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Minutes Jan 2010

Minutes January 2010

BRADWELL (with PATTISWICK) PARISH COUNCIL

9 MINUTES of the MEETING held on Monday 11 January 2010

PRESENT: Mr J Marshall (Chairman); Mrs D Tyrie (Deputy Chairman); Mr B Saville; Mr M Keepence; Mr T Speakman; Mr R Webb; Mr P Wigg

Twelve members of the public were present.

APOLOGIES: None

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS: Cllr Speakman declared a personal interest in Twin Oaks.

Cllrs Speakman and Tyrie declared a personal interest in Stisted School.

PUBLIC TIME: Support was expressed for the application for funding for Stisted School.

MINUTES:

The Minutes of the last Meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman after deletion of the final paragraph of the Public Time in the draft.

VILLAGE HALL EXTENSION

John Bedford reported that the next stage was to apply for grant funding.

PLAYING FIELD

Cllr Webb will inspect the playing fields twice during January and Cllr Wigg during February.

The Clerk advised the Council that the formal lease of the Playing Fields from Bradwell Estates expired in 2001. The lease of the Fishing Rights on the River Blackwater had also expired. There had been no formal lease prior to 1980. Despite the expiration of the lease, Bradwell Estates still invoiced the Council and the Council still paid for the use of the Playing Fields and for the Fishing Rights. The Council decided to leave the status quo as is.

Following the decision at the previous meeting, Cllr Speakman confirmed that he would remove the Meeting Place. The Clerk was asked to remove the Meeting Place from the Asset Register.

Orchard – The Heritage fruit trees have been ordered and should be ready for planting in February.

Allotments – STK Landscapes have been asked for the price of the rabbit fencing materials.

Swings – The Clerk had applied for CIF grant funding. Decision February / March 2010. Work to be carried out April – July 2010 if the grant application is successful

FINANCE

Stisted School

The Clerk had received a request for funding from Stisted School.

The Council resolved to support any fundraising events run by Stisted School and will consider ideas for fundraising.

PLANNING

09/01619/FUL

Erection of a 6m x 4m Ceramic/Art Studio 15 Forge Crescent

No comments were received, so no comment was made to BDC Planning.

ROADS: A120

Mrs Byams stated that the proposed legal action had been withdrawn and written confirmation would be forwarded to the Clerk.

Cllr Tyrie reported on behalf of the A120 Committee report attached.

Minutes of 18 December were distributed

Alan Playle, Essex Police, Head of Road Traffic Management to be invited by the Clerk to 22 January 2010 A120 Committee meeting or fortnightly thereafter

The A120 Committee will draft the questions the expert consultants are required to answer. The questions determine the power under which the Council can act and therefore any funding. The Clerk will then advise on funding or alternative sources of expertise.

Atkins have published a report on the A120 during the past 2 years, which includes speed and traffic movement data for the A120. The Clerk will provide a copy to Cllr Tyrie.

The Clerk was asked to report the defects highlighted in the report to the Highways Agency.

The Highways Agency planned work on the puffin crossing, lighting and road surfaces has not yet been completed due to the adverse weather.

The Chairman thanked the A120 Committee for its efforts.

Bus shelter

The Clerk continues to try to establish the ownership of this bus shelter.

OTHER ROADS – Forge Crescent

STK Landscapes have been advised that their landscape design for the verges on either side of the entrance to Forge Crescent has been approved by both the Parish and District Councils.

Essex County Highways have agreed to attend to the safety of the footpath.

ADOPT A PHONE BOX

The Parish Clerk had received an offer in writing to maintain the phone box on the Coggeshall Road and had therefore applied to adopt the phone box. Braintree District Council have subsequently advised that they will not now consent to the de-listing of the phone box as one objection had been received on the grounds of highway safety. BT may object. In the meantime, the offer to maintain the phone box has been passed to BT’s Customer Service Department for a response.

POLICE

PCSO Graham Heseltine reported:

Six incidents were reported in the previous month – 2 burglaries in The Street and Church Road; Criminal damage in Compasses Road; Damage to a vehicle in Compasses Road; Hare coursing and one vehicle seized for no tax and insurance.

Any information on these or any other incident should be provided to the local Police on 0300 333 444

Traffic speed measurements will be taken on the A120 in the near future.

TWIN OAKS, STISTED

The Parish Council have been invited to a meeting at 7.30 on 14 January 2010 with Stisted, Cressing and Notley Parish Councils, Braintree District Council and their planning consultant regarding a proposed Planning Application.

