ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

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1 WRITTLE PARISH COUNCIL ANNUAL PARISH MEETING Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 30 March 2015 at 8pm in the Village Hall Members = Present A = Apologies Mr C Hibbitt (CHAIR) Mr R Schmid Mr R Bray (VICE CHAIR) Mrs E Roe Ms L Bowser Mr A Carter Mrs W Walker Mr P Sullivan Mrs R Smith Mr A Sach Mr M Townley Mr P Delaney Mrs A Reid Mr B Cairns A Mr P Costello In Attendance = Present A = Apologies Cllr J Aldridge (ECC) Mr D Walker (CLERK) Cllr T Roper (CCC) Mrs L Fox (ASST CLERK) Det. Inspector Alan Cook (Essex Police) Mr J Parr (Raw Cafe) 75 members of the public Ms Jess? (Raw Cafe) ACTION 1. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS 1.1 NOTED the Chair welcomed members of the public to the meeting and provided an overview of some of the topics open for discussion. 1.2 NOTED the Chair welcomed Detective Inspector Alan Cook, Mr Josiah Parr and Ms Jess from Raw Café and thanked them for attending to give updates and to take questions. 1.3 NOTED the Chair also welcomed Cllrs J Aldridge, T Roper and A Sach to the meeting. 1.4 NOTED the Chair also referred to Baroness Platt of Writtle who sadly died this year and was a champion of Writtle. She would always attend the Annual Parish Meetings and would request copies of minutes from Parish Council meetings. The Parish Council were looking at ways to remember her in Writtle. 2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE 2.1 NOTED in addition to the apologies as noted above, apologies were also received from Mr and Mrs Sayles and Mrs Hibbitt. 3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING 14 th April AGREED the minutes of the Writtle Parish Council meeting held on 14 th April 2014 were agreed as an accurate record. 3.2 AGREED it was proposed by Cllr J Aldridge and seconded by Mr S Rose that the agreed minutes be approved and signed. WPC Writtle Parish Council ECC Essex County Council CBC Chelmsford Borough Council 1

2 4. PROGRESS CHECK 4.1 NOTED the Chair advised that the bye laws were progressing and a revised set would be ready soon. The Parish Council were looking at ways that the bye laws could be enforced. 4.2 NOTED it was noted that the parking issues relating to Chancery Place had been followed up but it would take two years of legislation plus 3000 to change the parking signs. This had been reviewed and at a much reduced cost two signs had been erected and seemed to resolve the problem. 4.3 NOTED the Chair advised that equipment had been purchased and presented to the Raw Café. 4.4 NOTED it was noted that the Chelmsford Marathon had been a great success and the Parish Council were already in contact with J s Hospice to discuss the route for this years marathon. 4.5 NOTED it was noted that the play equipment at Paradise Road had been funded by Maztec and the equipment chosen by the Junior Parish Council. The new playground opened in June NOTED it was noted that the Parish Council were still trying to get the message across to visitors to Wear Pond to not feed bread to the ducks. 4.7 NOTED it was noted that two new Speed Indicator Devices have been purchased and would be installed shortly. Thanks was given to Mr Carter and Mr Townley for their hard work on the project. 4.8 NOTED it was noted that Mrs Smith regularly attends meetings regarding the bus service in Writtle. The general view is that the number 45 bus service has improved and the bus survey would therefore be postponed. 4.9 NOTED it was noted that a new bus shelter had been installed in Chequers Road and repairs to the bus shelters on Loves Walk, Oxney Green and the Green would be carried out in the forthcoming weeks NOTED it was noted that repairs had been carried out on the war memorial. 5. ANY POINTS OF CLARIFICATION FROM THE WRITTLE FLYER 5.1 NOTED it was noted that the Writtle Flyer had been distributed to all households in the village and had been very well received. 5.2 NOTED it was noted that a lot of work had gone into preparing and delivering the Flyer and thanks was given to all Parish Councillors for helping with the delivery and to Cllr Roper for his help with the distribution. It was noted that there was also a vote of thanks to Mr Walker, Mrs Fox and Mrs Reid for their efforts in putting the Flyer together. 6. COMMUNITY POLICING 2

