HENHAM PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes (unapproved) of a Parish Council Meeting
Date: Thursday 6th July 2023
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: OSCA, Henham
Present: District Cllr P. Lees, Cllrs N. Baker, P. Franklin, J. Leech, M. Fisher, G. LeCount, PCSO A. Stewart, Clerk M. Dacey
Declaration of interests: The Chair reminded Councillors of their duty to declare any relevant personal or pecuniary interests.
- Apologies for Absence – County Cllr R. Gooding, District Cllr B. Donald, Cllrs M. Francis, Z. Rutterford, S. Lee
- Approval of the Minutes of the Last Meeting
The minutes of the 1 June 2023 meeting was approved and signed by the Chair.
- Matters Arising
- Reports and Recommendations
- Greens and Village Estate – Cllr. Baker:
- Greens damage – (1) Erosion – General greens erosion in the village causing other potholes. Cllr Leech and the Chair have conducted a review of the greens and it was agreed Cllr Leech would undertake necessary repairs in the next 2 to 3 weeks. The Chair as requested a quote from Cllr Leech for the schedule of works for approval by Cllrs. (2) Construction damage by Hollybank – Nothing to report.
- Gravelling over and parking on Greens at Bell Cottage, High Street – The Chair and Cllr Fisher had a site meeting and following a discussion it was agreed Cllrs would await the review of the bylaws.
- Greens Bylaws – Solicitors advice is awaited.
- Starr Road Signage and pot holes – Nothing to report. It was noted that a new low level fencing has been installed by the owners. District Cllr Lees will investigate.
- Coronation commemoration – A generous resident who is very skilled at ironmongery has kindly offered to design and make a sculpture to celebrate the coronation. Cllr Fisher will meet with the resident to discuss further details.
- Pond railings and posts – It was previously agreed by email by Cllrs to ask our gardener to repaint the pond railings and posts as he did a good job last time. Work has been completed. Cost is estimated to be £600.00.
- Bug Hotels – Scouts via Elsenham Parish Council (EPC) have made a request to build and deposit little bug hotels around the village. This was agreed by Cllrs who are keen to encourage biodiversity within the village.
Village Hall – (1) General – update by Cllr Fisher. (2) Solicitors – have been instructed to review the ownership and responsibility for the village hall as the existing documentation is 100 years old and needs updating. Their advice is awaited. (3) HPC Community Support Fund – Cllr Fisher previously circulated a draft HPC Village Hall Community Support Fund Policy to Cllrs which is designed to provide an HPC grant scheme available for not for profit organisations/residents in order to support their use of the village hall. Following a discussion and some suggested amendments by Cllr Franklin, Cllr LeCount proposed the Parish Council adopts the policy, seconded by Cllr Franklin, approved nem con.
PCSO – The PCSO provided Cllrs with a detailed update including plans for more beat surgeries in the village shop and the school (Cllr Fisher to advertise on FB), more speedwatch visits with use of TruCam which means that speeding fines can be automatically issued, more planned fire support visits and a community Safety Partnership event to be held in the future.
Speedwatch – Nothing to report
Management of Pledgdon Green – (a) Solicitors have now been instructed and have quoted £500-750 plus VAT. Legal advice is awaited (b) A resident has emailed the Parish Council about a property running an airport parking business at Pledgdon Green. District Cllr Lees confirmed this has been reported to UDC enforcement.
Website – The clerk provided an update to cllrs and explained various issues that need further consideration following on from her meeting with Cllr Lee last month. The clerk is working on populating the new website, which involves uploading all documents and formatting the template before it goes live.
Gigaclear – Nothing to report other than BT have applied for a road closure on Mill Road 30/7/23. Cllr Franklin continues to chase Gigaclear to repair the damaged box on OML
SAW – It was agreed the Parish Council would donate £250 to SAW (Stansted Airport Watch).
(ii) Finance
|
Receipts |
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| From Whom | Description | Amount | ||
| SOV 100 Club | May draw | £400.00 | ||
| Fete Committee | Cash refund for Coronation Event gazebos etc | £635.00 | ||
| Daniel Robinson | Memorial Stone | £200.00 | ||
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| To Whom
(Invoice no.) |
Description | Amount | VAT | Total |
| PA Knott (62093) | Grass cut 3/5, 17/5 & 31/5 | £1,365.00 | £0.0 | £1,365.00 |
| M Dacey | June Salary | £462.30 | £0.0 | £462.30 |
| Treecology (01776) | Crow St tree cutting | £180.00 | £36.00 | £216.00 |
| PA Knott (62132) | Grass cut 14/6 & 28/6 | £910.00 | £0.0 | £910.00 |
| P Doughty | Street furniture repairs/maintenance | £472.50 | £0.0 | £472.50 |
| JRB Enterprise Ltd (25602) | Dog poo bags | £65.71 | £13.14 | £78.85 |
| Uttlesford District Council (0000102163) | Election 2023 charge | £52.47 | £0.0 | £52.47 |
| Henham Village Shop Association Ltd (H00063) | Post office fees May to August 23 | £2,394.25 | £0.0 | £2,394.25 |
| S. Bambridge | Refund for Speed camera batteries | £13.29 | £2.66 | £15.95 |
| Old School Community Association | HPC room hire Feb- June 23 | £140.00 | £0.0 | £140.00 |
Treasury Management Investment Policy and Strategy 2023/24 – Cllr Fisher- Nothing to report.
