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Parish Council Meeting Minutes 9th January 2007

A meeting of the Parish Council took place in the Village Hall on Tuesday 9th January 2007 at 7.30pm.

1 Present

• Mr. L Adams (Chairman), Mr. M Taylor, Mrs. S Rutter, Mrs. W Fong.

Apologies

• Mr. N Rouse, Mr. A Richardson, Mr. L Ellis.

2 Declaration from Members of any item of Interest.

• Mr. M Taylor declared an expression of interest in the village hall donation agenda item.

3 Minutes of last meeting

• The minutes of the meeting held on the 14th November 2006 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

4 Matter Arising

• The telephone kiosk has now had its door replaced but it does not appear to fit very well. It was also noted that a street light by the shop is flickering

5 Correspondence

• The Clark’s guide issued to all Parish Councils was handed to the Clerk for information and perusal.
• Less correspondence has been in circulation recently, but there is currently a batch going round.

6 Finance

It was agreed the following cheques be signed.

• Cheque no 000651 E-on Energy £140.26 Street Lighting.
• Cheque no 000652   Mr. N Rouse £10.71 Postage & Timer.
• Cheque no 000653   Mrs. S Rutter £118.98 Tree Lights.
• Cheque no 000654   Ridgewell Village Hall £1000.00 Oil Tank.
• Cheque no 000655   Scottish Widows £4000.00 to deposit a/c.
• Braintree District Council is not pursuing the outstanding invoice for grass cutting for year 2000.
• The Parish Council precept for 1/4/07 to 31/3/08 was agreed. The reserves are high at around £14000.00 and Auditors have queried this for the last two years. To alleviate this the precept has been set lower for the next financial year.
• HM Revenue returned £144.32 interest charged on the Scottish Widows account, Scottish Widows will now be advised not to stop tax for this account. It was agreed that £4000.00 will be transferred from the current account to Scottish Widows account.

7 Planning

• Mr. N Rouse was not in attendance so no report; however Great Meadow End Farm have submitted a planning application for a change of use that is currently in circulation. General unease was felt as there was no real clarification of where the change of use was.

8 Parish Plan

• This item is now coming to an end it is now with Ridgewell News for the next issue, we now need to consider weather this can be removed as an ongoing agenda item.

9 Highways Dept

• Wisperwood Cottage carriageway alterations is still ongoing.
• The signs to the Causeway have now been completed.
• the Chairman will follow up the finger signs at the bottom of Stambourne Road and Tilbury Green. There is also a damaged chevron sign in Ashen Road by Bowles Farm from an earlier traffic accident that needs repairing. The Chairman has contacted the Highways

10 Footpaths

• Mr. L Ellis not in attendance no report given.

11 Emergency Plan

• Mrs. Rutter has received the Goggeshall Emergency Plan template, which will be circulate for comments so our own plan can be put together and discussed at the next meeting.

12 Rights of Way over Village Greens & Common Land

• It is hoped to complete this year.

13 Allotments

• Mr. Taylor stated there are still two vacant plots but these are very hard and difficult to work.
• No report for the official opening this yet to be confirmed.
• The rents are due after 1st April for year 2007/8.
• Mr. Taylor, Mr. Rouse and Mr. Richardson are liaising to compile some basic rules for the allotment users.

14 Village and Footpath Map

• This item was not addressed as Mr. Ellis was not able to attend the meeting.

15 Affordable Housing

• Mrs. Rutter said this project was now exhausted as no suitable plots were identified. This can also now be considered for removal as an agenda item for future meetings.

16 Friendship Club

• A letter of thanks for the £100.00 donation was received.

17 Cluster Meeting

• The minutes of the cluster meeting recently held at Birdbrook are currently in circulation.

18 Transport Need Survey

• The transport need survey has proved successful with 93 returned; these will be passed to the Birdbrook Parish Clerk for collating.

19 Grass Cutting

• Mr. B Coe will not be seeking to renew his contract for grass cutting. It was felt extra cuts should be included in any new tender. The Chairman and Mr. N Rouse will liaise to produce a tender and hopefully arrange a first cut fairly quickly.
• The yellow patch on the village green is being investigated by Mr. Rouse; there was a suggestion of turfing a square meter to see if it grew.

20 Christmas Tree

• It was agreed that this years Christmas tree had been the best ever. The schools involvement had been productive and many enjoyed the ‘switching on of the lights’ ceremony and the carols that followed. It is hoped that this could be repeated and hopefully more people would attend and make it a village event.
• Total expenditure of £118.98 for the lights and a contribution of £25.00 for the tree was received from the school. Mrs. S Rutter has written a letter of thanks to the school which will be printed in the Ridgewell News Letter and Mr. N Rouse as school liaison officer will be requested to write a personal letter of thanks to the school.

21 School Visit to September Meeting

• Mr. Rouse has written to thank the school for their presentation at the September meeting.

22 Dates for 2007 Parish Council Meetings

• January 9th. March 13th. April 17th. May 8th. July 10th. September 11th. November 13th. All dates were agreed.

23 Village Hall Donation

• Councillors voted and agreed to grant £1000.00 donation for the village hall new oil tank.

24 Ridgewell News Letter

• This is felt to be a very valuable asset to the village.

25 Open Meeting to the Public

• There were no members of the public present.

26 Any Other Business

• Mr. Taylor reported white stones along Church Lane and outside Oak Cottage, which could hamper the grass cutting, this will be investigated and possibly requested to be removed.
• The planning enquiry on Mr. D Smith’s land in Stambourne Road commenced today, the Parish Council will be advised of the outcome in due course.
• It was agreed that Mr. L Ellis items to be held over until the next meeting.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.45pm