February 2007 Parish Council Minutes

Minutes of Great Oakley Parish Council

Held at the Village Hall on Tuesday 20th February 2007 at 07:30pm

Present: Mr S Huk J.P, Chairman – Mr B Harrington, Vice – Chairman – Mrs J Mason – Mr N Daniels, Mrs J Hylton, Ms K Schooling, Ms M Osborne

Apologies: Mr T Spurge, Cllr D Lines

There were 4 parishioners present who were invited to speak if they so wished.

A parishioner handed Chairman 2 letters to read out, one stating that the grass cutting was of a poor standard last year and was the contractor aware of our requirements. The other letter was regarding the new bus stop which has been installed at the entrance to Great Oakley Lodge. The bus stop was originally requested to be placed nearer to Partridge Close and would like to know why the bust stop is in this other location. The present location is proving to be very dangerous as you cannot see clearly around the bend to cross the road.

Chairman proceeded to answer the first letter by explaining that the contractor is aware that at times the grass cutting was not up to standard. The precept has been raised slightly this year to cover the increasing costs of grass cutting and to enable the Council to pay additional cost for a higher standard of finish. Chairman is keen to hear from anyone during the year should they have any problems regarding the standard of the grass cutting rather than waiting until the end when nothing can be done to rectify any problems.

The second letter was addressed and Clerk is to contact Highways regarding the safety of the bus stop at its present location and to mention that the landowner was not consulted regarding the siting of it.

A parishioner reported that there has been a lot of dog owners not clearing up after their dogs, mainly along School Road. Clerk is to contact the dog warden.

A parishioner raised the issue of the white lines which are to be painted at the village hall car park. It was confirmed that Mr Wilby will kindly be attending to this along with the installation of the post.

A village sign has been reported to have perished and to be lying on the roadside in Stones Green. This issue will be raised under the signs heading but can confirm we now have a grant in place to restore the older wooden signs in the parish.

A parishioner raised the subject of the condition of the empty council house in Stones Green. This matter had been discussed with TDC Housing officer several times. Unfortunately, TDC claim they currently have insufficient funds to renovate the building and it has been fenced off until such time as the work can be carried out. Chairman provided contact details for TDC housing officer so that any further issues could be reported.

Additional Item – Standing Order 12

Chairmen requested an additional item to be added to the Agenda under Standing Order 12 – Resignations
Proposed Mr Daniels, seconded Mr Harrington, carried unanimously.

Chairman opened meeting with prayer at 07:46pm.

Council have received 2 letters of resignation. Mr R Small and Ms M Osborne have both resigned due to work commitments. After discussing, it was decided to leave the vacancies open until after the potential local government elections. The previous applicants will be contacted in due course to see if they would like to re-apply. Proposed Mr Harrington, seconded Mr Daniels, carried unanimously.

Declaration of Interest: None

Minutes of the meeting held on 16th January 2007 having been circulated were proposed as correct by Ms Osborne, seconded Mr Daniels, carried unanimously.

Police Report: Our Community Support Officer, Ray Aylot was not present. Crime statistics were handed to Chairman to read out. Great and Little Oakley had 19 incidents last month.

Clerks Progress Report:

Basketball Hoop:
We are still waiting for dry weather for installation.

Disabled Toilet:
Work is due to start on March 25th for one week. Notices have been put up and the post office will close during this time.

War Memorial:
We now have the grant in place to proceed. Chairman will contact the Stonemasons to progress.

Too many cycle signs:
Cycle signs will be removed at Wix Road and Clacton Road. A small cycleway route direction sign like those already in Stones Green will be installed at the same locations on a single post.

Back Lane drains need clearing:
Clerk has contacted Highways and is awaiting a reply.

Pot Holes in road near the Soils:
Clerk has contacted Highways and is awaiting a reply.

Accidents in Queen Street/Back Lane:
We are waiting for the priority lines to be reinstated.

Siren:
Clerk has contacted our insurers and planning department. Our insurers are happy if we are. Exchem will need to be responsible for the maintenance of the siren. They will need to install the siren by someone with their own liability insurance. Exchem are obtaining the necessary planning permission.

Electricity prices for Village Hall:
Clerk contacted “uswitch.com” and they don’t deal with commercial buildings. Clerk to try other companies.

