Pebmarsh Parish Council 

Report By Chariman J. Burlo for Y/E 16 June 09

 This is my 2nd Annual Parish Meeting as Chairman. Once again, thanks to Jonathan Nott, my predecessor, for his involvement of over 30 years with the Parish council Thanks also to Tom Newman who resigned his post as Vice chairman in Feb. for all his valuable work as a Parish Councillor. 

Matters dealt with:

12 Planning meetings   7 Council meetings   1 Budget meeting 

Current Parish Councillors

1 member co opted after statutory notice posted on noticeboard failed to produce enough parishioners requesting an election.  Chairman – Joe Burlo.  Vice chair – Tom Newman –( resigned early 2009).  Existing member Sue Rawlinson.    Existing member Harry Anderson.  New member Julian Fenner to replace Tom Newman.   New appointment of existing member Jim Holder to Vice Chairman , to fill Vice chair vacancy left by Tom Newman. 

New Appointment

Parish Clerk – Philippa Potter.   Julia Race resigned as she has moved out of the district and we would like to thank her for many years of valuable service to the PC as Clerk. We advertised for the position of a parish Clerk and after interviewing Philippa Potter on 3 separate occasions, found her to be suitably qualified and appointed her as our new Parish Clerk.

 Affordable Housing Development at Water Lane

The affordable housing Development is nearing completion with an expected hand over date of August 2009.These are affordable houses for people with a local connection. Closer to completion date, Braintree District Council will advertise the availability of these houses/apartments and will clearly state in the adverts that these are subject to the 106 Agreement meaning that they are only for people with a local connection. Interested applicants will need to immediately register with BDC on their housing list and also state that they are applying only for the affordable housing at Water Lane. If they can show that they have a housing need and qualify for it, they can then select and apply/bid for one of the properties at Water lane as soon as BDC makes them available on their website through the ‘Choice Based Lettings ‘system. Regardless of  banding, applicants will still be able to apply for one of the properties because the final shortlist will be based on ‘local connection’ and not on banding.  Applicants will need to state what their local connection is and the Parish Council understands that the local connection will over ride anyone else that applies but who does not have a local connection. Single persons can also apply to be short listed for 2 bed properties as long as they have a local connection.  Please remember that the Parish council will not be allocating the housing. Suffolk Housing will be making the allocations after BDC has sent them a short list of applicants that they consider have a housing need and also have a local connection. The Parish Council will be happy to receive a short history from interested applicants outlining their local connection. Please remember that applicants must present this local connection to BDC when appliying to join the housing register.  

Liaising with BT Open Reach

Most of last year’s problems have been solved and even though we are still short of lines in the village, the situation is greatly improved from what it was 2 years ago.  

Liaising with ECC Highways to rebuild path between school and church. 

This has finally been completed with the assistance of our ECC Representative, Cllr David Finch.

 Improvements have been made to the playground.

Thanks to Cllr. Sue Rawlinson in successfully obtaining grants for new equipment. The PC has also paid for and provided new sterilised bark for the children’s play area at a cost to the Pc of around £800. Thank you to Cllr Sue Rawlinson for organising it and also organising the laying of the bark.

 Street Lighting

All street lights are in working order and the lights near the war memorial and outside Greathouse have been repaired.

 Wireless Broadband

The survey conducted in the village has proved a need for wireless broadband. We are now looking at making an application  for a grant to install  the equipment needed to provide wireless broadband for Pebmarsh.  If successful, households will be able to receive broadband without the need for a BT line via subscription at a comparable rate to other broadband suppliers.  Access will be through a small ariel in the roofspace of the property.

Street Cleaning Partnership with BDC

This Partnership has been renewed with BDC for 2009/2010. I am the appointed person for parishioners to notify about fly tipping in the Parish. A notice to this effect is up on the Parish notice board at the Village Hall and outside St John the Baptist Church.  BDC promise to remove within 48 hours of being notified any fly tipping  .  Partnership also includes us notifying BDC when we require the Recycling Bins to be emptied..  BDC will provide refuse sacks on demand , remove waste from pre determined locations and also remove fly tips within 48 hours. BDC will also provide 4 channel sweeps per year. 

 Recycling

Recycling bins have now been available for Parishioners use for the over 5 years and are used on a regular basis for  glass, Magazines and cans. The larger bins have now been replaced by smaller bins to make it easier for the  the Recycling vehicles to empty them and further bins have been added for Green glass, shoes and magazines.   

Local Bus Routes

Newly appointed Cllr Julian Fenner has taken on the task as our Public transport representative.  Julian will update you in his report. 

Post Office

The parish council is looking into re opening the sub post office in Pebmarsh. We conducted a survey and it showed that there is a case for re opening a sub post office in Pebmarsh.  Cllr. Jim Holder will update you on the current progress.

 Advisors

The Parish Council has decided that it would seek to appoint suitably qualified parishioners in a voluntary advisory role regarding matters that demanded specialist knowledge. We are pleased to welcome Mike Garnham as our advisor regarding Planning and Environmental Matters.  We are also happy that James Tucker has agreed to continue in his role as our Internal Auditor.

 BALC

I have joined the Executive committee of the Braintree Association of Local Councils. This will enable us to be more involved in matters that require the collective decisions/discussions of all the local councils.

Other Duties

I undertake other duties as and when necessary.  

Joseph Burlo

Chairman  PPC

Tuesday, 16 June 2009