EASTWICK AND GILSTON PARISH COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN PARISH CLERK
MARK ORSON CHRISTINE LAW
89 PYE CORNER 9 CHURCH COTTAGES
GILSTON GILSTON
NR HARLOW NR HARLOW
HERTS CM20 2RD HERTS CM20 2RH
TELEPHONE 01279 453257 TELEPHONE 01279 411646
Email: Email:
DRAFT
Minutes of the Eastwick and Gilston Parish Council meeting held on Monday 10th March 2014, 8.00pm, Village Hall, Pye Corner, Gilston
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
We are required by law to have an Annual Parish Meeting each year when residents are invited to raise questions to the member of the Parish Council.
The residents that were present at this part of the meeting had no questions. Cllr Mike Newman (District Councillor) gave his annual report – attached also Cllr Roger Beeching (County Councillor) gave his annual report – attached. The meeting finished at 8.10pm.
Parish Council Business Meeting started at 8.10pm.
PRESENT: Cllrs Geddes, Harvey, Hughes, Orson,
In attendance: Christine Law (Clerk), Roger Beeching (County Council), Mike Newman (District Council), and 3 member of the public.
74 RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
- Cllr Olsen
75 RECEIVE COUNCILLOR’S DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
a) None received.
76 MINUTE FOR APPROVAL
a) The full council approved the minutes of the meeting held on 11th January 2014. Proposed by Cllr Hughes and seconded by Cllr Harvey. Cllr Orson signed them as a true record.
b) Planning meeting of the 10th February 2014. Proposed by Cllr Geddes and seconded by Cllr Hughes. Cllr Orson signed then as a true record.
77 ACCOUNTS
a) The Clerks summary of the accounts to date were proposed by Cllr Hughes and seconded by Cllr Geddes and accepted by the full council.
b) Village Hall hire for the year. This was proposed by Cllr Hughes and seconded by Cllr Geddes and a cheque was raised by £240.00
c) The Clerk wished to purchase two books; the Clerks Manual and Arnold Baker on Council Administration. This was proposed by Cllr Geddes and seconded by Cllr Harvey and accepted by the full council.
78 PLANNING AND ASSOCIATED APPLICATION
a) 25 Pye Corner, Gilston, Single & two storey side/rear extension – This has been granted by Development Management.
b) Maj – Approval of reserved matter for – application for approval of reserved matters for 3/11/0554/OP for appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for erection of 200 residential units and associated road works, landscaping, materials and Public Open Spaces – amended proposal to substitute house types on Plots 1-35 Site A and Plots 59-103 & 125 – 140 Site B - Miller Homes, Terlings Park, Gilston. Awaiting Development Control approval.
c) Terlings Park- Street Naming and numbering – the Councils suggestions for naming of the roads within the complex have been approved.
d) Terlings Park – boundary and entrance to the site. The Parish Council has made proposals to Bloor Homes for treatment of the boundary and entrance and are awaiting their response. Cllr Orson will make contact with them for an update on this and others outstanding matters.
e) East Herts Council – Draft District Plan Preferred Option Consultation – 27th February to 22nd May 2014. Comments by 22nd May 2014. This was discussed in detail and there will be a public meeting on Wednesday 16th April at High Wych Memorial Hall when residents will have the opportunity to raise questions with Mike Carver Chairman of the district plan executive panel. This event to be widely publicised.
f) Pole Hole Restoration - Cllr Orson had again invited Chay Dempster the Herts CC Case Officer to the meeting to give us an update on progress against the restoration plan but no response has been received. Cllr Orson will contact him again.
79 STOP HARLOW NORTH CAMPAIGN
Cllr Hughes reported –
a) They met on 20th January and agreed – “to strenuously object to East Herts’ District Plan Preferred Option which includes the following policy statement “land in the Gilston Area is identified as a Broad Location for Development”. We have always objected to development north of Harlow in East Herts on the basis that it is unsustainable. We will continue to do so. East Herts’ in principle agreement to major development in the Gilston area, despite all the caveats in the plan, is not supported by the evidence. We will publish details of how residents can respond to the public consultation in due course”.
b) Brochure designed and currently being printed asking resident to object before 22nd May. We need to organise mailed, 3 main methods of response:
i) Tear off “postcard” and post/leave at drop off location
ii) Website address
iii) Write to EHDC
c) Stress that everyone in household should respond.
d) Engaging planning consultant to build case against development.
e) Next SHN meeting 25th March with planning consultant.
f) Parish Council advised not to engage with Places for People for now.
g) Public meeting at High Wych on 16th April to discuss Preferred Options with EHDC.
h) Parish Councils need to publicise the meeting and get as many people to attend as possible.
80 PARISH PATHS
a) The parish paths are generally in good order with no outstanding maintenance work.
b) A resident informed the meeting that the wrong footpath has been cut by the wood yard (E29/E30). Cllr Orson with make contact with Rights of Way.
81 PARISH PLAN
a) Nothing to report.
82 HIGHWAYS
a) Cllr Harvey informed the meeting that Eastwick Hall Lane work had been completed. Burnt Mill Lane has been closed now for several months waiting for repair work to the bridge and there is no date for reopening.
b) Gilston Lane – a resident had reported pot holes in Gilston Lane via the Highways’ website and received an e-mail stating that these had been repaired. Only one pothole had been repaired. Cllr Harvey will investigate.
c) The Clerk reported that during the heavy weather part of Gilston Lane along side the brook was flooded and the retaining wall next to the brook is collapsing. The Clerk will write to the landowner about this matter.
