EPPING UPLAND PARISH COUNCIL

12th May 2008

MINUTES OF PARISH MEETING

The Parish Meeting of Epping Upland was held Monday 12^th May 2008 at 7.00 pm at Epping Green Chapel.

Those present were:  Cllr Alan Mansfield - Vice-Chairman of Epping Upland Parish Council

                                                4 Parish Councillors

                                                4 Members of the Public

In Attendance:                     Mrs Valarie Slade - Clerk to the Parish Council

1.        Welcome by the Chairman of the Council

Councillor Alan Mansfield, Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council, took the chair and welcomed everyone to the meeting.  He especially thanked David Sanders for attending and for agreeing to give a Presentation on behalf of Stop Stansted Expansion after close of the business meeting.

He advised that Penny Smith, Chair of the Council had extended her apologies for absence and that as Vice-Chair he would chair this meeting.

2.   Minutes of the Parish Meeting held 14^th May 2007

The Minutes of the Parish Meeting held 14^th May 2007, having been previously circulated, were confirmed as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.

3.  Resumé of Annual Report

The Chair referred to the Annual Report and highlighted various points of the Chairman's Report. 

He brought to the attention of those present the untimely and unexpected death of Cllr Rev Canon Chris Bard in September 2007 and was pleased to advise that Tom Smith was subsequently co-opted to the Council two months later.  He also advised that the clerk has submitted her notice of resignation and thanked her for the past 14 years of excellent service and for her hard work, especially in gaining Quality Status for the Council in June 2006.

He continued by thanking Penny Smith and his fellow Councillors for their hard work during the past year and advised the members of the public present that Councillors gave up their free time working for the parish.

The Chairman also referred to the précis of annual accounts contained within the Annual Report.

4.  Questions from the Public

A member of the public expressed concern that a number of heavy goods vehicles continue to use the B181 through Epping Green village and the Vice-Chairman advised that although HGV weight restrictions have been introduced to Rye Hill Road and Upland Road within the past two years, it has been suggested that HGV drivers are not aware of local roads and rely on their GPS signals which are not programmed to identify such local road weight restrictions.  He also advised this was an ongoing concern of the Parish Council but it was regretfully acknowledged the problem was low priority for the local police. 

Another resident reminded those present of a recent problem regarding a water leak at the top of Pump Lane and the possible suggestion that the problem was caused by an unidentified well.   A Councillor advised that having made extensive enquiries the conclusion is that this leak is caused by a natural spring and that ongoing investigations were being carried out to determine the exact cause before the problem can be eradicated.

There being no other questions from the public the Vice-Chairman thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 7.30pm