MINUTES OF THE NORTH FAMBRIDGE PARISH COUNCIL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD IN THE VILLAGE HALL ON MONDAY 13TH MAY 2013 AT 8.00 PM

Present: Parish Councillors: Hayden Garrood (Chairman), Lindsey Squire, Sandra Nunn, Michelle Hooper Parish Clerk: Christine Wakeling 8 members of the public

16.i Election of Chairman. Cllr Squire proposed Cllr Garrood as Chairman for the coming year. This was seconded by Cllr Nunn. Cllr Garrood accepted the post.

16.ii Election of Other Officers

Post Name Proposed by Seconded by Village Hall S. Nunn H. Garrood L. Squire Management Committee Rep Footpath Rep H. Garrood L. Squire S. Nunn L. Squire H. Garrood M. Hooper Rep Civil Emergency This post will be Agreed by all Planning the joint Councillors Coordinator responsibility of all Councillors

In addition, Jeffrey Kershaw is a co-opted member of NFPC Planning Committee to advise in his capacity as a planning solicitor as and when issues merit it.

17. Apologies for absence: Cllr Ray Perrins, District Cllrs John Archer & Sue White, County Cllr Penny Channer

18. Declarations of Interest: None

19. Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 8th April 2013 and the Annual Parish Meeting of 8th April 2013 were approved and signed.

20. Talk Time: No speaker at this meeting

21. Clerk's Report:  Fords Coaches are withdrawing Service 5 from Burnham on Crouch to Southend with effect from 23rd May. ECC have reviewed the impact of this withdrawal and does not plan to replace the service as access to Southend can still be made by train.  Bryan Ledger, Councillor from and PC has joined the EALC as the executive member following the death of Cllr Kevin Ascott. He will also take a seat on the Standards Committee representing the Parish Councils across the Dengie area. Several Parish Councils had written in saying that the first proposal of Cllr Lew Schnurr from Heybridge was not representative for our area.  The white lining on Church Road was supposed to have been repainted by the end of April. This has disappointingly not yet been done, but the work is weather dependent.

22. In accordance with Standing Order 13d, the meeting was adjourned for 15 minutes to receive questions or statements from the public. It was confirmed to a parishioner that the planning application from R. Roe for 14 flats and 22 houses has been withdrawn.

23. Village Matters / Information

23.i Highways Cllr Hooper reported that the brambles by the village sign on The Avenue and by the pumping station were becoming overgrown and obstructing the footway. The footway between Rectory Road and Kitchener Road is similarly affected. Also the hedging outside Southview on the corner of The Avenue needs cutting back. The clerk will report these to ECC.

Footpath/Bridleway 5 is still slippery and obstructed. Cllr Garrood reported that the owner of the ditch has been given until the 20th May by the footpath officer to clear all obstacles.

23.ii Recreation Ground MDC still have to mark the football pitch and clear the fallen tree. They report that they have had staff shortage problems.

23.iii Sewerage problem in Franklin Road Calculations of flow and capacity of the sewerage system have been received from Anglian Water. They have been passed to a consultant for comment.

23.iv Jubilee Garden Project Leanne Block, the Outreach Officer from Wildlife Trust supervised 11 pupils from William de Ferrers School together with their teacher, members of the Parish Council and villagers to successfully plant 8 apple trees in the Jubilee Garden. A message of thanks will be placed in In Touch. 500 plug plants have been ordered and another date will be arranged with the school to plant these. Cllr Squire requested that Bradley Faulkner be asked to return to further clear nettle growth at the site.

23.v Doctor’s Surgery Cllrs approved the licence drawn up by Cllr Nunn for the hire of School House to the Burnham Surgery. It was signed by Councillors present and will be forwarded to the surgery for their approval and signatures.

23.vi First Responders Scheme Suitable dates for the training of the First Responders are being investigated. One of the volunteers has come forward to be the coordinator for the scheme. Thanks will be expressed in In Touch.

23.vii District Councillor's Report No report

23.viii County Councillor’s Report No report

24. Planning Matters 24.i New Applications: An appeal (ref APP/X1545/A/13/2194280) Re Planning application no FUL/MAL/12/00719 for the demolition of outbuildings and barn and conversion of former milking parlour to form a 2 bed dwelling with associated extensions. Change of use from agricultural land to residential @ Little Cooks, Lower Burnham Road, . The Parish Council’s letter of representation on the original application for planning permission will be forwarded to the Planning Inspectorate. Councillors did not have any further comments to add.

24.ii Decisions made by MDC: FUL/MAL/13/00144. Change of use of land behind New Station House to garden. Erection of summer house and shed. MDC approved.

Appeal decision re FUL/MAL/12/00451 re erection of 2 new dwellings on land currently used for small holding @ Church Road. Appeal upheld.

24.iii Cllrs Squire and Nunn reported from the Planning Workshop organised by MDC. No announcement was made regarding housing allocations for North Fambridge or any other specific locality in the region but the District Council have got to increase the number of houses they build from 200 to 294 per annum. Further consultations will take place regarding the Local Development Plan and appropriate amendments will be made but will not be available for the public to see until June. Cllr Squire also reported from a one day conference on the localism agenda with reference specifically to planning organised by the EALC. She confirmed that our Parish Council does engage appropriately with the planning process and looks at planning applications in the right way. Information was given on community rights and on community led plans. North Fambridge already has a Parish Plan and a Village Design Statement. A neighbourhood plan would cost £1000s to produce and is not possible in any event at the moment because MDC have not presented their own development plan document.

25. Financial Matters

25.i Bank Balances Community Account as @ 2/5/13 £13,894.67 Bus Res Account as @ 28/3/13 £ 3,356/77 Total £17,251.44

25.ii Payments to be made and agreed by Councillors: £221.79 to EALC and NALC affiliation fees £500 to Holy Trinity Church; donation towards upkeep £550 to Holy Trinity Church for In Touch Magazine production

25.iii Payments received: £13,820.00 precept £595.99 payment for toilet etc in School House from North Fambridge Village Hall Management Committee

25.iv Insurance Renewal with Aviva via Brokers Came & Co was approved for next 3 years. 25.v The annual accounts, bank reconciliation and annual return for the financial year 2012-13 were approved and signed by the Chairman and Clerk/RFO.

26. Council Matters . The Chairman read out the following statement: At the Parish Council Meeting of 3rd October 2011 a statement was made by District Councillor John Archer which the Parish Council referred to MDC’s Monitoring Officer. This allegation has been investigated by MDC under its Code of Conduct and the alleged statement has been deemed as “an unacceptable means of referring to a MDC former employee”.

27. Councillor's Question Time. No questions

28. Village Hall Management Committee Report Cllr Nunn reported on the following works at the Village Hall:  The rear wall adjoining the Committee room has had the old hollow rendering removed and has been re-rendered all the way down, sealed and painted  The gable end fascia board has been repaired, the old paint removed and re- painted  The broken tiles on the roof have been replaced  The roof, chimney stack and loft in School House have been investigated for the source of damp in the upstairs back room. No obvious cause was found so lack of regular heating and ventilation may be the main problem  When whoever in the past removed the old scullery from the back of School House, they overlooked the fact that they had turned an internal wall, which had no damp course, into an external wall. The committee now needs to get some kind of damp course put into the base of this wall.

29. Media Contact. In Touch will contain items as mentioned in these minutes.

30. Next Meeting. The next meeting of North Fambridge Parish Council is on Monday 8th July 2013 at 8.00pm in the Village Hall. There will be no meeting in June unless the need arises.