Great Bardfield Parish Council  

'ESSEX VILLAGE OF THE YEAR 2009'

The Chairman, Cllr Dyson, was pleased to introduce the Annual Report for 2007* which reported on the work of the Parish Council and that of our District and County Council partners. Other village organisations had also been invited to contribute. The photographs show the involvement of members of the village community in a range of activities including the production of the Village Design Statement, the Footpath Map and Speed Pilot consultation.

During her introduction the Chairman highlighted some of the significant events during the life of the Council and some projects that were in progress. Portable Speed Indicator Devices should soon be operating in the village as a result of the Speed Pilot and the Post Office had now been relocated at the Blue Egg Farm Shop. Work is currently underway to organise transport links to the shop with the introduction of the Braintree Community Bus. Volunteer drivers had already put themselves forward for training and a questionnaire had been published in the Bardfield Times to assess the possible uptake. The Fountain, which suddenly dried up early in 2006, is now in full flow although more work is due to commence in May or June; the majority of the cost of the work being covered by a generous grant from the Rural Community Development Fund.

Strong links between the Parish Council and the School Council continue with members attending each others meetings. The children have also been involved in the project to re-establish the Bardfield Oxlip which was given significant press and television coverage.

The Chairman acknowledged the support of a number of people that the Council depend on to keep things running smoothly, in particular the Clerk, Kate Fox, Louise Egger for her work in the CIP the new Village Handyman Ian Ruffle who has taken over from Rudi Egger.

* A copy of the report was provided for all those attending with additional copies available at the Community Information Point and other locations within the Parish.

Apologies were received from Pat Coles.

As mentioned in the Chairman’s introduction, the Great Bardfield Primary School have been very much involved in this on going project and a short film – made by Anglia TV – was shown. Members of the School Council, Hal Churchman, Chair, Sam Hockley, Vice Chair and Vicky Geddes Clerk, together with their Head Teacher, Mrs Anne Barney, had been invited to explain their part in the project and take questions from the floor about this and the role of the School Council in general. They explained about the planting and monitoring of the Oxlip at Pipers Meadow with the support of the Essex Wildlife Trust, and that a plaque was to be erected on site explaining the work. The children also told the audience about their recent visit to the March Parish Council meeting when the identified various things, such a additional litter bins, that they felt would improve the village and they also volunteered to clean the bench on the Causeway.

A brief question and answer session was followed be a round of applause, the Chairman thanked them for attending and said how pleasing it was to see the children involved in this project, and the community generally.

These were approved and signed as a true record of the meeting. Proposed Peter Benwell, seconded Dawn Dollimore.

There were no matters arising.

As this report was printed in full within the Annual Report, the Vice Chairman highlighted a few particular items. The beginning of the year saw the loss of the Fountain which took several months to rectify and the help given by local land owners was much appreciated. The Post Office has already been mentioned but it was disappointing that despite much lobbying on the part of the Council the Co-op finally declined the opportunity to take on PO which is now relocated at the Blue Egg. The Oxlip Project and the work of the Essex Wildlife Trust, and other agencies, have the full support of the Parish Council and its progress is eagerly watched. Stansted Airport expansion plans are a continuing concern and the Stop Stansted Expansion campaign continues to fight on behalf of villages such as Great Bardfield. The bus shelter at Alienor Avenue now benefits from solar lighting which was paid for thanks to a grant from ECC. The introduction of primrose lines on the roads are not always welcome, those in the area of the school have caused contentious discussion, but the ECC Highways is the decision maker and they insisted their introduction was justified. However those recently installed around the Memorial Green were long awaited and, for safety reasons, much welcome.

ACCOUNTS: The Clerk had prepared pie charts to represent income and expenditure over the 2006-07 Financial Year and a report to highlight the main areas within these two categories. Following a question from the floor it was confirmed that the accounts are subject to scrutiny by internal and external auditors the latter appointed by the Audit Commission.

As these reports were printed in full, Councillors were able to give just a brief resume.

(a) Cllr Simon Walsh presented the District Council report, on behalf of Cllr John Finbow and himself, highlighting some main points. As Cabinet Member for Housing he has recently overseen the transfer ballot which produced a ‘yes’ vote for council tenants to move to Greenfields Housing Association. Cllr Finbow sits on several committees including Licensing and District Development. The Council have been able to peg the council tax increase at 3.6% which will provide a budget of £17M. The Council’s plans remain ambitious and of interest will be the completion of a new swimming pool at Braintree, a much higher level of street cleaning, and an extended Community Warden scheme. Waste reduction and recycling remains a major priority and with free low energy bulbs being made available to residents and grants for energy saving schemes the District is aiming to reduce its carbon footprint.

In answer to questions from the floor it was confirmed plastic recycling had now been extended and many more items could now be put in the white sacks, including margarine tubs, empty plastic bags and plastic ready meal and food trays. The Clerk confirmed she would display appropriate posters as soon as they were available. There was still no safe disposal area for batteries and these had to be put with normal rubbish. Cllr Walters dealt with a question regarding wheelie bins and said he was disappointed with the amount of miss information and that the problems with flies and vermin were in areas where alternative week collection related to black bags and experience in the County confirmed that where rubbish was securely contain in bins they were safe. It was not know when the scheme would be rolled out to Great Bardfield as rural areas had different logistical problems to those experienced in towns.

