20/1

Receive/accept apologies and welcome to the Public

20/2

Questions from registered electors

20/3

Declarations of Interest

20/4

Previous Minutes

20/5

Report from Colchester Borough Councillors

Borough Councillor Jarvis reported:

• Locality Budget – this is now closed and will be reviewed again in the next financial year. The borough councillor’s were pleased with how this year the grant has been dispensed evenly around the ward.

Borough Councillor Willetts reported:

• Many of their recent local queries have been regarding tenancy and Universal Credit issues, not related to Parish Council matters.
• NEEB Holdings Planning Applications  – NEEB have decided not to appeal the Colchester Road planning application, just the Armoury Road one (PA 180733). There will now be an informal hearing and the council await to hear the date. Cllr Stevenson stated that the Parish Council’s main objection will be that the site is not listed in the now adopted West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan.
• CBC Local Plan – The Part 1 section of the Local Plan has now been agreed the Borough Cllr noted that to get three different district councils (Colchester, Tendring & Braintree) to agree was quite an achievement. However, the Part One part of the Local plan has yet to be agreed by the Inspector and the resumed Examination in public is ongoing. Cllr Stevenson asked if the Borough Councillor thought that there would be a Plan B for Part 1 if the Inspector found the plan unsound. Cllr Willetts reported that the issue with that is resourcing at Colchester. The planners are spending all of their time working towards the main event, once that is completed then they will have the opportunity to come up with a Plan B. If the Inspector does find Part 1 unsound then there is an option to unlink the Garden Communities from the 5-year plan, although then the borough would have to find another 1,000 dwellings. The Local Plan was supposed to be published in 2017, with the 2022 plan is coming up fast, if things don’t move soon then the borough will be in danger of getting out of sync with its local plans.

20/6

Finance

The final accounts for Nov-Dec 2019 were presented as follows:

75% of the way through the financial year. Two months shown on the summary accounts sheet. The Parish Council Account showed 99% income as the precept has been received in full, 57% general expenditure, 63% environment expenditure and 58% expenditure overall, when the categories of general expenditure & environment are totalled together.

Payments List

December 2019

January 2020

Approval of the grant was received in December and acknowledged on 6th Jan 2020.

ACTION – Clerk to write and thank Cllr David Finch, Leader of Essex County Council.

Noted, the Council would like to thank the West Bergholt Allotment Association for its generous donation from the Charity Allotment Stall monies. Please see Playground accounts online at westbergholt.net (Link to New-Playground-Accounts-following-Jan-PC-Mtg), where the accounts show current balance of £8,677.78, which together with receipt of the CIF £5,000 will be enough for the “swing” phase of the renovations.

The Council has received the following quote in order to complete the “swing” phase of upgrading the Lorkin Daniell play equipment:

RESOLVED – Proposed by Cllr Savage to approve the quote, Cllr Stevenson seconded. All in favour.

Cllr Savage, as Responsible Finance Officer, has created three options for the required precept (council tax requested by the parish) amounts for 2020-21, the changing factor being the amount in the “Projects” line. The three proposals in the “Projects” are (Link to Draft Budgets 2020-21 all options):

Within the “Projects” the Orpen Hall projects will all be looking for match-funding, the pond rejuvenation will be delayed until conditions are right, the council has a quote for the honour board and the Neighbourhood Plan is now adopted, meaning it is time to start working on those issues which residents felt would benefit the parish. The only variable in the Three-Year Plan is the amount being contributed to the ongoing improvement to the new play equipment in the Lorkin Daniell Field, which could be either (Link to Three Year Plan 2020-21 all options):

£8,000 was originally thought to be enough for the 2020-21 phase, however with the anticipated addition of the inclusive swing it was felt that a suitable path at the side of the MUGA is needed to make the play equipment easily accessible for all, so £10,000 (Option 2) would be required.

RESOLVED – Option 2 of the Three-Year Plan proposed by Cllr Savage, Cllr Smith seconded. All in favour.

Therefore, with the agreement of Option 2 of the Three-Year Plan and £31,000 required in the “Projects” item line then a precept of £102,367 would be required for the 2020-21 budget. Last year’s council tax for band D properties was £68.78, these proposals would make it:

RESOLVED – Precept required from CBC proposed by Cllr Savage of £102,367 for the 2020-21 budget, Cllr Butcher seconded. All in favour.

