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Receive/accept apologies and welcome to the Public

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Questions from registered electors

Cllr Stevenson provided some background on the pond, that it in fact common land of unknown/disputed ownership, which the Parish Council look after in a stewardship role and if they did not look after it in this way nothing would ever be done to it.

Cllr Gili-Ross stated that the parish is lucky that it now has the relevant experience on the council to deal with things like this, whilst in the past it had to pay for professional help to be brought in. Cllr Spencer observed that the pond environment had degraded and the water deoxygenated so brought forward the council’s plan from Spring to the beginning of Autumn. Cllr Short noted that 350 tonnes of silt have now been removed out of the pond, the bottom of which is now stoney & rocky. It has been at least 20 years since anyone has cleared it. 20% of the reed mace was left on one side of the pond to enable the wildlife to escape and another resident had rehomed 93 fish into her pond ready to put them back once the pond is ready next Spring.

Agreed that the current appearance of the pond is a shock, however sometimes things do look worse before they look better. The Council works by knowledge submitted to the Environment Committee, onto the Parish Council for discussion and agreement before any work is started, be assured that there is a lot of governance to go through before such tasks are undertaken.

Cllr Stevenson suggested that the resident come back next Autumn if he is still worried about the state of the pond, as by that time it should have fully recovered. The resident requested that notices be put around the ponds and other areas when any significant works are next undertaken so that residents are made fully aware.

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Declarations of Interest

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Minutes

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Presentation

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WWI Commemoration

To thank all those involved in the “Battle’s Over” commemoration and receive an update on the WB Local History Group’s alleyway signs.

• Beacon Lighting on 11th Nov:
  Thank you to everyone who helped make the evening so special. Peter Noakes has uploaded the film to the website. £115.35 was made from tea and cake donations and passed on to the RBLI Poppy Appeal. Thank you to John Worland for the use of his PA System and to Adrian Leach for the kind donation of the lighting Beacon.
• History Group signs for alleyways:
  The signs along the Memorial Walkways have now gone up and look very effective. A thank you was received from Gill Poole of the West Bergholt Local History Group to the Parish Council for their support in this matter and to the Borough Councillors for their kind donation from the Locality Fund.

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Report from Colchester Borough & Essex County Councillors

County Councillor Anne Brown reported:

• Highways Issues: Mainly parking & potholes
• Traffic Safety issues to do with school – issues with the speed of traffic coming out of Colchester to get to Suffolk. We in the north east of Colchester have small roads and heavy traffic at times, we are just about coping at the moment.
• Bus Stop Marking – Lexden Road – should now be on the ECC website as a NE Highways project
  ACTION – Clerk to give Sonia Church a ring to see where on the list.
• Pothole – Highways will fix 10 potholes in the area around the Christmas period – West Bergholt would put forward the dropped manhole cover at the top of Newbridge Hill as the most severe.
  ACTION – Clerk to supply Cllr Brown with the previous reference number of that issue.
  ACTION – Clerk to report deterioration of footway on the blue bridge over the A12 again.
• Currently finding a problem with the 1960’s concrete roads in Essex, however it would be a huge job to replace them all.

Borough Councillor Brian Jarvis reported:

• It was a pleasure to support the Local History Group with their signs commemorating WW1 and using the other Locality Fund money to install the new playground spinner. The Fund is currently still open.
• It was noted to the Cllr that certain street signs by a couple of greenswards have been bent lately by the overzealous driving of the CBC maintenance team. The Parish Council would ask for these to be fixed.
  ACTION – Clerk to send details of the signs to Cllr Jarvis.

Borough Councillor Dennis Willetts reported:

• The Borough Council has been made aware that they own a few roads locally eg. Bradbrook Cottages. The Council have had a look and decided to establish a proper maintenance plan – the ideal would be to bring these roads up to the standard of adoption by ECC but this unlikely in the near future.
• The Cllr has received a reminder from the resident of Carnac with regards the naming of the small lane. It was previously agreed by residents to call this lane “Bakehouse Lane”.
  ACTION – Clerk to inform Highways Records.
• Local Plan – made up of two parts: Part 1 – Strategy which includes the Garden Communities and Part 2 – Land allocation for the next 15 years. The inspector has currently refused to approve Part 1 as it involves a great deal of money, but was thought of as substandard by the inspector. To try to complete the plan and bring it up to his standards may take another year or two, during which time the area could be vulnerable to speculative developers.
  Cllr Stevenson remarked that CBC are encouraging West Bergholt to submit their Neighbourhood Plan. We are aware of speculative developers around the area, but once submitted our Plan should be a Material Consideration by then with the Planning Inspectorate.

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Finance

a)

Statement of accounts for October 2018 (Link to P7 Oct Summary)

The final accounts for October 2018 were presented as follows:

58% of the way through the financial year. The Parish Council Account showed 95% income, 57% general expenditure, 46% environment expenditure and 54% expenditure overall, when the categories of general expenditure & environment are totalled together.

ACTION – Clerk to make the table closer together for the general notes to be easier to read.

b)

Payments

c)

To note the Council’s current Accounts/Investments.

Cllr Savage shared the latest version of the Accounts/Investments document with members of the Council for their information. It is useful when looking at future projects and for consideration in early 2019 when deciding on next year’s Precept requirement.

d)

To note the approval of the CIF grant for £10,000 and to approve the use of £5,000 of the Section 106 “Leisure Services” monies from CBC for Phase One of the new playground equipment

Please note the Council are currently still waiting for formal notification of the CIF Grant.

RESOLVED – to use £5,000 of the Section 106 “Leisure Services” monies from CBC for Phase One of the new playground equipment. Cllr Savage proposed. Cllr Short seconded. All in favour

ACTION – Clerk to contact the Borough Councillors with regards the necessary Spend and Release Forms.

e)

To approve the holding by the Parish Council of the Playground Advisory Group’s fundraising money for future spending on new playground equipment.

