Parish Council

Annual Report 2010/11

Contents:

1. Your Parish Council members

2. Report of the Chairman

3. Summary of accounts for the year 2010/11

BIRDBROOK PARISH COUNCIL YOUR PARISH COUNCILLORS AND OFFICERS

Mr Thomas R Walker (Chairman) Mrs Hazel Hodge The Meadows White House Farm Daw Street Stambourne Road Birdbrook Birdbrook Halstead Halstead CO9 4BY Essex C09 4BT

Tel: 01440 788887 Tel: 01440 785346

Mr Robert J Bolton (Vice Chairmain & Mr Derek Hoye Elstree District Councillor Lanthorn New Mill Road Birdbrook Halstead Essex Essex C09 4BQ C09 4AJ

Tel: 01440 788273 Tel: 01440 788836

Mrs Ann Elizabeth Beetson Mr Leigh David Carter 2 The Street 4 Moat Farm Birdbrook Birdbrook Halstead Halstead Essex CO9 4BL Essex CO9 4AP

Tel: 01440 788102 Tel: 01440 788100

Mr Steve Rhenius Baythorne Cottage Baythorne End Halstead Essex C09 4AB

Tel: 01440 785219

Parish Clerk Mrs Deborah Hilliard Tel: 01440 785629 Englewood Email: [email protected] Dyers End Stambourne Essex CO9 4NE REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN – MR T R WALKER

Introduction Looking back through the records I see that this is my eighth report and they do begin to sound much of a muchness, whether that is because I have been doing it too long or it is just that local council work is in fact much the same year on year to keep things going I do not know. I will not repeat all the history of how and why Parish Councils came into being and, as with other sections, will try to be brief but to the point. I will repeat that the Council is made up of seven elected Councillors with the assistance and advice of a Parish Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer usually, as in our case, one and the same person. We are currently waiting to see who has applied for nomination as Councillor for the next four years to see if there will be an election for Parish Council on 5 th May.

As explained in the past, in area, Birdbrook Parish Council is quite large as it incorporates Birdbrook Village, Baythorne End, New England, Finkle Green and other outlying farms and properties. However as the number of residences is only 160 and the last electoral roll has 185 eligible voters in Birdbrook and 107 in Baythorne End, total 292, we have a limited area on which to draw the necessary funding, hence we show as well up the league table for parish levied amounts, usually second or third. However, without these funds we could not achieve what we do and that is sometimes considered not enough from some of the comments I get.

As I stated last year we achieved Quality Status and retained that by being a fully elected Council in 2007 but we needed to re-apply in 2010 and there was a need to achieve different status levels to continue as a Quality Council. To compound this we had a change of Parish Clerk and therefore this has not been fully concluded but we feel it will be not too far into the next period before it is. I will return to this later.

We have achieved several things in the past year and some of these I will outline in what follows:-

Environment Grounds Maintenance – we have continued with the grass cutting of all areas for which the Parish Council has a responsibility, (except for what might be called the village green area which the Rook family mainly look after) and also arrange grass cutting for the rest of the Parish, which is Essex County Council Highways responsibility, under contract to ECC. On the County side they tell us how many cuts they are prepared to pay for in a year, usually one or two, and how much they will pay us. We then have to work inside these parameters and not make a loss. On the Parish areas we authorise eight cuts per season with allowance for twelve maximum before the contractor has to refer back to us. It is therefore mainly a weather problem if things don’t go right. As I have explained to individuals it is not the intention to have a manicured lawn effect but we could cut the grass every week as long as you are prepared for the increase in Council Tax, which would not be small!

Play Areas – We have suffered more vandalism on the Birdbrook village area n the last period and these have had to be repaired. As before the main damage was to the bridge walk on the item for young children and it resulted in the whole bridge part having to be renewed. As we were not aware of precise dates and details of how this occurred we were not able to make an insurance claim (we have probably made too many anyway) and so the full cost had to come out of Council funds. To put it in perspective the cost of repair was about £500 for this item with no guarantee that it will not be damaged again. The Baythorne End area has been free of extra problems this year. Both areas are monitored on a regular basis and vermin checks made and the agreement for emptying of litter bins on these areas and other bins in the Parish is still in force. The annual inspection pointed out some items on both areas which needed attention and these have been completed, the cost of which was of course in addition to the item already mentioned.

Graffiti Removal - It is pleasing to report that as far as we are aware none has had to be removed in the past 12 months.

