Parish Council Minutes January 2012

Little Bentley Parish Council Meeting January 2012

 

A Parish Council Meeting was held in the Church Hall on Wednesday 11^th January 2012.  Councillors Evans, Goldsmith, Wentworth, and Crittenden were present along with eight members of the public. Cllr. Dyson and District Cllr. Guglielmi sent their apologies.

 

 

Minutes and Matters Arising

 

1.1    The minutes from the previous meeting (4/11/12) were approved and signed.

 

1.2    It was noted that bags of salt had been received and distributed.  Cllr. Evans, as co-ordinator, receives e-mail alerts when bad weather is expected, and can be contacted with any queries about whether salt spreading might be required.

 

 

Planning

 

2.1    Planning application to note – 11/01365/FUL and 11/01335/FUL, Variation of condition 2 of planning permission 07/00605/FUL – Continued use of buildings at Pump Farm,

Tendring Road

for non-agricultural purposes.  The Council had written in support of this application, in line with a decision in principle to do so made at the last meeting.

 

Highways

 

3.1    Pelhams Corner intersection with A120 – David Lifton reported that works to narrow the A120 down to a single carriageway through the Pelhams Corner and

Park Road

crossings had been advanced to 22 February and would take approximately 4 days to complete.  The Parish Council had written to the Department for Transport requesting that the road works be accompanied by the introduction of a 50 mph speed limit, and does not accept the Highways Agency view that road narrowing alone will be sufficient to improve safety.

 

 

Broadband

 

4.1    Kelvin Robinson explained that Little Bentley is currently ill-served for both broadband and mobile phone reception as it is at the end of the line for exchange facilities.  In the absence of any wider improvements, villagers will need to pursue smaller scale upgrades.  County Broadband will be beginning a scheme expected to begin in March that will utilise the radio mast in Little Bromley as a central transmitter.  Local hubs can then be positioned on buildings with a line of sight to the tower.  These hubs can serve adjacent properties as long as there is no interference by trees or buildings.  County Broadband is marketing this scheme to groups of 9-10 subscribers who would pay an initial installation fee of approximately £100 followed by a monthly subscription fee in the region of £20 or less for unlimited broadband use.  Kelvin noted that he would be pursuing this option and would be willing to co-ordinate with other interested villagers.

 

 

Precept

 

5.1    Councillors had discussed the level of precept via e-mail to meet Tendring’s deadline of 31^st December.  Members confirmed that the precept for 2012-13 was to remain at £800. 

 

 

Cheques

 

6.1 The following cheques were approved:

 

£150 to King and Co. for an English elm tree

 

£180 for two years hire of the Church Hall

 

 

Jubilee

 

7.1    The Parish Council agreed to help sponsor a village celebration for the Diamond Jubilee to be held on 4 June in the grounds of Filde Hall. Cllrs. Goldsmith and Wentworth agreed to volunteer to help Kelvin Robinson with organisation. It was noted that an elm tree has now been purchased which will be planted next to the new bench on the footpath adjacent to the Church.

 

 

Litter

 

8.1    It was agreed to hold the annual Litter Pick on Saturday, 31^st March.

 

8.2    The Clerk agreed to contact Tendring to notify them of fly-tipping near Laurel Cottage in Ravens Green.

   Meeting Reports

 

9.1    Cllr. Gugliemi sent a written report since he could not attend in person.  This noted that Council tax would be reduced by a further 0.5%.  Reductions in the size of the Council had been proposed to allow for further cost savings.  The report noted that a scheme providing reduced rates on Council-owned properties was being phased out.  The report also noted that the Chairman of the Board of Governors of Colchester County High School had become involved in efforts to introduce speed reduction measures on the A120 following a crash carrying girls from the school.

 

9.2    TDALC – Cllr. Goldsmith reported that Ian Taylor from Tendring DC had attended the meeting to outline measures the Council was taking to reduce inconsiderate parking and to improve the image of the district.  A police representative informed the group that village police buildings would still be in use by the police even though they might not be open to the public.

 

 

Date of next meeting – Wednesday, 14 March at 7:30 pm in the Church Hall.