DANBURY PARISH COUNCIL

 

Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 26 July 2006

at 7.30pm in the Parish Office

 

Present: Cllrs

S Berlyn (Chairman)
A Allen

J Brooks

C Creak

D Hawkins

A Keeler

R Matthews

D Powell

M Telling

J Thomson

J Wells

M Wood

 

In attendance:

Mr K Ward, Emergency Planning Officer, CBC

Mrs M Saunders, Clerk

Mrs E Blyth, Assistant Clerk

Mrs M Moss, Assistant Clerk

 

Public Question Time

Four members of the public were present.  They did not wish to address the Council.

 

Presentation by CBC Emergency Planning Officer

Mr Kelvin Ward gave an account of the work being done by the Borough Council, funded by Government, to develop plans for recovering normality following a major incident in the Borough.  He described the many types of emergency for which procedures were being prepared, and the parallel programme to raise public awareness of the issues and of sources of information.  Other matters covered by Mr Ward included:

·   the role of Parish Councils in identifying premises, volunteers and other types of local information which would be essential in an emergency;

·   the roles of the WRVS, the Red Cross and other voluntary services;

·   continuity planning for businesses to improve resilience;

·   sources of further information, including leaflets and the Borough’s emergency planning website at http://www.chelmsfordresilience.info.

The Chairman thanked Mr Ward for attending the meeting and for his very informative presentation.

Before leaving the meeting Mr Ward used his laptop computer and projector to demonstrate the projection of architectural plans so that members could see how this would work in practice if adopted for Planning Committee meetings.  The demonstration had been requested by Resources Committee at its meeting on 19th July 2006.

 

27 Apologies for absence

Apologies were received and accepted from Cllr D Whiteing.

 

28 Declarations of Interest

Members were reminded that they must declare any personal or prejudicial personal interests in any items of business on the meeting’s agenda.  Cllr Telling declared an interest in item 36 below by virtue of being a Governor of St John’s School.  Cllrs Berlyn, Allen, Brooks, Hawkins, Keeler, Powell, Telling, Thomson, Wells and Wood declared a general interest in item 35a by virtue of being members of the DCA.  This interest was now covered by a dispensation granted by the Standards Committee of Chelmsford Borough Council on 19th July 2006.

 

29 Minutes

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting held on 17th May 2006 be approved and signed as a correct record.

 

30 Vacancies for Parish Councillors

Council noted that no election had been called for by the public in response the required advertisement.

RESOLVED: that arrangements be put in hand to advertise and invite applications for co-option to the Parish Council.

 

31  Good Neighbour Document

Cllr Allen reminded members that the Good Neighbour Guide was one of the items included in the Parish Action Plan, and was intended to provide residents with contact numbers and other information in relation to matters such as excessive noise, garden fires, use of machinery etc.  In discussion, Council agreed that it would be appropriate for the Publicity Group to consider how to publicise this information.

RESOLVED: that the Publicity Working Group consider including Good Neighbour information in future issues of Danbury Times, either within the newsletter or as a separate insert.

 

32  Annual Return for 2005/2006

Council was asked to approve the signing of the Annual Return by the Chairman and the Clerk following the internal audit.  Cllr Wood raised three queries regarding the return.

RESOLVED: that the Chairman and the Clerk be authorised to sign the Annual Return and Supporting Notes for 2005/2006.

 

33  Parish Council Charter

Chelmsford Borough Council had a new member of staff dealing with matters relating to charters, and that officer had recently met with the Clerk.  Further progress was expected in the autumn.  It was likely that workshops would be held at CBC on Part 1 (relating to all Parish Councils), and that Part 2 (Quality Parish Councils) would be negotiated with individual Councils.  The information was noted.

 

34 Buckingham Palace Garden Party 

Cllrs were invited to submit suggestions for this annual nomination to the Chairman or the Clerk.

 

35 Leases

a) Danbury Community Association Lease 

Cllrs Berlyn, Allen, Brooks, Hawkins, Keeler, Powell, Telling, Thomson, Wells and Wood declared a general interest in item 35a by virtue of being members of the DCA.