Birdbrook Pond area – I will not repeat all that has been said about dredging, cleaning and the cost and whether grants can be contained or not again. I concluded this item last year by saying any work we wanted to do may be held up due to a pair of ducks taking up residence. This was in fact so and indeed the mother raised nine ducklings through the year, don’t know what happened to the male. These are still with us and are showing signs of producing more offspring at present so work may be held up again. However, whether it is the presence of the ducks or what the pond has kept much clearer and looks fine at present. Cllrs Hoy and Fenner did a quick early season cut back and clean up an we will see how it goes as we monitor it in the future. A further helping of the chalk substance we have used was added during the year and it may well be that the build up of this over time and the ducks of course, have solved some problems, if only temporarily.

Street Lighting – Our fund is still ongoing and the repair works continue. Some lamps give more problems than others, but as long as we are told when and where there is a problem we can deal with it. We have heard nothing more about the scheme I spoke about last year where ECC may take over some responsibilities in this respect and with all the cutbacks I doubt this will happen.

Highway Maintenance and other issues – I will try and be brief here. I told you in the last 2 reports about the approach from a resident on A1017 and all the accidents in the junction with Station Road area. This situation still persists. We were successful with our bid for funds under our Communities Initiative Fund application entitled “Making the A1017 a Safer Road”. This was taken over by Highways and you must have noticed some of the new signage and bollards, we are still awaiting the Vehicle Activated Signs warning people to slow down. Yes, it is still all signs and I have to say the residents and indeed the Parish Council are not yet fully convinced these actions are sufficient, we need to wait and see what happens. We are on top of this and keep on to our County Councillor and will keep in close touch with the accident information. It is perhaps worth mentioning that the more serious of these accidents do seem to involve local(ish) drivers who perhaps think they know the road but obviously don’t. Lots of other repairs, for example the road around the green was promised to be looked at in 2007 but has not yet been done. An inspection has not yet been done in 2011. The cutbacks and all the winter damage to major roads will put us well own the list yet again, no doubt.

Passenger Transport – I will try not to repeat last year’s missive here and be brief. The new Shopper Bus route started lst April and have mostly been successful. The route involving Birdbrook was the least supported and the route has been changed, cutting out some communities and adding others. Birdbrook is still there. We manage to obtain a further grant to continue the Wednesday service 89A mainly because the contractor reduced his charges. The usage did not come up to the minimum needed from ECC support and still doesn’t but there is a regular clientele and a group from Great Yeldham use it about twice a month and then travel on to Cambridge for lunch and return. There is enough grant left to get us to mid-July and the negotiating starts now to see how we go for the future but be warned it may disappear this being a definite “use it or lose it” situation.

Supporting the Community Crime and Disorder – not something we suffer a lot of but there are instances, particularly vandalism on the village playing field, but we have had a lull here recently. The Mobile Police Office still visits every 4 weeks but we no longer have a Community Warden, this position having been taken over by a Village Agent. This job is to provide assistance to residents, mainly elderly, and our Agent is Richard Ould. He contacted me recently to say he doesn’t hear anything from Birdbrook, so be advised his details are in Birdbrook News and he is there for you to speak to. Our Neighbourhood Specialist Officer is PC Nicky Smith and his contact details are also in Birdbrook News. As I have stressed before if there is a problem use these people to report matters to but do call the station if need be. While our crime rate is considered low, we will not get regular full police visits as it were but if it were perceived the real position is different this could change. As I have said before, don’t just moan, report it.

Meetings – We held all our meetings last year with only one meeting having to be rescheduled. All Councillors have a very good attendance record but more parishioners would be welcome.

Outside Bodies – We continue to work with Council (BDC) and Essex County Council (ECC) and are still members of the Braintree Association of Local Councils (BALC) and Essex Association of Local Councils (EALC) and indeed the National Association of Local Councils (NALC). Councillors have attended many meetings, particularly in Braintree, myself as Passenger Transport Representative twice a year, and Cllr Hoye as Tree Warden and on environmental matters to name but a few. The Clerk, Cllr Hoye and myself also attended a couple of summit meetings about the future role of councils of all sorts in view of The Big Society, in other words the Localism Bill currently going through Parliament about which you should make yourself fully aware and you will hear a lot more on from me, whether I am re-elected or not! Cllr Bolton is of course a District Councillor as well, so is a good contact. We still get lots of consultation documents from national government, local government, NHS Trusts and various other bodies. We reply to all whether we are greatly affected or not so that we are ahead of the game as it were.

Working in Partnership with others – we are establishing a somewhat indirect connection with Stambourne Parish Council as our Clerk is also theirs, but the cluster groups of local parishes have been abandoned with no support from BDC. A different sort of grouping was put forward at the most recent of the summit meetings but this seemed mainly unworkable, particularly for councils in this area so we wait and see. Unlike the cluster which has no decision making powers, the feeling is that under “Localism” then any sort of grouping should have these powers in their own sphere of operations. Last year I mentioned the threat to the Parish Support Grant which helps local councils such as ours towards our precept. Due to our lobbying through the cluster groups this has receded but it will not increase and will stay at its current level, £200,000 for the District, and stay for the next four years. However, how it is distributed may well change as some consider the current position unfair to some. This will be monitored very closely a far as Birdbrook is concerned.

Key Community Issues – Nothing has yet happened about the red telephone boxes but as far as we know British Telecom still wish to dispose of them all. I have not checked recently but I feel the two in our parish are perhaps no longer working. This may be something any new council would want to look at. The schemes on offer seemed expensive especially as we have two boxes but it doesn’t seem right for them just to stand there decaying as they are part of our heritage, but do most people care these days?

Notice Boards – These are still being well used.

Emergency Planning – our emergency plan is due to be updated and is one of the first jobs awaiting the new council.

Remembrance Sunday – As in recent years the Parish Council was involved in that Cllr Hoye laid a wreath on our behalf during the service at St Augustines.

Planning Applications – Many were considered in the last year s usual and our aim has been to comment on every one and try to ensure our decisions are in the best interests of the Parish, both as a planning matter and with a view to the environment. It must be stressed however that we do not have the final say over any planning matters and our position in this process is merely that of someone being consulted. There are moves of course to allow more works being done without the need for Planning Permission but other permissions may be required. The big change here is that Braintree no longer supply us with hard copies of applications, it all being sent electronically. To study at a meeting therefore we need A3 size copies of the plans and therefore need to buy an A3 printer or copy to a disc and then project onto a screen and would need to buy a projector. This is an expense we cannot afford at present and so have a temporary arrangement. This is an example of District Council saving money but it causes inconvenience and extra expense further down the line.

Birdbrook News and Parish Council Website Contact – These are our main contact points with you apart from meetings of course. They are also compulsory elements of the maintenance of Quality Status and hopefully they carry all that is needed to enable everyone to see what goes on. With Carrie and Chris Webb involved in these matters changes for the better have been made to the look and content of Birdbrook News and the website. “News” is coming up for its’ 50 th issue in May and if you go to www.birdbrook.org.uk you will see it is kept up to date.

Internal Organisation Policies and Procedures – All Councillors have signed the Code of Conduct as required, the same in fact as signed by all MPs. Councillors are asked at the start of every meeting to declare any interest they may have on any agenda item. To aid speedier delivery each Councillor has been allocated one or more areas of responsibility so these can be checked out and reported back at the next meeting.

Staffing – As already pointed out, apart from Councillors we have a Parish Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer, in our case this was Susan De Luca. Susan was with us since early 2004 when she sorted us out from some previous problems, got us on the straight and narrow and through to Quality Council. In 2009 I told you that for various reasons Susan wished to leave and explained our arrangements for the future, unfortunately none of these came to fruition. Susan stayed with us and bravely carried on through illness and had assistance from her daughter Adrianna because of sight problems. At around this time last year we were lucky enough to obtain the services of Debbie Hilliard, who is also clerk to Stambourne PC, and she has been appointed with effect from 1 May. This made a difference to the day we hold our meetings and we are now on a Thursday. All meeting dates are published in Birdbrook News and on the notice boards as usual. As I said last year we are very grateful for all Susan did but we have an admirable replacement in Debbie, the changeover has been painless and Debbie has taken up the relevant training, very nearly finished, so we can keep Quality Status and allow us access to all the groupings we had before.

Preparedness for Local Government changes – Never a meeting goes by without some reference to a Government White Paper or Consultation about proposed changes to local government from County Councils downwards. With the help of our Parish Clerk we keep a watching brief on the progress of all these events so we will be prepared for whatever should the need arise. The most important thing here at present being the Localism Bill already mentioned.

Finance General – Clearly there is a cost involved in running a Parish Council and providing the services we do. We do more than some councils but I am sure parishioners would have it this way rather than pass it all to Braintree or indeed Essex. We know what we need locally. They wouldn’t take anything on at present anyway what with the Localism Bill and the like. There is also a requirement as to how much we should hold in reserve funds (about one and a half times our precept) and I can say that since I took over as Chair we were not up to that level and have still not achieved it as we need to spend to keep on top of things as you have just heard. Your Parish Councillors are convinced that their careful scrutiny of expenditure ensures that local taxpayers get good value for money.

