PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on Thursday 12th September 2013 at 8.00 pm.

1. PRESENT Cllr M Allen, Cllr M Coombs, Cllr C James, Cllr Y Maguire, Cllr R North, Cllr S Saunders, Cllr D Stacey and Cllr J Woodhouse. 29 members of the public were also present and D.Munro, the Parish Clerk.

2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence received from Cllr D Jobbins, Cllr A Webster and Cllr J Wright.

3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST & THE REGISTER OF MEMBERS INTERESTS None

4. BRENTWOOD LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2015-2030 Meeting suspended at 8.03pm to allow for this item. A presentation on the Draft Local Plan and the consultation which is taking place until 2nd October 2013 was given by Alex Bird and Shanaz Zaman from Brentwood Borough Council. This was followed by a lively question and answer session. This session ended at 8.45pm when the majority of the members of the public left the meeting.

5. REPORT FROM ECC MEMBER, BBC MEMBER & QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC Meeting was again suspended at 8.50pm to allow for this item. Cllr Ann Naylor, ECC member advised that there was a consultation over plans to switch off street lights for part nights. Cllr R North advised that most of the village would be unaffected by the proposal as only 5 streets in the village had street lighting. The public session ended and the meeting resumed at 8.55pm

6. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON 11th JULY 2013 The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 11th July 2013 were agreed and signed by the Chair.

7. CLERK’S REPORT The clerk advised that he had nothing to report at this point in the agenda as most items were covered at other parts of the agenda.

8. RISK MANAGEMENT a) Play Area update – The clerk advised that he had submitted our expression of interest form to the Communities Initiative Fund (CIF) for funding to assist us with the cost of replacing the cable runway. They have considered this and asked us to complete a full application by the end of this month. Arising from the BBC weekly reports a replacement protective covering on the seat chain on the cable runway has been ordered, received and installed. The Annual Inspection has been carried out and the clerk advised that he was awaiting the report from Stuart Anderson at BBC. He has looked at it and advised the clerk that there is nothing serious that requires urgent attention. Cllr S Saunders also reported that some of the “Keep Dogs on Leads” signs had been vandalised and these should be replaced. It was also reported that some places were available on a RoSPA course being organised by Ingatestone PC to enable parish councils to undertake their own weekly Play Area inspections. Cllr S Saunders, Cllr M Coombs and Cllr C James indicated that they would like to go on this course if enough places were available. The clerk undertook to make enquiries.

9. ENVIRONMENT a) Report from the Environmental Committee meeting on 5th September 2013. Cllr C James reported on the main points discussed at the Environmental Committee meeting on 5th September 2013. b) Swan Pond. i) Ownership. The clerk advised that legal documents have been received and inspected, minor wording amendments suggested and the paperwork has been returned to BBC by our solicitor. Confirmation has been received that BBC have agreed to our changes and our solicitor is awaiting engrossment copies for sealing. ii) Maintenance. It was reported that work on the island will be carried out soon. iii) Information Panel. Details of the information will be finalised once the ownership of the pond has been transferred to us. c) School Road Parking & Speed Limit. The clerk advised that there had been no reported problems because of school holidays. Our request for a 20mph limit outside the school has been referred to the Local Highways Panel. In the first stage in this process the LHP authorised a speed survey to be carried out. This has been done and the results will be passed back to the LHP at their next meeting on 22nd October 2013. d) Speed Limit, Church Road. Cllr Keith Parker was going to arrange a speed survey. There had been no update on this. The clerk reported that an additional 40mph repeater sign has been installed. e) Installation of CCTV. Cllr C James advised that the contractor he had been in contact with had been considering the implications of the new Code of Conduct governing the use of CCTV systems. It was hoped that a meeting could be arranged soon. f) Ongar Road pedestrian refuge. The clerk advised that Chris Stoneham, ECC Highways has reported that the Local Highways Panel has approved the request for a pedestrian refuge in Ongar Road. Work will now be done in the current financial year to design it and the work will be done in the next financial year 2014/15. It was agreed that this item should now be removed from future agendas. g) Request for a new Bus Stop at the Secret Nuclear Bunker. The clerk reported that a reply had been received saying that this is not straightforward due to the layout of the road and the nature of the roadside areas. The ECC Road Safety Team will be looking at the potential safety implications. There are also some issues concerning ownership of the land along this stretch of road. They will continue to work to find a solution to present to the Local Highways Panel for consideration and prioritisation of funding at their next meeting. h) Neighbourhood Watch. The clerk reported that nothing has been heard regarding a volunteer to become a co-ordinator for Kelvedon Hatch. It had been noted however that Ken Roast appeared to be on email distribution lists for co-ordinators. The clerk was asked to write to Ken Roast to clarify whether he was a Neighbourhood Watch co- ordinator. i) Coronation Meadow. It was agreed that discussion on this item should be carried forward to the next meeting. j) Community Orchard in Eagle Field. It was also agreed that discussion on this item should be carried forward to the next meeting.

10. FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION a) Balances / Management of Accounts Community Account balance as at last meeting 11/7/13 £46,223.80 (plus income since last meeting + £ 385.00) (less cheques issued following last meeting - £ 2,024.72) (less cheques issued since last meeting - £ 1,907.54) (Estimated balance at 12/913 = £42,676.54) 3 Year Fixed Term Deposit £20,000.00

Transactions since last Meeting: Income J Luxford Village News Advert 15.00 Andrew Lampard Village News Advert 15.00 Mrs C Pearce Village News Advert 30.00 Mr G Stockford Village News Advert 25.00 KDH Garden Maintenance Village News Advert 75.00 Pagan Marketing Village News Advert 75.00 Chelmsford Plumbing & Heating Village News Advert 75.00 Chelmer Chimney Services Village News Advert 75.00 Total 385.00

Cheques issued since last meeting John Woodhouse (reimbursement) War Memorial seat base materials 40.00 Abacus Tree Services Pruning Eagle Field fruit trees 580.00 KDH Garden Maintenance Fane Hall pothole repair 150.00 D Munro August salary 823.53 HMRC August Tax & NI 314.01 Total 1907.54

Cheques prepared for this month’s expenditure Kelhatch Press V News printing June, July, 1800.00 August/September D Munro (reimbursement) Litter picker /grabbers 17.60 5belowzero Website management 30.00 D Munro (reimbursement) Land Registry fees 15.00 Mr E M Coombs (reimbursement) Parish Paths Partnership (P3) 34.15 expenses J E Dobre Village News Editor & Village 231.04 Correspondent J & S Garden Services Play Area & War Memorial 465.00 maintenance (25/6 to date) D Munro September salary 823.53 HMRC September Tax & NI 314.01 Fenland Leisure Products Ltd Play Equipment chain protector 43.20 Evergreen Assessments Ltd Litter picking, Bus Shelter 931.00 maintenance & Planter watering Richard North (reimbursement) Frame, wood stain & paint 37.05 Total 4741.58

b) To consider and approve payment of invoices received and cheques prepared. Payment of invoices and cheques prepared as listed above was proposed by Cllr R North, seconded by Cllr M Allen and approved unanimously by members. Signatories were instructed by the Chair to sign the cheques. c) Transfer of funds into a higher interest account. After some discussion Cllr S Saunders proposed that £15,000 should be deposited in a 60 day notice account with United Trust Bank earning 2.15% interest and a further £5,000 in one of several 30 day notice accounts with another bank or building society earning around 1% interest. This was seconded by Cllr M Allen and agreed unanimously by members. The clerk was asked to obtain application forms for completion. d) Scouts Group. As mentioned by the clerk at the last PC meeting a letter has been received from Navestock PC asking if we would be prepared to give £500 to assist with the start up of a scout group in Navestock. Following initial comments made at the last PC meeting about this request Mike Parrish the Vice Chair of Navestock PC has written an email to the clerk in which he offers some clarification. Both the letter and email had been pre circulated to members. The issue was discussed by members and it was noted that Navestock PC had already given £500 to the scouts. Cllr C James reported that most of the children from Kelvedon Hatch that wish to join the scouts are members of the scout group which is well established and well run. It was also noted that with only 6 months of the financial year gone, we had already spent £2,050 out of the £3,000 budgeted for grants and donations in the current year. Cllr C James proposed that the clerk should write to Navestock PC to advise them that we had considered their request but felt that it would not be appropriate at this time of the year within our current budget to make a grant of £500 to the Navestock scouts. This was seconded by Cllr S Saunders with members agreeing unanimously. e) 2013/14 National Salary Award for Local Council Clerks. Cllr R North advised that notification had been received of a 1% pay increase effective from 1st April 2013. This was the first national pay increase since 2009. He also pointed out that in the clerk’s contract of employment it states that subject to satisfactory performance, there will be automatic progression through the scale by annual increments until the maximum of the scale is reached. The clerk had decided to forego this increase last year. Cllr R North therefore proposed that the clerk should progress to LC2 point 30 on the new pay scale (pro rata for 18.5 hrs). This was seconded by Cllr C James and members agreed unanimously.