(b) Cllr Roger Walters, presented the County Council Report and on the subject of waste explained that there was no extra money from government for this work even though they set targets. The waste budget has increased by 11% to £40 million but of this £19 million goes to the government in tax. Out of the total of £1.9 billion available to County the bulk, £733 million, goes directly to schools. The biggest problem at the moment is care of the elderly where costs are soaring and the general care budget presently stands at £306 million. In his work with Trading Standards the sale of alcohol to under age people is being tackled with two outlets in Chelmsford having their licenses removed. Door step crime, which is directly particularly at the elderly is being targeted and "no cold call" zones have found to be successful and will continue to be used. A record £158 million will be spent on roads and transportation and 560 kilometres of road will be treated over the next 12 months.

This was presented by the Chair of Governors who said that the school had enjoyed another successful year and the pupil count was 165, the highest it had ever been and there had been a number of staff changes. The PTA, Governors and staff all worked well as a team for the benefit of the school and the PTA were particularly active and successful in holding fund raising events. Exactly a week ago notification had been received that and Ofsted inspection would take place the following Monday and though a very hectic week everyone was optimistic of a favourable report.

Accounts had been lodged with the Parish Council and Brenda Poston, Secretary, presented the Charities report. Before doing so she wished to record thanks to Alan Bray who had completed 32 years service and to Julie Tattersley who had completed her 10 year term as treasurer and secretary. The Trustees meet four times each year and the current Trustees are Pat Coles, Tony Hayward, Brenda Poston, Janice Hutchinson and Alan Bray is Advisory Trustee. Total income for 2006-07 was £14,524 plus interest and £11,705 had been paid out to 27 varied applicants, both individuals and organisations within the village. Winter fuel payments to a total value of £4350 were also made. The Charities are grateful for the thought and hard work which has gone into the Cottage Museum project, which building is owned by the Charities, and £830 had been paid towards the survey and repairs of the building. Mrs Poston emphasised that all applications were considered carefully and without prejudice and there was no means testing and applicants could approach any of the Trustees with requests for assistance.

A copy of the accounts were lodged with the Parish Council. These indicate a slight increase in income over last year provided from cottage rent and Committee run events. There was a decrease in lettings. The Chairman, Jim Bray, highlighted some of the events mention in the published report. The Arts and Crafts show in May raised over £800 and thanks is due to June Williams and Dawn Dollimore who organise the event and also to Carolynne Ruffle for organising the successful Boules tournament. In November the quiz night raised a magnificent £800 with Mo and Ian Graham setting and asking the questions and a race night raised another £470. Planned refurbishment works are finally coming to fruition, with the new kitchen almost completed, and the new large oven and plate warming cabinet will enable improved catering facilities for hirers. New

Flooring in the kitchen, bar area, toilets and passageway is being installed and the next project of refurbishing the hall and adjoining rooms is expected to commence in the summer. Funding is coming from a lottery grant of £9932, the 200 Club, the Stansted Airport Community Trust* and the remainder from Town Hall funds. Finally, Jim was pleased to welcome two new committee members, Ian Holmes and Alistair Burt and Carolynne Ruffle now represents the Parish Council following the resignation of Mick Gell who had been a tremendous support. * Cllr Walsh declared his interest as a trustee of the SACT.

The statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2007 had been published in the Annual Report. Peter Benwell opened his report by stating that the BT was celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year and started with a £50 grant from the Parish Council and £25 from Little Bardfield. Mr Benwell said that much of its success was down to the quality of editorship and sadly in the last twelve months it had lots two of the most successful, Peter Cott and Russell Sherman. In addition to copies delivered to each household in Great and Little Bardfield, by a small team of dedicated volunteers, a number of copies are posted to ex residents home and abroad. Last year the decision was taken not to increase advertising rates although this would be increased this – it costs 80p per copy to produce. Peter advised that although the BT is now printed externally their equipment is still available for community groups if any printing is required.

Stop Stansted Expansion Campaign is about to go to appeal and are raising funds for legal fees. The Parish Council have agreed on the principle of supporting the SSEC but wish to put to ask this Meeting for approval and recommendation for a figure up to £500. Michael McDonald proposed that the figure of £500 was appropriate, seconded by Peter Lovell and unanimously agreed.

Mrs Lovell drew attention to the fact that, following an incident at a neighbouring property, it was discovered that the police do not attend alarms they go off – only those that are specifically linked to stations.

The Chairman closed the meeting by thanking her colleagues and the Clerk for their support and hard work during the year. Also the District and County Councillors who had attended and Mick Gell who, despite no longer being a member of the Council, continues to care for the Memorial Garden.

Carolynne Ruffle then proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman, which was unanimously supported.

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Last modified: 10/28/09