Minutes of the Meeting of the Great Burstead and South Green Village Council, held at

South Green Memorial Hall,Southend Road, Billericay

on Wednesday 4th January 2012 at 7.30pm

Present:

Councillor M Dear - Chair

Councillor Wakelin

Councillor John Dear

Councillor Aly-Khan

Councillor Cundy

CouncillorLawrence

Councillor Thomson

Clerk of the Council: Martin Ainscough

1 resident

12/1Chairman’s Welcome

The chairwelcomed those present to the meeting and explained the Public Participation Protocol. The Chair explained to Councillors and residents that if they wished to speak they should raise their hand, the Chair will acknowledge the Councillor/resident and record their name, once the Chair has acknowledged those wanting to speak the speaker is requested to lower their arm and will be called upon in order of that recorded by the Chair.

12/2Apologies

None (*)

(*) Following the meeting the Clerk noted that an email had been received from Councillor Kelly prior to the start of the meeting which indicated that due to the adverse weather conditions on the evening of the meeting she was stuck in traffic and probably would not make the meeting.

12/3Declarations of Interest

None

12/4 Minutes

Minutes of the 7th December 2011 were recorded as a true record of the meeting and signed by the Chair subject to the following amendments:-

The deletion of the word “Wallace” & replaced by “Lawrence” under those Present,

The addition of Cllr K.Twitchen to those in attendance from 9.30 – 9.45 p.m.

The addition of the actual amounts under Item 11/209 – being £2,500 & £2,000 respectively for the commerative coins and Street Party Fund agreed by the Council to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, and the change of Cheque No 560 to read 600 under Item 11/213/C

12/5Public Participation

Litter Issues in the vicinity of Grange Road, the Green & surrounding areas. / The Council noted the issue of litter raised by a local resident in the vicinity of Grange Road & surrounding areas. It was noted that the Council had spent a lot of time & energy over recent years trying to ensure that the issue of litter throughout the village improved. A number of initiatives had been tried with various parties & organisations and while the situation did improve in the short term the problem is still very much on going. It was suggested that the Street Scene officers at Barleylands recycling depot could be contacted to see if they could suggest any solutions while the possibility of increased patrols and spot fines imposed by Basildon Council Litter wardens would also be explored.
Speeding issues / Councillor M. Dear reported that the matter of speeding in various locations within the village had been highlighted and discussed at the recently held Local Councils’ Liaison meeting. It was noted that the leader of Basildon Council T. Ball would be writing to the appropriate organisations on this matter.
Planning application for the Erection of a Telecommunications Mast at Hunters Way / The meeting was informed that this application had been refused by Basildon Borough Council’s Planning Committee.

12/6 Grant application – South Green Memorial Hall

The Council received an application from the South Green Memorial Hall Trustees for a grant of £1,000 towards the recent refurbishment work that had been undertaken. It was noted that some enhancements had been made to the fabric of the Hall including a number of improvements following the disability audit on the premises. However, it was felt that insufficient information had been provided as to what the funds would be used for and the Clerk was therefore instructed to write to the Trustees for clarification before a decision was taken as to whether to agree to grant aid them or not.

Proposed: - Cllr M. Dear

Seconded: Cllr Aly-Khan

All in favour

12/7 Planning

11/01261/FULL / 31 Stonechat Road, Billericay, CM11 2NZ / Rear Conservatory & First Floor addition to existing Bedroom / No Objections
11/01265/FULL / 24 The Rowans / Rear Ground Floor Flat Roof Extension / No Objections
11/01346/FULL / 41 Kennel Lane, Billericay, CM11 2SN / Single Storey Side Extension / There was no objection in principle to this application, however it was noted that the proposed extension might require the removal of a mature tree on the adjacent site, but there was no tree shown on any of the plans submitted in support of the application.

12/8Finance

To approve payments

Payee / Cheque number / Details / Amount
Martin Ainscough 00601 / Salary / £ 445.63
Councillor Aly-Khan 000602 / Travelling Expenses – EALC Course – 15/1/11 / £27.00
H.M.R.C. 00603 / Income Tax / £ 111.40
Martin Ainscough 000604 / General Expenses – plus Telephone & Broadband contributions for Oct, Nov, Dec’. / £160.11
Piggott’s Ltd 000605 / 2nd Instalment for Christmas Lights / £810.00

12/9 Future meeting dates

1st February 2012

7th March 2012

4th April 2012

The meeting also wished to record their thanks to the Clerk for all his hard work in ensuring that the Christmas Lights actually worked. It was noted that this was the first time for a number of years that the lights had worked properly for the duration of the festive period.

12/10 Meeting closed

The Meeting closed at 8.20p.m.