It Was Reported That There Has Been Problems with the Post Office Not Opening for Business

Great Bentley Parish Council
DRAFT Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
6 AUGUST2015
Present / Cllr B. Herbert, (Chair), Cllr L. Edwards, Cllr C. Warder, Cllr K. Plummer, Cllr P. Balbirnie and Cllr G. Wright and approximately 30 members of public. Cllr Taylor attended from item 233.
Public Questions /

1. It was reported that there has been problems with the post office not opening for business at times recently during scheduled opening hours. A request that the Parish Council makes this an agenda item at the next meeting.
2. A request was made to set up a subcommittee to consider traffic congestion. The Clerk was asked to make this an agenda item next month.

08.15.227 / Apologies for Absence; were received from Cllr J. Hills (holiday). Cllr R. Taylor notified that he is attending an ECC Locality Meeting and will attempt to attend as soon as he can.
08.15.228 / Minutes of the last meeting:With a minor amendment made at Cllr Wright’s request, the minutes of the meeting on 7 July 2015 were proposed by Cllr Edwards, seconded by Cllr Warder and agreed as a true record of proceedings.
08.15.229 / Declarations of Interest:None.
08.15.230 / Information & Reports: Cllr Balbirnie agreed to represent GBPC on the Parish and Town Council Community Resilience Forum. The next meeting is 6pm on 8th September 2015at the Weeley Council Chamber.
08.15.231 / County and District Councillors Reports:
a)County Councillor – Cllr A. Goggin provided a summary of business of tonight’s meeting of the ECC Locality Board. The education update was stunningly good.
b)District Councillor - Cllr McWilliams advised of the TDC local plan developments and encouraged all to participate in the consultation. Voter registration has commenced. Anyone wishing to vote in next year’s PPC elections needs to register.TDC has recently been awarded a Safer Parking Award for its car parks.
08.15.232 / Other Reports:
a)PCSO Report; The Chair read out the PCSO’s report.
b)TDALC; the minutes to the last TDALC meeting and Cllr R. Taylor’s report were noted. These are attached as appendix A to this report.
c)Transport; Mr P. Harry provided a verbal report. A survey recently completed showed that there were 500-600 vehicle movements/hour through Gt Bentley. Further to a discussion with Parking Partnership officer it may be possible to secure a traffic warden presence in the village. The project to raise the railway station platform continues to be on schedule.
d)Footpaths;The Chair read out Mr D. Gollifer’s report.
e)Caretaker; No report received.
f)Village Events for GBPC/Police consideration;None.
08.15.233 / Correspondence:
a)Colne Estuary Seawall Grass Cutting; Noted.
b)GOPC Complaint about temporary 120 Road Closure;The Clerk was asked to prepare a letter asking Highways England to delay the closure until the lorries from the latest evening ferry have had a chance to use the A120. This would avoid the need for heavy vehicles to drive through the neighbouring villages.
c)New Tree on Green Request;The Clerk was asked to respond advising that the PC needs to await the tree officer’s report regarding the trees behind the cottages on Chapel Terrace before it can take a decision.
d)Request to erect an ‘A’ board outside the Pharmacy;after discussion, it was agreed that this would not be appropriate. It was noted that the Pharmacy is able to do this within its own curtilage.
e)New Road and development - land off Station Rd;Agreed.
f)Ramsey & Parkeston PC Highway Vegetation; TDC Cllr McWilliams clarified that R&PPC want information about GBPC arrangement with Highways in terms of organizing the work locally. The Clerk agreed to respond.
g)Signage Request on the Green for the Village Show; Agreed.
08.15.234 / Parish Clerk Report: The Clerk summarised his written report, a copy of which is attached as Appendix B.
a)The Clerk agreed to write to Network Rail acknowledging the conversation of 14 July 2015, thanking the contact for the clarification and asking if the Parish Council could have a copy of the SOP.
b)Councillors agreed to the request to have the Resource Centre decorated at a cost up to £400.
08.15.235 / Finance Report: A revised and updated copy of the monthly expenditure report was tabled, a copy of which is attached as Appendix C. Cllr Edwards proposed, Cllr Warder seconded it and the contents were agreed for payment.
08.15.236 / Village Green Working Party: Cllr Herbert provided a brief verbal report.
He noted that the unlet allotments had become overgrown and arrangements are being made to have them strimmed in order to reduce difficulties to the tended allotments. New keys have been cut for the allotment toilets.
Cllr Herbert referred to a letter from Mrs Bishop regarding poppy wreaths being left in place on the War Memorial. He provided an explanation of the reasons the wreath has been left on the war memorial.
Cllr Wright asked for approval to tidy up car park boundary adjacent the garden fences on Station Road. Also to cut back the hedge along the entrance northern boundary fence. Both were agreed advising that the height of the hedge should not be lowered.
08.15.237 / Memorial Plaque at New Allotments: Cllr Wright proposed erecting a memorial plaque and provided the wording to be used. The proposal was seconded by Cllr Warder and agreed.
08.15.238 / Affordable Housing Survey: It was agreed that if agreed then this work should be completed in conjunction with TDC. The Clerk agreed to contact TDC to ask for advice on how best to proceed with a survey.
08.15.239 / Station Road/Southside Double-Kerb Project: The Clerk reported that Friends of the Green (FoG) had agreed to part fund the work to the value of £2,000 and he received a cheque for that amount. It was agreed to forward a letter thanking FoG for its contribution. The work will commence on 21 September and take two weeks to complete.
08.15.240 / Audio Recordings: The Clerk reported that further to a recent incident he would like the Parish Council to consider agreeing to publish the audio recordings of Parish Council meetings on the Parish Council website. A discussion ensued and it was agreed that before a decision could be taken, a technical analysis needs to be completed to ascertain whether the audio recordings are of sufficient quality to be published and if the website has the capacity for audio recordings.
08.15.241 / Parish Councillor Vacancy: The Clerk reported that now that two nominations have been received, an election will take place on 3 September. The Statement of Nominated Persons will be published tomorrow.
08.15.242 / Future Agenda Items: To note requests for future agenda items.