The lease was now ready to be signed by all parties, as previously resolved by Council.  Standing Orders required that two councillors sign, and it was agreed that these should be the Chairman and Cllr Hawkins, as Chairman of Facilities Committee.  Council discussed the proposal of its Solicitor to avoid further delays by allowing a Tenancy at Will between DCA and Eves Corner Trading for the bar area and store.

RESOLVED: that a letter be signed to accompany the lease consenting to a Tenancy at Will between the DCA and Eves Corner Trading Co Ltd for a period not exceeding six months.

b) Bowling Club Lease

Two further requests from the Bowling Club required resolution before the lease could be concluded.  These were that the ground rent should not be increased in 2006/2007 while a loan on the new building was repaid, and that the cost of water for irrigation should come under the maintenance of the green and be met by the Parish Council.  It was noted that water meters had now been installed which would in time give a clearer picture of the amount of water used.

RESOLVED:

a) that the increase in ground rent from £500 to £1,000 be deferred until 2007/08;

b) that the cost of water for irrigation of the bowling green be met by the Parish Council in 2006/07 and that this decision be reviewed in 12 months time.

c) Eves Corner Lease

The lease had now been agreed with the National Trust and the final copy had been received.

d) Lingwood Common

There was nothing further to report.

 

36 Butts Lane – ‘No left turn’ proposal from residents

Council had received notes from a meeting with Essex County Highways department and notes from a meeting held at 5 Butts Lane.  Environment Committee, meeting on 7th June 2006, had requested that the Council form a policy opposing the proposal to stop traffic turning left from Butts Lane into Little Baddow Road.  The report of the Committee was received.

After discussion, the following proposal was agreed unanimously:

RESOLVED: that it is the policy of this Council to oppose any proposal to prevent traffic turning left into Little Baddow Road from Butts Lane.

In reply to a question, the Chairman made clear that a revised proposal delivered recently to members had come from a member of the public and not from the Parish Council.  The papers would be taken to the next meeting of Environment Committee.

 

37 Essex Transport Plan 2006-2011

The Clerk’s report on the aspects of the Plan most affecting the Chelmsford area was noted.  The full text of the Plan could be seen online at the following address: http://www.essexcc.gov.uk/localtransportplan2.

 

38 Corporate Identity of Parish Council  

The Publicity Group was looking into ways of presenting a distinctive identity through a letterhead etc, and was in contact with Mr Chris Tressider for advice.  The information was noted.

 

 

39  Danbury Medical Centre: proposal for new site

Plans for a replacement site and new, larger premises for the Medical Centre had been received at the Parish Office.  A larger site would allow for the inclusion of new medical facilities and amenities for the village.  The proposals had the support of the Maldon & South Chelmsford Primary Care Trust.  Several sites in Danbury had been considered, but the site favoured by the project team was Bay Meadow on Maldon Road.  This field was outside the defined settlement of Danbury and it was not yet known whether CBC would consider a planning application for the site. 

In order to publicise the proposals and obtain the views of the village, the Chairman proposed that a public meeting of the Parish Council be held at which representatives of the Medical Centre and the project team would present their plans and answer questions.  Members agreed that Danbury Mission would be a suitable venue and had appropriate audio-visual equipment.

RESOLVED: that an extraordinary meeting of the Council be held in late September/ early October to present the Medical Centre proposals to residents, and that the meeting take place at Danbury Mission, if available.

 

40  Public Conveniences, Main Road, Danbury

CBC had indicated that it was unlikely to provide any financial assistance if the Parish Council took over ownership and management of the public toilets.

RESOLVED: that no further action be taken in this matter and that CBC be informed of the reason for this decision.

 

41  Publicity – Danbury Times

Cllr Wood requested that suggestions and items for inclusion in the next edition of the newsletter, due out in November 2006, be sent to him.

 

42  Spring bulbs

1,000 bulbs had been ordered through CBC to replace those removed during the A414 road works in 2004/05.  Environment Committee in September would be discussing locations and arrangements for planting.

