Great Bardfield Parish Council  

'ESSEX VILLAGE OF THE YEAR 2009'

There were no members of the public in attendance

Cllr Dyson declared her personal interest under Planning - application no. 01985/FUL - and would leave the meeting when this item was discussed.

Apologies were received from Cllr Walsh who was absent for business reasons.

Following clarification regarding the PTA firework display and the August Financial Statement the Minutes were approved and signed as a true record of the meeting. Proposed Cllr Hayward, seconded Cllr Ruffle.

Community Bus: It was disappointing that there had been no response regarding the trip organised for 5 October, and therefore the bus had to be cancelled. It was agreed that no further trips will be organised for the time being and the Chairman would comment accordingly in her BT report.

Security Camera: Cllr Hockley has installed this on the pavilion.

Dog Bins: The Gibson's still haven’t been contacted to obtain permission to erect a bin on their property but the Clerk would go ahead with the installation of the bin on Footpath 12.

Tree Planting Scheme: The school has responded and they were hoping to participate.

Rat Infestation: BDC had inspected the Walk and advised it was one of the worse cases they had seen and would therefore bait the area. They had asked ECC to cut back the overgrown foliage to help with the problem. The Clerk had asked the Public Rights of Way officer if when the infestation had been dealt with they could do something which would help with the surface as she had received a number of complaints.

Youth Club: Cllr Slemmings reported on the meetings he had held with the volunteer helpers, including younger members of the community who it was hoped would be involved (e.g. 17 – 20 year olds), and also Ann Thrussle of Essex Youth Services. The aim was for all helpers to have first aid certificates, CRB checks, health and safety knowledge; it was agreed that the use of the Town Hall or Cottage Room for training purposes could be booked in the PC’s name. There were several basic works that needed to be carried out in respect of pavilion use including a closer on the door, lighting checks, vegetation trimmed back around lights on the Walk. The keys have been returned to Cllr Slemmings who would retain these for the time being.

The Chairman wished to record the Council’s thanks to Cllr Slemmings for his work in taking this forward and it is hoped that the youth club can reopen in January 2008.

Three Fields: This would be held on 1 November at Wethersfield; unfortunately several members are unable to attend.

Details of this were presented to members, which reflected the income and expenditure during 06/07 and based on the accounts previously submitted to Lubbock Fine, the external auditor.

Requests had been received from CAB and Stop Stansted Campaign. It was agreed that a donation of £50 would be made to the CAB but not to SSE Campaign, on this occasion, as a donation of £500 had been made in May.

Cllr Dyson left the meeting during the discussion of the following application.

01985/FUL & 01986/LBC Town House Cottage, High Street, alterations and extension to outbuildings to create annex. The existing building is in the back garden of the applicant and thus out of sight from the street. The alterations have been agreed in principle with the LBO and the PC can see no grounds for objections. They will request a condition be applied in that the newly created annex cannot be sold separately from the existing main residential property.

Pavilion: Cllr Slemmings had now spoken to Andy Stevenson and a figure of £750 had been agreed for costs to date. Andy had kindly offered to charge at cost prior to a successful lottery bid. If funding is successful he proposed fees of 6% of total construction costs. He also provided a breakdown of costs for the next stage of drawings to enable to Clerk to submit an application to the Rural Communities Development Fund and any other appropriate body.

Pitch Hire/Car Parking: Cllr Hockley had spoken to Dan Mercer a youth football team leader, regarding increased fees for future pitch/pavilion hire. Dan explained that they had a lot of expenses at the moment as the team were going for Quality Status which could cost as much as £120 per person, but if successful would give them accreditation to the FA and thereby access to additional funding opportunities. However, once this was achieved they would be happy to discuss increasing their hire fees. There was limited car parking space, but Dan would ensure that, if the condition of the pitch permitted, home team cars would park on the pitch close to the boundary with the houses and that visitors would use the car parking area. This was not ideal because overspill cars parked in Bendlowes Road which could cause unacceptable congestion. Access for emergency vehicles had to be maintained at all times.

Log Barrier: The area of fence previously damaged by a vehicle driving onto the playingfield has been repaired and logs installed to act as further protection.

Gate Repairs: Cllr Hayward said he would make arrangements for the necessary repairs – a key would be required by the football team.

Cllr Hockley reported on the draft plan which he would e mail the Clerk to circulate amongst members for additional comments. Once finalised the document would be produced in a leaflet form to circulate to each household – probably with the BT.

(a) Restriction on future sale of title: Holmes & Hills have advised that they did not think it was possible to create a restriction on the PCs activities and it is up to the PC to create its own rules for dealing with the property in the future. However, they suggested entering a restriction on the title stating the property cannot be sold unless it is proved that any PC rules that do apply have been properly adhered to. The Clerk suggested an addition to the Standing Orders might cover the situation however Cllr Hayward asked that the PC write to NALC Legal Department for their advice.

(b) Documentation: The recording and subsequent storage was discussed and Jenny Rooney was hoping to produce an item for the BT based on the content of the documents received following the purchase of the title. Cllr Dyson referred to the role of Village Recorder and that the work undertaken by Jenny regarding the history of Great Bardfield could be linked to this. The Clerk would make enquiries regarding the nature of this role.

All items had either been circulated or dealt with under Agenda items.

(a) Resignation: Cllr Hutchinson advised of his resignation as he and his family would be moving to Saffron Walden shortly. The Chairman thanked him for his hard work on behalf of the Council, in particular the production of the footpath map, and for his support as Vice Chairman.

(b) Bonfire Location: Cllr Hockley reported on the location of the bonfire and its reduced size to meet health and safety criteria.

(c) 2 Bendlowes Road: Cllr Ruffle asked if there had been any information regarding works being carried out at this property. The Clerk had contacted the Housing section at BDC who confirmed that they still owned this property and that remedial works were being carried out.

(d) Harassment: Cllr Hayward reported the distress caused to Mrs Brown at Gatehouse from anonymous letters regarding her dog. The police were now involved and had visited residents in the locality in the hope this would prevent a further occurrence.

(e) Police: Cllr Hayward asked if it were possible to assess the response time of the police and have occasional reports from them at Parish Council meetings. Police would be reinstated as an Agenda item.

(f) Oxlip Project: The school children had recently taken part in planting on Pipers Meadow and the Chairman had some photographs of the event.

This would be held on 14 November 2007, a week earlier than the list published at the beginning of the year, to accommodate the Bardfield Players who had already booked the Town Hall.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.30 pm

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