17/82

Receive/accept apologies and welcome to the Public

17/83

Questions from registered electors

17/84

Declarations of Interest

17/85

Minutes

17/86

Report from Colchester Borough Councillors

• The 122 homes planned for Braiswick has been refused by Colchester Borough Planners, however the developers are going to appeal. It will therefore go to the Inspectorate and the strength of the CBC Local Plan will then be tested when challenged in this way.

• Changes to waste collection system – Cllr Barber has put out a request on Facebook asking residents to inform him of any issues they have had with the changes in collection. The main issues which surrounded the confusion over which calendar to use are now understood. The key problems appear to be around the help needed by residents regarding exemptions, especially concerning sanitary products. The Borough Councillors are working hard to try to limit the effects of these changes and would appeal for people to get in touch if they need help.

ACTION – Cllr Spencer to email Cllr Barber regarding the confusion over the  collection days in Hall Road.

• Colchester Borough Homes – Cllr Harlow (Communications Officer) has had trouble getting in contact with Colchester Borough Homes regarding Virgin cable laying.

ACTION – Cllr Barber will put Cllr Harlow in contact with Amanda at CB Homes.

• Travellers at Eight Ash Green – The Borough Councillors have now contacted all the local MPs as they are constrained by national legislation in this issue. On a local level Colchester Borough tried to meet with the Essex Travellers Unit, however they failed to turn up.
• CBC Local Plan –  Cllr Barber voted against the proposed Local Plan and will be tabling an amendment regarding his concerns about the transport infrastructure in the North of Colchester. It did pass however, but with an amendment which will delay it a little so the Garden Settlement is on hold for now. The Councillor felt the Plan so vague that it should not be supported as the current one is valid until 2021 anyway. He thought it financially shocking as it is based on a business model of 1-2% margins, however the Council has been told that they have to discuss the plan itself, not the finances behind it. Cllr Barber will continue to look into it.
• Spring Lane Planning Application – Cllr Barber was happy to take the residents’ concerns further and “call in” the Planning Application 171089 proposed for Spring Lane.
• Traffic Safety Group – The Councillor has spoken to Highways regarding the speeding on Colchester Road. Apparently when entering a village in Essex the speed limits should be phased from 60mph to 40mph to 30mph, however neither he nor Cllr Jarvis could think of anywhere in the ward where this actually happens. The sudden drop from 60 to 30 probably explains why drivers often exceed the limit. This will be interesting to explore.

17/87

Parish Councillor Vacancy

RESOLVED – to co-opt David Short onto West Bergholt Parish Council. He then joined the Council for the remainder of the meeting.

ACTION – Clerk will provide David Short with a Declaration of Acceptance of Office and a Register of Members’ Interests Form.

17/88

Finance

a)

Statement of accounts for May 2017 (Link to P2 May 17 Summary)

The final accounts for May 2017 were presented as follows:

17% of the way through the financial year.

The General Account showed 48% income, 11% general expenditure, 11% environment expenditure and 11% expenditure overall, when the categories of general expenditure & environment are totaled together.

The Hall Account showed 11% income and 22% expenditure.

Cllr Gili-Ross required clarification on the Handymen’s work hours as they seemed a little low, the Clerk assured him that the backlog of the new handyman’s hours would appear next month in the June accounts.

b)

Payments

c)

d)

17/89

Planning

a)

DECLARED – Cllr Tyrrell redeclared an interest in Planning Application 171271 and took no part in the discussion of it.

• 171369 – Homecroft, Chapel Lane, CO6 3EF – Observation – The Parish Council state that this may be acceptable as long as the landscaping element is not compromised and provided that the problems regarding the boundary are resolved first, as we have already formally requested from ECC.
• 171271 – 8 Colchester Road, CO6 3BY – Support – The Parish Council support this application, but on the proviso that the building will never be sold as a separate dwelling in the future as indicated in the Planning Statement itself.
• 171450 – The Glen, Spring Lane. CO6 3HJ – Support – The Parish Council has no comment.
• 171089 – Land adj. to 3 Spring Lane, CO6 – Object – Spring Lane is part of the unique character of West Bergholt consisting of narrow unmade lanes in the heart of the village. These lanes are inappropriate for access to dense redevelopment.   Spring Lane, by it very name, consists of watercourses and has a varying water table with occasional flooding in places. The Parish Council does not object to a small residential redevelopment of the site, in fact be an improvement as currently the site is part commercial which causes disturbance at weekends. The Council strongly objects to the application on the grounds of access and overdevelopment. The proposed layout is out of keeping with the existing village urban grain. Spring Lane is a narrow-unmade lane, further increase in traffic would be inappropriate and will/could be dangerous. The owners of the site have never contributed to the maintenance or used it for access. The proposed redevelopment will double the traffic currently using the lane. Spring Lane is a popular footpath and short cut through the village, especially at school time. The developer has not approached the Council to discuss the application prior to making the application, so we can’t understand why the developer wants access off Spring Lane when there is perfectly good access off Chapel Road, suitable for commercial vehicles. Conclusion: The Council and residents would welcome a revised proposal for the redevelopment, consisting of 3 bungalows but, most importantly, with access off Chapel Road.

  The Council note that Borough Councillor Barber intends to “call in” the Spring Lane development.

b)

• 171635 – 49 Mumford Road, West Bergholt CO6 3BL – Support – The Parish Council support the application and would only query whether there is an infringement of the highways protection area. However, this will no doubt be addressed by Highways themselves as consultees.

17/90

Environment and Highways

a)

b)

The heather does not like competition from other plants or being trampled on, hence the orange barrier and the signs. It is a rare habitat and cannot be mowed during the usual flailing in the Autumn.

ACTION – Clerk to ensure something is put on Facebook and check with the Heathlands School. (Cllr Stone had mentioned it to Rachel Hopkins who co-ordinates the School Council)

ACTION – Cllr Spencer will investigate grants which can be applied for, to protect it.

Cllr Gili-Ross informed the Council of the excessive growth on some of West Bergholt greenswards which do not belong to the Parish Council. Whether the issue has been a shortage of CBC staff or equipment, either way it has not been maintained. It is necessary for the Borough Council to step up to the mark, provided they haven’t relinquished the work to Essex County Council.

ACTION – Borough Cllr Barber will send an email to check.

ACTION – Cllr Gili-Ross will send photos of the worst affected areas to the Clerk who will forward them on to Cllr Barber.

ACTION – With regards to the Local Highways Panel discussion of the Colchester Road bus stop, Clerk to ensure that Borough Cllr Willetts has a copy as he is on the Panel.

17/91

Premises and Recreation

17/92

Training

• The Local Council Police Conference – Cllr Butcher
  A great event on local accessible policing. Agenda items included:
  • Travellers – flow chart of how to respond to unauthorised encampments. Forwarded to the Clerk for safe-keeping.
  • Practical Demo of Drone Use – very impressive search of a field.
  • Community Specials (Link to Comm. Special Summary) – something for discussion firstly at the Finance Committee then hopefully at a full Council meeting. These Specials could be anyone local, man or woman, any age and of a variety of skills. They would have the same powers as a police constable and would be at our disposal for a minimum of 16 hours per month (with the exception of when large local events occur like the recent Olly Murs concert to which they would have been seconded to help).
    Cllr Stone hoped that the Council would support this idea as much as possible as it would aid many of the issues found by the Traffic Safety Group.
• Saturday Morning Councillor Training – Cllr Crichton

17/93

Items to Note (available on table at meeting)

a)

b)

c)

d)

ACTION – Clerk to inform PTA

17/94

In Committee

17/95

Date of Next Meeting