3 6.1 NOTED the Chair welcomed Detective Inspector Alan Cook of Essex Police and thanked him for his attendance. 6.2 NOTED it was noted that fundamental changes were taking place in the way the Police communicates with the public and the pressure on the Police was immense. 6.3 NOTED it was noted that Detective Inspector Alan Cook was responsible for Chelmsford and Maldon Councils and looked after 24/7 response and neighbourhood policing. 6.4 NOTED it was noted that the Police were now dealing with many more offences. Their budget was shrinking so they were having to look at cost effective systems. 6.5 NOTED it was noted that Det. Insp. Cook thought it was important to retain links with Parish Councils. 6.6 NOTED it was noted that a question was asked about shoplifting from the coop and break-ins of garages. It was noted that thefts from garages remains a priority for the police but that shoplifting hadn t been bought up as a priority. 6.7 NOTED it was noted that there had been anti-social behaviour issues on the Green. The Police were aware of some of the issues. It was important for members of the public to continue phoning incidents through to 101. There was discussion regarding calls to 101 and Mr Townley discussed his experience reporting an incident. There was discussion regarding the number of older residents in the village and how the Police communicate with them. 6.8 NOTED it was noted that regular street meetings were now taking place in Writtle. Dates were advertised on the Police website and also on the Parish noticeboard. 6.9 NOTED it was noted that there was some confusion over what messages came through on ECM and also their timeframe NOTED it was noted that there were frustrations regarding updating the Writtle Village website with Police information NOTED it was noted that there were discussions regarding the parking on pavements. It is an offence, although the Police could not offer enough resources to blitz particular areas NOTED the Chair thanked Detective Inspector Alan Cook for his support. 7. YOUTH ACTIVITIES 7.1 NOTED it was noted that Mrs Walker, the Parish Councillor responsible for youth and Mr Hibbitt, Chair of Writtle Parish Council had presented prizes to the winners of the poster competition and they had presented badges to all the new Junior Parish Councillors. It was noted that Writtle Infants and Writtle Junior Schools were a credit to the governors and the teachers. 7.2 NOTED it was noted that Writtle Parish Council continues to support the Raw Café in Widford and the Chair welcomed Mr Parr to the meeting. 3

4 7.3 NOTED it was noted that Mr Parr had been working with the Parish Council for 6 years and they continued to run the youth club for teenagers aged and the previous Friday 130 teenagers used the facility. The Parish Council had recently presented Mr Parr with an Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Mr Parr thanked Mrs Walker and Writtle Parish Council for their continued hard work and support. 7.4 NOTED the Chair thanked Mrs Walker for the achievements this year. 8. LONGMEADS HOUSE 8.1 NOTED the Chair thanked Mr Bray, in conjunction with Cllr Aldridge for all their efforts on the development of Longmeads House. 8.2 NOTED it was noted that ECC had appointed a developer and architect and a layout for the site had been produced. 8.3 NOTED it was noted that an exhibition had been held on 14 March for local residents to view the plans. 8.4 NOTED it was noted that there would be a new purpose built community centre and pre-school on the site, along with 9 flats and 3 houses. 8.5 NOTED it was noted that the work should start late autumn and the new community centre would be built first, then the residential development. 9. WRITTLE COLLEGE 9.1 NOTED it was noted that the Principal Dr Waite was unable to attend the meeting. The Chair and Clerk of the Parish Council had met with Dr Waite beforehand and he was keen to build relationships with Writtle and work closely with the Parish Council including improving safety for Lordship Road. Dr Waite had also offered parking at the college for various events in the village and there were discussions with regards to the Chelmsford Marathon going through part of the college grounds. 10. UPDATE ON WRITTLE POST OFFICE 10.1 NOTED it was noted that the Parish Council, City Council and County Council were all striving to keep a post office in the village NOTED it was noted that Maria Rolleson, the current postmistress continued to give us an excellent post office NOTED it was noted that Post Office Ltd were trying to find a suitable alternative venue and there was not a great pressure to close the post office NOTED it was noted that Post Office Ltd do not have a solution. If anybody in the village had any ideas for a suitable venue, they should contact Post Office Ltd, although it was noted that it was not viable to just run a Post Office by itself without an accompanying retail business. 11. HARD PLAY AREA 11.1 NOTED the Chair thanked Mr Beckett for his hard work over a number of years to make the hard play area happen. 4

