Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
Held in the John Lampon Hall on 22nd October 2014 at 7.30p.m.
| Chair | Harry Stone |
| Parish Councillors Present | Jenny Church, Murray Harlow, Rachel Howard, Rosemary James, Andrew Savage, Chris Stevenson, Bob Tyrrell and Phil Walby |
| Parish Clerk | Val Walsom |
| Borough Councillors | |
| Present: | Brian Butcher |
Part I – Public
Brian Butcher was welcomed and co-opted to the Parish Council.
1. Receive Apologies
Apologies were received from John Gili-Ross, Councillor Harrington and Councillor Willetts.
2. Questions from registered electors
There were no electors present at the meeting
3. Receive items for information not on the agenda, which in the opinion of the Chairman should be brought to the attention of the Council
HS advised that the Standards of Practice scheme is being run as a pilot by EALC. JGR has put this Parish Council’s name forward to be part of this pilot. This will be discussed at a later date.
CS requested that he update the meeting regarding a request for landscaping at McNally Mews to be included under the Planning agenda item. The owner had had discussions with the Planning committee.
4. Presentation by Pete Darlington of the Rural Community Council of Essex, Community Agents Service
The scheme works to help support independent living and keep people in their own homes. Community Agents work with many agents to provide this free and confidential service.
Essex County Council is funding the scheme for the next three years and will part fund after that.
The scheme is promoted through Parish newsletters and websites.
5. Declarations of Interest
Chris Stevenson declared an interest in Item 9 relating to Essex County Council Highways.
6. Minutes
Item 9 Bullet point 5 was amended to read Premises and Recreation Committee. Following the amendment the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Wednesday 24th September 2014 were approved and signed.
7. Report for Colchester Borough Councillors
There were no Borough Councillors Present. However, Councillor Harrington had advised that his ‘call in’ on the Kinckhams Barns application 145620 should be on 6th November although this date hasn’t been confirmed. Any Parish Councillor can attend but should confirm the date beforehand.
8. Finance
a) Statement of Accounts for September 2014
The accounts for September 2014 were presented as follows:
The General Account showed 93% income, 57% general expenditure, 35% environment expenditure and 49% expenditure overall.
The Hall Account showed 48% income and 57% expenditure.
b) Draw cheques
It was proposed by AS and seconded by CS to make the following payments:
| Payment Details | Expense Purpose | Amount |
| General Account | ||
| PKF Littlejohn | Audit Fee | 360.00 |
| Collier and Catchpole | Parking posts/fence posts/cement | 244.76 |
| Vicky Beckwith-Cole | Entry lock for MUGA | 254.40 |
| Countrywide | Grass cutting | 220.00 |
| Inland Revenue | PAYE August | 176.00 |
| EALC | Training | 117.00 |
| David Kingaby | Website | 264.00 |
| WB Methodist Church | Bus shelter ground rent | 105.00 |
| G Dolden & Associates | Project management for car park | 1,452.61 |
| Phil Walby | Keys for Poors Land posts | 31.80 |
| I Beckwith | Grass cutting/Poors Land bollards/Astro Turf | 2,055.15 |
| Harry Stone | Travel Expenses | 33.80 |
| Orpen Hall Account | ||
| Ask us Drains | Clear blocked drain | 102.00 |
| I M Beckwith | Work in hall | 74.73 |
| Melissa Carden | Hall hire deposit refund | 50.00 |
| S J Andrews | Electrical work | 36.00 |
| Mike’s Cleaning Serv | Cleaning September | 621.00 |
| V Beckwith-Cole | Stationery | 8.46 |
| Robert’s Cleaning | Window cleaning | 30.00 |
| Fire Extinguisher Man | Service fire extinguishers | 122.40 |
Salary payments were made to Val Walsom and Stephen Cook from the General Account and Vicky Beckwith-Cole from the Hall Account.
[Click to view: Summary Accounts September 2014]
c) Neighbourhood Plan – Grant update
The grant of £3,051 has been received. This is 95% of the total grant. The rest will be paid at a later date.
d) Orpen Hall Car Park – financial update
It is expected that there will be a cost to the contractor for additional works of approximately £2,800. The grant of £12,000 will be received shortly.
e) Broadband update – ‘CIF Response’ Grant update
AS has received information that County Broadband is moving forward with the provision of faster speed broadband, although the Parish Council has received no confirmation about this. We have received no response from ECC about the CIF grant.
