WINSTRED HUNDRED PARISH COUNCIL

Peldon   Great Wigborough   Little Wigborough   Salcott   Virley

Draft minutes of the meeting of Winstred Hundred Parish Council held at Peldon and Wigboroughs Community Hall meeting room on Tuesday 9th April 2024 at 7.30pm

Present: Parish Councillors: Netty Knill Jones, Catherine Sprott, Clare Lauwerys, Robert Davidson, Liz Davidson, Phil Gladwin, Jinny Gale (chair), County Councillor Kevin Bentley (who is also one of our City Councillors) and 3 members of the public (who are all City Councillor candidates for this coming election)

Apologies for absence: Roger Pittock, John Walker

The minutes of the March 2024 meeting were confirmed and agreed by all and signed by the chairman

City Councillor Report: Elections for some Colchester City Councillors and some Parish Councillors (not for us) are taking place this May.

County Councillor Report: With the weather improving road repairs will be much more evident. 12 extra crews have been taken on and will concentrate in one area for a week at a time. Fully resurfacing a road is scheduled to take place every 10 years with an interim micro repair every 5. Ditches belonging to ECC are being dug out where there have been problems with flooding due to blockage, etc.

Public-Have Your Say: Owing to misinformation on social media the new Colchester City Council (CCC) Local Plan and Call for Sites process was explained in detail. It is still very early days in the process. Anyone could submit any plot of land for potential development at the first stage and over 200 sites were put forward initially to be considered. All these sites are sifted through by CCC for their suitability and many are disregarded for one reason or another, this process takes about 2 months. A draft plan will then be presented around autumn and throughout the parish council could be consulted for local knowledge etc. Then early next year the proposed final draft will be available for consultation by all. We will invite a member of CCC Local Plan Team to talk at a future parish council meeting in the next few months.

Further discussion followed as to what should be out on social media.

Declarations of Interest: Robert and Liz Davidson for the above.

1. Playgrounds and Playing Fields – both playgrounds and fields are in good order. The Community Group are continuing with their good work for us with grass and hedge trimming around Peldon. The document sent from them needs careful consideration and will be dealt with in due course.
2. Affordable Housing Survey – to discuss the results and findings with our conclusion being there is no immediate need for affordable housing in our villages but anyone wanting or needing housing should initially register with CCC. Also, we should carry out another survey in a few years’ time. We noted that people working in our villages may want to live here too. RCCE will be contacted for advice on this. 

 Speed Assessment Strips in Great Wigborough – results and conclusions have not materialized as yet and will be chased up.

• Website – there has been much communicating with our website manager and progress has been made. Our updated website will be shortly evident.
• Communications/Facebook – progress has been made on changes for the parish council social media approach with a few tweaks to be made.
• Actions and Reminder List – updated

Planning Applications:

Planning Decisions:

Finances: scheduled April 2024 payments:

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 14th May 2024 at 7.30pm at Salcott Village Hall which will include the Annual Parish Assembly

Then 11th June at St Stephen’s Church, Great Wigborough, 9th July at Peldon and Wigboroughs Community Hall, meeting room