Myland Community Council
Minutes of the meeting of the Community Council held on Wednesday 9th December 2015, 7.30pm, at Mile End Methodist Church Hall, Nayland Road, Colchester.
Present: / Cllr Pete Hewitt (Chair) / Cllr John DicksonCllr John Stewart (Vice Chair) / Cllr Martin Goss
Cllr Evelyn Agyekum / Cllr Carolyne Hurst
Cllr Richard Beauchamp / Cllr Robert Johnstone
Cllr David Clouston / Cllr Peter Pipik
Cllr Jean Dickinson
There were no members of the public present.
172-15/16 Apologies
Cllrs Cardle, C Clouston, Graham, Gray, McGonagle and Sutcliffe.
173-15/16 Declarations of Interest
There were none.
174-15/16 Have your say
There were none.
175-15/16 Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 11th November 2015 to be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
Proposed: Cllr Stewart Seconded: Cllr Hurst (10 For; 1 Abstention)
176-15/16 Update on progress of resolutions made at the last meeting
The Chair referred to Item 164-15/16 and said this would be dealt with under the relevant item on this agenda.
He referred to Item 164a-15/16 and said that an application requesting the implementation of a prohibition on heavy goods vehicles using Mill Road, Colchester between Severalls Lane and the Via Urbis Romanae (VUR) had been made by MCC to ECC’s LHP.
177-15/16 Chairman’s Report
The Chairman said following the work that Cllr Dickinson and the Assistant Clerk had done on community facilities on Severalls and Chesterwell it had been decided that the MCC January meeting would focus on discussing this issue including how to engage with the community.
He said that during precept discussions two requests for money for professional fees had been made. He said Cllr Dickinson was looking for professional checking of her figures on the proposed community centres by a firm of quantity surveyors, and the Footpaths Group would like to pay a firm to undertake a feasibility study for a bridge over the A12 to connect FP39. He said regarding the latter that CBC would be offering grants for worthy causes and that the process for this would be announced in the next couple of days. He said MCC were also getting more information on the aborted crossing further up the A12 at the Northern Gateway.
Cllr Johnstone said he would expect CBC’s information to be minimal, probably no more than a ball-park figure.
178-15/16 Clerk’s Report
The Clerk said that she had circulated a guide to the conduct of meetings including the production of minutes and agendas. She said it was a short version of MCC’s Standing Orders. She said if anyone noticed spelling mistakes or other minor mistakes when minutes were circulated prior to meetings they should inform her or the Assistant Clerk by phone or email.
She said she had been in discussion with CBC’s Enforcement Officer regarding a tree and fence next to the War Memorial. She said the fence had been put in the wrong place but that the Enforcement Officer had said it would not be expedient to move it. She said she had pointed out that this would cause subsequent legal problems over who owned the tree when the adjacent property was sold. She said CBC had agreed the fence should be moved.
She said she had changed electricity suppliers from N-Power to E-on who had offered a better deal.
She said the Community Office would close for Christmas at 12.30pm on Christmas Eve and that all Councillors were welcome to join her and the Assistant Clerk in the Bricklayers after this time.
179-15/16 Finance - To consider and possibly resolve to approve details of expenditure and income to date.
It was resolved to approve details of expenditure and income to date.
