MINUTES OF SIBLE HEDINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT THE VILLAGE HALL, PARKFIELDS, SIBLE HEDINGHAM ON MONDAY 14TH APRIL 2008 AT 7.30 P.M.

In the chair: Mr. J. Skittrall
Present: Councillors S. Brown, C. Cannell, R. Falco, R. Green, G. Massey, V. Mullender, M. Rudge, E. Snarey and A. Weatherley
Mr. A. Corder-Birch (Clerk)
Mr. D. Finch (County Councillor) & Mr. J. Tame (Youth Councillor)

1. Apologies for absence
Cllrs: J. Beavis (attending BDC meeting), A. Law (holiday), F. Swallow (attending BDC meeting) and W. Scattergood.

2. Declarations of interest
There were no declarations of interest.

3. To confirm minutes of previous meeting held 10th March 2008
The minutes of the previous Parish Council meeting held on 10th March 2008, having been previously circulated, were taken as read, were confirmed and duly signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

4. Matters arising from those minutes
a) Sound equipment
Mr. E. Snarey enquired why the sound equipment was not available. Mr. Skittrall replied that he had not set it up as there were no members of the public present at the meeting.
b) Stop Stansted Expansion
It was reported that Mrs. J. Beavis, Dr. R. Green and Mr. A. Corder-Birch, together with Mrs. L. Hadley of BDC, had met Mrs. C. Barbone of Stop Stansted Expansion when arrangements had been made for SSE to make a presentation at the Village Hall on Wednesday, 21st May 2008 at 7.30pm for 8pm. Sible Hedingham Parish Council will be hosting this presentation and Parish Councils in the northern part of the Braintree District will be invited to attend. All available Councillors were requested to attend.

5. Public Comment
There was no public comment.

6. Chairman and Vice Chairman’s reports
The Clerk gave the Chairman’s report on her behalf and stated that Mrs. Beavis wished to thank all Councillors for all the work carried out during the previous year and in particular on the Planning Committee and various Advisory Groups. Mrs. Beavis was very pleased with the real team effort and what has been achieved.
The Vice Chairman reported that Mrs. Beavis had completed the London Marathon in 5 hours 9 minutes coming in 7,469 out of 34,000 runners. Mrs. Beavis was congratulated upon this splendid achievement.
The Vice Chairman had nothing else to report outside the agenda.

7. Youth Council and THF 08 Reports
Mr. J. Tame reported upon a successful team building event at Upminster, which was well attended and a good opportunity to meet representatives from other Youth Councils in Essex. He also reported upon the recent THF08 meeting and confirmed than an ice rink had been booked, the balloon release will become an annual event and there will also be a band contest and dances. A project will be run by the Fire Service and the Air Cadets and Ambulance First Responders will also be participating. Mr. Tame was thanked for his report.

8. County Council Report
Mr. D. Finch reported that ECC is carrying out a major drive on diversity in respect of all groups and ages to comply with legislation. ECC is anxious to represent the views of all the population. He also reported upon the work of Lord Hanningfield in connection with the retention of Post Office facilities in the County. ECC were looking at Libraries to become multi use centres for Post Offices, Police points and other uses. This will result in library buildings being open for longer periods of time and therefore making more use of the buildings. He reported upon the employment retraining for the 50 plus age group in Essex. The ECC Personal budget experiment is helping people in the County of which Mr. Finch gave examples. At a later life strategy conference held in Chelmsford recently two main items resulted namely:
Public Transport in Rural Areas.
Fear of Crime
ECC are working jointly with Suffolk and Hertfordshire County Councils in connection with 2012 which should reduce building costs by 15%.
Mr. V. Mullender asked for further details of the diversity drive as some of the relevant legislation had been in existence since 1975. Mr. Finch responded and gave further information and statistics. Mr. Finch was thanked for his report.

9. District Council Report
In the absence of Mrs. J. Beavis, Mrs. W. Scattergood and Mr. F. Swallow no report was given.

10. Planning
The minutes of the Planning Committee Meetings held on 28th March and 11th April 2008 had been circulated to all Councillors and it was resolved that the minutes be accepted in lieu of a report.