ACTION – Clerk to notify Colchester Borough Council tomorrow.

Councillors were reminded to submit their expenses forms for 2019-20.

With the commencement of the re-roofing project in the coming weeks a £5,000 payment to the landfill charity Enovert is required in order to receive the balance of their £50,000 grant for the project.

RESOLVED – Proposed by Cllr Savage, Cllr Butcher seconded. All in favour.

The printing costs for the Village Bulletin will increase by £31.36 for 24-page editions and £42.05 for 28-page editions in 2020-21. The Bulletin still raises enough money in advertising to cover these costs.

RESOLVED – Proposed by Cllr Savage, Cllr Spencer seconded. All in favour.

20/7

Planning

• 192860 – 2 The Waldens – Support – Support is given on the basis that any approval is conditional to the annex only being occupied by dependent relatives and that it shall not be sold separately to the applicant’s main property.
• 192804 – Meadow View, 4a Hall Road – Support – The Parish Council has no comment.
• 192968 – Blackheath Bulb Co., Nayland Road – Object – The application is as the Parish Council feared, but the fact that the original approved works will not meet the standards the applicant was hoping to achieve is no reason to give the current application support. This has since been Refused by CBC.
• 193002 – 69 Lexden Road – Object – The application is objected to in that the design is not on accord with the CBC-approved WB Neighbourhood Plan policy PP10¹, or Village Design Statement policies DG7² or DG10³.
  ¹ PP10 – Account should be taken of the guidance and principles in the Village Design Statement.
  ² DG7 – Buildings must be in harmony with the surroundings in respect of materials, colour, texture, proportion and scale.
  ³ DG10 – Any infill development should reflect the character of the surrounding area and protect the amenity of neighbours. It should reinforce the uniformity of the street by reflecting the scale, mass, height, form, materials, fenestration and architectural details of its neighbours.

193002 – 69 Lexden Road – Support – The Parish Council support this application on the condition that the extension be broken up, i.e. subject to the double storey centre extension being stepped forward by 225mm and a different material be used on it as opposed to either of the single storey extensions. It would also recommend keeping the ground floor front windows the same size as existing for a sense of proportion. Please refer to drawings sent to Planning Officer Simon Grady.

The residents of 69 Lexden Road came to the January Planning meeting and the committee discussed how relatively minor changes to the design of the extension would improve its appearance. The residents agreed to take these comments on board and consult their architect. Cllr Tyrrell, chairman of the Planning Committee, noted that it was good to have face-to-face discussions with the residents and he would encourage more applicants to do this.

With regards the application from Hopkins Homes, PA 192271 on Colchester Road, the committee have finally received a response from CBC Planning that the section 106 agreements are ongoing and discussions are taking a little longer than anticipated. However, the committee are still talking to all three landowners of the Neighbourhood Plan development site in order to ensure a holistic approach.

20/8

Environment

The minutes of the additional December meeting were also noted (Link to Environment P9 Dec 2019).

Cllr Spencer has produced a spreadsheet of jobs needed to be undertaken by the Handymen over the Winter months, much of this is hedge and tree work which needs to be completed by the end of February prior to nesting season.

Nigel, one of the Handymen, has been working his way through the recent tree survey checking all the trees which the surveyor stated he couldn’t survey due to coverage by tree ivy. He has cut back lots of ivy and removed several trees that were damaged and unstable beneath it, a re-planting scheme is in process (see item 20/9).

The Handymen have also cleared hedge from the sightlines to Lexden Road for residents neighbouring the pond.

The Council were shown the five options proposed for the renovation of the Erle Havard playground (Link to Consultation).

Colchester Borough Homes, who are funding the work, will be going into Heathlands School this week to seek the student’s opinions. The Parish Council felt that the children were in the best position to choose but were encouraged to see money being spent on refurbishment and were grateful at being included in the consultation.

20/9

Tree Planting

Tree replacement – As referred to in item 20/8a, the council is undergoing a re-planting process to replace the trees it has recently lost (some 8 trees in total). Whilst undertaking this work 24 insect habitats/log piles have been created. An application was made for a grant of £400 from the Locality Budget, which appears to have been accepted, with which 8 4-5ft English Oaks will be purchased and planted around the Lorkin Daniell Field in conjunction with the Handymen and the Football Club.

