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Receive/accept apologies and welcome to the Public

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Questions from registered electors

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Declarations of Interest

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Minutes

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Report from Colchester Borough & Essex County Councillors

• Bakers Lane, Braiswick – have finally received word that Bakers Lane will be resurfaced from Monday 27th November for 4 days up to Ramparts Farm. The Borough Councillors cannot understand why the last 150 yards are being left untreated. They have been informed that there is a SWAS (Surface Water Alleviation Scheme) due on that section in 2023 as these schemes are only carried out where there is a risk of flooding to housing. With the plant, machinery and materials all onsite it seems nonsensical to stop at the top end before the residential area where the surface is so bad.

ACTION – Clerk to draft an email to County Councillor Anne Brown to raise the Council’s concerns and ask her to find out if there is a better reason for this not to be done than a SWAS.

Borough Councillor Barber reported:

• Gladman Proposal – The Councillor held a meeting for concerned residents at the Orpen Hall on Saturday 18th. 15-17 people were in attendance which was a good turnout following the numbers at the Planning Committee and previous Parish Council meetings. Nothing else has been heard from Gladman at present.
• Digital Strategy – There is money at CBC for digital investment (broadband, improved mobile signal etc.) The ambition was to concentrate on the urban area, however with very little take up they have now decided to extent this to the more rural parts which is hopefully a good step.
• Money – The Parishes should start seeing some devolution of funds soon. In the upcoming budgets money should start to come down from County to District then on to Parish Councils. It could be a very positive and a good opportunity for Parishes to get more control of the things that matter in their area. The Councillor will speak more about it once the County budgets are out.
• Speed Survey – The Borough Councillors were going to use some of the locality budget for speeding cables across Colchester/Bergholt Road, however the stats were already available from a speed survey previously completed by ECC just over the blue bridge in Braiswick. The figures are shocking, 85% of people travelling between 37-42 mph in a 30mph zone. The numbers show that the residents along that road were right and the data backs this up. In the new year can now move forward with factual data probably towards asking for funding from the Local Highways Panel for a VAS (Vehicle Activated Sign) or a mini roundabout.
• Rural Policing – Unfortunately the Councillor couldn’t get to the Rural Policing meeting last Thursday and although there has been a spate of crimes lately the thing to remember is that West Bergholt has very low levels for crime compared to the urban areas of Colchester. On Monday 27th The new “Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner” will be giving a talk at Colchester Town Hall.

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Finance

The final accounts for Sept 2017 were presented as follows:

58% of the way through the financial year. The Parish Council Account showed 100% income, 42% general expenditure, 51% environment expenditure and 45% expenditure overall, when the categories of general expenditure & environment are totalled together.

Barclays Bank now pay the Council 0% in interest. The deposit account is used for the reserves and the current account for all other payments and receipts.

Year 1: 2018-19

1 ACTION – Roof Survey: Clerk to send drafted letter to survey company to ask them to proceed, the intention is for the inspection to take place during December so that the findings are ready for discussion at the January Parish Council meeting.

2 The costs for the Special Constable should be made clear at a meeting with Essex Police scheduled for 28th Nov 2017.

3 Due to the delay in the Neighbourhood Plan submission, the money set aside for Neighbourhood Plan Projects in 2017-18 will be moved into the reserves next year to be combined with the proposed £8,000 for 2018-19. The Neighbourhood Plan surveys have picked up requests from residents which need to be actioned as projects with the money set aside for this purpose.

Year 2: 2019-20

4 The MUGA has been building up its asset replacement earmarked reserve over the years and combined with the initial donation of £5,000 from the Millennium Sports Club has £8707.80 in the reserves towards the necessary resurfacing. Again, this may touch on the village’s requirements as highlighted in the Neighbourhood Plan Surveys.

Year 3: 2020-21

5 Working Party to be made up of the various users of the equipment; Parents, Bluebells, Heathlands School, BYG etc. Unsure how much it will cost at the moment until the working party start investigating what is required.

Once the budgets had been worked out for the annual ongoing costs for both the necessary administrative and environment costs a figure of £22,000 was left for projects, hence the total in the Three-Year Plan. All Councillors will look over these figures ready for the January meeting when the precept decision will be made.

Cllr Barber informed the council that Colchester have been informed that there will be an 11% cut to the CBC Revenue & LCTS Grants (which currently amount to £2,380), which will be passed down to the Parish Councils.

The Chairman noted that the council has had a few years of large expenses, e.g. the hall roof, car park & toilets, however the council has a lot of assets and a responsibility to look after them.