RESOLVED – Cllr Savage proposed. Cllr Stevenson seconded. All in favour

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Planning

a)

The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 21st November 2018 were received and the decisions made on following applications were noted (Link to Planning P8 Nov 2018):

• 182533 – Ridgeway, Chapel Lane, CO6 3EG – Support – The Parish Council has no comment.
• 182600 – 37 Chapel Road, CO6 3JB – Support – The Parish Council has no comment.
• 182675 – 77 Mumford Road, CO6 3BN – Support – The Parish Council has no comment.
• 182773 – 13 Church Close, CO6 3JZ – Support – The Parish Council has no comment.
• 182761 – 179 Colchester Road, CO6 3JY – Object – This proposal is outside the village envelope and therefore contrary to Colchester Borough Council’s policy on no development outside settlement boundaries. The application does not form part of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan proposals and the argument in the Planning Statement regarding the 5-year housing supply is specious.

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Neighbourhood Plan

To approve the submission of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan to Colchester Borough Council for Regulation 16, with any minor changes delegated to the Chairman, Chris Stevenson. 

Regulation 16 refers to when the Neighbourhood Plan leaves the Steering Group’s hands and is submitted to Colchester Borough Council. They then treat it as a statutory document, taking it out to the communities. During Regulation 14 over 100 people visited the exhibition and the Steering Group received 16 detailed responses to the Plan. Each response has now been responded to in what has become a 95-page spreadsheet.

The Plan has become more important as the area has appeals waiting, it will become a Material Consideration by the Planning Inspectorate.

The Plan was then approved by the council and signed off for the purposes of the Borough Council to accept it and to consult on it formally.

RESOLVED – Cllr Savage proposed. Cllr Butcher seconded. All in favour

Cllr Stevenson thanked everyone who has taken part and helped the Steering Group over the years.

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Environment and Highways

a)

The minutes from the Environment Committee meeting held on 8th November 2018 were received. (Link to Environment P8 Nov 18)

Cllr Gili-Ross noted the following updates:

• Due to the weather the ramp to the new Storage Unit could not be finished, it is hoped to be completed on Monday.
• Have received a complaint about the footway across the Heath to the school. Need to evaluate whether to patch or bring in a contractor in for a complete renovation.
  ACTION – The Environment Committee will discuss at their next meeting in January as it will be a Spring project.
• No word on the replacement bus shelter in Lexden Road – the Council are sharing information with Wormingford. There is a standard amount which should be paid for the shelters and parishes should not have to pay for the groundworks.

b)

To receive a verbal update on the Highways Devolution Pilot

Cllr Gili-Ross attended, as did Cllr Stevenson in a slightly different capacity. A figure was listed by each council to cover the cost of devolving the work – West Bergholt’s was £2,500. Cllr Gili-Ross thought this a good figure as this parish has been in the lucky position of gearing itself up ready to undertake this kind of work. Documentation (Health & Safety Policies) will need to be circulated to all Councillors and signed off to agree that they have read it. Another copy will need to be kept in the Handymen’s garage.

ACTION – Clerk to circulate documentation and print a copy.

c)

To receive a verbal update on the progress of the Playground Advisory Group.

Cllr Gili-Ross reported that the council had applied to the Community Initiative Fund (CIF) for financial assistance with the new playground. He informed the council that CIF had awarded the entire requested amount of £10,000, out of a total CIF budget of only £45,000 and so it really well.

Cllr Stone update the council on the project, three phases in total coming to a total of approximately £80,000, the first phase of £20,000 (with £10,000 CIF, £5,000 Section 106 and £5,000 from local fundraising). The new West Bergholt Film Club has been set up to raise money for the playground, their first event will be held this Saturday (1st Dec). Hope that Phase One will begin in Spring, however will come back to the Parish Council for approval before any money is spent.

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Premises and Recreation

The minutes from the Premises Committee meeting held on 5th November 2018 were received. (Link to Premises P8 Nov 2018)

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Training

• Highways Briefing – BTB – 7th Nov 2018
• SLCC/EALC Joint Networking Event – LW – 8th Nov 2018
• EALC Strategic Plan Consultation – BTB – 13th Nov 2018
• Highways Devolution Forum – JGR & CS – 15th Nov 2018
• Police & Fire Conference – JGR – 20th Nov 2018

Over 140 parishes were at the conference to meet the new Chief Constable. The recruitment of Special Constables take up has been much higher than expected. Cllr Gili-Ross asked that members take the time to complete the Police & Fire Survey.
ACTION – Clerk to send survey to webmaster

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Items to Note

• Pathway to School across Heath – Will be discussed at next Environment meeting.
• Old Church Service – 16th Dec at 2.30pm – Cllr Stevenson, as Chairman of the Parish Council, to do a reading at the pre-Christmas service.
• Heathlands School Meetings with PC – meeting notes from 9th Nov

b)       Crime Statistics – 15th Oct – 11th Nov 2018 – 2 crimes reported

Available on table at meeting:      

c)       RCCE – Essex Warbler – Vol. 15 – Oct 2018

d)       EALC – County Update Special Local Services Fund Ed. – No. 171 Nov 18

e)       EALC – Legal Update – No. 8 – Nov 2018

f)       Essex Highways – Highways Highlights – Oct 2018

g)       The Clerk Magazine – Vol. 49 No.6 – Nov 2018

h)       Clerks & Councils Direct – Issue 120 – Nov 2018

i)       LCR – Autumn 2018

j)       EALC – County Update Special Remembrance Edition – No. 170 Nov 18

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In Committee

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Date of Next Meeting