WINSTRED HUNDRED PARISH COUNCIL

Peldon   Great Wigborough   Little Wigborough   Salcott   Virley

Draft minutes of the meeting of Winstred Hundred Parish Council held at Salcott Village Hall at 7.30pm on Tuesday 9^th March 2010.

Present: Sam Knill Jones, Kevin Bradshaw, Lynne Simmons, Phil Gladwin, Jinny Gale, Nicky Ellis, Jane Banks, Frances Fergus, Andrew Ellis, John Jowers and 12 members of the public

Apologies for absence: Kevin Bentley, Robert Davidson

Minutes of the last meeting: with the alterations of (Borough Councillors’ section) Helping Businesses Scheme should be Banking on Essex and ‘12 post offices have been reopened’ should be 10 and ‘it is hoped to reach 36’ should be 30, were agreed and signed by the chairman

Borough Councillors: Potholes are being attended to but this will take time as there are so many that need attention.

Flooding is a major issue, especially after the heavy rainfall we had a week or so ago. Mill Lane in Virley was completely cut off until the water subsided.  A sit down meeting is to be arranged with Borough Councillors, Parish Councillors, ECC Highways Department and hopefully the Portfolio Holder for Highways and Transportation to talk in depth of all the problems associated with flooding at Salcott in several areas. Properly qualified people are needed to decide on what action needs to be taken as small fixes here and there can just direct the problem to another area.  It is hoped that solutions can not only be agreed upon but implemented in the foreseeable future. In the mean time signage would seem appropriate at the Salcott crossroads when the water is of any significant depth. This will be looked into.

Earth moving equipment will be coming to the reservoir site in the near future.

County Councillor: The water table is high and the ground cannot absorb all the rain that we are getting now. Ditches need to be maintained and the practice of concreting over ditches and paving front gardens is being discouraged.

In future Highways Engineers are to be members of the Planning Committee and so will be there helping make the decisions rather than being consulted as outside experts.

Pubs are closing at an alarming rate and with the closure of post offices, shops etc. the rural communities are struggling.

Rural broadband trials are taking place to increase decent coverage.

Essex has the lowest council tax increase keeping it below inflation rate of pensions.

More houses are needed and brown field sites will run out in this area.

Public – Have Your Say: Concerns about the flooding in Salcott was expressed by many.  Suggestions were made about ways to improve matters which will be taken on board when the meeting organised by the Borough Councillors takes place. It was explained that the Environmental Agency has been consulted and met by the parish council without a solution being made.  The parish council has also met, many times, with CBC and ECC officers to try and resolve this ongoing problem.  Certain measures have been carried out to date but obviously not sufficient and hopefully the forthcoming meeting will go much further to a conclusion if, in fact, one is possible.

The Salcott crossroads bus shelter is not adequate for protection in any kind of bad weather. ECC Highways had a great deal to do with the site and style of the bus shelter  but we will look into this to see if anything can be done about it.

Declarations of Interest: Phil and Jinny with regard to items 7 & 8.

Items for Discussion

1. CALC meeting on March 15^th will be attended, but nobody felt able to give more time to nominate themselves for the Grant Decisions and Standards Board panels.
2. Parish Council elections – new people are encouraged to apply as new blood is always a good idea. If our parish council places are contested and an election is needed it will be later on in May if the general election is definitely on May 6^th.
3. Flooding discussed earlier.  Also we have organised a Water Awareness Session on 27^th April at 7.30pm to be held in Salcott Village Hall. This will be held by CBC Emergency Planning Officer and it is to explain ways in which all property owners can help themselves in dealing with floods etc. Everyone is encouraged and welcome to attend.
4. Peldon Festival – the Mayor will be attending to open the festival and it is hoped that our revamped play area on Moss Hay can also be opened that day subject to certain works having been carried out in time.  The footpath work and removal of metal rubbish will be followed up.
5. BTCV work on Moss Hay – 28^th and 31^st March. Gate and village hall will be opened for this work.
6. Playgrounds – new parts have been fitted at Moss Hay playground.  More work is needed which is being dealt with.
7. Salcott phone box – Lynne proposed, Frances seconded and a majority agreed for us to adopt Salcott telephone box situated at the end of Mill Lane.  Adoption of the Great Wigborough box was discussed further having received an inquiry for buying it from us if we decide to adopt it. Suggestions were that any profit made could possibly be included in Wigborough Village Hall funds.
8. Wigborough Village Hall – a meeting will take place to talk about a way forward with this project as most of the people who had expressed an interest have replied to the letter explaining matters further.
9. Village Design Statement – smaller groups are assembling different sections of this increasing complicated project.  Initially we were told that this can take two or three years to complete which we can understand why now.
10. Youths on bikes around Peldon on the pavement and Moss Hay was reported to us as a nuisance which we then reported to the Police, who for such instances, can be reached on 07966 197265. Also we have a number for the Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) hotline 01206 505860.
11. Affordable Housing – a questionnaire and letter will be delivered to everyone in our villages but not for a couple of months as the RCCE Housing Enabler is busy for the time being.
12. Communications Committee – met for an IT presentation from which those attended learnt a great deal. Our website is up and running www.winstred100.org but it is very early days yet, some things need correcting and others added but with enormous thanks to Jinny for liaising with our website designer we have made a good start. Local groups may wish to add events, etc. so please do contact us if this is the case.  Next month we will discuss how to go about our Annual Report for this last year.

Planning:

091446 Proposal: Repairs and improvements at Moor Farm, Colchester Road, Peldon

100161 Proposal: Removal of condition 2 of planning permission 072151 at HOS Plant Ltd. St Ives Farm, Peldon

Notice of Planning Decisions:

100059 Proposal: Removal of existing flat roof to garage, increase in eaves height and replacement with new pitched roof to match adjacent at Marshlands, The Street, Salcott  –  Permission Granted

091655 Proposal: Single storey oak framed orangery extension and replacement of existing windows to north elevation at New Hall Farm, Copt Hall Lane, Little Wigborough,  –  Permission Refused.

091659 as above for listed building application  –  Consent Refused

Certificate of Lawful Use or Development for existing use of agricultural land as domestic garden and amenity area for the benefit of domestic dwelling at Greenways, Abbots Wick Lane, Great Wigborough

Appeal:

090342 Against refusal of planning permission for proposal of application for temporary use of mobile home as monitoring accommodation for free range chicken unit, siting 3 mobile chicken house, erection of tractor shelter, brood and feed shed at Bellwood, Colchester Road Great Wigborough  DTLR Appeal Ref: A1530/A/10/2120721

Finance:

101528 RCCE – Community Led Planning Support for our VDS                                        £115.00

101529 Lappset – leg and metal foot for play equipment                                               £118.68

101530 R S Pullen – clerk’s fee for March                                                                     £353.53

101531 T Simmons – play area inspection for Salcott                                                       £30.00

101532 David Allen – IT training and presentation                                                          £60.00

The next meeting will be held at Peldon Village Hall on Tues April 13^th 2010 at 7.30pm.