Kelvedon Hatch Parish Council s1

KELVEDON HATCH PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council held on Friday 12th February 2010 at 8.00 pm.

1. PRESENT Cllr R North (Chair), Cllr M Coombs, Cllr B Ewens, Cllr C Ewens, Cllr C James, Cllr C Jardine, Cllr D Loten, Cllr Y Maguire, Cllr S Saunders and Cllr J Wright. Also in attendance 5 members of the public and D.Munro, the Parish Clerk

2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE None

3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST & AMENDMENTS TO THE REGISTER OF MEMBERS INTERESTS The following declarations of interest were made pertaining to items on the agenda: - Cllr M Coombs KH Community School Personal (LEA governor) Cllr C James KH Community School Personal (parent governor) Cllr C Jardine St Nicholas Church Personal

4. REPORT FROM ECC MEMBER, BBC MEMBER & QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC Meeting suspended at 8.05pm to allow for this item Cllr K Parker, BBC member reported that he had discussed the issue of the ownership and work required on Swan Pond with John Whelpdale, Acting Head of Sustainable Communities & Public Places at BBC and he was willing to arrange a meeting with the parish council. The public session ended and the meeting resumed at 8.10pm

5. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON 8th JANUARY 2010 The minutes for the Parish Council meeting held on 8th January 2010 were agreed by members and signed by the Chair.

6. CLERK’S REPORT a) The clerk reported that the Laptop computer, case and printer have now been purchased as our prize for winning the best website competition, and an invoice has been submitted to ECC, and accepted, for re-imbursement of £537.20 b) The clerk also reported that he had written to Allianz Insurance to notify them of the purchase of the laptop and printer and asked them to increase our insurance cover accordingly. c) The clerk advised the meeting that he had completed the annual VAT return and submitted a claim for £1,752.43 to HM Revenue & Customs. Advice had just been received that this has been paid directly into our bank account by BACS. d) The clerk advised that BBC are undertaking a review of their spending and had asked all parish councils to provide details of how the Discretionary Grant was spent. Although the deadline for response to this enquiry was tight, a reply had been sent to them. A copy of the reply had been circulated to members.

Other items to be reported on were raised in other parts of the Agenda. 7. RISK MANAGEMENT a) Play Area Update. – - Associated Surfaces & Materials have been asked to proceed with the work to replace the tiling around the roundabout with a wet-pour surface. They estimated that this work would be carried out early February, but this is subject to the weather as it has to be done when there is no risk of frost. - Cllr Chris James with assistance from his father-in law has re-hung the missing gate with the new bolts. We are hoping to get a spot weld on the bolts to prevent them from being undone. - A new combination padlock has been obtained and fitted to the gate and 2 Fire Brigade padlocks have been obtained for the litter bins. (Another FB padlock has also been fitted to the collapsible bollard in Swan Lane.) - Our Annual Play Area Inspection is overdue and upon making enquiries of BBC the clerk has confirmed that we have been omitted again. The clerk reported that he had been in contact with the Play Area Inspection Co. directly to request an Annual Inspection to be carried out urgently. This should be done by the end of the month.

8. ENVIRONMENT a) Swan Pond Restoration. The clerk reported that the Communities Initiative Fund had granted us £7,542 towards the project, but this was conditional upon written evidence being received from BBC that they agree to hand over maintenance of the pond to the Parish Council. The question of ownership and ongoing commitment to maintenance was discussed at some length. It was also pointed out that once the issue of ownership and maintenance was resolved with BBC, we may be too late to undertake the work this year. It was agreed to seek a meeting with BBC as soon as possible. b) Affordable Local Housing Survey – no new information. c) Relocation of Doctors Surgery – nothing further to report

9. FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION a) Balances / Management of Accounts Community Account balance as at last meeting (8/1/10) £16,578.37 (plus income since last meeting + £2,442.43) (less cheques issued following last meeting - £6,197.86) (Estimated balance at 12/2/10 = £12,822.94) Business Base Rate Tracker Account £24,289.71

Transactions since last Meeting: Income Prima Build (new) Village News Advertisement 75.00 Pagan Marketing Village News Advertisement 75.00 Platinum Hair & Beauty(new) Village News Advertisement 75.00 AA Carpet & Upholstery Cleaners Village News Advertisement 75.00 AW Home Maintenance Village News Advertisement 75.00 JP Services Village News Advertisement 75.00 KDH Garden Maintenance Village News Advertisement 75.00 Matts Mini Bus Village News Advertisement 75.00 Mills & Sons (new) Village News Advertisement 75.00 Peniel Church Village News Advertisement 15.00 HM Revenue & Customs VAT Refund 1,752.43 Total 2,442.43 Expenditure since last meeting