1. Public Engagement.(Oct)
2. Post Office (Sep)
3. Traffic Congestion (Sep)
4. Public Engagement. (Oct)
5. Signage outside the Resource Centre (Oct)

Public Questions /

1. It was noted that the next PC meeting is scheduled on 3 September, the same day as the parish councillor election.
2. It was suggested that tonight’s meeting is the nearest thing to public engagement. Morale among residents is low at moment sue to a number of issues, particularly the planning issues.It was suggested that the PC needs a ‘feel-good’ project (e.g. post office) to win favour with residents.
3. It was suggested that the PC sets up a subcommittee to address the local planning issues.
4. What does the PC mean by affordable housing?The terms of reference for any survey should be carefully considered.
5. It was noted that the profitability or otherwise of the circus is not the villages concern and should not be a consideration when requiring a donation form the circus.
6. It was reported that the base for the new bus shelter at Thorrington Road has been installed.
7. Confirmation was received that the Post Office was not open for business twice last week. The village may be in danger of losing this vital service.

APPENDIX A

Report from Tendring District Association of Local Councils

6/8/2015

Notes from the last meeting.

Chairman’s Report –The Secretary read out a message from him which indicated that he would be willing to continue as Chairman if the meeting so wished.

Accounts for the period 2014-12015 - These were adopted subject to examination. The variable rate for membership fees was raised and, after a short discussion, the Secretary was instructed to find out what was the reasoning behind the scale of fees.

Election of Officers:

NominatedProposerSeconderVote

ChairmanRobert TaylorJosè PowellMartin RaynerUnanimous

Vice-ChairmanJosè PowellAndy ErskineRobert BuckeUnanimous

SecretaryJanet RussellJosè PowellVivien ChapmnUnanimous

Matters of Concern for members

Highways - The resurfacing of the A120 being scheduled for overnight working for ten nights during August was causing anxiety for all the parishes on either side of the road from Horsley Cross to Ramsey and Parkeston. Of particular worry was the delays to traffic from the late arrival ferry when it was dark and drivers who did not know the roads could misjudge the narrow carriageway and the sharp corners in the side roads to be used for diversions. It was reported that on the previous occasion when this had been tried, the works had been abandoned after two nights due to the tail back holding up offloading the ferry by up to two and a half hours. Also of concern was the likely damage to the margins of the smaller roads due to heavy vehicles churning up the verges and breaking up the edges of the metalled surface.

It was reported that the Highways Agency had decided against a convoy system with one lane being resurfaced at a time. The Secretary was instructed to write to the Highways Agency expressing the concerns of TDALC members.

It was then reported that members of TDC had been invited to County Hall to hear a presentation on Highways Maintenance matters and some of them had expressed the preference for the County Highways people to come to Tendring District instead.

The state of the unkempt verges was also raised and the danger the height of the weeds caused by reduced visibility on bends and at junctions.

Planning - The view was expressed that parishes should be informed of the progress being made with the Draft Local Plan since the previous draft was withdrawn before it was rejected by the Inspectorate. Members were reminded that the National Development Framework brought in by the government was predisposed to approval of applications unless the harm the proposal would cause would be greater than the benefit; TDC’s refusal of a large development proposed for Alresford would be a test case to see if the reasons for refusal were valid in the Inspector’s eyes.

It was pointed out that an application for a site which officers had not included in the Draft Plan was more likely to be refused and that refusal upheld at an enquiry if the harm could be shown to be more than the benefit.

Due to the lack of an agreed Local Plan, a flurry of applications for larger developments was expected. However, it was pointed out that most of the approved sites in the previous Draft Local Plan would not be developed within the timescale of the proposed Draft Local Plan simply because there were insufficient bricks and other building materials for that many properties. It was also reported that developers would try out more aggressive applications in an attempt to hold TDC to ransom.

