: 7.30pm Venue: OSCA, Henham Present: Cllrs. Mr N. Baker (Chairman), Mrs K. George-Lafferty, Mr R. Gleeson, Mr. O. Griffiths, Mr. S. Lee, Mrs. M.Lohmeyer, Mr. D. Sturgeon, Mr. T. Warren Dist. Cllr. Mr. D. Morson, Dist. Cllr. Ms E. Parr, County Cllr Mr. R. Gooding, Dr P. Dondi (Clerk) 1. Apologies for Absence Cllr. Mr J. Ford 2. Approval of the Minutes of the Last Meeting Minutes of the November meeting were approved and signed. 3. Matters Arising a) Future of Post Office (PO). A discussion paper regarding the future funding of the Post Office, within the Village Shop, had been discussed in detail during the November Parish Council meeting. Councillors had had an opportunity to discuss the options with villagers and the issue of the Post Office has been widely broadcast by local and national newspapers and on television news. Cllr Baker summarised the position, explaining that the public appeal had raised £4500-£5000 in donations and, whilst the shop committee had some funds, an amount of £6000 was still required. All councillors reported that their canvassing of local opinion had resulted in a strong desire to see the post office service maintained in the future. Cllr Baker had drafted a motion that he read to the meeting, as follows:- “The Parish Council recognises and supports the need for a Post Office facility to be available in the Community Shop in Henham. It is therefore proposed that the annual precept is increased by £6000 in the 2012-2013 year to make up the funding shortfall and allow a Post Office service of 3 mornings per week.” This motion was proposed by Cllr Sturgeon and seconded by Cllr George-Lafferty and voted on by the councillors. The motion was carried unanimously. b) Community Speed Watch –Update – Cllr Warren advised that all the necessary equipment had been delivered on 1st December and he hoped that at least two monitoring sessions could be carried out before 11 December, which is when the equipment must be returned to Elsenham. He said that he would like to recruit more volunteers and would be posting a request in the Dragon. c) Uneven pavements and footpaths – Cllr Warren provided the Clerk with a draft letter regarding issues with the pavement in The Row and the footpath opposite the village shop. It was agreed that a formal request for repairs be sent to ECC Highways. Update (Clerk) – written notification submitted to ECC Highways website – initial response received “Thank you for your enquiry regarding footway defects in The Row, which was recorded on 10/10/2011. It will be passed to the relevant officer to investigate and dealt with as appropriate. If a reply is needed, we will respond to you once all of the relevant details or information is to hand.” (enquiry number 1636502). Cllr Warren stated that he has noticed some markings in the area, which would indicate that some investigation has taken place. d) Yellow Lines and Traffic Calming - Cllr Lee has been contacted by Mrs Jo Pope, who has detailed a number of dangerous situations, that have arisen due to the increased traffic and parking in the Mill Road, Vernon’s Close and School Lane area, particularly during drop-off and collection of children attending the school. The meeting agreed the council should make strong representation to ECC Highways for increased parking restrictions and traffic calming in this area. Cllr Lee will draft a suitable letter for submission to Highways. Email relating to this problem has been submitted to ECC Highways West – awaiting initial response. Additional email sent to Chris Stoneham, Highways West, on 3 Nov 2011. Update – email below received 9 Nov 2011:- Dear Mr Dondi Thank you for your email relating to Traffic Calming measures around Henham and Ugly Primary School. We will arrange for the area to be inspected and ensure that your recommendation to install restrictions is considered, along with any other suitable scheme. Please be aware that any recommendation or request will be forwarded to the relevant Uttlesford District officers for their consideration before any decision to implement a scheme is made. This process may also take between a year and 18 months to instigate fully if we are successful in any relevant application we propose. We will keep you informed of any proposals or decisions made in relation to this subject. Kind regards Shane Taylor Technical Team Leader North Essex Parking Partnership Tel: 01206 507860 Colchester Borough Council 4. Reports and Recommendations (i) Greens and Village Estate Report submitted by Nick Baker
(ii) Finance Cheques/Monies received – None Accounts for Payment November 2011 Clerk’s salary (November 2011) £ 243.60 Pat Doughty (completion of installation of donated bench) £ 250.00 Gratuity for Internal Auditor (Re-imbursement to N.Baker) £ 20.63 PRECEPT 2012/2013 precept to be agreed and applied for by deadline of 16 January 2012. Cllr Baker explained that, without the additional expenditure of the Post Office, the Parish Council would expect to maintain expenditure levels of the previous two years. If any exceptional items occurred that warranted additional expenditure, then, if agreed by the Parish Council, funding could be made available from the reserves. The previous precept had been £31,500 and now, with the £6000 agreed by the parish council to assist funding of the post office, this would mean a precept of £37,500 for the year 2012-2013. The necessary paperwork will be completed by the Clerk, with a view to submission to Uttlesford District Council before the end of December.
(iii) Liaison Dist Cllr Morson advised that there had been a yet another accident at the junction of Mill Road and Elsenham Road. There have now been 5 accidents at this spot in the recent past. The meeting agreed that Cllr Baker should write to UDC Highways stressing the urgent need for some action to be taken to reduce the risk at this junction. (iv) Planning · Applications – · UTT/2264/11/FUL Erection of new roof structure, raise chimney stack and insertion of new dormer to rear elevation. Alterations to fenestrations and doors and internal alterations. Bury Cottage High Street Henham. Mr R Sweeney · UTT/2244/11/LB Erection of new roof structure, raise chimney stack and insertion of new dormer to rear elevation. Bury Cottage High Street Henham. Mr R Sweeney. · Breaches – ENF/299/11/D Breach of Planning Control – allegation that Club House, Northall Road, Henham, being used as full time accommodation. Investigation has been carried out and the club house is not occupied. No breach, file closed. ENF/294/10/B Breach of Planning Control – additional rooflights inserted without consent, 21 Mill Road, Henham. Following site visit, retrospective planning permission granted. No further action. · Appeals – none advised.
