Stansted Mountfitchet Parish Council Highways Sub-committee
Minutes of a meeting of the HIGHWAYS SUB-COMMITTEE held at 7.30pm on Wednesday 9th July 2025 in The Mountfitchet Exchange, Crafton Green, 72 Chapel Hill, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex
Present Cllr G Sell (Chair), Cllrs M Caton, P Jones, A Khan, J O’Brien and co-opted member Katherine Playle
Attending Mrs Ruth Clifford – Parish Clerk, Mrs Emma Philbrick – Deputy Clerk, Cllr Jo Kavanagh, 1 member of the public via Zoom
97 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Hardy and Cllr van de Bilt – Personal Reasons
Resolved to approve the apologies for absence from Cllrs Hardy and van de Bilt
98 Declarations of Interest – None
99 To Approve the Minutes of the Meetings Held on 23rd April and 14th May 2025
Resolved to approve the minutes of the meetings held on 23rd April and 14th May as a true and accurate account.
100 To Receive an Update on Action Points
416 Office to highlight the issues of faded white lines on pedestrian crossings to Cllr Gooding – Done
416 Seek clarification from Cllr Gooding on why the Local Government Reorganisation is stopping action by the Local Highways Panel – Done
416 Write to Cllr Cunningham chasing for updates/information and copy in Cllr Bentley and Cllr Gooding – Done but no response received
416 Check if the bollard issue on Church Road has been reported online and inform Cllr Gooding – Done
417 Find out who has made the latest application on Walson Way – Was made by the Passenger Transport Unit of Essex County Council
417 Contact the operators of 7/7a bus service to see if they would support a scheme for Bentfield and Croasdaile Road – Was not the bus company so did not approach them
418a Write to Cllr Cunningham re depreciation of S106 money – Done but no response
418a Contact Landowners to see if they have any update – Done – ECC are in the process of drawing up the Heads of Terms
418b Ask all Councillors if they have any suggestions for future Local Highways Panel schemes – No new schemes being considered now and we have since discovered that the crossing on Silver Street will also now not be proceeding.
418b Look into why the Cambridge Road scheme was rejected – Cannot find why
418b Submit scheme for footway improvements at the end of Manor Road – No new schemes being considered now
Members discussed the lack of responses being received and it was agreed that the Office would make an official complaint to Essex County Council about this. The office will write to Cllr Bentley and copy in Cllr Cunningham, his Cllr L Shaw and Cllr Gooding and Cllr Sell. Cllr Khan also said that we should emphasise the safety issue of the faded roundabout and lines at the bottom of Chapel Hill/Lower Street. It was agreed that Cllr Sell will also speak to the press and give them a copy of the complaint. The letter will also be published on the Parish Council website.
101 To Receive a Report From the Chair, Cllr Geoffrey Sell
A resident has been in touch with him about having seating in the bus stop at the top of Chapel Hill by Spencer Close. The office will contact the manufacturer and see if any type of seating can be added now it is installed and obtain quotes.
There is a lot we don’t know about the Local Government Reorganisation, but Essex County Council supports a scheme for 3 unitary authorities. Whatever happens, it will have implications for Highways.
102 To Receive an Update From County Councillor Ray Gooding on Highways Projects for Stansted Mountfitchet
Cty Cllr Gooding was not in attendance to give any updates.
103 To Consider a Request From a Parishioner for Safety Barriers at the Junction of Croasdaile Road and the Footpath to Gilbey Crescent
The Clerk advised that a parishioner had been in touch as they were concerned about the children who are using the footpath from Bentfield School and they are rushing out of there and he has witnessed some near misses. He wondered if some metal barriers could be placed to slow the children and those on bikes down before they get to the road. This would normally be a scheme that we would be put forward to the Local Highways Panel, but as this is no longer an option, Cllr Caton suggested speaking to the Head of the school to see if they could request this through Essex County Council as they would carry more weight. The office will make contact with the school to see if this is something they are willing to raise and the Parish Council will fully support.
104 Norman’s Way – to Consider How We Can Get Improvements Made to the Road Surface
Norman’s Way is an unadopted road which leads to Norman Court and there are very few frontages along the long stretch.
Cllr Sell gave Cllr Kavanagh permission to speak.