Proposed: Cllr Dickinson Seconded: Cllr Goss (10 For; 1 Abstention)
Income
Date / Amount / Received from / Type17-Nov-15 / 45.00 / Mayne Vets / Mylander Nov
19-Nov-15 / 70.00 / Gillian Acland (Revival Hypnotherapy / Mylander Aug
24-Nov-15 / 45.00 / K Kane (Rainbow Pre-school) / Mylander Nov
25-Nov-15 / 70.00 / Gillian Acland (Revival Hypnotherapy) / Mylander Nov
26-Nov-15 / 70.00 / M Buxton (Buxton Plumbing) / Mylander Nov
26-Nov-15 / 45.00 / Brunning Catering (Shepherd and Dog) / Mylander Aug
26-Nov-15 / 425.00 / Mr T Smith t/a Fred Smiths Christmas Trees / Mylander Nov
30-Nov-15 / 70.00 / Mr & Mrs Newton (Gravity Home & Property Mtce) / Mylander Nov
02-Dec-15 / 45.00 / Carisma Bodytech / Mylander Nov
07-Dec-15 / 130.00 / Will Quince / Mylander Nov
07-Dec-15 / 6.34 / Barclays / Qtr 3 interest
Expenses
Date / Amount / Paid to / Type15-Oct-15 / 218.00 / Community Centre Fund / Fete 2015 – Grant
15-Oct-15 / 135.00 / Friends of Myland / Fete 2015 – Grant
15-Oct-15 / 100.00 / Churches Together / Fete 2015 – Grant
15-Oct-15 / 100.00 / Mile End Art Group / Fete 2015 – Grant
15-Oct-15 / 135.00 / Mile End WI / Fete 2015 – Grant
15-Oct-15 / 100.00 / 1st Myland Scout Group / Fete 2015 – Grant
15-Oct-15 / 100.00 / Gt Horkesley Table Tennis Club / Fete 2015 – Grant
23-Oct-15 / 100.00 / Girl Guiding Myland / Fete 2015 – Grant
23-Oct-15 / 29.60 / Cllr J Stewart / Councillor Training Expenses
23-Oct-15 / 127.15 / E & J Fire and Security Ltd / Building & Mtce costs
23-Oct-15 / 70.00 / EALC / Asst Clerk Training Course
11-Nov-15 / 63.90 / BT / Broadband
15-Nov-15 / 20.00 / Contract Services / Cleaning
16-Nov-15 / 34.50 / Mile End Methodist Church / Community Council Meeting
16-Nov-15 / 40.38 / Copy IT / Office Equipment & Mtce
16-Nov-15 / 30.00 / M & K Gardens / Gardening
16-Nov-15 / 320.00 / M & K Gardens / Community Garden clearance
16-Nov-15 / 2,268.00 / Green Square Communications / Mylander Nov 2015 printing
16-Nov-15 / 226.00 / C Pearne / Mylander Nov 2015 delivery
23-Nov-15 / 20.18 / Titan Telecom / Phone
26-Nov-15 / 3.50 / H Harris / Office Expenses
26-Nov-15 / 3,964.71 / Various / Staff Costs
26-Nov-15 / 5.98 / H Duin / Expenses - Rivets
26-Nov-15 / 27.80 / K Kane / Training Expenses
180-15/16 To consider and possibly resolve to agree Budget/Precept 2016-17 as recommended by the Finance & Staffing Committee
It was resolved to agree Budget/Precept 2016/17 as recommended by the Finance & Staffing Committee (20% increase).
Proposed: Cllr Hewitt Seconded: Cllr Goss (9 For; 1 Against; 1 Abstention)
181-15/16 To consider and possibly resolve to agree the proposed 2016 meeting dates, as recommended by the Finance & Staffing Committee
It was resolved to agree the proposed 2016 meeting dates, as recommended by the Finance & Staffing Committee
Proposed: Cllr Hewitt Seconded: Cllr Beauchamp (Unanimous)
182-15/16 To consider and possibly resolve to hold the Myland Fete in 2016
It was resolved to hold the Myland Fete in 2016.
Proposed: Cllr Hurst Seconded: Cllr Dickson (Unanimous)
183-15/16 If 182-15/16 is resolved, to consider and possibly resolve that the 2016 Myland Fete be underwritten by Myland Community Council up to £1,200
It was resolved that the 2016 Myland Fete be underwritten by Myland Community Council up to £1,200
184-15/16 To receive reports from Councillors including updates from Champions
Cllr Hewitt said he had read the papers going to the next CBC Local Plan Committee meeting. He said made the following points:
· Consideration was being given to 'Garden Settlements' (Observation only)
· Report on current levels of Affordable Housing Delivery 2015/16 - 137 2016/17 - 11 / 2017/18 - 108 - "The Council is looking at remedial action to boost supply through use of the New Homes Bonus" (Issue, the NHB or some of it should be coming our way to mitigate against bearing brunt of development which is what the NHB is supposed to be used for.)