Precept – Our spending plans usually increase because of inflation and whatever else we need to spend to make the Parish a better place This year however all Councils and Authorities above Parish level are being asked to freeze Council Tax by the government. Whereas in normal times parishes are not bound by any caps the Government may apply to higher Councils, in recent years Braintree have requested parishes to keep any increases to minimal levels and we have gone along with this and had no increases above 2.5%, one year nil which was lower each time than most of the other figures on your Council Tax demand. This year of course our increase at 12.9% stands out well (as does virtually every parish). As I have just said, the “big boys” are frozen. As I have said before percentages on our small figures do not mean anything but after long discussions your Council agreed to keep any increase as low as possible in view of the affect on parishioners and in acceptance that both ECC and BDC were doing their utmost to keep their increases as low as possible. This increase on last year only allows us to catch up with price increases and do just what we have been doing without reducing our very small reserves even further as has happened in the past few years. We have not precepted for any new spend at all and if our inflation targets are wrong then we may not have enough again. If you are a “normal” band D your full amount for the Parish for 2010/11 is £68.04 or £1.31 per week, an increase of 15p, and the total is still less than a daily newspaper would cost you per week. You cannot get a half of beer for that amount. Lower and higher tax bands will differ of course but looking at band F this year the charge is £98.28, being £1.89 per week, an increase of 22p on last year. On a Band A property, even at the new level, the cost is well below £1 per week. There are of course discounts or help available such s single person occupancy and the like and I would urge you all to make sure you are claiming all you are entitled to. As I said this does not cater for us doing anything extra and if inflation and prices increase more than we have predicted, this could leave us adrift again on our reserve requirements. It will be necessary to look at these reserves and try to get them back to nearer the required amount as and when financial services allow. I explained at the outset about the relatively small number of properties we have to raise the required amounts.

It must also be remembered that the local taxpayers have to meet ALL of the Parish Council’s Precept but District and County Council’s expenditures are funded to some extent by the Government.

Conclusion The next four year session for the new council looks like being very interesting in many ways and things may well be much different in four years than they are now. Watch this space as they say. Finally, I would like to say what a privilege it has been to serve as Chair to Birdbrook Parish Council for another year. I have enjoyed most of what is involved but there is the odd downside at times. None of this would have been possible without all the hard work, advice and dedication of our new Parish Clerk, Debbie Hilliard, who as I said earlier has fitted in exceptionally well and the changeover was quite seamless, and I pass on mine and all the other Councillors’ thanks for the excellent work she does. My Vice-Chair, Cllr Robert Bolton, has lots of experience to share and so to him and all the other Councillors, I extend my grateful thanks to all of them for this last year, and indeed to the wider community for their views, expressed in many different ways. I would also like to thank all the people who attend our meetings with reports or send a report in for considerations, which is now mainly County Councillor David Finch.

Whether enough people have submitted nomination forms to ensure an election takes place we will not know for a while yet, but whatever happens, the first meeting for the new council is scheduled for Thursday 11 th May at 7.30pm in the Community House. Don’t forget even if no election is need for the Parish, there are still elections for District Council and the referendum on the Alternative Voting System, so you will still need to turn out on 5 th May.

Councillor Thomas Richard Walker Chair Birdbrook Parish Council 2010/2011 5th April 2011

ACCOUNTS SUMMARY

Birdbrook Parish Council: Income and Expenditure Account 2010-11

Expenditure £ Income £ Street Lights Routine maintenance 419.90 Electricity 414.31 Repairs 195.94 Other -

Sub-total 1,030.15 0.00

Open Spaces Playing field bin emptying 600.00 Playing field pest control 350.00 Playing field litter pick 680.00 Grass Cutting 1,491.00 Play equipment-new - Play equipment-repairs 1,257.00 Other 101.00

Sub-total 4,479.00 0.00 Admin Insurance 1,296.86 Subs & bank charges/interest 148.66 0.66 Audit fees 225.00 Clerk's expenses 213.07 Clerk's salary 2,489.72 Clerk's training 520.00 Election costs - Postage & Stationery 112.84 Donations/other 164.50 Hire of hall 105.00

Sub-total 5,275.65 0.66 Other Grants 700.00 10,518.00 Section 137 35.00 Bus 5,577.10 5,200.00 VAT 414.67 142.98

Sub-total 6,726.77 15,860.98 Agency Arrangements Verge Cutting 1,550.00 2,873.79 Street Cleansing (see above) - 661.23 Sub-total 1,550.00 3,535.02

Total Expenditure 19,061.57 Total Income 19,396.66

Bank Reconciliation @ 31st March 2011 Bank Balances

Current Account 5,183.87

Business Reserve Account 1,563.05

Total 6,746.92

Less uncleared cheques None -

Sub-total Balance at end of year 6,746.92

Summary of Accounts 2010- 11

Balance at beginning of year 6,411.83 Total receipts 19,396.66 Total payments 19,061.57 Balance at end of year 6,746.92