Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on

Wednesday, 9 March 2005

in the Village Hall

Present were:

Mr Clark, Mrs Oliveira, Mr Perry, Mr Rixson, Mrs Burton and Mrs Clark (Clerk).

1. Apologies for Absence

   These had been received from Miss Collinson, Mrs Kesterton, Cllr C. Down and Cllr J. Whitehead.

2. Approval of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting

   The minutes of the meeting held on 9th February, 2005 were agreed and signed.

3. Matters Arising

   1. Community Police Officer

      No date had yet been fixed for the post-coding visit. The Clerk had made contact with P.C. O'Mahony and given her a choice of Saturday mornings in May. As no reply to this email had been received the Clerk was asked to write to P.C. O'Mahony.

   2. Licensing Act, 2003

      Mr Clark and Miss Collinson had attended the meeting on 24th February. Mr Clark reported that the new arrangements were quite complicated. The Act covered both licensing of venues, the sale of alcohol, and a licence for the person selling the alcohol. The new arrangements will come in later in the year, probably in November, and there will be interim arrangements for the transfer of existing licences. Uttlesford is the new Licensing Authority, and its website contains application forms, details of fees etc.

4. Footpaths

   There was nothing to report.

5. Stansted Airport

   1. Visit to Control Tower

      It had emerged that it was not possible to visit the control tower in the evening or at weekends. Two dates had been offered and it was agreed that a visit would be organised on Wednesday, April 20th for those able to attend. The Clerk would circulate details to ascertain who would be available.

   2. Takeley Challenge to H.O.S.S.

      Mrs Oliveira and Mr Perry had attended the meeting on 22nd February and Mr Perry had circulated notes of that meeting. Takeley P.C.'s solicitor was reviewing the situation following the judgement on the White Paper Judicial Review, to decide whether to press ahead with this challenge, or to wait to see what developed as a result of that judgement.

      Takeley P.C. had advised that they did not need our offered contribution of £1,000 towards their legal costs at this time – apparently it has a separate fund for legal services which it had established some years ago. It was agreed to place this £1,000 in a separate fund for ‘Professional Services’.

      Mr Rixson circulated a press release from Stansted Airport that suggested that the High Court had thrown out Takeley's application for a Judicial Review of the HOSS.

6. East of England Regional Assembly Draft Plan

   Mr Clark had prepared a draft response to the plan. This was discussed and various amendments agreed. Mr Clark undertook to submit this response by the deadline of 16th March.

7. Correspondence

   There had been no correspondence.

8. Finance and Annual Review of Clerk's Salary and Expenses

   1. Balances

      Balances as at 28th February, 2005 at Barclays Bank, Dunmow were reported as follows:

      Community Account (current)	£796.70
      Business Reserve Account (high rate deposit)	£2,386.95
      	£3,183.65

   2. Signing of Cheques

      It was agreed to sign the following cheque:

      P. Clark –	Salary October 2004 – March 2005	£579.00
      	Expenses	£362.50
      	Heating	£14.00
      	TOTAL	£955.50

   3. Annual Review of Clerk's salary and Expenses

      It was agreed to defer consideration of this to the next meeting.

9. Planning Matters

   1. Park and Ride Scheme – Pledgdon Green

      The planning application to allow open storage of vehicles had been refused. There was nothing to report on the progress of the Enforcement Action to stop the park and ride scheme.

   2. Other Applications

      1. 1 & 2 Baldwins Cottages, Broxted Hill

         internal alterations to create one dwelling

         Awaited

10. Any Other Business

    1. Cranham Road

       1. It was reported that there were several pot-holes at the entrance to Cranham Road. The Clerk was asked to report this to Uttlesford.

       2. It was suggested that the post box outside the former shop should be moved closer to the road, away from the premises. The Clerk would talk to the residents about this.

    2. Traffic Management Strategy

       Essex County Council had issued a Traffic Management Strategy setting out its vision and aspirations for the next twenty years, and had sought opinions on this. It was agreed to respond applauding the Council for its vision and supporting:

       1. its vision for ‘quiet lanes’ that would encourage a responsible mix of traffic, pedestrian, horse-ridden and vehicular

       2. the provision of dedicated footways, away from roads, between villages

       3. the better provision of public transport in rural areas, stressing that this should be both regular and cheap – being subsidised if necessary.

    3. Planning Applications

       Mrs Oliveira raised the question of the Council's responses to planning applications. At present the Clerk advised members of every application as it was received. If there were no objections a response was made to Uttlesford that said the Council ‘has no objections’. If there were any favourable comments these were not passed on to Uttlesford. Mrs Oliveira suggested that not positively supporting an application might disadvantage an applicant, as the Parish Council's response, along with any others received, was passed to committee members. It was suggested that if there were no objections the Council's response should be ‘this Council supports this application’ but it was felt by some that this was not a good idea. The Clerk commented that she very rarely received any comments at all. It was agreed to give this further thought.

11. Date of the Next Meeting

    The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Wednesday, 13th April at 8.00 p.m. in the Village Hall.

The Meeting closed at 9.20 p.m.