Full Council Draft Minutes, Reports & Planning Applications – 11th December 2024

Draft Minutes

Minutes of a meeting of the FULL COUNCIL held at 7.30pm on Wednesday 11^th December 2024 in The Mountfitchet Exchange, Crafton Green, 72 Chapel Hill, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex

PRESENT Cllr M Caton (Chair), Cllrs S Ghosh, A Guney, P Jones, J Kavanagh, A Khan, A Love, J O’Brien, G Sell and T van de Bilt

ATTENDING Mrs Ruth Clifford – Parish Clerk, Mrs Emma Philbrick – Deputy Clerk, District Cllr A Dean, 3 members of the public (1 via Zoom)

255 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Barnes – attending an allotment meeting on behalf of the Parish Council, Cllr Braeckman – University, Cllr Hardy – Unwell and Cllr Prior – Unwell

RESOLVED To accept the apologies for absence from Cllrs Barnes, Braeckman, Hardy and Prior

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

One member of the public spoke regarding the state of the road surfaces and the issues this could cause over winter, the broken bollard on the path by Cooper’s Alley which the Clerk confirmed had been reported to Essex Highways on a number of occasions. He also suggested that the flat stone on the green opposite the windmill be moved to Crafton Green to make a feature as it is a part of the village history and is wasted where it is.

Another member of the public spoke regarding the City & Country proposals for a housing development between Birchanger and Stansted and also the ongoing issues with the Manor Road flats.

256 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – None

257 TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 13^TH NOVEMBER 2024

RESOLVED To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 13^th November 2024 as a true and accurate account

258 TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON ACTION POINTS FROM THE LAST MEETING

219 Cllr Cunningham to give more in depth response to questions by the end of November 2024 – Chased but no response received

219 Cllr Cunningham to arrange meeting with MAG – Chased but no response received

219 Cllr Cunningham to arrange meeting with the Environment Agency and include the Parish Council – Chased but no response received

221 Ward members still to meet with Cllr Coote re Manor Road flats – Two members paid a site visit with Cllr Coote

221 Ward members to put in a vote of no confidence still – Still not done

221/224 Cllr Gooding to meet with Cllr O’Brien to discuss the trash screen – Cllr O’Brien confirmed they have spoken on the phone but no meeting has been arranged

221 Cllr Gooding to send update on Uttlesford LHP schemes by 18^th November 2024 – No update received

222 Chase Kemi Badenoch MP re Winter Fuel Allowance – Done and response received back

Cllr Khan questioned how long the Parish Council are going to accept getting no responses from the County Councillor before doing something about it. Cllr Caton pointed out that we have never accepted it, and the office constantly chases and she phones him regularly. After more discussion it was agreed that the Chair, Cllr Caton would write to County Councillor Gooding and advise him that we want answers to all outstanding matters by the next Full Council on 15^th January 2025 or we will launch a social media and press campaign.

Regarding the City and Country proposals, Cllr Sell believes it’s a matter of when they put in an application rather than if. Changes to the NPPF are due to be announced tomorrow and this is likely to have an impact on the Green Belt designation.

259 TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM THE CHAIR, CLLR MAUREEN CATON

Firstly – welcome to Councillor James Hardy – our newly co-opted member. James will be a member of the F&GP committee.

We have recently had our six -weekly meeting with the District and County Councillors – outcomes from the meeting were:

Cllr Gooding has confirmed he has officially applied for the traffic calming measures on Church Road to be removed – however ECC has invoked a flood alleviation study requirement to take place early in the New Year before they will agree to proceed with this.
Cllr Gooding has agreed to contact the Local Flood Officer to supply a contact for the maintenance team at the Environment agency.
No longer term solution is yet confirmed for the Manor Road flats, whilst work is ongoing to replace the roofs and balconies. However, unfortunately the Parish Council has not been notified and has been unable to obtain any update on the Spencer Close survey outcome – this will continue to be chased.
It was concerning that the District Councillors were unaware of the Car Parking and Fly Parking Review being undertaken by UDC.
Following the Full Council Meeting attended by Cllr Cunningham we have had the following feedback – nothing – despite being chased

The Clerk and Cllr Jones are progressing the Neighbourhood Development Plan and it’s hoped to hold the Reg 14 consultation in the first part of 2025.

The Clerk was invited to attend an External Corporate Peer Review session at Uttlesford which was focussing on Rural communities – her feedback was that the discussion focussed on the ability to contact officers and communication in general; the turnover of staff; depreciating funding and the impact on town and parish councils to meet need. Also, comment was forthcoming on the lack of across the board thinking and the impact of decision-making; as well as the lack of due consideration for strategic statistical evidence relating to communities.