Just Lamps:
Clerk reported a street light which wasn’t working at Sparrows Corner. The light has now been repaired.



Auditor:
Clerk had been due to meet with potential auditors but has been let down on occasions. Clerk will meet with Mrs Stein at the end of this week who has already said she is happy to do this at no cost to the council.

Litter Working Party:
Last year Mrs Lord volunteered to get a working party together if we can get the equipment needed. Clerk has tried to get grabbers but with no luck. Clerk is to find out how much the grabbers are and to defer contacting Mrs Lord until we have a price.

Recreation Field Fence: The fence adjacent to the recreation field belonging to the bungalow on School Road blew down in the gales. This exposed a swimming pool in the back garden of the adjoining property which was a potential hazard to young children. We have tried to contact the home owners with no luck.

Due to the potential risk the un-protected swimming pool represents to children using the playing field, and our obligation to ensure our site boundary is adequately protected, the Chairman, after consulting the other members of the finance committee, arranged to have some emergency chain-link fencing erected at a cost to the Council of £320.00 plus VAT (£376.00 inc VAT).

As this sum slightly exceeds the amount that the Chairman can expend without formal prior agreement of the Parish Council, it is hoped that Council will understand the urgency of the matter and formally ratify the decision. Proposed Mr Daniels, seconded Ms Osborne, carried unanimously.

Grants: We had applied for grants towards the War Memorial restoration, new Village Hall heaters and the renovation of various wooden signs within the Parish. We have been successful and have received a total of £11,165.00.

Website Implementation: Mr Small was due to e-mail details of information required to the sub committee by the end of November. There has been no progress made, and since the resignation of Mr Small, Mr Daniels has offered to collate the information for the website to get it up and running as soon as possible. It is proposed we write to Mr Small thanking him for his contribution and asks that he passes over all information, documentation and contact details immediately. Information will be gathered and the deadline to get everything together is 9th March 2007.

Coast to Coast: There has been a communication problem regarding information getting to Chris Shepard. This was an e-mail problem which has now been rectified.

Carpenters to restore wooden signs: There is one carpenter from Beaumont who would be interested in quoting for the restoration works:- Russell Peck, Kestrals, Glebe Hill, Beaumont-cum-moze, CO16 0AU. Tel: 01255 862062.

We still need two more potential carpenters. If anyone has any names and addresses they are to contact the Chairman. Mrs Hylton will contact someone she knows.

There has been a suggestion made that Stones Green should have a village sign installed in the future and that we could hold a competition on the website to design one. This will be a long term project.

Precept: We have had information from Tendring District Council regarding the levels of the precepts applied for our area. Despite our 12% increase, ours is still one of the lowest in Tendring, being similar to Bradfield, Great Bromley and Thorrington.

Beaumont, Little Bentley, Frating, Little Oakley, Tendring, Wix and Wrabness are lower.

Horse Warning Signs: Essex County Council have replied to our request for horse warning signs by saying that they tend to be placed in areas where a large number of horse riders cross the road or near livery stables and bridleways. These sites often have specific problems such as poor visibility to warrant the need for the signs. They also point out that given the rural environment of Great Oakley, drivers should have a reasonable expectation of more rural pursuits such as horse riding and therefore ECC cannot agree to simply erecting signs to cover blanket areas.

After discussing at length, Council have decided to ask Highways for the signs to be placed before the bends, near to Great Oakley Hall. This area is the most critical due to the stables being at the Hall and the horses need to cross the road on these corners. There are currently 24 stables there with horses crossing the road from one bridleway to another. Clerk is to contact Highways with our request. Proposed Ms Mason, seconded Ms Osborne, carried unanimously.

Bus chaperones: We have received a reply from the principal of Tendring Technology College regarding the questions raised about the bus escorts.

They are very concerned that some parents are unhappy with the service that has been provided and have requested that anyone with issues should contact the Principal directly, in writing, and she will investigate their individual concerns.

The letter informed Council that any anti-social behaviour has been dealt with by the College. The bus escorts manages behaviour on the bus and there have been fewer complaints from the students and their parents since their appointment. The principal would be very concerned if they were to lose them.