AGAR 2022-23 for Henham PC – The Year-End Accounts have been submitted to the external auditor by the clerk.
Clerk Bonus – The Parish Council has agreed to award the clerk a 3 month salary bonus due to the considerable work being undertaken in order to populate the new website.
- Planning and Developments –
- UTT/23/1228/HHF – proposed Two storey side extension and single storey rear extension, 4 Woodend Cottages Chickney Road. HPC comments as to concerns regarding size and scale have been submitted.
- UTT/23/1422/FUL – proposed 1 no. one and a half storey dwelling and double cart port, Adjacent To Theydon Lodge North Hall Road
- A resident has requested that HPC provide planning assistance regarding another resident’s proposed planning application to build 4 houses in a field owned by Tudor Hall, Pledgdon Green. The clerk has checked but there is nothing yet lodged on UDC planning portal.
Breaches: Continuing breaches at Cedar Cottage– Continuing breaches at Cedar Cottage– Nothing to report.
INVESTIGATIONS INTO ALLEGED BREACH – Not built as per approved plans on UTT/19/2547/FUL at White Place North Hall Road Henham Bishops Stortford CM22 6JD – UDC’s Planning Enforcement Team has investigated a referral regarding the alleged breach of planning control at the above mentioned address, reference INV/22/0154/C and have confirmed that an investigation into this matter has been carried out and the file has now been closed for the following reason: – UTT/22/3277/FUL approved, no further action
Appeals: APP/C1570/W/23/3314576 (UTT/22/1160/FUL) – Dunroamin – OMR -Demolition of existing bungalows and outbuildings and the erection of 2no. replacement dwellings, detached garages and associated works, written representations must be received by 7 July 2023. It was agreed, the Planning Sub Committee will submit their concerns.
S62A/2022/0007 – Land to the south of Henham Road Elsenham Essex – Appeal Allowed – 130 Houses in Elsenham opposite the Crown Pub, parish of Elsenham. Henham Parish Council is disappointed that the appeal was allowed despite best efforts by EPC.
Appeal Allowed – 50 Houses in Bedwell Road.
Developments: Mill Road Development : Nothing to report.
Bloor – Cllrs Franklin and LeCount attended a meeting with EPC and Bloor last month. Minutes previously circulated to Cllrs. Cllr Franklin provided a detailed list of issues which the Parish Council will raise in the consultation process with Bloor for 200 houses in respect of which planning permission has already been granted.
Decisions: none.
- Highways – Nothing to report other than:
OMR-OML – (1) Essex Highways is aware of the issue of recent HGV use of OMR and Toot Toot bridge – up to 3 per hour.
Potholes –County Cllr Gooding previously explained the delays have been due to lack of available manpower which has now been sourced by ECC and some temporary repairs have been carried out.
Residents are encouraged to also report any matters to Essex Highways direct via the Essex Highways web site www.essex.gov.uk/highways (details also on the Henham Website), as the more people who complain regarding Highways matters the more likely something will get done.
Residents are encouraged to report unsafe or dangerous parking in our village to: swilliams@uttlesford.gov.uk Stansted Airport Limited operates a Freephone number for reporting suspected on-street airport related car parking. The Freephone number is: 0800 7312385
- Correspondence
Sent/Received: resident requesting permission to temporarily park skip on Woodend Green.
Planning Applications – see 4(iii) above
- Clerk – approximately 250 emails in June 2023.
- Waste and Minerals Development Issues – Nothing to report.
- SAW (Stop Stansted Expansion) – Nothing to report.
- Governance – HPC Grant Award Policy – Cllr Fisher previously circulated a draft policy document covering HPC providing grants. It was agreed that this would be further reviewed over the coming months.
- Local Plan – Documents related to the local plan can be found at: www.uttlesford.gov.uk/new-local-plan.
- Henham SOV 100 Club draw –
June 160 Members
The clerk conducted the June draw. She drew from a black bag containing all current members lottery balls.
1st Prize Number 02 (C & J Stenhouse) £232
2nd Prize Number 118 (A D Fiddler) £112
3rd Prize Christmas Bonus Ball Accumulator £56 Cumulative total £392
Total funds received per draw were £800. Half will be paid in prizes plus the cumulative Christmas Bonus Ball with the balance of £400 paid to Henham Parish Council SOV Funds.
- Date of Next Meeting
The next Parish Council Meeting will be held on Thursday 7th September 7:30pm at OSCA. Everyone Welcome. There is no meeting in August.
Mareike Dacey, Clerk