Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
Held in the John Lampon Hall on 23rd March at 6.30 pm
| Chair: | Chris Stevenson |
| Parish Councillors Present: | Andrew Savage, John Gili-Ross, Brian Butcher, Bob Tyrrell, Jenny Church, Rosemary James, Murray Harlow, Harry Stone, Philip Spencer, Phil Cook |
| Parish Clerk: | Laura Walkingshaw |
| Borough Councillors: | Brian Jarvis |
| Present: | 4 Members of the Public |
Part I – Public
1. Receive Apologies, Welcome to the Public and Thanks to the Borough Councillors
Apologies were received from Cllr Harrington
2. Questions from registered electors
No items were brought forward.
3. Declarations of Interest
Chris Stevenson declared an interest in items relating to Essex County Council, particularly Highway issues.
4. Minutes
Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Wednesday 24th February 2016 were approved and signed with no amendments.
5. Report for Colchester Borough Councillors
Councillor Jarvis reported that there was nothing to report, only to state that the Fenwick Treasure exhibition in Castle Park is very impressive and worth seeing.
6. Finance
a) Statement of Accounts for January 2016
The final accounts for Feb 2016 were presented as follows:
The General Account showed 98% income, 55% general expenditure, 82% environment expenditure and 63% expenditure overall.
The Hall Account showed 99% income and 69% expenditure.
The Parish Council is 92% of the way through the financial year.
b) Draw cheques
It was proposed by AS and seconded by BB to make the following payments. All in favour:
| PAYMENTS LIST Mar 2016 |
|||
| General Account | |||
| Salary Payments to Mrs Walkingshaw, Mr Hewitt & Mr Harkness | |||
| DD – CBC | Garage Rent | 45.54 | |
| EALC | Training | 51.00 | |
| Countrywide | Grass Cutting – March | 145.00 | |
| John Gili-Ross | Travel Expenses | 117.90 | |
| Andrew Savage | Queen DVD | 10.25 | |
| Andrew Savage | Expenses | 11.97 | |
| West Bergholt Football Club | Grass Cutting | 40.00 | |
| Ernest Doe | Equipment Service & Repairs | 15.00 | |
| Ernest Doe | Equipment Service & Repairs | 87.99 | |
| Ernest Doe | Equipment Service & Repairs | 123.93 | |
| Dynamic Fireworks | Fireworks | 402.44 | |
| EALC | Training – CILCA | 430.00 | |
| Countrywide | Grass Cutting – February | 145.00 | |
| Mail Boxes Etc. | Printing of the Village Bulletin | 655.00 | |
| Dave Hewitt | Expenses | 41.15 | |
| John Gili-Ross | Lock Box for Key | 27.00 | |
| Laura Walkingshaw | APM Expenses | 88.45 | |
| Groupbridge | Car Park Retention Money | 1897.14 | |
| HMRC | National Insurance & Tax | 308.77 | |
| Orpen Hall Account | |||
| Salary Payment to Mrs Beckwith-Cole | |||
| DD – Utility Warehouse | Mobile, Broadband, MUGA Electricity | 66.23 | |
| DD – Col Skip Hire | Waste Disposal | 125.92 | |
| Anglian Water | Water | 588.47 | |
| A-Z Supplies | Hand Towels & Toilet Rolls | 145.12 | |
| Zoe’s Cleaning | Cleaning | 828.00 | |
Salary payments were made to Laura Walkingshaw, Dave Hewitt and Matt Harkness from the General Account and Vicky Beckwith-Cole from the Hall Account.
c) AS proposed the appointment of GP Allen, Accountants, as Internal Auditor for West Bergholt Parish Council.
Seconded by BT. All in favour.
d) Earmarking of Projects/Grants money for Projects this year.
AS proposed that of the money left in “Projects” this year, £10,000 of it is to be earmarked to the Hall Roof Fund. This will take the total for the new roof up to £45,000, which will probably be need replacing in 2017-18. A second proposal is for £7,500 to be put aside in a new earmarked fund for the new storage building. AS proposed, JGR seconded. All in favour.
e) Approval of Ride-on mower
As necessitated in the 3 year plan it was proposed to buy a brand new machine, which will last 10-20 years, costing £4250.00 with registration plates to allow it to travel on the roads. AS proposed. HS seconded. All in favour.
7. Planning
a) To note the decisions made on Planning Applications at the Planning Committee held on 16th March 2016:
- 160392 – 21 Lexden Road, West Bergholt CO6 3BT – Support – The Parish Council has no comment
- 160515 – Newbridge Mill Farm, Newbridge Hill, West Bergholt CO3 9TB – Noted – no comments necessary.
b) To approve comments made on Planning Applications:
- 160531 – 91 Chapel Road, West Bergholt CO6 3HB
There was a previous planning application on this property, which was refused. Following which there was an application for Permitted Development that was allowed to go ahead. The property was then demolished, which nullified the Permitted Development. The Parish Council decided to Object to the new Planning Application (160531) and stated:
The site has been subject to previous planning applications refused by CBC and again at Appeal. The Parish Council are not opposed to a development on this site, as long as it is more in keeping with the street scene, especially as the property is on a bend, and will be very prominent when approached from both directions. This is a sensitive site and unfortunately the PC believe the current application is still not acceptable. specifically, because of the bulk of the proposals, being excessive for the location.
The PC are strongly of the view that there should be no development in front of the existing front wall of the now partly demolished bungalow. We believe the current ridge is still too high and should be about lower by about 1.00m thus allowing a more sensible transition between 89 and 93 Chapel Road. This will also help with the impact the proposal will have on Sanborn in Chapel Lane. The proposal is too close to 89 Chapel Lane. The PC would like a see at least a 1.00m gap to the West boundary, due to the scale of the existing cottage.
Following the lessons learned from the building of 2 Donard Drive (131924) we would like to see roof levels on the ridges of 89, 91 and 93 Chapel Road as part of the conditions of any approval.
Items to Note
- The Clerk – March 2016
- Clerks & Councils Direct – March 2016
- Crime Statistics – January 2016
- EALC – Legal Update – March 2016
- ECC & S-on-Sea BC Joint Replacement Waste Local Plan – Pre Submission Draft – March 2016
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).
Date of Next Meeting:
Wednesday 27th April at 7.30 pm in the John Lampon Hall.
The meeting closed at 7.30 pm.
Signed: Date: Position on Parish Council