July 2007 Parish Council Minutes

Minutes of Great Oakley Parish Council Meeting

Held at the Village Hall 07:30pm Tuesday 19th June 2007

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

Apologies: Mr T Spurge

There were 6 parishioners present who were invited to speak if they so wished.

Cllr Tanya Ferguson was present and available for questions.

A parishioner provided some historic background on the past use of a bridleway in our parish that has been subject to recent enquiry from ECC resulting from an application they had received some years ago. Chairman requested that a summary of this information be provided in the form of a letter.

A parishioner asked about the money from the Fun Day and asked where the money will be used. Chairman clarified that the Fun Day is separate from the Parish Council and, although last year funds raised had been donated towards the War Memorial restoration and kept in the Parish Council’s account, there will be a separate bank account set up for these funds in the future. A proportion of the Fun Day money will be donated to a young lady in our parish to help fund her trip to carry out volunteer work in Africa. We had previously asked for ideas on how people would like the money to be used and the young lady who is being helped had approached the Fun Day Committee. The suggestion of donating to the church or village hall was raised. Chairman outlined some of the recent expenditure on the hall that includes new heaters, replacement windows, kitchen, decorating and the provision of disabled toilet facilities. He went on to thank the parishioner for the suggestion and assured them that the work will continue.

Chairman opened meeting with prayer at 7:42pm.

Declaration of Interest: None

Minutes of meeting held on 15th May 2007 having been circulated were proposed as correct by Mrs Mason, seconded Mr Harrington, carried unanimously.

Police Report: There were 2 police officers present who reported that there had been 2 cases of criminal damage, 1 burglary, 1 case of domestic violence, 1 rta and 3 minor incidents. Council asked for special attention to be paid to the recreation field late at night as there has been damage caused to the play area once again. This will be monitored.

Progress Report:

Basketball Hoop
Playground Facilities have had problems with their contractor so have had to cancel their contract with them. Two more companies have been contacted and are awaiting their quotations. The basketball hoop will be returned to Playground Facilities and Clerk has offered to store in her garage for the time being. Clerk is to keep in contact with Playground Facilities.

Disabled Toilet
The contractor has contacted the Chairman and has proposals for the window, which will follow.

Horse Rider Signs
Clerk contacted Highways requesting horse rider signs on both approaches to Gt Oakley Hall. Highways have inspected the site and they are happy to do this but it will be some time before the signs are erected.

School Warning Sign
This has now been installed.

Glass in phone box smashed
BT has been contacted yet again and it is on their list of works to be done. Tanya Ferguson says she will ring BT every month until the repair is completed.

Wix Road in need of repair
Awaiting a response from Highways that is to include the findings of their inspection and recommendations.

Parking Issues High Street
Clerk contacted Highways to request a senior member to attend a meeting. We are waiting for a response.
Clerk also contacted Inspector Dearsly regarding the enforcement against those illegally parking close to a junction. Received verbal commitment that this will be monitored.

External Audit: Copies of Financial Report and Bank Reconciliation were circulated to all members. Internal Auditor had signed off on the report and the requisite notices had been posted on Notice Boards. Chairman has signed Audit and Clerk to send off.

Grass Cutting: There was a Finance Committee meeting held on 22nd May to review the tenders previously opened at May’s Parish Council Meeting.

“The Green Gardener” submitted the lowest Tender for cutting the Old Burial Ground and was therefore awarded the contract for this area. Since then, a cut has been undertaken and the Clerk was contacted within 48 hours of the cut taking place, in accordance with our agreed specification. On inspection, the standard of the work was satisfactory.

“Jobsihate” submitted the lowest Tender for cutting each of the other three areas and was therefore awarded the contract for these areas. An initial cut has been carried out on the New Burial Ground and is to a satisfactory standard. A partial first cut was also carried out on the Recreation Ground and was not to the required standard. The Contractor was notified and further work has taken place towards the end of last week. One end of Partridge Close has been cut, the other end remains to be done. Sparrows Corner had not received a cut as of the weekend. The Contractor did not inform the Clerk that these cuts had been carried out as required by the specification. This omission has been pointed out to the Contractor.

To date, the grass cutting has got off to a slow start and the weather has not helped. Hopefully, the Contractor will be on top of the work this week and things will then go more smoothly. The situation will be monitored. Clerk is to write to the Contractor again making sure he adheres to the terms of the contract or we will withdraw it and that as far as we can tell, the grass has only had the initial cut carried out. Proposed Mrs Mason, seconded Mr Harrington, carried unanimously.