CONSULTATION PAPER

Essex Local Transport Plan 2011 – Councillors were reminded to respond to the questionnaire.

EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE

The draft terms of reference were adopted

“To agree a formal contract with the Parish Clerk including terms and conditions”

Committee membership will be: Cllrs Marshall, Wigg and Keepence

PAYMENTS

Audit Commission £ 138-00

RCCE - Introducing Community Led Planning Course £ 25-00

ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING

Parish Council Training Plan

Issuing of draft minutes

Salt bin for Hollies Road / A120 junction

Fundraising for Stisted School

The meeting closed at 8.25 pm

FUTURE MEETINGS

Commencing at 7.00pm in the Village Hall

8 February; 8 March; 12 April; 10 May; 14 June; 12 July; 13 September; 11 October; 8 November; 13 December

Annual Parish Meeting; Annual General Meeting 10 May

PARISH CHANNEL SWEEPING DATES FOR 2010

9 February 2010

Report of the A120 Sub Committee

Meetings held to date:-

18^th December 2009 – agreed minutes supplied.

8^th January 2010 – minutes to be supplied.

Following two meetings is has been agreed that expert advice should be sought.

Mr. Mark Harden via his litigation department has researched and recommended:-

TMS Consultancy - www.tmsconsultancy.co.uk

TMS Consultancy is an independent company specialising in consultancy, research and training services in the field of traffic management and road safety engineering.

Now with a team of 21 key staff, TMS provides services to a wide client base in both the public and private sectors throughout the UK and internationally. Their team has worked extensively within the public sector, most of whom have held senior positions within Local Authorities throughout the country. Their significant expertise and wealth of practical "hands-on" experience enables TMS to have a good understanding of the needs of both sectors. Their client base includes The Highway Agency.

Mr.David Paylor – d.paylor@freeuk.com

Lighting and Electrical Consultant, Reading , Berkshire –

Mark Harden outlined relevant details on his CV to the Committee.

The committee accepted these two recommendations and received a unanimous vote from the public. It was agreed that Mr.Harden will approach both parties to discuss their services and costs.

Mr. Harden will also investigate the possibility of a Safety Officer being available to us from the Department of Transport.

We request The Clerk to invite Mr. Alan Playle, head of Road Traffic Management, to a future meeting of the A120 Committee.

We request advice from The Parish Clerk regarding funding / grants available for the employment of Expert Consultants.

On the advice of Mr. Harden it was agreed that the A120 Committee need to continue to pressure the Highways Agency. We intend to request answers to the below outstanding issues, a letter will be issued by Cllr. Tyrie accordingly:-

1. Widths of the pathway especially at the location of the puffin crossing.

2. Speed Camera supply and which criteria were met for the speed camera opposite

Poplar Nurseries, Nr. Marks Tey.

Mrs.R.Byams has arranged a meeting on Tuesday 12^th January 2010 at 15:30 hrs outside her property with Mr.M.Grimsey of Atkins to review drainage and lighting issues affecting her property. It was agreed that a majority of the A120 Committee will also attend the meeting.

P.C. Hallworth will be installing “black box” speed monitoring equipment. He confirmed there would be at least a four week waiting period. The findings from the equipment will be supplied to the Parish Council in due course.

Cllr. Speakman informed the committee that a similar survey had been

undertaken approximately 18 months earlier. We would like any records of this survey, held by the Parish Council, made available to the committee for consideration and comparison.

It has been established via the Department of Transport website that local authorities can place speed cameras wherever they please as the rules do not preclude cameras being placed at sites that do not meet the guidelines if they contribute to the overall strategy of reducing road accident casualties. Some discretion is allowed at sites where there is genuine public concern about speeding.

We request that The Clerk investigates the costs and funding for Speed Cameras of all types.

Bollards near to the garage have no lights, which has been the case

for a number of weeks. We request that The Clerk report this to the

Highways Agency and request a date to rectify the problem.

Several large potholes have appeared in the carriageway, we request that The Clerk report this to the Highways Agency for action.

Subsequent to the island removal, a number of residents have reported

an increase in vehicles overtaking. We request that The Clerk bring this to the attention of the Highways Agency.

Marks Tey Consortium

A proposal to discover more information concerning the Marks Tey Consortium was unanimously approved.

The committee would also like other Parish Councils affected by the A120 to be advised of the committee’s existence, with an invitation to them to attend the next meeting.

The next A120 Committee meeting is scheduled for 22^nd January 2010 at 19:30 hrs at Bradwell Village Hall.