5 11.2 NOTED it was noted that the new hard play area would be mainly funded by grant,including nearly 100,000 from the Football Foundation NOTED it was noted that the hard play area would be available to Writtle Minors and would be available for Writtle Infant and Junior Schools to use free of charge during the day. 12. ISSUES IN THE VILLAGE INCLUDING PARKING AND HIGHWAYS 12.1 NOTED it was noted that that the survey of Ongar Road and Lordship Road would be completed by the end of March NOTED it was noted that the Highways & Transport Committee meet every three months and they are always pleased to see members of the public. Dates of the meetings can be found in the Writtle Flyer. 13. FINANCIAL REPORT PROJECTED TO MARCH 31, RECEIVED Mr D Walker presented an overview of receipts, payments and expenditure to 31 st March AGREED there were no questions and it was unanimously agreed to endorse the financial report. 14. PUBLIC OPEN FORUM 14.1 NOTED it was noted that the bus service had improved. Mrs Smith informed the meeting that the Police do not allow buses lengthy stops anywhere in Writtle other than at Oxney Mead, Lodge Road NOTED it was noted that the posts around the smaller green in the village had been well received. It was noted that parishioners would like the posts extended around the main green and also on St John s Green. This would involve unbudgeted costs. Writtle Parish Council would look into possible ways to fund these costs NOTED it was noted that photos had been presented of parking issues around Long Brandocks during school time. There was a suggestion of planting trees along the road NOTED it was noted that the pavement in places along the Ongar Road were in a bad condition. Cllr Aldridge had raised this a number of times but had been told that the pavements were not bad enough to consider repair. Cllr Aldridge would raise the issue again NOTED it was noted that volunteers were required for Speed watch in the village. If anybody can spare an hour every couple of weeks, please contact the Parish Clerk on Volunteers check the speed of cars and provide a report to Essex Police NOTED it was noted that Writtle Archives would be celebrating 25 years on 25 April NOTED it was noted that this year s Open Gardens would take place on 21 June from 12-6pm. 20 gardens would be open and there would be a scarecrow competition. 5

6 14.8 NOTED it was noted that the Writtle Parish Council elections would be held on 7 May and people were encouraged to vote. If anybody was interested in standing for election, they should contact Mr Walker in the Parish Office. 15. DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING 15.1 NOTED the Committee noted that the next Annual Parish meeting will be held on Monday 11 th April 2016 at 8.00pm in the Village Hall NOTED Mr S Rose thanked the Councillors of Writtle Parish Council for their hard work and contributions to the community over the last year NOTED the Chair thanked Cllr Roe who had served on the Parish Council for 20 years and had chaired the Environment Committee for all her hard work and support NOTED the Chair thanked the Parish Council handyman and Clerk and Asst Clerk for all their hard work. 16. WINE AND NIBBLES 16.1 NOTED refreshments were served at the end of the meeting. MEETING CONCLUDED 9.46pm Signed: For and on behalf of Writtle Parish Council Date: 6

WRITTLE PARISH COUNCIL

WRITTLE PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 4 September, 2017, 7.30pm in the Parish Office Members = Present A = Apologies Mr C Hibbitt (CHAIR) Mr M Townley (VICE CHAIR)