Cllr Kavanagh explained that some time ago, in her role as Chair of Open Spaces, she had volunteered to look into Public Rights of Way around the village and that Norman’s Way had been at the top of the list. She had found a planning application which related to Norman Court and amongst the papers there was a document which referenced the land being bequeathed to the Council by its previous owner. The letter was dated 1978. She found nothing that detailed exactly who was responsible for the footway and only that as part of the application that they needed to maintain the parking areas and turning circle.
After some discussion, it was agreed that the office would ask UDC if they could provide paperwork from when the land was gifted to them. The request would go to Peter Holt and Cllr Sell would be copied in. If we have no luck with the request then an FOI will be submitted.
105 To Discuss How Members Think the North Essex Parking Partnership Can Improve Their Service
Cllr Sell asked members how they thought the North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) can improve their service to the village and explained that Cllr Neil Hargreaves is the new Vice-Chair as the UDC representative on the Panel. Going forward we do not know what will happen to the NEPP with the Local Government Reorganisation.
The NEPP hold four meetings a year and they hold these in the different locations that they cover. There is a meeting in January 2026 which will be held in Saffron Walden.
Cllr O’Brien commented that they need to help the village with fly parking as we get no help from the airport.
The Clerk said that we need them to satisfactorily explain the 75% support rule as none of our schemes are getting through and no one can tell us exactly who we need to canvass when trying to gauge support from residents.
Cllr Khan believes that we need to meet with Stansted Airport and build a strong relationship with them. They have funds to dish out and they could put advisory signs around the whole village although other members of the Committee did not support more signs as they do not believe this will be effective and have the opposite effect and also they are unenforceable. The Clerk commented that she thinks a 1-hour waiting scheme would be effective, but that NEPP have previously advised they will only do a minimum of 4 hours and this would affect all residents. We need a review of the rules and policy and also who dictates the policy?
After more discussion it was agreed to send an FOI request into Peter Holt and copy in Cllr Hargreaves and Cllr Sell.
Katherine Playle asked for it to be questioned what criteria the Passenger Transport unit at Essex met that the Parish Council didn’t when they put in a scheme for Walson Way.
It was also agreed that we would speak to Cllr van de Bilt as a member of the Airport Working Group to see if he had a route into the Airport so that a meeting can be set up to build a relationship. It was agreed that the meeting would involve Cllr Sell as Chair of Highways, Cllr Caton as Chair of the Council and the Clerk. They can be asked to attend a Council meeting at a later date. The Clerk asked for clarification of exactly who the Committee would like the contact with, is it Stansted Airport Ltd or MAG? Members agreed it should be with the Managing Director of Stansted Airport Ltd and once the relationship has been established then they can have regular contact with the Communications team.
It was also agreed that the office would contact the Clerk at Takeley to find out how they are tackling airport parking.
106 To Receive Reports on
- A) S106 Projects Submitted
B) Uttlesford Local Highways Panel Projects Submitted
C) North Essex Parking Partnership Projects Submitted - All the above have been covered earlier in the meeting
Meeting closed at 8.32pm
Action Points
100 Make an official complaint to Essex County Council
100 Cllr Sell to contact the press and give them a copy of the complaint
100 Copy of the complaint to be put on the Parish Council website
101 Office to investigate seats for the bus stop at the top of Chapel Hill
103 Speak to the head of Bentfield School to see if they are willing to raise the footpath issues with ECC
104 Office to put in a request to UDC for details of the land being gifted to them
105 Contact the Airport to arrange a meeting with the Managing Director – See if Cllr van de Bilt has a way in
105 Put in an FOI request regarding NEPP policy and procedures
105 Question what criteria the Passenger Transport Unit met that the Parish Council didn’t in their application
105 Contact the Clerk at Takeley Parish Council
Agenda
1 To receive apologies for absence
2 To receive declarations of interest
3 To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 23rd April and 14th May 2025
4 To receive an update on action points
5 To receive a report from the Chair, Cllr Geoffrey Sell
6 To receive an update from County Councillor Ray Gooding on highways projects for Stansted Mountfitchet
7 To consider a request from a parishioner for safety barriers at the junction of Croasdaile Road and the footpath to Gilbey Crescent
8 Norman’s Way – To consider how we can get improvements made to the road surface
9 To discuss how members think the North Essex Parking Partnership can improve their service
10 To receive reports on:
- a) S106 projects submitted
- b) Uttlesford Local Highways Panel projects submitted
- c) North Essex Parking Partnership projects submitted
Parish Clerk 3rd July 2025
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