Total nil

Cheques prepared for this month’s expenditure D Munro (reimbursement) Dell Vostro 1720 Laptop PC 514.77 D Munro (reimbursement Laptop Case 29.14 D Munro (reimbursement) 3 Padlocks and Gate Bolts for Play 42.85 Area K J Saunders Litter Picking 216.00 J E Dobre Village News Editor & 100.00 Correspondent Kelhatch Press Village News printing (Dec/Jan & 800.00 Feb editions) D Munro February Salary 1026.57 HMRC February Tax & NI 483.81 Total 3213.14

b) To approve payment of invoices received and cheques prepared. Payment of cheques prepared as listed above was proposed by Cllr C James, seconded by Cllr D Loten and voted for by members unanimously in favour. Signatories were instructed to sign the cheques. c) Increase in Hire rates for Village Hall, Committee Room. The clerk reported that notification has been received from the Village Hall Trustees that the hourly rates have been increased by 2% from 1st January 2010 to cover the ever increasing costs of gas and electricity. For the Committee Room this will mean an increase of 15p per hour to £7.50. Cllr C James proposed that the new rates were accepted. This was seconded by Cllr D Loten and voted for by members unanimously in favour. d) Review of Effectiveness of Internal Audit and Annual Risk Assessment. It was reported that the clerk, the Chair and Cllr M Coombs had attended a course on this subject earlier in the day. Following this, it was realised that much more preparatory work and documentation is required to fully carry this out. The item will be included for full discussion on a future agenda. e) Co-option to Fill Vacancy for Councillor. Cllr C James reported that someone had approached him to enquire about the vacancy, but had not yet declared his interest. Cllr C James was asked to invite this person to one of our meetings or to contact the Chair or clerk for further information. f) To reconsider the dates of future Parish Council meetings. Cllr M Coombs had asked for this to be put on the agenda for discussion. After discussion it was decided to leave Parish Council meetings as Fridays. g) Gypsies & Travellers Development Plan Document consultation process. The Chair reported that the period of consultation had been extended until 24 February 2010 because of the recent severe weather and the parish council therefore had an opportunity to discuss. None of the preferred sites were within the parish, no members raised any objections to the preferred sites and no alternative sites were suggested. It was therefore agreed that the parish council would not make any representations and that individuals with any objections or observations should be encouraged to make them independently. It was agreed however that a letter of general criticism would be sent to BBC expressing our disappointment that Green Belt land had been designated for these sites.

10. REPRESENTATIVES REPORTS a) Kelvedon Hatch Village Hall Charitable Trust - Nothing to report b) Community Primary School – It was reported that numbers at the school were holding steady. OFSTED were looking at child safety which might involve closing the playground strictly at 9.00am. c) BBPCA – No meeting. d) Brentwood Bus & Rail Users Association – No meeting. e) Highways Localism Initiative - Cllr Y Maguire updated the meeting on proposed road works including widening of the M25 and improvements to some of the junctions in Ongar Road in Brentwood. It was also reported that the footway and kerbs in Great Fox Meadow were scheduled for repair.

11. PARISH PATHS PARTNERSHIP (P3) SCHEME Cllr M Coombs reported that he had recruited 4 volunteers (none are from the village) and they will be instigating a programme of works.

12. PUBLICITY a) Village News – Nothing to report. b) Website – Nothing to report.

13. INFORMATION ITEMS FROM MEMBERS Cllr Y Maguire informed the meeting about a “trees for schools” scheme. Information on this was passed to our school representative. Cllr Y Maguire also informed the meeting about forthcoming meetings of the West Essex Area Forum, in Ongar and a Neighbourhood Watch meeting in Fane Hall. Cllr C Ewens informed the meeting that he had received a letter from a resident who lives next to the Bridleway in School Road complaining about youths on motorcycles using the Bridleway. Concern had also been expressed about dumping of dog waste bags near the entrance. It was requested that this item be put on the next agenda for discussion.

14. PLANNING Planning Applications received and dealt with since last PC meeting:

BBC Date Address Proposal Outcome PC Reference

Conversion of 36 Ongar Garage and First 11/01/2010 BRW/6/2010 Road, KH, No Objections Floor Side CM15 0AA Extension The Barn, Change of use of Langford Agricultural Bridge Farm, Building to 12/01/2010 BRW/1/2010 No Objections Ongar Rd, Business Use KH, CM15 (Class B1) on a 0LB permanent basis. This application seeks to achieve a slightly different result to that approved under application ref BBC/645/2009. Unfortunately, the change of internal layout, to that detailed in the earlier application, results in a loss of 9 Kelvedon Two Dormer symmetry in the layout of the proposed dormer 23/01/2010 BRW/35/2010 Green, KH, Windows to the windows and we believe that this will result in CM15 0XG rear and front a poor visual appearance. Accordingly, we object to the proposal and would hope that a further adjustment to internal layout would enable a suitable amendment to the windows to be made.

15. PUBLIC SESSION An opportunity for members of the public to comment on items carried forward. The meeting was suspended at 9.45 pm to allow for the above item. The condition of the road surface outside Manitoba, School Road was again raised as cause for concern. The recent bad weather seems to have made it worse. Comment was made on whether the parish council should take over ownership of the pond and a long term undertaking to maintain it without consulting residents as the costs involved would have an effect upon the precept. Comment was also made about whether the parish council should have consulted residents about a response to the Gypsies and Travellers Development Plan. The public session ended at 9.55pm

16. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next Parish Council Meeting will be held on Friday 12th March 2010 at 8.00pm in the Committee Room, Village Hall, School Road, Kelvedon Hatch.