Roads/Pavements – Woodlands: The roads and pavements in Woodlands (off Red Barn Lane) apparently receive no attention from Highways. No sweeping has been carried out in recent years and the roads and paths themselves are becoming untidy with the growth of weeds. After discussing, Clerk is to contact Highways requesting that this area of the village is included in their rota of street sweeping and that maintenance is carried out on the road and paths to remove weeds/vegetation on an urgent basis. Proposed Mrs Hylton, seconded Mrs Mason, carried unanimously.

Restoration of War Memorial: The Chairman met with Mr Hunnaball, the Stone Mason on 17th May to discuss options and there was a subsequent open public meeting held at the Village Hall on 29th May to give Parishioners the opportunity to agree what was proposed and take an active part in the process. Rather disappointingly, only two people attended, one having been specifically requested to attend on behalf of the British Legion. At that meeting, the following proposals were discussed and agreed.

In respect of the details on the memorial:

• Where discrepancies exist between CWGC records and the memorial, Rank, Regiment and Ship will be corrected as appropriate; spelling of names will be retained as currently shown on the memorial; middle names will not be added.
• Battalion details will not be added.
• Honours and awards will be shown (as now).
• The two missing names currently recorded in the church but not on the memorial, will be added.

Chairman has spoken to Mrs Tite, village archivist, to establish whether there are any other names missing and as far as we know there are none.

The two dedications:

“To the men of Great Oakley who gave their lives for their country in the World War 1914-1918”.

and:

“To the memory of the men of this Parish who gave their lives for King and Country in the Second World War 1939-1945”.

will be retained unchanged.

Two new hard stone tables of a similar colour to the existing memorial will be installed in the recesses. The tablets will have an incised key line around the border, reflecting the shape of the current plaques. A small tablet will be added to the third side, inscribed:

“Great Oakley War Memorial – Originally dedicated on 31st January 1920, restored by the Parish Council and re-dedicated??????” (Date to be confirmed).

The memorial will not be cleaned overall as it was felt by the meeting that the existing appearance reflected its age and is not unattractive and that little would be gained by removing the surface which will cause erosion. Chairman will speak to the vicar with a view to holding a service of rededication prior to the annual service in November. We will write to those who made donations closer to the time inviting them to attend.

The Triangle: The vegetation previously cut has now been burnt. The maintenance is ongoing. The land will be registered. We still need details of a tree surgeon.

Wooden Signs: No progress to date.

Burial Ground Charge Review: It would appear that our charges are significantly lower than others. As we discussed at the last meeting, we are almost £1000 lower than TDC’s charges for their large municipal facilities. The Clerk obtained prices from Parkeston Cemetery, which was felt likely to be more comparable to us.

Their Exclusive Right of Burial
£136.00 Parishioner
£275.00 Non Parishioner

Interment
£138.00 Parishioner
£360.00 Non Parishioner

On this scale of charges, someone booking a grave as a Parishioner would have to pay £274.00 and a Non Parishioner would have to pay £635.00. Our current charge does not differentiate between Parishioners and Non Parishioners and is currently £121.00 in both cases. As we are all aware, the costs of maintaining the burial ground is increasing year on year and is currently heavily subsidised by the Precept. After discussion, it was suggested we increase our costs now with a further review in 12 months time with a view to bring us back into line with others and ultimately making the burial ground cost neutral.

Suggested revised costs:

Their Exclusive Right of Burial
£150.00 Parishioner
£300.00 Non Parishioner

Interment
£150.00 Parishioner
£400.00 Non Parishioner

After discussing proposed Mr Daniels, seconded Mrs Hylton, carried unanimously. This will be effective from 1st July 2007. Clerk will update price list.

Street Lighting: The street light outside ‘Boomerang’ does not work properly as reported at the last meeting. Due to its age it needs replacing. After discussing it was decided to go with design F with an approximate cost of £150.00. Proposed Mrs Mason, seconded Mr Daniels, carried unanimously.

Planning:
Application No: 07/00879/FUL
Proposal: Erection of double garage
Location: Three Ways Stones Green Great Oakley Harwich

After discussing the opinion was No Objection.

There was a planning meeting on 7th June 2007 to discuss the following application:
Application No: 07/00760/FUL
Proposal: Extension and alterations
Location: 2 Hillside Cottages Harwich Road Great Oakley Harwich

No Objection

Oak Tree Manor – Tendring
There was an open meeting held at Oak Tree Manor on 30th June to discuss their proposals. The Chairman attended what was a very well attended meeting. The general conclusion seems to be that the reference in their planning application to “Medium Security” facilities was an error by their architects. The management of the facility were meeting with TDC Planning on 4th June and proposed to amend the application to “Low Security”. It appears that if they wanted to change to Medium Security at any time in the future, the necessary additional security fencing and lights etc, would require a further planning application.

Eco-House
Chairman brought to Councils attention a proposal for a forthcoming application for an eco-house, to be built on land forming part of Brook Farm. The proposed building will remain part of the farm and is intended to house employees and also act as a show home showcasing sustainable technologies.

