MINUTES
MINUTES of a meeting of the WINDMILL SUB-COMMITTEE held on Wednesday 5TH April 2023 at 7.00pm in The Mountfitchet Exchange, Crafton Green, 72 Chapel Hill, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex
PRESENT Cllr J O’Brien (Chair), Cllrs G Braeckman, M Caton (arrived at 7.19pm) and
J Kavanagh, Jeff Bowie, Tudor Owen and Richard Thomas
ATTENDING Mrs Ruth Clifford – Parish Clerk
Mrs Emma Philbrick – Deputy Clerk
Cllr Peter Jones
Cllr Alan Barnes – via Zoon (arrived at 7.15pm)
1 member of the press – via Zoom
416 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Richards – holiday.
It was unanimously:
RESOLVED to accept the apologies from Cllr Richards
417 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – None
418 TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 7TH DECEMBER 2023
RESOLVED to accept the minutes of the meeting held on 7th December 2023 as a true and accurate account.
419 TO RECEIVE ANY UPDATES SINCE THE LAST MEETING
270 – The office had researched different types and sizes of signs and these were tabled at the meeting. Discussions took place on the best replacement and it was unanimously agreed to go with the red and white sign with Emergency Access, No Parking At Any Time.
420 TO CONSIDER OPTIONS FOR THE RE-POINTING OF THE WINDMILL AND HOW TO FUND IT
Discussions took place around whether the re-pointing of the brickwork or replacement of the sails and stocks was more important with different views of opinions being aired. The Millers had approached the airport for a grant fund but were questioned about match-funding. They were unsuccessful with the Heritage Lottery Grant last year and it was discussed whether the application could be strengthened to apply for this again as the grant could pay for all re-pointing, stocks and sails. It was agreed that the Millers would take this to their next Committee meeting to see whether there were any restraints on applying again after last year’s failed attempt.
421 TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE FROM THE MILLERS ON MAINTENANCE
In February the fantail tie rods were replaced using a grant from the airport. This covered £650 of the £680 cost. They are now aluminium and are much lighter and should work well.
The next inspection will be taking place in late April/early May where they will also sort out the fourth sail where the shutters had been put the wrong way round. The other three have already been done.
422 UPDATE FROM THE MILLERS ON FUND RAISING AND ACCOUNTS
The accounts up to 31/12/22 were tabled at the meeting. They had their AGM a couple of weeks ago where the whole committee were re-elected en-bloc.
They recently held a fund-raising quiz night but unfortunately this was not well attended and they only made £188 profit. This was partly due to the cost of buying the videos from the suppliers. They bought 31 videos which they normally rent for £90 each time. They plan to hold more quiz events using these. They did have a table from Walpole Meadows at the quiz and one of them suggested that if they used the UDC building on Walpole Meadows then a lot of those residents might support the event. They are awaiting further confirmation on use of this building.
They advised that of the £500 grant received from the Parish Council last year for flowers etc, they have spent £420 on planters and plants and the remaining £80 would be spent on plants this year. Unfortunately they have lost a number of the plants due to the winter but have also had a number of them stolen.
Richard Thomas asked whether the Parish Council would be doing anything to help with the planting of the new planters? The Parish Council has previously planted the old planters they have on site but these are now looking old so they will be going. The Clerk advised that the old planters were still part of the contract so she will speak to the contractor and find out if the cost will be the same due to the new planters being bigger.
Tudor advised that they had received an email from Laila asking about a new planter being situated on the Windmill grounds. After discussions, the Millers felt that it looked a bit like street furniture which did not suit the feel of the Windmill. They think it would be better on the corner of the green opposite where cars keep parking. It was agreed that this is where it will be situated.
Meeting closed at 7.38pm
ACTION POINTS
419 Office to order the agreed sign
420 Millers to look into reapplying for the Heritage Lottery Grant
422 Clerk to find out if planting the new planters at the Windmill will be the same cost in the gardening contract
AGENDA
You are summoned to attend a meeting of the WINDMILL SUB COMMITTEE to be held at 7pm on Wednesday 5th April 2023 in The Mountfitchet Exchange, Crafton Green, 72 Chapel Hill, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex where the following business will be transacted
1 To receive apologies for absence
2 To receive Declarations of Interest
3 To receive the minutes of the meetings held on 7th December 2022
4 To receive an update since the last meeting
5 To consider options for the re-pointing of the Windmill and how to fund it
6 To receive an update from the Millers on maintenance
7 Update from the Millers on fund-raising and accounts
Ruth Clifford, Parish Clerk – 30th March 2023