The Clerk has recently received another letter from Frinton & Walton Town Council asking if we wish to donate towards the bus escorts this year. A suggestion of £100 was proposed by Ms Schooling, seconded Mr Harrington, carried unanimously.

Planning: On Tuesday 13th February 2007 there was a planning meeting to discuss the following applications:

Application No: 06/01940/FUL
Proposal: Room in roof and new roof window on rear elevation
Location: Land adjacent Maybush Inn Farm Road Great Oakley Harwich

No Objection

Application No: 06/02134/CON
Proposal: Demolition of buildings
Location: Haulage Yard Farm Road Great Oakley Essex

No Objection

The following applications need to be discussed:-

Application No: 07/00169/TCA
Proposal: 1 No. Conifer in front garden – fell. 1 No. Conifer on north east rear boundary – fell. 3 No.
Conifers in rear garden lop to hedge level
Location: Apple Tree Cottage High Street Great Oakley Harwich

After discussing, it was agreed that No Objection was made.

Application No: ESS/05/07/TEN
Proposal: Variation of Condition 6 (vehicle numbers) attached to planning permission ESS/18/06/TEN to allow a maximum of 24 vehicle movements (12 in and 12 out) in excess of 3.5 tonne at the site in any working week.
Location: Glebe Farm Beaumont-cum-Moze Clacton-on-Sea

Footpaths / Trees: There is nothing to report.

Feedback of sub committees:

Village Hall: Chairman has contacted Mr Wilby regarding the car park post. It has been removed from the recreation ground and repaired as necessary. It will be installed at the village hall car park shortly.

We have now received a grant towards the new heaters for the hall. A suggestion has been made to have a “special” village hall committee meeting to discuss the options and agree on how to proceed. Another suggestion was to have a bulk gas tank installed and purchase the gas in bulk so as to reduce costs. This is to be raised at the special meeting. The guttering and drains need attention. The village hall committee are aware of this. A parishioner asked if the lighting could be updated and this would also be discussed at the special meeting.

Neighbourhood Action Team: There is nothing to report.

Fun day: At a previous meeting we asked if anyone has any ideas for how the fun day could support projects within the Parish. There has been a suggestion of new notice boards which will save money in the long run.

At the fun day there will be model helicopters, new hanger, school display, and lots more. It would be great to have the war memorial restoration complete so this can be publicised.

Accounts for Payment:

Society of Local Council Clerks Subscription 700670 £ 65.00
Great Oakley PTA School Garden Project 700672 £ 25.00
C&W Fencing Recreation Fencing 700673 £ 376.00
Bruce Landscapes Annual Inspection/Repairs 700674 £ 634.50
New Village Hall Account War Memorial donation 700675 £ 500.00
Just Lamps (UK) Street Light Maintenance D/D £ 37.94
E-On Street Lighting (2 months) D/D £ 161.83
Powergen Village Hall Lighting D/D £ 43.00
Miss J Bootyman Clerks Wages & Expenses 700676 £ 215.29
Just Lamps (UK) Call Out & Repairs for Sparrows Cr D/D £ 64.57
TOTAL £2123.13

Accounts proposed as correct by Ms Schooling, seconded Mr Daniels, carried unanimously.

Clerk needs to order a new account book. It is preferable that it is the same as the current one as the Chairman and Clerk have to sign each page. The cost to the council is £57.45. Proposed Ms Schooling, seconded Mrs Hylton, carried unanimously.

Previously we have donated £50.00 towards the running of Coast to Coast, it has been proposed we continue to do this by Mr Daniels, seconded Mrs Hylton, carried unanimously.

We have had an income of £24.50 for a headstone to be erected at the burial ground and £181.50 for the reservation of a plot. Total income £206.00.

In addition to this we have received grants towards the war memorial, village hall heaters and wooden sign renovation totalling £11,165.00.

Correspondence:

EALC – Training Days – The funding game and how to win it
Health and safety course

EALC – County Update
Conference Day

Essex County Council – East Essex Area Forum

Tendring District Council – Forward Plan 64

Rural Community Council of Essex – Calor Village of the Year

Miscellaneous – Help the Aged
The Playing Field
Monster Play Systems
TCVS Newslink
Essex on Tour
Highways Stakeholder News


There being no further business, the meeting closed at 09:23pm.

None