The Chair of the economic Development Working Group was also invited to attend a similar session on “ Growth and Sustainability”. The feedback was that partners saw a need for a step change in the council’s attitude to engagement on a wider regional level and for it to have a much stronger and more strategic focus on economic development

A meeting was held last Friday to discuss City and Country’s proposals to develop Green Belt land – the majority of the land being in Birchanger, with a small section in Stansted near to the M11 Business Park. The developer appeared to be saying that following feedback they are considering a smaller development and are looking at issues within any future proposal – such as transport/ the state of roads and the impact of traffic/ the strain on the GP surgery and schools/ the environment and ecology/ flooding.

Concerns were raised re the use of scare tactics by City and Country initially stating such a large build proposal (1,050) and now proposing a reduction in numbers; and the lack of acknowledgement of the existence of green belt – stating the area was grey belt land of low quality – and avoiding the issue that their proposal has been rejected for inclusion in the Local Plan by UDC. They would like us to draw up a shopping list of what we want if the proposal was ever agreed – and although there really is no firm current proposal. To this end the Chair of Birchanger Parish Council and I have agreed to set up a joint meeting in the New Year to discuss the way forward for the 2 Parishes in more detail.

I was concerned to read in the latest PCSO report to see the extent of his activities elsewhere in the district. We fund 25% of his time and Henham 12.5% but it would appear that we are losing more time to other duties being assigned to him by senior officers. I have requested that our Clerk set up a meeting with the Community Policing Sargent for us to address and rebalance this issue.

Stansted Youth 2000 have closed their bank account and paid £2,696 into the Parish account system for the sole use of the Youth Club. We and the Youth Club thank them for this and their support of our Parish Council youth service provision.

Also separate from the UDC grant for a number of pieces of equipment that the provider is currently bidding for with UDC – we have been alerted that we jointly need to bid by December 20^th this year for funds to be available in March 2025, this would be to to support community and voluntary organisations to increase the participation of young people through a diverse offering of services. We need to do this in partnership with our provider at very short notice – whilst at the same time seeking clarification on whether funding will be for 1 or 3 years. We are currently seeking an extension to the deadline.

Finally, Uttlesford Community Travel have written to thank us for our grant of £1,000 and the provision of a life-line to our community.

260 TO RECEIVE WRITTEN DISTRICT COUNCILLOR REPORTS

Report from Cllr Sell attached and was circulated to members ahead of the meeting:

Proposed development between Stansted and Birchanger: City and Country who are based in Stansted are proposing a new development on land between Stansted Mountfitchet and Birchanger. It would deliver up to 1050 homes. The site comprises oaround 172 acres of land.

My first thoughts are that this is an opportunistic proposal. The site is not included in Uttlesford’s local plan. This is to be submitted to the government this month. The site is green belt land. The developers are arguing that it is in fact greybelt low quality green belt. I have always been opposed to coalescence between Birchanger, Stansted & Bishop’s Stortford. Clearly as Uttlesford is under special measures re its planning function City and Country have the option of submitting a planning application direct to the Planning Inspectorate. I will do all I can to ensure that this proposal is not supported.

The developers recently met representatives of Birchanger and Stansted Parish Councils. They argued that the site is sustainable and meets housing needs. Councillors however were resolute in opposition to the proposal. Where are we now with this? Clearly the developers have a lot of work to do in commissioning highway reports etc. before they can submit a planning application. Their plans seem to be based on the premise that Uttlesford’s local plan will fail at inspection, and they can step into the breach.

The following links give more information:

Local Plan: The Council is progressing the new Local Plan for adoption around the second quarter of 2026, in accordance with the published Local Development Scheme (LDS). Following consultation on a draft Plan in October – December 2023 (known as the Regulation 18 stage), Full Council approved a Publication version of the Local Plan (known as the Regulation 19 stage) on 30 July 2024 for consultation and submission to the Secretary of State by the end of the year. 8. The Publication version of the Local Plan is the version to be submitted to Government. The Regulation 19 consultation was undertaken from 8 August to 14 October 2024 and the Council is submitting the plan to the Secretary of State (Planning Inspectorate) week commencing 16 December, as has recently been agreed with the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) and as agreed by Council.