 

43  Environment Awards – Litter collectors

The Clerk had obtained details from Mrs Lambert of the residents who regularly helped to maintain the environment of the village by collecting street litter.

RESOLVED: that the litter collectors be put forward to Chelmsford Borough Council as nominations for an Environment Award in 2006.

 

44  Amendment to Standing Orders

In the light of advice received from CBC’s Legal Officer on the declaring of interests by members, it was proposed that paragraph 10 of Part l (Chairmanship) of Standing Orders be amended by the addition of the following sentence after the existing text:

“If the Chairman of a meeting declares an interest in an item, the Chairmanship should be handed over to the Vice-Chairman or a Chairman should be elected for the item.”

RESOLVED: that Standing Orders be amended as described above.

 

 

45  Break-in at Compound – 14th to 17th July 2006

A report was received from the Clerk that the Groundsman’s compound had again been broken into over the weekend of 14th to 17th July in an apparent attempt to steal further diesel.  As the tank was empty nothing was taken, though the railings had been damaged.  The information was noted.

 

46  CBC Planning Committee

The Parish Council’s Planning Committee had requested assistance from councillors who were not members of the Committee in representing the Council at meetings of the Borough Council’s Planning Committee when an application relating to Danbury was determined.  Members were asked to get in touch with the Assistant Clerk, Planning, or with Cllr Allen, if they were interested in participating.

 

47  Village Clubs and Organisations leaflet

The Estate Agents Bairstow Eves had requested permission to reproduce the Clubs & Organisations leaflet in order to send it to clients looking to move to the area.  The company did not propose to make any changes to the leaflet.  A suggestion that Bairstow Eves be asked to contribute to the cost of printing the leaflet when it was updated for the autumn edition of Danbury Times was briefly discussed.

RESOLVED: that Bairstow Eves be informed that the Council had no objection to the leaflet being reproduced and issued to their clients.

 

48  CBC Standards Committee – dispensation regarding DCA

It was reported that the Standards Committee of Chelmsford Borough Council, meeting on 19th July 2006, had approved a dispensation to Danbury Parish Council meaning that members did not need to declare an interest in items relating to  the DCA if they were members of the Association.  The information was noted.

 

49  Donation for the late Robert Walton

Council noted that a donation of £25 had been sent to Little Havens Hospice in memory of Robert Walton.  The funds had come from the Chairman’s budget.

 

50  Charter 88 - Campaign for a modern democracy, Early Day Motion

Consideration of this item was deferred.

 

51  Presentations to long-serving past members

Council discussed a proposal that presentations be made to long-serving past members.

RESOLVED: that presentations in some format be agreed in principle and that Resources Committee be asked to consider funding for the likely cost of £60 - £100 per item.

 

52 Calor Best Kept Village Competition

Members were pleased to note Danbury’s success as Runner-Up in its class in the Calor Best Kept Village Competition 2006.  Thanks were expressed to the Clerk and all those involved putting forward the case for Danbury.  The winner of Class 1 was Great Dunmow.    

 

53  Publicity for Grants scheme

Council agreed that the scheme be publicised through a letter to all village organisations, and also on the village website.

 

54  Reports from Village Organisations

The Chairman reported that he had represented the Parish Council at a recent meeting of the Village Hall Committee.

 

55  Reports from Committees

In addition to minutes received, the following reports were made:

a) Facilities: Cllr Hawkins reported that preliminary investigations were being undertaken relating to the drainage project.  Pitch 4 had recently been damaged by fires and left with litter and broken glass for the second time this year.

b) Planning:

Cllr Allen reported that the application for a betting licence at the former Unwins store on Maldon Road had been allowed.  Cllr Telling would be representing the Parish Council at the CBC Planning Committee meeting in August when the application for change of use was considered.

 

56  Next  Meetings of Parish Council

Meetings are scheduled for 27th September and 29th November, 2006.

 

Business having been concluded, the Chairman closed the meeting at 10.10pm.