Footpaths/Trees: At the last meeting we had received a letter from ECC regarding the closure and diversion of the footpath from the High Street to Gt Oakley Lodge. Apparently this took place some 50 years ago and the recent correspondence seems to stem from an inquiry made 10 or 12 years ago.

ECC are requesting information from our records, dating back to the 1940’s /50’s. Some concern was expressed over the amount of time this was likely to take for little value to the Parish. Some further documents have been received. Chairman to review prior to next meeting.

A parishioner has expressed a concern over the amount of dog faeces on this path. After discussing it was decided to contact TDC to request warning signs against dog fouling in the High Street and the end of this path. We will also request a dog bin along this path. Proposed Mr Harrington, seconded Mr Daniels, carried unanimously.

Feedback of Sub Committees:

Village Hall AGM Meeting
The Village Hall AGM was held on 5th June. Mrs Chilvers was returned again as Chairman; Mrs Ling as Vice-Chairman. The Treasurer gave his statement of accounts for the year and reported a closing balance of £2,822.71 in the bank. It was suggested and agreed that the Parish Council, who have ultimate financial responsibility for the running of the Hall, should carry out an informal annual audit in the month before the Hall AGM. Having reviewed the Hall accounts, a simple arithmetic error was identified and the actual funds in hand as of 4th June 2007 were £2656.71.

The installation of the bulk gas tank is ongoing and should be complete in early July. Chairman requested that Mrs Chilvers makes sure the concrete base will be secured to the ground properly.

Website
A meeting was held on 12th June to review and finalise the Website. The first version is almost ready for release and those present received some background information in relation to the maintenance and upkeep of the site. Unfortunately, a server crash cut short the training session, which will now need to be rescheduled. The Website will be launched at the Fun Day.

Fun Day
The Fun Day is Saturday 7th July from 11am – 7pm. There will be steam engines, bands, and beer tent. There will be a last meeting on 25th June at 7pm. All are welcome.

Crime Prevention
Mr Wallington Hayes is making sure the funds are in place for the basketball hoop. The Crime Prevention Panel could not raise the funds for the Parkeston Skate Park.

Accounts for Payment
EALC	Affiliation Fee	700691	£221.50
Allianz Cornhill	Insurance	700690	£1152.30
Just Lamps (UK)	Maintenance (June)	D/D	£37.94
E-On	Street Lighting (May)	D/D	£80.91
Powergen	Village Hall Lighting (June)	D/D	£25.00
The Green Gardener	Old Burial Ground Cut	700692	£70.00
Just Lamps (UK)	Repair and Call Out	700693	£71.56
Mr N Daniels	Fun Day Expenses	500032	£70.21
Miss J Bootyman	Wages & Expenses	700694	£273.00
TOTAL			£2002.42

After being circulated, accounts were proposed as correct by Mrs Mason, seconded Mrs Hylton, carried unanimously.

The Fun Day Committee are to create a separate account for the proceeds.

TDC have invoiced us for £100.00 for the lease of Sparrows Corner.

Clerk has received a price from Bruce Landscapes for a new sign for the play area within the Recreation Ground as follows:

NO DOGS ALLOWED
UNDER 14’S ONLY


Council would prefer the sign to say:

NO DOGS ALLOWED
OR
CHILDREN OVER 14

The sign will be printed on a polycarbonate board with an aluminium frame and backing at a total cost of £109.00 + VAT (£128.07). Proposed Mr Harrington, seconded Mrs Mason, carried unanimously.

Bruce Landscapes also quoted to remove the existing timber boards forming edging to enclose the play bark surface and replace with new pressure treated timber boards (150mm x 35mm decking boards). These will be screwed to 50mm x 50mm timber stakes spaced every 2m. Although a minimum depth of 250mm of bark is required they feel one board high will be sufficient to retain the bark, as there is already a build up of bark well below the grass level.

Total Cost £275.00 + VAT (£323.12)

To supply and spread play bark, of which they expect 15 cubic metres will be required:

Total Cost £760.00 + VAT (893.00).

It was felt that this quote was a little high and we will obtain some alternative quotes.

Income
VAT repayment	£985.55
Powergen refund credited to our account	£443.30
Fee for burial	£121.00
TOTAL	£1549.85

Correspondence
All Saints Primary School have asked if we could arrange to reinstate the rubbish bin that was recently vandalised outside the school gates. They would like it to be permanently fixed with concrete if possible.

Tendring District Council
Development Framework Questionnaires
Development Framework Newsletters
Forward Plan 69
Summons & Agenda

EALC
County Update

Miscellaneous
Policing Essex

There being no further business Chairman closed meeting at 20.56.

None