A meeting with the ECC Superfast broadband programme manager needs to be arranged before Christmas. It was felt that this should be a meeting open to residents.
f) Scout Hut Licence and rent update
The Scout Hut Licence is still with the Scout Trust. The PC would like this moved forward by Christmas as it has gone on for such a long time.
g) Social Club – overdue payment
The Social Club has been given until the end of October to clear all outstanding debts. They have been given bank details to set up a Standing Order for the rent. There will be no further meeting with the Social Club if payment is not settled by the end of October.
h) Clarification of role and name of Finance group meetings
CS advised that there should be a committee responsible for Human Resources. It was agreed that the Finance sub-committee will be renamed, Finance, Personnel and General Purposes. Any discussions about Personnel issues would need to take place in Part II – In Committee.
9. Traffic Safety Plan
There has been no response from Sonia Church – ECC, following a request for the latest information.
10. Update on Orpen Memorial car park project
CS had distributed an update report.
There are additional costs for works not part of the original specification to be carried out by the contractor. There are also some snagging items for the contractor.
Additional works not in the contract include:
- soft and hard landscaping
- a ramp to the John Lampon Hall emergency access
- levelling of stones in the French drain
- the waste collection area
- cycle parking by the notice board which has been reversed into twice
- hall vents
Some of these works will be carried out by our Village Handyman and Ivor Beckwith.
A figure of around £5,000 is a guide cost for the additional works.
Murray Harlow is concerned that the specification for the car park is not as originally planned and landscaping was not part of the original scheme, in his opinion resulting in less parking.
Murray Harlow is concerned about the stones in the French drains which he believes may be unsuitable for the area used by Bluebells.
11. Clerk’s Items to Note
There were no items to note
12. Planning
a) To approve comments and decisions for Planning Applications (Report from the Planning Committee meeting on 14th October 2014 were received):
To approve comments for Planning Applications:
- 145892 – Delmont, Hall Road – The PC approved with no comments.
Other matters
- The owner of 3 McNally Mews has requested to be given permission to landscape the area at the front of his property with some flowering Cherry Trees. The land in question is Common land and has a Covenant on it. It was felt that this landscaping would not be against the Covenant. It was agreed that the Parish Council would not object to the planting of flowering Cherry Trees on the property. It was agreed that a carefully worded letter would be sent to the owner.
Jenny Church did not agree to this decision. - The PC has written to the Planning Department to ask that it is made aware of any proposed building works to land in Chapel Lane which is being cleared.
b) Neighbourhood Plan – Report
The activities to be concentrated on are whether or not the Plan fits in with CBC’s plan. CS suggested that there should be a consultation in January 2015 about strategic options for planning within the village.
Various groups on the Steering committee are moving forward.
There is a meeting planned for the 5th November.
13. Environment and Highways
There was a disappointing turn out for the litter pick. However, 15 sacks of rubbish were collected. Thanks went to Rachel Howard and Jenny Church.
a) Hedge cutting – village environs
An agreement has been signed with CBC for collection of hedge cuttings at a cost of £200 for 8 hours work commencing the day after the hedges are cut.
b) Hedge on Lorkin Daniell Field
The hedge adjacent to the play area on the Lorkin Daniell Field will be allowed to grow to the same height as the rest of the hedge.
c) Dog bin for “Pocket Park”
A request will be made for a new dog bin in the Pocket Park area of the Maltings Park development.
14. Premises and Recreation
a) Cleaning in Halls
A meeting will be arranged with the contract cleaner to discuss the deterioration of the standard of cleaning.
b) Request for New Year’s Eve hall booking
A request has been made to hire the Orpen Memorial Hall for a New Year’s Eve party. Further information is needed from the proposed hirer. The Hall Administrator will be asked if she is willing to be available to manage this. If the booking goes ahead a larger deposit will be required than normal and the party would need to finish at 1pm. It is possible the hirer will want to clear up the next day. This to be considered around any possible bookings on New Year’s Day.
c) Request for Table Top sale booking on a Sunday
There is no issue with holding a Table Top Sale in the Orpen Memorial Hall on a Sunday.
15. Communications
There are a number of organisations within the village who still do not use the website to promote their activities.
16. War Memorial
Report from Working Party
The Stone Mason from A Clark Memorials provided a computer enhanced picture of what the proposed memorial would look like.
CIF funding may be available under one of its criteria – ‘People in Essex enjoy good health and wellbeing’. AS will apply for a grant of £6,000 which will need to be matched funded. This will be publicised in the next Village Bulletin aiming for donations from residents to help with the match funding.
Items to Note
- Time – St Helena Hospice Magazine
- www.oil-club.co.uk
Part II – In Committee
Matters taken in the absence of Press and Public (Public (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960) as the item contains exempt information as defined by the Local Government Act 1972 Sch. 12a Pt (1).
There were no matters discussed.
Date of Next Meeting
Wednesday 26th November 2014 at 7.30p.m.
The meeting closed at 9:25p.m.
| Signed:Position on Parish Council: | Date: |