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Planning

• 172655 – Lortay Cottage, 2 Armoury Farm Cottages – Support – The Parish Council has no comment
• 172653 – 21 Armoury Road – Support – The Parish Council has no comment
• 172928 – 4 Heathside – Support – The Parish Council supports the extension in principle, but would refer to the Borough Council’s knowledge regarding the size of the dormer window and whether obscured glass is required in the landing.

ACTION – Clerk to contact CBC Planning regarding a Planning Application due at next month’s meeting to request details of the building’s ridge height.

Colchester’s current Local Plan runs until 2021, but hopefully the replacement one will be adopted by the time of any appeal.

The main items in the response should be that it is totally against the existing Local Plan as all the housing has already been allocated in the current village envelope.

Having met with Gladmans, Cllr Tyrrell reported that their main arguments are that the development will not be seen, as hidden by trees and that Colchester does not have a 5-year housing allocation.

Borough Cllr noted that it would be interesting to see what they put in their appeal to the Bakers Lane application.

RESOLVED – It was agreed that the Parish Council are happy to make a response to the Gladman Proposal and will be putting together an objection in principle. The detail of which will be delegated to Cllr Tyrrell and the Clerk, although all were in agreement of the general tone of the letter.

ACTION – Comments back to the Clerk & Cllr Tyrrell by the end of the week.

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Environment and Highways

Cllr Spencer is the acting Chair. Cllrs Stone & Short are liaising with the Handymen. There will be an extra Environment meeting on the 7th Dec to prioritize the winter jobs. The Handymen have now moved equipment into the Hall garage, they have noted that there is room in the roof, which could be boarded to allow for more storage of smaller items.

With regards the Practice Goal in the Lorkin Daniell Field, as noted in the Environment minutes, it was becoming unsafe and due for removal. However, having removed the damaged nets and the net supports, the Handymen could not get the frame out of the ground. It is now safe, but still in situ.

ACTION – Environment Committee to decide what to do at their additional meeting.

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Traffic Safety Group

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Premises and Recreation

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Community Special Constables

The Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner will be giving a talk at the Town Hall on Monday 27th Nov.

ACTION – Cllr Short or Cllr Crichton to attend.

A meeting is scheduled with Les Hawkins, Specials Supported Policing Coordinator, on Tuesday 28th Nov to discuss the budget required for a Community Special.

Following the recent rise in the number of crimes in the village the Crime Statistics need to be displayed on the website for information and a new volunteer Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator sought.

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WW1 Commemoration 2018

To discuss the Parish Council’s involvement in the WW1 Commemoration plans.

The Clerk had today been informed by Colchester Borough Council that listed building consent is not required for the weatherproof cover required for the Brewery War Memorial, so the Council can go ahead with its construction.

ACTION – Clerk to instruct contractors to begin work and to inform the managing agents involved, First Port and Boydens that this is commencing.

St Mary’s and The Friends of the Old Church have both confirmed that they will be ringing their bells as commemorations take place on the 11th Nov 2018.

Cllr Savage is waiting to hear back from several companies regarding the details of a memorial obelisk. Once have found out the affordability, can then discuss sites.

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Training

• SLCC/EALC Networking Day – Clerk
• Highways Briefing – Cllrs Stone, Short & Gili-Ross
• Data Protection – Cllr Butcher

The new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) will come into operation around May. NALC will provide legal advice of how this applied to Parish Councils. The Council is the Data Controller, the Clerk the Data Processor, but an external Data Protection Officer will be required to check that the law is followed. This affects any data where a person’s identity can be recognised. The Council will need to look at its Data Retention policy and consider what the retention policy should be for Councillors.

ACTION – Clerk to review Data Retention Policy

• RCCE Neigh. Planning Network Events – Cllrs Stevenson & Butcher
• Councillor Training Days 1 & 2 – Cllr Crichton

ACTION – Clerk to re-circulate dates of the RCCE Garden Communities events

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Items to Note (available on table at meeting)

• Crime in West Bergholt

ACTION – Clerk to forward figures to website each month.

• Phone Boxes in West Bergholt
  Have been informed by BT that all three phone boxes in the village are due for imminent removal.

• External Auditor
  Have been informed by the Smaller Authorities Audit Appointments that the external auditor appointed to Essex Parish Councils next year will be PKF Littlejohn LLP.

• Redwood Stonebaked Pizza Van
  The Pizza Van will no longer be coming to the Orpen Hall on a Wednesday as its sales were far less than predicted.

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In Committee

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Date of Next Meeting