The Secretary of State will appoint an independent Planning Inspector, or Inspectors, to preside over an Examination into the Local Plan during 2025 and perhaps part of 2026. 10. It should be noted that Government recently consulted on an update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which includes new standard housing requirement figures for all Local Authorities. The new NPPF is likely to be published week commencing 16 December and includes transitional arrangements which set out circumstances where Local Plans can proceed to be examined under the existing (2023) NPPF. Where Local Plans have reached the Regulation 19 stage and where the annual increase in housing required by the new NPPF is less than 200 (in Uttlesford it is 74) those plans should continue to be examined under the current NPPF. This means that Uttlesford is in time to submit its Local Plan unaffected by the new NPPF and its increased housing targets.

Uttlesford Food Bank:The food bank marked its 10^th anniversary with a reception held at Saffron Walden Museum. The demand for its services is increasing. Its mission is to help relieve poverty. Although we live in an affluent area, poverty is there – we just don’t see it. After the Saffron Walden Shire ward Stansted South and Birchanger ward is the second highest recipient of food parcels. The foodbank relies on donations: Uttlesford Foodbank | Helping Local People in Crisis

Geoffrey Sell: He also added that he attended a meeting at the Social Club last night along with Cllr Gooding regarding Manor Road flats and had a site visit at the flats last week with District Cllr Church and officers. The Government are producing a White Paper on Devolution, and this might lead to a re-organisation of Local Government. In response to a question regarding Uttlesford’s accounts for the last few years, Cllr Sell confirmed that a report has just been published but he has not yet had time to read it. Cllr Khan asked for an update on the sale of Chesterford Research Park. Cllr Sell advised that there are 4 serious parties who have met with Aviva who are the joint partners.

Cllr Dean reported: He has written to District Councillors on three committees regarding the Manor Road Flats. He will share the letter with the Parish Council once he has received a response. In his view it is the biggest issue he has seen in 38 years and is disgusted by it. Cllr Caton asked why they are not demolishing the building and Cllr Dean said he believes that this is still being looked at as one of the options.

261 TO RECEIVE A WRITTEN COUNTY COUNCILLOR REPORT

Nothing received

262 FINANCE

a) TO APPROVE THE LIST OF PAYMENTS

The list of payments was checked against the invoices by Cllr Jones before the start of the meeting. The list of payments was approved.

b) TO RECEIVE THE INCOME & EXPEDITURE STATEMENT TO 30^TH NOVEMBER 2024

This was circulated to members ahead of the meeting and confirmed as received.

263 PLANNING APPLICATIONS

1 UTT/24/2800/HHF – 27 LONG CROFT

Single storey rear extension with roof lanterns, conversion of the garage into a habitable room, first-floor extension over the existing garage, front porch extension and internal alterations.

No Comment

2 UTT/24/2795/FUL – STANSTED YOUTH AND EDUCATION CENTRE, LOWER STREET

Proposed demolition of external plant room, erection of a single storey link extension, external alterations including new boundary fencing, internal fencing, removal, replacement and new windows and doors, new sun tubes and creation of outdoor play area

No Comment

3 UTT/24/2809/FUL – MANOR HOUSE COTTAGE, CHURCH ROAD

Conversion of a garage building into a single residential dwelling with other associated works

No Comment

4 UTT/24/2951/HHF – 47 RECREATION GROUND

Proposed single storey rear extension with insertion of roof light and changes to fenestration

No Objection as long as the Heritage Officer is happy

5 UTT/24/2938/FUL – LAND AT EASTFIELD STABLES, MAY WALK, ELSENHAM ROAD

Erection of 3 bay garage, parking area and storage

No Comment

It was agreed that the office would write to County Councillor Gooding and ask for an update on the access point which is subject to an enforcement notice.

6 UTT/24/2802/FUL – RAINBOW PRESCHOOL, ST JOHNS CRESCENT

Installation of a Codale Conic Waterproof Canopy Structure

No Objection

7 UTT/24/2990/HHF – HEREWARD, 37 ST JOHNS CRESCENT

Proposed hip to gable loft conversion to existing semi-detached dwelling with rear facing box dormer, and front facing rooflights

No Comment

8 UTT/24/3024/LB – REDWOODS (ARTHUR FINDLAY COLLEGE) CHURCH ROAD

Conversion of Offices to 8 no. Guest Rooms including 2 no. Wheelchair Accessible Rooms

No Comment

9 UTT/24/3035/LB – TUDOR HOUSE, 11 LOWER STREET

Repair windows and replace the single glazing with LandVac double glazing

No Comment

264 TO CONSIDER ADOPTING THE FOLLOWING NEW POLICIES

The Clerk explained that these policies are based on NALC Model Documents and came to light as part of her recent HR Training and also due to new laws in place.

a) SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICY