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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 Councillors

Cllr Jarvis reported:

• Locality Budget – The money has now been transferred via WBPC for the West Bergholt Swift Project however there are still funds left. If any local groups would like to apply for a grant, email  Cllr Jarvis at [email protected] before Christmas.

Cllr Barber reported:

• Speed Cables – the Lexden Road/Newbridge Hill speed cables will be installed any day now. The previous data received from a different officer was not the correct one.
• West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan – The Borough Councillors wished to congratulate the Parish Council and the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group on the result of the Referendum. It will now go before Colchester Borough Council’s full council meeting on the 16th October for adoption.

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Finance

a)

Statement of accounts for Jul/Aug 2019 (Link to P4-5 Jul-Aug Summary)

The final accounts for Jul/Aug 2019 were presented as follows:

42% of the way through the financial year. The Parish Council Account showed 49% income, 33% general expenditure, 35% environment expenditure and 33% expenditure overall, when the categories of general expenditure & environment are totalled together.

b)

Payments

Payments List

August 2019

September 2019

c)

To note the bank reconciliation for July/August 2019.

Parish Council bank account currently stands at approximately £65,061.19, with the second half of the precept due in at the start of September. Responsible Finance Officer Cllr Savage then signed the reconciliation sheet.

d)

To note the MUGA and Village Bulletin accounts for 2018-19

• MUGA (Multi-Use Games Area) accounts for 2018-19 included receipts of £1,385.10 and payments of £413.11, making a profit of £917.99, which will be earmarked for surface repairs in the future.
•  Village Bulletin magazine accounts for 2018-19 included receipts (advertising) of £3,009.00 and payments of £2,765.35, making a profit of £243.65, however this only includes 3 printing invoices in that financial year.

e)

To note the New Playground Equipment accounts for 2018-19 and 2019-20 to date

See New Playground Accounts document. Profits in 2018-19 totalled £10,212.37, which included the 2018 £10,000 CIF grant. Receipts so far in 2019-20 have added another £2,289.91 to that, thanks to the Film Club and donations from various fete stalls including the Allotments and the Gardeners Association. Payments of £11,225.00 have been made this financial year, which included the installation of the new cone climber and upgrade of the multi-use climbing frame, leaving a current balance of £1,276.66.

However, another £5,000 is expected from Colchester Borough Council’s section 106 money shortly, the request for which went in on the 13th Sept. Also, £2,000 will be donated to the fund from the Charity Allotment Stall in the near future and a £5,000 CIF grant from Essex County Council has been applied for, so the Playground Advisory Group expect two more items to be installed by the end of the year.

f)

To approve the Finance Committee’s recommendation for a virement to remove the unused £2,548.08 for the Small Kitchen (Servery) from the earmarked funds, which was completed under budget.

RESOLVED – Cllr Savage proposed to remove the £2,548.08 from the earmarked funds, Cllr Stevenson seconded. All in favour.

g)

To approve the Finance Committee’s recommendations for the earmarked funds for year 2019-20. 

Parish Council Account – End of Year Figures: £68,667.49, of which:

Of the £ 36,890.07, it was recommended by the Finance Committee to earmark in 2019-20:

RESOLVED – Cllr Savage proposed to approve the above earmarked funds for 2019-20, Cllr Stone seconded. All in favour.

h)

To approve the quote for £2,475 to remove and replace the Queen’s Head Pond railings.

RESOLVED – Cllr Savage proposed, Cllr Spencer seconded. All in favour.

ACTION – Clerk to inform contractor.

i)

To note the decision of the £50,000 grant application for the Hall re-roofing project.

Decision not to be made public until all paperwork in place.

j)

To agree whether the principle to charge the New Allotments Trust a proportion of the annual insurance costs.

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

k)

To agree to transfer the £1,000 balance of funds into the new bank account set up by the New Allotments Trust.

Looking at the receipts and payments balance for the allotment figures over the past five years an amount of £1,000 was established as a fair starting balance for the new allotment bank account.

RESOLVED – Cllr Savage proposed, Cllr Stone seconded. All in favour.

l)

To agree all staff costs incurred by the charitable trusts, for the Clerk and the Handymen, shall be met by West Bergholt Parish Council as sole trustee.

RESOLVED – Cllr Savage proposed, subject to the following amendment:

To agree all reasonable staff costs incurred by the charitable trusts, for the Clerk and the Handymen, shall be met by West Bergholt Parish Council as sole trustee.

Cllr Butcher seconded. All in favour.

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Planning

a)

The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 21st August 2019 were received and the decisions made on following applications were noted (Link to Planning P5 Aug 2019):

• 191984 – 89 Chapel Road, CO6 3HB – Object – The Parish Council would like to request an extension in time whilst CBC seeks answers to the following questions. Firstly, it would like to express concern regarding the height of the proposed dwelling. Could CBC request that the ridge height be added to the plans as currently only a cursory view can be made without it. The Council would also ask for a street scene with the existing and proposed ridge heights of the adjacent properties in order to show the relationship to its neighbours. The reasoning behind this is so that we can avoid a repeat of the 2 Donard Drive application 131924 which resulted in a dwelling that now dominates a prominent corner of Chapel Road. The Council is concerned at the loss of yet another bungalow and would prefer a like-for-like replacement rather than another 3-4-bedroom house which will swamp the neighbouring property and lane. Also, has the legal access to Spring Lane been proven yet?
• 191990 – 3 Garret Place, CO6 3SH – Support – The Parish Council has no comment.
• 191997 – Land adj WB Cricket Club, Colchester Road – Support – The Parish Council supports this application so long as CBC is assured that the development is fully in accordance with the Neighbourhood Plan.

b)

The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 18th September 2019 were received and the decisions made on following applications were noted (Link to Planning P6 Sept 2019):

• 191984 – 89 Chapel Road, CO6 3HB – Object – The Parish Council reiterates its previous comments, that the proposed dwelling is still too large for the site and a building 1 metre lower would be preferable to one which will swamp the neighbouring property and lane. It would also like the Borough to note the inaccuracies on the street view drawings. Chapel Road slopes downwards in the direction of the Queen’s Head pond, but the effect of this has not been considered in the drawings. The building was previously refused because of its height however the revised dwelling is equally as big. The Council would again reiterate its request for the survey heights of the proposed and adjacent roofs in order to make a more accurate judgement.
• 192221 – East of England Co Op, Chapel Road, CO6 – Support – The Parish Council has no comment.
• 192271 – Land adj WB Cricket Club, Colchester Road – Support – The Parish Council would reiterate the comments made on duplicate planning application 191997. The Parish Council supports this application so long as CBC is assured that the development is fully in accordance with the Neighbourhood Plan.

c)

To agree the following decisions, based on the recommendations made by the Planning Committee at the meeting held on 18th September on planning applications:

• 192302/192350 – Alcrofts Farm, Bures Road, CO6 3BW (listed building) – The Parish Council would defer to the Borough Council’s greater knowledge of listed building conditions.

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

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Neighbourhood Plan

To note the result of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan Referendum on 19th September 2019.

Residents voted in favour of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan. 862 people (94% of voters) were in favour of the plan, with 59, (6%) against. The turnout was 41% of the electorate, which was really good for a Neighbourhood Plan referendum, as of the 750 held nationally so far average turnout is from 34-36%.

The Chairman voiced his thanks to the Steering Group and everyone in the community who supported it. Thanks also to the Borough Councillors and Council officers for their help and assistance. The work undertaken by Dave Kingaby on the website was also greatly appreciated.

Thanks were then expressed to the Chairman, Cllr Stevenson, and the Clerk for all their hard work and for amassing the appendices with the large amount of evidence contained within them.

The Neighbourhood Plan has already been used in defending the village from Gladmans, NEEB and Punch Taverns and the council will continue to keep people informed of any speculative applications.