11. REPRESENTATIVES REPORTS a) Kelvedon Hatch Village Hall Charitable Trust - Cllr C James advised that the new doors to the Village Hall had been fitted. b) BBPCA – Cllr M Coombs had attended the last meeting and advised that most of the discussions concerned the flood plan. c) Parish Transport Representatives – The next meeting is on 1st October 2013.

12. PARISH PATHS PARTNERSHIP (P3) SCHEME Cllr M Coombs advised that he and his team of volunteers had been working on repairs to bridges on footpaths in the Doddinghurst area and generally keeping paths clear.

13. PUBLICITY a) Village News – Nothing to report. b) Website – The clerk reported that a link to pages that form the Register of Members Interests will shortly be appearing on the website.

14. INFORMATION ITEMS FROM MEMBERS Cllr J Woodhouse raised the issue of people parking on and damaging grass verges. Cllr R North advised that he had received a notification from Men Have Rights Too, a charity for victims of domestic violence, about a meeting to be held on 9th October 2013 at Merrymead Chase, Sawyers Hall Lane, Brentwood. Cllr S Saunders reported that the litter bin at the back on Swan Pond had not been emptied again and that there was a traffic cone in Swan Pond that needed removing.

15. PLANNING Cllr R North updated the meeting on Planning Applications received and dealt with since the last PC meeting:

11/07/13 13/00707/FUL Development of Construction of Kelvedon Hatch Parish Council has land at junction detached four considered this proposal and would like to with School bedroomed house object most strongly. The land is Green Road Eagle with driveway Belt designated and there are no Lane, KH and parking area. "exceptional circumstances" to promote such a development. There is no substantial planning gain for either the Parish or Borough which could furnish such exceptional circumstances and would just allow development creep into Green Belt. In the proposal mention is made of a new house on the other side of Eagle Lane. Eagle Lane is the development curtilage of the Village and as such that new house had a predisposition for its allowal. The predisposition is against the allowal of the above application. We note no mention has been made about the previous land use which was for pasturage and stabling for horses, the stables have since been removed. We note there is no mention of how the sewage will be connected to any mains. We note there is no indication of how access to the property will be achieved other than mention of making up Eagle lane to the requirements of the Borough Council. Currently Eagle Lane is an unmade byway. If the lane is to be made up surely this would be to the approval of the County Council. Would this roadway later be adopted and then maintained to an approved level? The Parish Council has had much aggravation from nearby residents with regard to the drainage and maintenance of this area of School Road and Eagle Lane. In all we reiterate that the Parish Council is strongly against this development.

11/07/13 13/00718/FUL 1 Fox Hatch, Construction of The Kelvedon Hatch Parish Council has KH, CM15 0AR attached two considered this proposal and wishes to bedroomed raise no objections. Indeed we see this as a dwelling and lower priced or more affordable home and replacement would like to strongly support the conservatory to application. We are also aware that no. 1 Fox Hatch. previous applications to develop this site have been granted. 24/08/13 13/00767/FUL Manor Cottage, Raising the roof No objection. Also, we note that the lifted Church Lane, with pitched roof flat roof area is only to the height of an Doddinghurst, to rear dormers. existing roof ridge. CM15 0JB 05/09/13 13/00872/OUT The White Outline The Kelvedon Hatch Parish Council House, Ongar application wishes strongly to support this application Road, KH, (layout and scale) as we did with the last proposal (Outline CM15 0AA for the demolition for five dwellings) and the one before that of buildings, hard for office accommodation which was standing and allowed. Our grounds are that this site existing dwelling. currently has certificates of lawful use for Construction of heavy industrial use which is inappropriate 4no. Detached in such a village. Although this site is dwellings and green belt land we feel that the great garages (Access, planning gain that this proposal would give appearance and amounts to very special circumstances. landscaping The granting of permission would of reserved matters.) course be in exchange for giving up the certificates of lawful use.

07/09/13 13/00924/FUL 25 Stocks Lane, Single Storey rear KH, CM15 0BN extension. Under Consideration

16. PUBLIC SESSION The meeting was suspended at 9.50pm to allow for the above item. It was reported by a member of the public that parents continued to park their cars on the pavement near the school and the corner near the war memorial. It was suggested that some bollards and rails similar to the ones installed in Luthers Close might discourage this type of parking. It was also reported that the bollards and rails in Luthers close needed some maintenance. It was agreed to carry this item forward to the next meeting. The public session ended at 9.55pm

17. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on Thursday 10th October 2013 at 8.00pm in the Committee Room, The Village Hall, School Road, Kelvedon Hatch.