Minutes of the PC meeting held on 18 July 2011

MINUTES

OF THE ANNUAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD 18 JULY 2011

Present:                                                                      In attendance:           

Cllr J Burlo                                                                 Mrs P Potter (Clerk)                                       Cllr H Anderson                                                          District Cllr Anthony Shelton           

Cllr J Tufnell                                                               County Cllr David Finch

Cllr S Nott                                                                  

                                                                       

            1.         Apologies for Absence

            Apologies were received and accepted from Cllr Jim Holder.

 

            2.         Minutes of the Previous Meeting Held 16 May 2011

                        The minutes of the meeting held 16 May 2011 were accepted as a true record and signed                          accordingly.

 

            3.         Declarations of Interest

            None.

 

By full agreement of the Council, the following item was moved up the agenda:

 

            6.         District and County Items

                        6.1       BDC Issues
                                    Cllr Shelton attended the meeting and gave a brief report including the following                                             items:                         

·       Recycling has increased to 54.07% of all refuse which is a record high and Cllr Shelton thanked all BDC residents for their hard effort in making this possible.

·       BDC’s Green Heart campaign is offering a Jubilee Oak Tree to every parish, which Pebmarsh are actively taking up.

·       BDC are looking at forming partnerships with other District Councils, notably Colchester District Council where they are looking to share directors and senior staff to enable cost savings to be made.

 

                        6.2       ECC Issues

                                    Cllr Finch spoke to the meeting regarding a few items – the entire Parish Update can                              be viewed on his website – www.davidmfinch.com.

·       Roadworks in Pebmarsh over the next few weeks were notified as follows:

o      15 August: Maplestead Road

o      w/c 29 August and w/c 5 September: Dagworth Road and Oak Road for one week each.

o      Water Lane is to be programmed in to the works schedule shortly.  The date is to be confirmed.

·       ECC transformation programme has currently saved £150M and further savings have been identified for the next three years.

·       An upcoming meeting between ECC and the district councils will discuss the changes being made to local government finance, such as the redistribution of the new homes bonus.

·       A question was asked regarding business rates being too high as they are based on pre 2008 property values which have since come down – can they be based on more realistic current property values to assist businesses create more jobs? The reply was that it is possible to apply to BDC who have limited powers to change/vary business rates and this is a good place for businesses to start if they wish to challenge their current rate. 

            4.         Election of Vice-Chairman

                        Cllr Jim Holder put himself forward for nomination as Vice-Chairman, which was seconded                     by Cllr Joe Burlo.  Cllr Holder was unanimously elected as Vice-Chairman for this year.

 

            5.         Public Forum

·       A query regarding the website was raised but this issue has been resolved.

·       A member of the public stated that it is possible to engage a professional to help with an

application to change/vary business rates.

 

Item 6 was discussed earlier in the meeting, as above

           

            7.         BDC Planning Issues

            7.1       Planning Application

·       11/00813/FUL: Broomhills, Catley Cross – Erection of temporary agricultural worker’s dwelling.  This application will be looked at by Councillors and any comments will be emailed to the Clerk to enable a reply or a return of no comment, to be made.

 

            7.2       Planning Results

                        The planning results were noted as follows:

                        The following applications were granted:

·       11/00479/FUL: Cooks Cottage, Twinstead Road – Erection of single storey and two storey rear extension.

·       11/00578/FUL: Rafe Hall, The Street – Erection of rear extension to kitchen.

            8.         Reports from Representatives

                        To receive any reports from representatives:

·        Playing fields/bus shelter – none

·        Village Hall – none

·        Street Lighting – none

·        Footpaths – Essex County Council are now cutting the paths but Pebmarsh and ECC would like to return to the paths being cut locally. The Clerk will forward the P3 form to Cllr Nott to enable a bid to be put in to ECC in the New Year. Headland paths have now been cut.

·        Legal – none

            9.         ECC Big Society Fund

                        It was agreed to put in an expression of interest form to this fund for the hard court area                                     project.  Cllrs Burlo and Tufnell are looking into completing this.

 

            10.       Finance

                        10.1     Finance Report

                                    The latest finance reports were received.

                        10.2     The following cheques were approved for payment:

                        10.2.1  £400.82           Clerk Salary (June, July)

                        10.2.2  £  43.25           Clerk Expenses (7 May to12 July)
                       

                        It was also agreed to pay the £10 subscription to BALC, which arrived after the agenda was                  circulated.

                       

            11.       Street Lighting Contract

                        An alternative quote for street lighting maintenance has still not been received.  The Clerk               will chase this to enable a comparison with the current supplier to be undertaken.   

 

            12.       Clerk’s Report

• The Clerk went through correspondence received.

·                   Quality Parish Council Status: the current criteria will be sourced and summarised by the Clerk for Councillors to gauge the amount of work that would be involved.

 

13.       Date of Next Meeting

                        The date of the next meeting was set for Monday 19 September at 7.30pm.

 

            14.       Closure

                        The meeting was closed at 8.45pm.