11. Footpaths
Dr. R. Green reported that Mr. Brian Mills had complained that the surface of footpath 33 had been damaged. It was unclear whether the damage was caused by gas contractors when laying a pipe or by fencing contractors when fencing the football pitch at Oxford Meadow. The Clerk reported that he had already notified the Street Scene AG of the damage because it was on PC property. Councillors will inspect the damage and consider asking relevant contractors to repair it. Mr. J. Skittrall will ask Mr. P. Cook to quote for a new tarmac path along the correct route of footpath 33. The Clerk confirmed that the materials for reinstating the damaged barrier at the beginning of footpath 33 were delivered about a month ago. Mr. Skittrall will arrange for a contractor to erect the new barrier. Mrs. Doyle had complained that she could not carry her dogs over the stiles along footpath 72 and therefore Dr. Green will meet Lisa Cross of P3 on site to negotiate with the landowners for the stiles to be replaced with kissing gates.

12. Footpath maps
Dr. R. Green reported that he had attended a meeting with P3 and Hedingham Heritage Society regarding the preparation of footpath maps combined with historical details. He produced a footpath map of Felstead as an example. The printing costs are likely to be in the region of £800 but some funding should be available from various sources and copies of the map sold to recover outlay. The Parish Council resolved to support the project and agreed that the Footpath Advisory Group should continue with it.

13. Recreation Ground
a) Renovation to tennis courts
Mr. J. Skittrall reported that Mr. P. Cook had quoted for all work including the resurfacing, fence, gates, goals, etc at £22,500 inclusive and that further funding was being considered. Subject to funding it was agreed to accept Mr. Cook’s quote.
b) Inspection of playground equipment
Mr. J. Skittrall reported that with the help of Mr. B. Hoadley he will carry out minor repair work on equipment including the installation of new timbers and bark chippings in preparation for the imminent ROSPA inspection.
c) General tidiness
Mr. J. Skittrall reported that since Mr. B. Hoadley had been picking up litter on the Recreation Ground it had been much tidier. Mrs. G. Massey reported upon a letter from a member of the public who had noticed the significant improvement. Unfortunately broken glass remains a problem and the area around the shelter had been cleared by sweeping and digging out.

d) Gates
Mr. J. Skittrall reported that he discussed the problem of the lack of stops on the new gates with Mr. D. Moores who had agreed to make new angle iron stops, double bolt and weld them in which will result in a permanent solution to the problem.
e) Rough areas
Mr. J. Skittrall reported that Mr. B. Hoadley will rake the rough areas behind the toilets and in front of the new fence and sow both areas with grass seed.
f) Hard surface
Miss. S. Brown asked the position regarding the hard surface to be placed in front of the shed and container. Mr. Skittrall stated that he had obtained quotes and will give a report at the next meeting.

14. To appoint representatives to Halstead Area Crime Prevention Panel
The Clerk reminded Councillors that in the recent BDC Parish Update there was an invitation to Parish Councils in the Halstead Area to appoint a representative to the Halstead Area Crime Prevention Panel, which meets in Halstead every two months. As it was acceptable for Councillors to represent each other it was resolved to appoint Mrs. J. Beavis, Mrs. G. Massey, Mr. J. Skittrall and Mr. E. Snarey to attend these meetings depending upon availability. The Clerk agreed to obtain details of the next meeting.

15. Sible Hedingham, Gosfield, Great and Little Yeldham Cluster Meeting
Miss. C. Cannell gave a report of the recent Cluster Meeting held at Great Yeldham at which SHPC had been well represented. The Clerk had circulated the minutes of the Cluster Meeting to all Councillors and Miss. Cannell highlighted the Police statistics, bus passes, small commercial businesses in rural areas and highways. Mr. E. Snarey explained that the old bus passes can still be used until new passes arrive. The Clerk reported that SPHC will be hosting the next Cluster Meeting on 22nd October 2008 at the Village Hall, Sible Hedingham, which will be chaired by Mrs. J. Beavis.

