Back to News 2008

Danbury Parish Council

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING: 21 April 2008

This year's Annual Parish Meeting was held at the Village Hall on 21 April 2008. As in previous years, over a hundred residents attended the meeting, and a number of village organisations set up tables to publicise their activities over refreshments. County Councillor Peter Martin and Borough Councillor Bob Shepherd were present as well as members and staff of the Parish Council.

At 8pm the Chairman of the Parish Council, Cllr Stuart Berlyn, opened the formal part of the evening and welcomed residents and visitors. The meeting began with a talk by Richard Wallace, the local National Trust Warden, who challenged residents on their knowledge (or lack of it!) of the environment and history of Danbury and Lingwood Commons.

The minutes of the 2007 Annual Parish Meeting were approved. Cllr David Whiteing, Chairman of the Resources Committee, gave a brief financial report and referred residents to the summary of accounts published in the Spring issue of the Danbury Times.
In his own address to the meeting, the Chairman paid tribute to Cllr Julian Brooks who had died suddenly in the Autumn of 2007 and was sorely missed. He reported on the Council's activities in the past year and its plans for the year to come:

The Parish Council's achievements in 2007:

• Danbury won the Best Kept Village award in 2007, coming first in its Class - an achievement for the whole community;
• Other awards were won for the Children's Play Area, the Playing Fields and the Council's newletter, Danbury Times;
• With financial support from the Danbury Society, a lighting pillar had been installed at Eves Corner for the annual Christmas tree and carols;
• The large project to improve the drainage and quality of the playing fields and to upgrade the car parks had begun;
• The Council was participating with other Parish Councils in a Transportation Group, which, among other road improvements, was lobbying for a link road from the A12 to Maldon;
• The Council was represented on the Neighbourhood Action Panel, a Police initiative working with young people in the area, and was supporting the young people's bid for a grant to install a youth shelter on Dawson Field;
  

On-going and future work in 2008:

• A working party of the Council was looking into ways of implementing the recommendations of the DEFRA report on climate change to achieve a 'greener' village;
• Phase 1 of the drainage and car parks project would be completed and phase 2 begun;
• A 5-year review of the Parish Plan 2003 would be carried out, involving futher consultation with residents;
• Work was on-going on a comprehensive Emergency Plan for the village, in consultation with the Emergency Planning department at Chelmsford Borough Council.

The meeting concluded with public question time, when matters raised included the closure of some retail outlets in the village, details and timing of the drainage and car parks project, the condition of the Old Tea Shop at Runsell Green, street lighting, and possible re-development of properties in Danbury by the Chelmer Housing Partnership.

At the conclusion of question time, the Chairman drew the meeting to a close. He thanked his fellow Parish Councillors and Council staff for their support over the year, and thanked everyone present for attending.

Margaret Saunders, Parish Clerk