MINUTES of the Much Hadham Annual Parish Council meeting held on Tuesday,

11 May 2010, at 7.30 pm in the Green Tye Mission Hall.

ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

RESOLVED that Cllr Dillon be duly elected to serve as Chairman of the Parish Council for the ensuing civic year.

DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE

To note that Cllr Dillon duly signed his acceptance of office.

ELECTION OF VICE CHAIRMAN

RESOLVED that Cllr Compton be duly elected to serve as Vice Chairman of the Parish Council for the ensuing civic year.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

None.

MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING HELD ON 9 MARCH 2010

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the last meeting held on 9 March 2010 be accepted as a correct record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

MATTERS ARISING

1.         Green Tye Village Green

A letter had been written to residents fronting the Village Green referring to the indiscriminate parking taking place on the Green, which was owned by the Parish Council and over which there were no vehicular rights.

RESIDENTS’ COMMENTS

1.         Parking of Vehicles

A resident requested an assurance that something was being done to address the indiscriminate parking of vehicles in the vicinity of Westbury House and the Old Post Office.

The Chairman stated that this was a Police matter and that attention would be drawn to the concerns raised.

2.         North Leys

Concerns were raised concerning the erection of two timber buildings on land behind North Leys.

The Chairman stated that the matter had been referred to the Enforcement Officer (EHC) who was due to meet with the owner’s agent shortly.  Cllr Carver had agreed to supply the Chairman with a report of the proceedings.

3.         Plant Sale – Much Hadham Village Hall (1 May 2010)

Concerns were expressed that there had been a considerable amount of flyposting advertising the above event and the organisers had not sought the permission of the Village Hall Committee to site the event on the Village Hall forecourt.  It was also questioned whether the organisers had a licence for undertaking the event.  Members were informed that for future events agreement had been obtained to hold the sales at the Museum.

Nevertheless, it was felt that a letter should be forwarded to the organisers deprecating the excessive flyposting.  Cllr Tate agreed to supply the Clerk with contact details.

PLANNING

To note the attached schedule of planning matters.  (See Appendix B)

Members referred to items 5 and 6 in respect of “Lawful use” and were concerned that the Parish Council had not been consulted on what were in effect retrospective planning applications.  The Clerk was requested to obtain a copy of the officer’s report in respect of both applications.

Harlow North

Cllr Morris gave members an update on the current position and he confirmed that to date no planning application had been submitted.

PARISH PATHS PARTNERSHIP

Cllr Mrs Fowler stated that she had been liaising with former Councillor,

Mrs Carmel Naughton, on all matters relating to her role as Parish Ambassador and contact would be made with the PPP officer at Hertfordshire County Council and

Mr Robin Rogers.  The siting of the benches acquired through the PPP and the installation of the Parish Maps would be pursued.

Cllr Morris referred to FP26 in Church Lane which needed to be redressed and to the condition of FP 18 behind the church.  A further reference was made to the pathway from the Congregational Church to the Scout Hut.  Cllr Carver had agreed to pursue ownership with the County Council.

STANSTED AIRPORT RELATED MATTERS

The Chairman stated that things had been a little quiet recently.  BAA’s passenger traffic was down 22.7% on the same month last year due to the volcanic ash cloud which had closed UK airspace for seven days.

The Chairman gave the following information:

The losses attributable to Stansted for April amounted to 330,000 passenger numbers (21% of expected traffic).

Passenger figures from January 2010 to April 2010 – 5m - a reduction of 10.3%

From May 2009 to April 2010      - 19.4m – a reduction of 9.5%

Air traffic movements from May 2009 to April 2010 – 151,760 – a reduction of 9.5%

Cargo movements (metric tonnes) from May 2009 to April 2010 – 190,881 – an increase of 1.2%

The Chairman further stated that BAA’s appeal to the Competition Commission was due to be heard on 21 June 2010.

HIGHWAYS MATTERS

Cllr Bird stated that greater use is being made of the electronic reporting system and members of the public had been encouraged to participate fully.  The recent bad weather had exacerbated the various highway problems.  However, the situation was gradually improving with more remedial work being undertaken.  Watery Lane had taken sometime to be repaired, but work to repair the large pothole had now been undertaken.

Cllr Morris referred to a large pothole situated in Church Lane and to the fact that the missing village name sign on the B1004 had still not been replaced.

Cllr Williams informed members that discussions were still ongoing in respect of Gingercress Farm with compensation sums yet to be finalised.  Cllr Williams would continue to pursue this matter.

Cllr Bird referred to the vehicular activity at the Golf Club and he expressed his concern that at least 50% of those entering the site were unsheeted.  This was accepted to be a Traffic Regulation Offence and not a planning matter.  The owner of the Golf Club (Mr Bailey) was monitoring the situation and had introduced a strict monitoring regime.

Cllr Mrs Tate expressed her concern regarding the number of passing places which were being used for the parking of vehicles acknowledging that this was a Police matter.

PARISH PLAN

Cllr Williams informed members that an initial twenty-one page questionnaire had been produced.  The next stage was to scrutinise the contents with a view to compiling a scaled-down version eliminating any duplication.  It was hoped that such a document would be available before the end of July 2010 following which a decision would need to be taken as to how the document was to be distributed.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS 2009/2010

Members had been circulated with a copy of the financial accounts and supporting statement for the financial year 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010, together with the Annual Return for submission to the Audit Commission.

RESOLVED that the accounts be approved and delegated powers be given to the Chairman to sign the Annual Return.

PAYMENT OF ACCOUNTS AND CURRENT FINANCIAL STATEMENT

(i)         Payment of Accounts

RESOLVED that the accounts as set out on the attached schedule be duly authorised for payment.  (See Appendix C)

(ii)        Financial Statement

RESOLVED that the contents of the attached statement be received.  (See Appendix D)

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

1.         Siting of Dog Waste Bin

Cllr Mrs Tate referred to the decision of the Parish Council to site a dog bin in the vicinity of the Much Hadham Village Hall and she advised that the Management Committee had suggested that it be sited on Tansley Bank.

Members felt the site to be totally inappropriate and agreed that Cllr Compton discuss a revised siting with the Management Committee to resolve the issue.

2.         Siting of Benches

It was agreed that Cllr Bird and Cllr Mrs Fowler be given delegated powers to agree the siting.

3.         The Causeway, Much Hadham

The Chairman referred to a letter received from Mr Noel Thurgood expressing his concern at the recent strimming of the north bank which prematurely cut back the post flowering daffodils.  After some discussion, it became clear that no member of Council had authorised the strimming, no members knew who had authorised the work and no members was sure who was the contractor.  It was decided that, when the identity of the contractor had been ascertained he should be told not to strim the daffodils until the bulbs had had a chance to die down.

4.         Future Minutes

Cllr Williams asked that future Minutes have included against actionable items, the initials of those tasked.  This was agreed.

CONFIRMATION OF DATE OF NEXT MEETING

It was confirmed that the next meeting would be held on Tuesday, 13 July 2010.