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Environment

a)

The minutes from the Environment Committee meeting held on 12th September 2019 were received. (Link to Environment P6 Sept 2019)

Next meeting of the Environment Committee due to be held on the 10th Oct in the Social Club meeting room, not the 3rd as previously stated.

The hedges around the village are due to be trimmed on the 28th and 29th October, during the half term week.

ACTION – Clerk to show Cllr Smith how to order the street sweeper for the following day.

Patching of the Heath footpath will take place once the weather clears.

b)

To confirm that the Parish Council will undertake the maintenance of all tree work based on Trust land.

RESOLVED – Cllr Spencer proposed, Cllr Smith seconded. All in favour.

c)

To agree whether to take part in the NALC Tree Charter initiative. See NALC Tree Charter document

RESOLVED – Cllr Spencer proposed, Cllr Stevenson seconded. All in favour.

ACTION – Cllr Smith requested planting to take place on 30th Nov as listed by NALC as National Tree Day. She will take this request to the Environment meeting on the 10th.

ACTION – Cllrs Smith and Spencer will work together on the Tree Guidance document soon.

d)

To agree that the maintenance and expenses for the Lorkin Daniell Field playground shall be met by the Parish Council.

RESOLVED – Cllr Spencer proposed, Cllr Church seconded. All in favour.

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Premises and Recreation

The minutes from the Premises Committee meeting held on 2nd September 2019 were received. (Link to Premises P6 Sept 2019)

Main update was on the VE Day Celebrations which will take place in May 2020. A second meeting was held this week, from which various individuals will take away actions and the notes will be circulated shortly. Currently the plan is to hold several different events over Friday 8th (bank holiday and Sat 9th May, including potentially a teddy bears picnic, BYG assault course & BBQ, afternoon tea dance and ticketed film night event with ploughman’s dinner.

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Methodist Church and Hall

To receive an update on the sale of the Methodist Church and Hall

The Council’s recent offer was rejected with no further action required at present. There will be a meeting of the working party to discuss the next steps once everyone has returned from holiday.

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Training/Events

• SLCC’s Regional Seminar – LW – 3rd Sept 2019
  • Clerk will share presentations on One Drive, Local Clerk’s Forum.
• CBC’s Planning Skills – NS – 12th Sept 2019
  • Cllr Smith found the course leaders very knowledgeable. Excellent course.
• EALC AGM – CS – 19th Sept 2019
  • Local Council Awards presentation took place and the council was given a very nice, framed certificate celebrating their Quality award.
  • Health and Wellbeing is at the forefront of things currently and needs to be put onto the council’s future agenda.
• Village Halls – BTB – 24th Sept 2019
  • Excellent course at EALC lead by Sue Gibson (nee Sheppard) of RCCE. Cllr Butcher has a meeting on Friday with Clerk and Hall Administrator to discuss the Hall Trust’s Terms of Reference.

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Items to Note

1. Correspondence Log – Sept 2019
   1. National Crime Survey – Cllr Butcher will take away and complete.
   2. Highways Survey – Cllr Short will take away and complete
   3. Letter from resident regarding Col. Rd. parking – noted
2. Crime Statistics – 15th Jul – 8th Sept 2019 (2 crimes)
3. The Clerk – Vol 50 No 5 – Sept 2019
4. Clerks & Councils Direct – Issue 125 – Sept 2019
5. EALC – Legal Update – Issue No. 18 – Sept 2019
6. EALC – County Update – No. 190 – Aug 2019
7. Essex Highways Highlights – Aug 2019
8. Essex Warbler (RCCE) – Vol 25 – Sept 2019
9. ICO guide to Data Sharing
   ACTION – Clerk to speak to DK about Cllr emails
10. Table Tennis Tables catalogue

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Items for the next agenda – 23rd Oct 2019

• Budget’s reminder
• Parish Council Surgeries
• Health and Wellbeing

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In Committee

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Date of Next Meeting