· Local Development Scheme revision - M&B Neighbourhood Plan can now be reported as formally submitted. (Observation for sake of accuracy)
· Authority Monitoring Report - North Station Master Plan draft will form part of new Local Plan Preferred Options report (Observation only)
· Draft Strategic Land Availability Assessment and Sustainability Appraisal / Garden Settlement Framework. See PAGE 114 of document pack Response to consultation on the assessment framework for SLAA and SA & GS.
Gladman Developments comment - "With regard to Neighbourhood Plans Gladman strongly believe that this criteria should be removed entirely from the assessment process"
CBC response - "This criteria does not inform the overall rating of a site - so it is agreed that it may be better to put the information in the planning history/background information box at the beginning of the assessment. A change to the framework is therefore proposed."
(Issue - Surely the presence of a NP is core to assessment criteria. A NP might contain information/policies entirely relevant to site suitability. The Gladman comments appear to be an attempt to downgrade the value of NP's and is against the spirit of their purpose as defined in the Localism Act. The proposed framework change should be denied.)
Cllr Johnstone said that he had recently attended a CALC meeting. He said 29 Parish Councils were now members which was 100% membership. He said a report had been given about the LHP. He said the last meeting of the LHP had been 2nd June 2016 and that the Panel had apparently not met because of party political wrangling between ECC and CBC over the make-up of the panel. He said the LHP was supposed to meet four times a year
He said he had attended a meeting of the ELAF. He said Vincent Pearce should have been the guest speaker but had sent his apologies. He said he had spoken to Gary White about the proposed cycleway down Mile End Road, which Cllr Johnstone said went against Dept. of Transport policy. He said Gary White had said he would look into this. He said he had also spoken to Gary White about the lack of acknowledgement from ECC that Fords Lane was a PRoW. He said Gary White had apologised for not picking this up sooner.
185-15/16 To receive reports from Working Groups – maximum two minutes each
Community Working Group - Cllr Hurst said that the Group would be meeting on Monday 14th December 2015. She said the fete and the Myland Order of Merit would be on the agenda. She said Mr Patrick Mills had three candidates for the latter. She said that following on from a subject raised at the Clerk’s appraisal she would like to ask Councillors to give up a couple of hours on a Saturday in January to help move stuff in the office to improve its appearance and make access easier for the staff.
Footpaths Working Group - Cllr Johnstone said that the Footpaths Group would be meeting on 16th December 2015. He said that they had met with David Cresswell on 25th November to discuss the feasibility study for the proposed bridge over the A12. He said Mr Cresswell had provided a quotation of £6,450 plus VAT for a multi-stranded feasibility study which had been put to the F & S committee. The Clerk said that because of the level of the request it would need to be put to a full Council meeting.
Neighbourhood Plan Working Group - Cllr Hewitt said that the Neighbourhood Plan had been formally submitted. He said that Sarah Pullin was leaving CBC to work in Cambridge. He said that he had sent a card on MCC’s behalf thanking her for all her support. He said he had floated the idea of a referendum in May 2016 to tie in with local elections. He said if this was not possible he would like to see a postal vote to encourage a higher response. He said MCC would need to monitor the Plan’s progress, to ensure that momentum was not lost with the departure of Sarah Pullin. He said that the role of the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group would need to be considered.
186-15/16 Reports by Ward Councillors
Cllr Goss said he had been looking into issues arising out of the Crest Nicholson development which had concerned residents. He said he had also been involved with problems on the Northfields development and that in general it was business as usual.
187-15/16 Report by County Councillor
There was no report.
188-15/16 Planning & Development Policy Committee
Copies of Planning & Development Policy Committee minutes of the meetings held on 21st October 2015 and 18th November 2015 were received.
189-15/16 Finance & Staffing Committee
The minutes of the meeting of the Finance and Staffing Committee held on 29th October 2015 were received. The minutes of the meeting held on 3rd December were not yet approved.
Cllr Dickinson said she had received a request from Cllr Graham to provide evidence for the shortfall in funding for the proposed community centres. She said she had approached three local firms for quotations to look at her figures and provide the evidence required.
190-15/16 Date of next meeting: Wednesday 27th January 2016, 7.30pm at Mile End Methodist Church Hall, Nayland Road
The meeting closed at 8.41pm.
Cllr Pete Hewitt …………………………………………………..
Chairman
List of abbreviations: Cllr – Councillor NALC – National Association of Local Councils