East Hanningfield News Is Published by East Hanningfield Parish Council and Delivered by Volunteers to All Homes and Many of the Businesses in the Parish
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EAST Autumn 2017 HANNINGFIELD NEWS No. 161 Some of the attendees at the All Saints’ Pets’ Service in June EDITORIAL NOTE East Hanningfield News is published by East Hanningfield Parish Council and delivered by volunteers to all homes and many of the businesses in the parish. Inclusion of articles or advertisements does not signify endorsement by the Parish Council. Copy date for the next edition is Friday, 17th. November, for publication on 1st. December. Earlier submission is welcome: later submission might be excluded! Please send electronic copy to [email protected] or hard copy to 2 Clinton Close. This and copies back to 2004, plus the first 12 editions and the advertising rates can be found at www.essexinfo.net/easthanningfieldparishcouncil/east-hanningfield-news/ Godfrey Home Improvements Interior & Exterior Decoration General Property Maintenance Trustworthy and reliable service Free Estimates Contact: Pete Godfrey Phone: 01245 400650 Mobile: 07730904377 E mail: [email protected] 2 PARISH COUNCIL Thank you to everyone who responded to the request in the last News for comments on possible traffic calming along the Tye, and also to those who posted their comments on the display board at the Fete, who filled in an electronic questionnaire online, or com- pleted one of the paper versions available in the shop and Village Hall lobby. A lot more questionnaires were removed from the shop than returned to me, so please get them in as soon as possible so your answers can be included in the analysis, which will be pre- sented to PC at the September Meeting. An initial glance at the responses shows that residents’ concerns about traffic speed and volume are not confined to the Tye. Safety, or rather lack of it, at the Common is currently under investi- gation by the Local Highways Panel. A traffic/speed census has already taken place and a pedestrian survey will be carried out this month. The three sessions provided during August were very well attended, with 70 children present at the first morning. Chelmsford City Council provides the staff and equipment and PC pays a fee for each session and pays rent for use of the Village Hall. HFC charges PC half rent for the sessions, so these events are a good example of partnership working for the benefit of the community. At the time of writing, notices have gone up at the site to announce the sale of the paddocks behind the pumping station and numbered houses in Old Church Road. It is believed the purchaser intends to apply for planning permission to develop the site. It is highly unlike- ly that permission would be forthcoming, due to the robust nature of the Local Plan. Apart from the affordable housing site and the Mo- relands Industrial site on the other side of the A130, there is no fur- ther housing allocation for East Hanningfield in the Plan. If you would like to receive updates on the more contentious plan- ning issues in the parish, East Hanningfield Action is still sending 3 out emails. You can ask to be included in those mailings at [email protected] . On another planning issue, it seems the housing association that was going to be building the affordable housing for local people on the site between Old Church Road and Back Lane has pulled out, allegedly because of the possibility of a gypsy site behind the pumping station. PC is waiting to hear more information. PC is also waiting to hear what has become of the plans to rede- velop the Morelands Industrial Estate for housing. The site is in need of the clean-up, in more ways than one, that the development would bring. Also on a planning note, a policy officer from Chelmsford City Council came to talk to PC, at the August Meeting, about Neigh- bourhood Planning. Neighbourhood Plans can be financially re- warding for a community if there is to be development, because a neighbourhood with a NP gets 25% of the community infrastruc- ture levy paid by the developer rather than the usual 15% to the parish. Of course, the community will have paid out thousands of pounds to produce the plan, so that should not be the only incen- tive to embark on such a project. The officer’s advice was that PC should look very carefully at what the community’s aspirations are and to see whether they can be accomplished without a Plan. A very important point to consider is whether PC could encourage enough community participation to make it work, as this is an es- sential element of the process. There are a couple of works due to take place on the Tye this month: fifteen of the old white posts are to be replaced and the py- racantha is to receive its annual cut back. Following the installation of the new water main through the Tye, a temporary reinstatement was done with top soil and seeding which is to be reviewed this month. The seed was not expected to be successful when put down as we had been having a dry spell, but the weather turned rather wet and became perfect for grass growth. Unfortunately, the delicate, soft nature of the seed bed was not respected by some drivers who had to drive through or 4 park on it, leaving deep ruts. Workmen installing gas at the church were also less than respectful, but were made to return and put matters right. I know that users of the local footpath network (public rights of way) are wondering what on earth is happening about the foot- bridge joining Hanna’s Field with the Buttercup Field, which has now completely disappeared. I reported it to County Council High- ways back in October, 2016 and received a phone call early in the New Year saying that it was going to be dealt with within 6 weeks. Using the report number, it is possible to access a progress report which gives the following vague information, “This issue has been investigated, risk assessed and recorded in line with our Mainte- nance Strategy and we are in the process of scheduling works”. Our area has now been allocated a footpaths officer by Ringway Jacobs, and he is now looking into this matter which he says is supposed to be actioned by the City Council. Forthcoming PC Meetings are to be held on the following Thurs- days at 8pm: 21st September, 26th. October and 23rd. November. They take place in the first floor meeting room at the Village Hall. Please enter by the door in the north end of the Hall, not the main front door. Shortly after the opening of each Meeting there is a Public Question Time for residents to raise matters of local con- cern. Please note that if you want PC to consider a matter at a Meeting, it will need to be on the Agenda, so please send me the details in writing a week beforehand. Minutes and Agenda can be found on PC’s website along with ac- counts and other archived information. Matters of immediate con- cern are usually posted on PC’s Facebook page. Karen Plumridge, Clerk to the Council 400628 [email protected] www.essexinfo.net/easthanningfieldparishcouncil 5 YOUR PARISH COUNCILLORS ARE: Peter Applegate—22 Bicknacre Road Paul Austin -1 Rough Hill Farm Cottages John Bedding —2 Chennells, Old Church Road Les Draper— Highfields Farm Cottage Martyn Gard —5 Rough Hill Farm Cottages Paul Garner —Havenhurst, Back Lane Jim Howe —Ditchleys, The Common YOUR CITY COUNCILLORS ARE: Matt Flack [email protected] Richard Poulter [email protected] YOUR COUNTY COUNCILLOR IS: Ian Grundy [email protected] 6 CITY COUNCILLOR It is unlikely that any visitor to Chelmsford can have failed to notice the rough sleepers in the High Street or near the train station. An annual count of rough sleepers is made annually in November. The annual figure averaged over the last six years is ten. The numbers are creeping upwards and last year the number was fourteen. I sus- pect the number has increased again. The number could be higher as it does not include ‘sofa surfers’. Rough sleeping is a specific and perhaps the most extreme example of homelessness. The three main causes of homelessness are: The termination of privately rented accommodation by landlords Relationship breakdown with partners involving violence Parental eviction. Chelmsford City Council has recently published its review of home- lessness and its strategy for the period 2017 to 2022. It lists those categories of priority need that it has a statutory duty to rehouse. The main reason is households with dependent children. The coun- cil will meet all priority need applications although some may be housed in temporary accommodation. None of the rough sleepers on our streets are ignored. All have been approached by local and national charities. For the past two years the Council has worked with St Mungo’s to provide a ‘no sec- ond night out service’. Each rough sleeper known to the service has an action plan tailored at bringing the person out of rough sleeping with the appropriate level of support. Even with this level of support there are those entrenched rough sleepers who are not ready to en- gage with services and remain sleeping out. Even so, the outreach service and offer will still be made to them. The issue of rough sleeping is difficult. There is a natural tendency to feel sorry for these individuals and concern for the circumstances in which they find themselves. That concern is shared by the Coun- cil, its elected members and officers.