Renovations to the Day Centre will see the Annual Parish meeting held next door at the Exchange this year.
The Parish Council holds the Annual Parish Meeting every year. In 2024 it will be hosted at the Mountfitchet Exchange on Wednesday, March 13.
The Annual Parish Meeting offers you an opportunity to raise any issues and questions about village life you may have directly to Parish Councillors.
The Stansted Mountfitchet Parish Council always tries to accommodate time at their meetings for residents to express their opinions on community matters.
However Full Council meetings are the only regular events where a period is set aside specifically for public participation. As such the Annual Parish Meeting provides residents with a space to raise issues, unencumbered by the need to keep to a prescribed schedule and get through a lengthy list of agenda items.
An eventful year
A lot has happened in the village during the last 12 months. Summer 2023 saw a sink hole force a shut down of the Rec. There have been repeated lengthy closures of our roads. Potholes continue to blight our lanes and streets. A new pharmacy opened up while an existing one shut. A village-wide part-night lighting scheme has been introduced. And the precept’s been increased.
If you have questions on how the Parish Council has reached decisions on any of these matters, or you would like to share your thoughts on how village life could be improved – then be sure to join us for the Annual Parish meeting.
Annual report
Two mainstays of the Annual Parish Meeting are reports given to attendees by the Chair of the Parish Council and head of the Finance & General Purposes committee. In her report Council Chair Maureen Caton will provide an overview of the parish council’s progress in serving the community in 2023. Her report appears in the March edition of The Link and here on this website. It highlights efforts to build new alms houses, successfully supporting the establishment of a pharmacy in the south of the village, and the search for extra cemetery space.
Finance report
John O’Brien, as chair of the F&GP committee, will report on the health of the Parish Council’s finances in 2024. Other than offering insight into how the SMPC is seeking to manage escalating energy costs, Cllr O’Brien’s report explains how money raised by the precept will be used to improve community services such as renovating Crafton Green, increasing grass cuts at the churchyard and cemetery, and provisioning for repairs to playgrounds.
The Finance Report can be read ahead of the meeting on this website and in the March edition of The Link.
Presentations
Annual Parish Meetings also allow representatives of community organisations a venue to shed light on their activities and future plans. This year you will be able to hear from members of our Youth Council as they set about delivering their vision for the youth of Stansted. The second keynote speaker will be Tim Atkinson of Fairycroft CIC, which now runs the village youth club on behalf of the SMPC. March is a month when the Parish Council starts to invite applications for their community grants. We are planning to have grant recipients at the Annual Parish Meeting to explain how their organisations have benefitted from SMPC funding.
Change of venue
This year the event will be held in the Library at the Mountfitchet Exchange, with the Day Centre being closed for renovation work throughout March. We would advise attendees to arrive at 72 Chapel Hill by 7pm, both to enjoy the refreshments served prior to the meeting and also to ensure proceedings get under way promptly at 7.30pm
What’s on the Agenda?
- To receive apologies for absence
- To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 15th March 2023
- To welcome representatives of Stansted Youth Council
- To receive a report from the Parish Council Chair – Cllr Maureen Caton
- Parish Council Financial Report – Cllr John O’Brien
- To welcome Tim Atkinson of Fairycroft CIC regarding the Stansted Youth Club
- To welcome recipients of Parish Grants in 2023
- Open Forum