Members were told that the possible reasons for refusal which could be considered as harm were: that the infrastructure was not suitable and that the Highways authority believed that the development could cause danger to road users; schools and medical facilities not being able to cope and the application being contrary to TDC planning policies no longer hold water, however, those policies agreed for the draft plan which had been withdrawn did hold some weight.

It was pointed out that the new Local Plan would be in force until 2031 and that all planning issues were regulated by Whitehall.

Members asked for clarification of the timetable for planning applications and were told that for small developments (under 10 properties) there were 8 weeks to determination from the date of validation; for large developments (more than 10 properties) it was 13 weeks; also, there was now 28 days from the application being validated for comment and consultation and for a Ward member to “call in” the application so that it would be taken to Committee rather than dealt with by an officer. It was pointed out that the officers used professional judgement on all applications whereas the Committee was made up of councillors from all round the Tendring District who may not know the site or surrounding area. Should Town or Parish Councillors wish to see an application go to Committee for determination, they also had 28 days to get one of their Ward members to “call it in”. It was politic to check on the Planning Website for when the validation date was as the lists published were somewhat unclear.

Finally, it was pointed out that the increase in the number of planning applications would most likely produce an increase in appeals which, in turn, would delay enquiries due to the heavy workload at the Inspectorate, including scrutiny Draft Local Plans, so that it was very difficult to estimate the time scale for an appeal to be heard - as a result it was just possible that developers may withdraw their appeals.

Waste Transfer - The Waste Transfer site on the A120 was causing problems with litter along that stretch of the highway. Lorries were shedding their loads (mainly of paper) as they drove towards Colchester, many not being netted to contain the waste. It was suggested that witnesses to these lawbreaking vehicles should note the registration number and report them to the Highways Agency and both County and District Councils.

Maintenance of Grassed Areas of Estates - It was reported that in some areas the grass was being maintained to a very high standard and verges were more like lawns than roadside verge and that nearby the weeds and grasses were so high as to be a danger for all road users. It was also reported that a wall had been demolished and rebuilt further back to improve the site lines at one junction and the resulting wider verge was so overgrown that the site line was much worse that when the wall was there. The view was expressed that some bits of verge were not acknowledged to be any particular authority’s responsibility.

Christmas Lights - It was reported that the Christmas lights in Frinton had been put up and three days prior to Christmas the council had been instructed to remove them by ECC as the lampposts were not strong enough because there were brackets for hanging flower baskets on these posts as well; the brackets had been removed and the lights remained; now, however, the brackets are not allowed to be put back ready for the flower baskets. The members from Frinton and Walton Town Council wanted to know what other areas had done to overcome this nonsense. No solution seemed to be possible to everyone’s annoyance.

APPENDIX B

REPORT OF THE PARISH CLERK

6 August 2015

1. Essex Best Kept Village of the Year 2015: Notice has been received from the Essex Association of Local Council’s that Great Bentley was awarded a Merit Award at the recent awards ceremony.

1. Railway Level Crossing Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s): Further to the meeting on 5 March 2015 when the Clerk was asked to contact Network Rail to obtain a copy of the service level agreement (item 03.15.149i refers), I was contacted by phone on 14 July. I was informed that no service level agreement exists but that SOP’s govern how level crossings operate. There is no one size fits all SOP. How individual crossings operate depends on a variety of factors including construction of the barriers, line speed, proximity to a station, how busy the road is, how ‘built up’ the immediate vicinity is and whether it is a staffed or automatically operated crossing.

1. Railway Level Crossing Survey: Mr Ken Drew completed a second survey of the level crossing in June, July and August adopting a low profile as requested. His report of his findings support the findings of his initial report. A copy of the report was circulated to members and will be included in the minutes of Parish Council meeting.

1. Circus Tyanna Visit: The circus visited the village on 12–19 July. No reports of problems were received. The Clerk agreed to allow the Circus to use water from the standpipe on the Green and will be forwarding an invoice to cover the cost of the water used. I would like it noted that unlike the other annual large events on the Green e.g. The Carnival, the Circus made no voluntary donation for its use of the Village Green.

1. Information Technology Support: I am in discussion with the company that currently provides the Parish Council’s computer support. The aim is to secure an increased level of service and improve security and resilience.

1. Double Kerbing on Southside: Further to the last Parish Council meeting, Friends of the Green has agreed to part fund the double kerbing works to the value of £2,000. An order has been placed with DA Cant Ltd. The works are scheduled to commence on 21 September 2015 and will take two weeks to complete.

1. Office Redecoration: I have received a quotation to redecorate the office. In doing so I wish to replace the curtains with a set of vertical blinds. The work, if agreed, can be undertaken for a cost of under £400 including labour and materials.

1. Community Initiatives Fund (CIF): You will recall that the Parish Council was unsuccessful in its 2014 application for funding to improve the entrance to Station Car Park. I have taken the opportunity to submit an expression of interest to CIF for the same project again this year.

Kevin Harkin