Purple Beech Hedge project – Cllr Spencer outlined plans discussed by the Environment Committee to plant purple beech hedging at the various entrances to the village in order to make it more distinctive and attractive. The first part of this programme of work will take place on Friday on the greensward where the village sign and beacon sit, behind the seating area, to screen the unsightly wall.

Colchester Woodland Project – CBC intend to plant 200,000 trees over the next five years and are calling for sites from local residents. The public can suggest areas of planting to the borough council as can parish councils and schools via the website at Colchester Woodland Project. The Environment Committee will be considering areas at their next meeting on Thursday 13th Feb at 5pm in the Social Club meeting room.

20/10

Council Action Plan

The Clerk has amended the Council Action Plan from 2019-20 to update the Council on the status of its projects for that year.

The Special Constable recruitment has undergone a pause as the two specials recruited for West Bergholt are now unavailable for the foreseeable future. The plan will be to start the advertising campaign once more on the website and noticeboards to begin the process again. Cllr Butcher has spoken to the Officer in Charge of Community Policing who he will be meeting in mid-February and will invite him to the March Parish Council meeting. With the lack of the special’s input the Community Safety Plan it can instead be honed completely on the Parish’s needs.

ACTION – In order to agree the Council Action Plan for 2020-21 the Clerk will circulate the relevant parts of the Neighbourhood Plan and the Infrastructure List to the council ready for discussion at next month’s meeting.

20/11

Council Documents

• Training & Development Policy,
• Community Engagement Policy,
• Disciplinary & Grievance Policies,
• Equality & Diversity Policy (as an employer). (See link to WBPC Council Documents).

Three of the policies remain unchanged, whilst the Equality & Diversity Policy simply required a change of name to differentiate from the Council’s overall Equality Policy.

RESOLVED – It was proposed to approve all four policies by Cllr Stevenson, with the proviso of the addition of “(as an employer)” to the Equality & Diversity Policy, Cllr Savage seconded. All in favour.

20/12

Training/Events

• Clerk’s Forum at CBC – LW – 9th Jan 2020.

Items discussed included:

• The Trees for Years give away by CBC will take place on the 22nd Feb this year, but will be held at Colchester Football stadium rather than Rowan House.
• Attendance Allowance – Colchester is running a 6mth project to increase awareness and uptake of the Attendance Allowance. This is a non means-tested benefit to help people who are over 65 or physically/mentally disabled and require additional care costs. Advertising and posters should be coming out in the next few weeks.
• The new CEO of the EALC, Charlene Slade, was introduced to us and reminded councils to inform community organisations about the under £500 microgrants which are available.
• CBC expects to clarify the situation with CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) in the next 6-12 mths.
• Various funding streams were mentioned including the PFCC Funding for tackling crime (closing date 31st Jan) and the Rural Toolkit Grants of up to £1,000.

20/13

Items to Note

1. Correspondence Log – Dec – Jan 2019-20
   1. Essex Coast RAMS Consultation.
      ACTION – Cllr Stevenson to complete. Clerk to resend original email.
   2. Suicide Prevention in Men in NE Essex: Grants – linked to Health & Well Being, will keep on file until Working Party ready to consider grants.
   3. Wonderful Villages Photo Competition – have forwarded onto Orpen Players to take photos of the Pantomime.
2. Crime Statistics – Dec – Jan 2019-20.
   1. 4 Crimes (1 Burglary & 3 Theft from Vehicles – 2 of which flooded vehicles near Chitts Hill).
3. Essex Highways Highlights – Nov/Dec 2019.
4. Essex Warbler (RCCE) – Vol 28/29 – Dec 19/Jan 20.
5. EALC – Legal Update – Issue No. 21/22 – Dec 19/Jan 20.
6. Clerks & Councils Direct – Issue 127 – Jan 2020.
7. Clerk Magazine – Vol. 51 No. 1 – Jan 2020.

20/14

Items for the next agenda – 26th Feb 2020

• Community Safety Plan Working Party – Terms of Reference.
• MUGA Working Party – Terms of Reference.
• Parish Council Open House Mornings.
• Methodist Chapel & Hall.
• Council Action Plan.

20/15

In Committee

20/16

Date of Next Meeting

Signed:

Date:                        Position on Council: