Great Bardfield Parish Council  

'ESSEX VILLAGE OF THE YEAR 2009'

There were no members of the public present.

Cllr Ruffle declared her interest under Finance. She also wished to record her proximity to the property in Bendlowes Road which is an item in the Clerk’s Report.

Following the resignation of Cllr Hutchinson, a new Vice Chairman would be elected. Cllr Walsh proposed Cllr Ruffle, who was pleased accept. Seconded Cllr Slemmings and unanimously agreed.

There were no apologies for absence although Cllr Ruffle would need to leave before the end of the meeting.

These were approved and signed as a true record of the meeting. Proposed Cllr Hayward, seconded Cllr Ruffle.

Dog Bins: Mrs Gibson has been contacted and gave permission to install a bin on her land. The two new bins will be ordered at a cost of approx. £200 net. BDC will erect these free of charge.

Litter Bins: The new twin bin has now been erected outside the Co-op and has had positive feedback from the public. The single bin has been relocated at the Memorial Green.

Youth Club: Cllr Slemmings gave a report of the present situation and the intention was to start on 11 January. Among the items still to be settled was the age range and team members were going to distribute questionnaire (at school bus points) to help inform the decision. A further meeting would be held in the next week or so and, if held in the Friends Meeting House the PC would pay for the hire. Regarding decoration it was agreed that the side rooms could be painted in bright colours but to keep the main room fairly neutral. Regarding funding the Clerk would check with the previous leaders as to how they wished to deal with existing funds. She would also speak to Mr Weston regarding reinstatement of equipment.

Three Fields 1 November – Wethersfield Hosting: In addition to various Council members Peter Crofts from BDC and Sgt Page, PC Carter and CPSO Chittenden were in attendance.

Cllr Hayward gave a brief report of the proceedings, including discussions on planning enforcement, wheelie bins coming to the Three Fields in Spring 2008, police Neighbourhood Action Panels and Local Committees.

Gate Repairs: Cllr Hayward hoped to organise this within the next few days.

Bonfire Event: A successful evening with no problems reported.

2 Bendlowes Road: The Council were updated on the discussion between the Clerk and the Estate Manager, who would be visiting the tenants at the end of the month.

Mobile Library Service: A note of the confirmed details for fortnightly visits commencing on 10 January 2008 will be reported in the BT. The Clerk will display posters when received.

Notification had been received from NALC of the new pay scales applicable from 1 April 2007. It was proposed by Cllr Hayward, seconded by Cllr Ruffle and unanimously agreed that the Clerk’s hourly rate be increased to £9.827 at Spinal Column Point 22 on the LC1 scale. This would be effective from December and backdated to 1 April.

Members were presented with tables to illustrate both the estimated and actual spend for the 2007/08 financial year to assist with their assessment of likely expenditure for the 2008/09 year. These figures (detailed below) would then be used for approval of the Precept figure at the December meeting.

02225/TPO Various Trees at Brook House. Cllr Walsh said he would prefer the Ash tree to be cut back rather than felled; the Clerk would report accordingly.

Playingfield: The playground area was due for inspection again and there were still a number of outstanding jobs. It was suggested that as the clearance and resurfacing work was quite a big job that the Clerk obtain a estimate costs and grant funding be sought. Cllr Hockley said he would undertake to repair the fences that had been broken recently.

Pavilion: The recent application to the Rural Community Development Fund had been successful and the maximum amount of £5000 had been awarded. This would enable the next stage of project to be undertaken and the Clerk would liaise with Cllr Slemmings to discuss other funding opportunities and how to progress this work.

The draft prepared by Cllr Hockley had been circulated and various amendments and additions discussed. The Clerk would liaise with Cllr Hockley regarding this document and the intention is for distribution to all households in the village early in 2008.

Cllr Hayward gave an update on the situation. It had been clarified that Cambridge University, who were landlords of Bushetts Farm, had right of access to this land over Coney Green. The Council’s solicitors would advise land Registry accordingly. Mr & Mrs Herbert were making a photographic record of the documents and the Clerk had liaised with Essex Records Office regarding future storage. Members discussed how the Title might be protected from future sale – a response was awaited from NALC – and one suggestion was a trusteeship similar to that undertaken in respect of the Town Hall.

This had been discussed under Finance (c) but the Clerk wished to emphasise that, after years of neglect under previous contractors, the last 18 months had been expensive with the need to replace lanterns and gearing and the 2008-09 would probably be similarly costly with each fault being dealt with as it occurred. However, this would also mean that in a relatively short time the Council would return to a general maintenance programme.

Police manpower had been discussed at the Three Fields when Sgt Page explained the situation with Shalford where most of the staff would now operate from Braintree, leaving just himself, PC Carter and the CPSO – assisted by the Community Warden.; Sgt Page had to continue to oversee those officers who had been returned to Braintree.

Printing Machine: A response had been received from Mr Benwell stating that if the machine was to continue in use then someone had to accept responsibility for maintenance and servicing. The Clerk was asked to contact Peter Philcox regarding this and further consideration could be given when details were known.

Bardfield Centre: ECC had advised that they were still pursuing the ownership of the frontage to the Bardfield Centre. They had undertaken to cut back the area to help with the problem but it is not their responsibility. Bedlands Holdings who own the Centre believe that the grass verge has no owner.

1 Lime Villas: Complaints had been received by members and the Clerk regarding the movement of large vehicles to and from this property which have caused a considerable amount of congestion and distress to some residents. The Clerk was asked to contact the Enforcement Officer.

This would be held on 19 December 2007.

The dates for the 2008 meetings were circulated but this may need to be adjusted in respect of the timings/deadline for the Chairman’s BT report. The Clerk would liaise with the Editor to discuss.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.40 pm

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Last modified: 10/28/09