Planning Note: Cllr Sturgeon wished to have recorded, as a point of information, an issue with breaches of planning:- In relation to anyone cutting down any particular tree(s), without prior consent from the local planning department; it is the person who actually cuts down the tree, who will be held liable for any subsequent action by the planning department. This applies to any person, who may have been contracted to cut down the said tree(s). 5. Proposed Housing Development at Elsenham Cllr Baker and Cllr Sturgeon attended a meeting of the Joint Parish Councils Steering Group (JPCSG) on Wednesday evening. Cllr Sturgeon reported that Uttlesford District Council (UDC) were now focusing on the principle of “dispersement” throughout the whole of the district for the current Local Development Framework (LDF) and the new LDF, as opposed to the previous view of major concentrations of housing in certain chosen areas ( Option 4). The “dispersement” option is favoured by the JPCSG. For the current LDF UDC currently has a shortfall of 925 new houses. Cllr Sturgeon said that Andrew Taylor of UDC is to be commended for the energy he is putting into the new strategies and all on JPCSG should assist in helping UDC reach their target of 925 new houses. However, UDC may have abandoned Option 4, but Fairfield has not. 6. Correspondence Correspondence Received a. Planning Applications - see 4(iv) above b. Letter from ECC regarding Local Bus Tender Round 2012 – distributed to Councillors. c. Letter from Andrew Taylor, UDC, regarding Henham Conservation Area Appraisal. This was passed to Cllr. Lee, who reported that he has subsequently been contacted by Mr. Bruce Tice UDC, who is currently completing the report. At present the Parish Council have no idea of what changes are being proposed to the Henham conservation area. When the report is completed, Mr Tice will present his findings to the Parish Council , prior to a subsequent formal consultation with Henham residents. Cllr Lee is following up. 7. Waste and Minerals Development Issues Notification of Consultation on Waste Development – Preferred Approach – received from ECC 24 November 2011. Cllr Lohmeyer recently attended a presentation in Gt Dunmow; A waste handling facility had been proposed (sited near Elsenham Golf course), but this has failed as a preferred option, as the relevant area is considered a green field site. Cllr Lohmeyer will be drafting a response to ECC, stating that Henham PC supports the case for the designation of this proposed site as Non-Preferred. With respect to the Minerals consultation and the Elsenham Quarry development, Cllr Lohmeyer advised that we have yet to receive the report from the PC’s consultant, Hives. However, she reported that both Takeley and Broxted parish councils have objected to the proposed development. 8. Stop Stansted Expansion – Parish Councils Liaison meeting Cllr Lohmeyer – nothing to report. Next meeting is 15th December at OSCA. 9. Governance Review of Standing Orders and Financial Regulations – the meeting agreed that these had now been reviewed and could be formally adopted for the next year. The Clerk reported that he and the Chairman, Cllr Baker, had attended a seminar, given by Mr Michael Perry of UDC, on the Localism Act and its effect on the Code of Conduct. The Clerk advised that, at this point, whilst the legislation was still in its “interpretive” phase, no immediate action was necessary. However, it would be necessary for Henham PC to consider a new Code of Conduct in the early part of next year. UDC would also be drafting a new Code of Conduct in early 2012 and the Clerk advised that it would be prudent to consider the UDC code as a model on which to base Henham PC’s new code. 10. Neighbourhood Plan Cllr Lee reported that the first Steering Group meeting took place on Tuesday evening. Prior to then, every Sub Group had met at least once and some twice. At the Steering Group meeting, it was agreed that the number of sub groups should be cut down from 6 to 5, with the Residents/Village group and the Leisure group being combined. However, it was noted that the Housing and Education group was handling some very “weighty” issues and might well split into two groups in the future. Paul Dacey was elected Chairman of the Steering Group and the next meeting is scheduled for 24 January 2012. One of the main tasks to progress before then will be the determination and documentation of all the sources of information from which to gather data for feeding to the sub groups. Cllr Lee will write an update for publication in the website and the Dragon. 11. Any Other Business Cllr Baker commented on the recent communications regarding Police Station closures throughout the area. All expressed concern. Cllr Sturgeon referred to recent media reports that rural crime is on the increase due to higher security in urban areas, achieved by CCTV surveillance. Cllr Baker to write to Chief Constable of Essex Police expressing the PC’s concern about reduced police presence. Dist Cllr Parr reported that the Residents’ Petition regarding the Old Mead Road footpath rail crossing has been sent to Network Rail. County Cllr Gooding stated that Network Rail is investigating a number of footpath crossings and will now be investigating the Old Mead Road one. A number of options might be considered, such as bridges, tunnels or warning lights. Cllr Gooding has arranged to meet with Network Rail on 6 December – Dist Cllrs Parr and Morson will also attend. 12. Date of Next Meeting Thursday 2nd February 2012, 7.30pm at OSCA Philip Dondi, Clerk
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