16. Street Scene
It was reported that Mr. B. Hoadley had taken over responsibility for litter picking and emptying litter bins from Mr. K. Metson on a permanent basis. Mr. J. Skittrall confirmed that the remaining brambles at High Street Green will be cleared away in the near future.
The Clerk had circulated a written report of his meeting with Mr. John Cull of BDC on 19th March 2008 which was taken as read.
Mrs. A. Weatherley agreed to arrange another litter pick on Sunday afternoon, 27th April 2008 commencing at the Village Hall at 2.15pm. The Clerk agreed to book the BDC lorry for 4pm. In view of the significant improvement in the appearance of the village it was agreed that only the outlying area such as Prayors Hill to High Street Green and Potter Street to the Windmill and Halstead Road need to be covered.
Mrs. G. Massey gave a report of very useful meeting with Mrs. O. Cowell of ECC Highways which had also been attended by Mrs. J. Beavis and Mrs. A. Weatherley. Thirteen sites had been identified for containers and planting for which licences will be required. No tipping notices will be erected near the Baptist Chapel and on the new barrier to be erected near the entrance to footpath 33. ECC Highways will be improving the Station Road junction, the light poles at the zebra crossing in Swan Street to facilitate access for disabled users and a flashing SID (speed indicator device) will operate in SH during autumn 2008. Subject to checking their ownership, ECC Highways will clear the scrub and cut the grass on the wide verge between the Baptist Chapel and Oxford Meadow. The Clerk referred to a letter and plans received from Highways and it was agreed to ask them to continue with the junction protection markings at the Church Street, School Road and Alexandra Road junction and zebra crossings in Swan Street and Yeldham Road. The preferred location in Yeldham Road was where the central islands are rather than outside 15 Yeldham Road. It was agreed that the suggestion of Mr. R. Wiltshire for a filter lane outside the Sugar Loaves should be abandoned but the issue of visibility on the opposite side of this junction had still not been resolved.
It was proposed by Mrs. G. Massey, seconded by Mr. R. Falco and carried that the street cleansing and grass cutting contracts with BDC should be renewed for another year.

17. To consider dog bin for High Street Green
It was proposed by Mr. Falco, seconded by Mrs. G. Massey and carried that a new dog bin is purchased for High Street Green and that it is installed well back on the village green so that it is not unsightly.
18. To consider applications to BDC Local Committee for funding
The Clerk reported that following the three applications for funding at the 14th May meeting, the following meeting will be held on 9th July for which the deadline is 6th June. It was resolved that if any top up of the funding for the renovation to the tennis courts is required then an application can be made for the balance. However this possibility will be reviewed at the May PC meeting when the decision from another funding source should be known.

19. Correspondence
The correspondence received and listed in appendix 1 was referred to the relevant Councillors for information and action. Arising from the correspondence the following items were agreed:
a) Miss. C. Cannell referred to the number of surveys and questionnaires received from other organizations which the Parish Council is requested to complete. In order to save time and cost it was agreed than only surveys and questionnaires which will be of future benefit to the Parish Council need be completed.
b) The Camping and Caravanning Club had decided not to proceed with proposed site at Morris Green.
c) The Parish Council was pleased to note a letter from Mrs. J. Turner who had noticed a reduction of litter in the village and in particular on the Recreation Ground.

20 Accounts for payment
The accounts listed in appendix 2 were presented for payment. It was proposed by Miss. C. Cannell, seconded by Mr. E. Snarey and carried that the accounts are paid.

21. Any other business/exchange of information/agenda for next meeting
a) Mr. E. Snarey reported on the new ECC Essex Saver Scheme conditions for travel with bus passes for £8 per trip in Essex and adjacent counties providing trip starts or ends in Essex.
b) Dr. R. Green requested a litter picker which Mrs. A. Weatherley agreed to provide.

22. CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS
It was resolved that in view of the special or confidential nature of the business about to be transacted it is advisable in the public interest that the public and press be excluded from the remainder of the meeting and they are instructed to withdraw pursuant to the provisions of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960. The Parish Council meeting then continued in private session (see confidential minutes on separate page for Parish Councillors only).