83 VILLAGE HALL
a) Cllr Harvey reported that they have received 2 quotes for work that they would like to be carried out in the hall.
b) Cllr Orson will request a meeting with Bloor Homes to discuss their offer of assistance to carry out improvements to the car park.
84 CORRESPONDENCE
a) Cllr Orson has received an email from a resident of High Wych asking if Eastwick and Gilston would be interested in possible joint commemoration of the 1st World War centenary. Cllr Hughes agreed to follow up and discuss options.. The Clerk informed the meeting that she had the names of the men that died from both villages and would make this information available..
85 ITEMS BROUGHT FORWARD AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIRMAN FOR INFORMATION ONLY
a) None
86 ITEMS COUNCILLORS WOULD LIKE TO ADDED TO THE NEXT AGENDA
a) None.
87 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
a) The next meeting will be Monday 12th May 2014. This will be the Annual Meeting of the Council followed by the business meeting of the Parish Council.
Meeting closed at 9.20pm
District Councillor’s Annual Report to Parishes; 2014
I am pleased to present my fourth report to you as your District Councillor.
In recalling the past year it seems to me that the most significant developments regarding East Herts District are much the same as the previous year, so apologies if some of this might sound a bit familiar.
The District Plan
You will understand that EH Council has a legal responsibility to develop plans to provide housing for a growing population, and if it doesn’t do so using a process that central government confirms is ‘sound’ at each step, then it will be sent back until the centre is satisfied. So for the past 2½ years, a team of planners has been developing the District Plan to address the provision of housing in the period up to 2031. The council will not, of course, ultimately build anything itself – that will be done by the private sector responding to supply and demand in the housing market, but what the council can do is determine a of set constraints on developers so that future housing is where, and of a type and quality, that meets local needs. That, then, is the key and final deliverable from the process – a new District Plan that will replace the existing (2007) Local Plan and which provides the criteria against which all applications for development are assessed.
The process of developing a District Plan which is – and has to be seen to be – ‘sound’ is enormously complex and, I have no doubt, will give every EH resident some cause for disagreement. My personal view is that the EH team undertaking the task are doing so very thoroughly, professionally and objectively (in other words, every conclusion they reach is backed up by some evidence or other). Perhaps partly in consequence of this but equally because of delays in receiving this evidence from external sources, the original schedule fell a long way behind. A consequence of that was that, from April 2013, the National Planning Policy Framework took precedence over existing local plans in those regards where there was a conflict between the two – and in EH case (as with very many other districts) those areas of conflict were:
a. The inability to demonstrate a 5 year supply of deliverable housing sites
b. The absence of a policy which clarifies the presumption in favour of sustainable development
This effectively opened the door for developers to push through major schemes against local policies. In fact this has happened right across the country and, more locally, in Buntigford where two major schemes were recently approved on appeal in the face of strong local opposition and refusal by the EH Development Management Committee. Quite clearly, then, there is an imperative to complete the District Plan process and put a comprehensive and effective set of policies into place as soon as possible – and I am sure you are all aware of the current Public Consultation on the draft District Plan that runs through until May. When the team has amended the draft plan in light of the outcome of the public consultation, it will then go for Independent Examination to determine its ‘soundness’; although this might sound a formality, in practice it is at this stage that very many plans have been found wanting and the relevant local authority required to revise substantially their plan, including repeating the stages of public consultation, all of which adds delay. Of course all the time that authority does not have a validated plan, then the opportunity exists for developers to exploit the situation. I would strongly encourage everyone to engage with the public consultation, but to consider whether we are overall better to have a plan with some aspects that we might not be happy with, than to have no plan at all.
Of course in this parish there is one overwhelming unpalatable aspect of the draft District Plan - Harlow North. The proposition of major development ‘in the Gilston area’ remains in the plan, essentially because there is no insurmountable reason why it should not be – and if it were to have been left out then there is a fair certainty that Places For People would have kicked up during the Independent Examination to the extent that the whole plan might have been found unsound (or at least substantially delayed), with all the associated dangers I previously mentioned. However its inclusion is only on the proviso that much more work is undertaken to look at all of the infrastructure deficiencies, which means that any development is very unlikely to take happen until the second half of the 20-year period of the plan – ie well into the 2020’s. That of course gives us reasonable breathing space to continue the fight against it through the STOP Harlow North initiative, and I would encourage everyone to engage with and support that group’s efforts.
Waste collection and recycling
The new SPARC waste collection and recycling scheme has been in effect since November. Most residents seem happier that more materials can be recycled and this outweighs the penalty of having a third wheeled bin. And, of course, it will benefit the council in the longer term once the initial outlay on new bins and collection vehicles has been recouped. I, and the council, would always be happy to hear suggestions on how the system might be further improved.
Community grants
Community grants for both revenue and capital uses continue to be available from EH Council– but have to be applied for. So the message to all village organisations is one of encouragement to ask whether any grant funding may be available, and I would – of course - be happy to facilitate any such enquiry.
EHC Matters
EH and HCC (including Police) taxes continue to be frozen for the coming year – although I think residents will see a small change due to the increase in Parish Precept
Personally I have a 100% record of attendance at formal council meetings at which I would be expected to be present as well as having been ‘in attendance’ at others, and - of course - attended very many other meetings in connection with the role of District Councillor. I have received the standard allowances but claimed no other expenses.