MINUTES
MINUTES of a meeting of the Windmill Sub-Committee held at 7.00pm on Wednesday 30th March 2022 at The Mountfitchet Exchange, Crafton Green,72 Chapel Hill, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex
PRESENT Cllr J O’Brien (Chair), Cllrs M Caton, J Kavanagh and F Richards, Molly Clark and Richard Thomas
ATTENDING Mrs Ruth Clifford – Parish Clerk
Mrs Emma Philbrick – Trainee Deputy Clerk
386 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Tudor Owen
387 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – None
388 TO RECEIVE THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 1ST DECEMBER 2021
RESOLVED to accept the minutes of the meeting held on 1st December 2021 as a true and accurate account
389 TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE SINCE THE LAST MEETING – Nothing to update
390 TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE FROM THE MILLERS ON MAINTENANCE
Richard Thomas gave the following update:
Stock Clamp Project – Costs of the project were circulated to the meeting. The original estimate was £8,500 but this is now looking to cost approx. £12,200. The original quote did not include the cost to hire the cherry picker and also Steve Mansfield’s services. Richard would like to seek an agreement that the Parish Council pay the balance of the work done so far which is £1,059.22 out of the Windmill Capital Account and that the money in there could also be put towards the rest of the work still to be carried out if needed.
Cllr O’Brien asked regarding the repointing of the brickwork. Richard advised that they had not applied for the lottery fund grant for the Windmill Fete this year for a couple of reasons, one being that they would be looking to apply for between £40,000 – £50,000 from the Lottery Heritage Fund to be used for this project.
Fan Blade Tie Rods – Cllr O’Brien asked if there was still a difference of opinion between the Millers and Paul Kemp, the Millwright. Richard advised that these were installed on the advice of the previous Millwright but had eventually snapped and broken off, travelling some distance and causing damage to another property. However, they weren’t convinced that tying them together would improve things. This would continue to be discussed.
391 UPDATES FROM THE MILLERS ON FUND-RAISING AND ACCOUNTS
Grants had been received from District Councillor Sell for £450 and they were hoping for similar from District Councillors Caton and Khan.
The Parish Council had previously agreed to underwrite the Summer Fete should it make a loss or have to be cancelled.
Cllr O’Brien asked if the mill admissions were back up to pre-covid levels? They advised that they had been unable to open during Easter last year, nor for their usual May openings and Bank Holidays. Had it not been for the successful numbers at the Fete, the numbers would have been low.
No decision had been made regarding their plans for the Jubilee celebrations. They were told of the Council’s plans for the community picnic on Saturday 4th June and asked if they would consider opening the Windmill for this? There is a committee meeting scheduled for next Tuesday so this would be discussed, and they would see whether they have enough volunteers to open for this plus their normal Sunday opening.
The Christmas Santa event had gone very well and was a successful fundraiser with 104 children attending. Cllr Richards advised that she believed that this was due to better publicity for the event and that going forward, stronger publicity would be the key to any events taking place.
Cllr Kavanagh asked for an update regarding the fire alarm. It was confirmed that the old system had powered down. Quotes from other companies had been supplied but the costs were high. Richard had been looking into purchasing a cabled alarm which seem to be in the region of £1,500. This cost did not include installation, but they would try to do this themselves if possible. Before any alarm can be purchased, they would need to look into sensors. At the last Committee meeting the Millers decided that they would purchase 3 or 4 different sensors and run them offline for a while to see if they go off. Before building sensors into any new alarm, they needed to be sure they would not encounter the issues they had previously. This would be looked into further and pushed forward.
Meeting closed at 7.40pm
NO ACTION POINTS
AGENDA
NOTICE OF MEETING You are summoned to attend a meeting of the WINDMILL SUB COMMITTEE to be held at 7.00pm on Wednesday 30th March 2022 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 meeting held on 1st December 2021
4 To receive an update since the last meeting
5 To receive an update from the Millers on maintenance
6 Update from the Millers on fund-raising and accounts
Ruth Clifford, Parish Clerk – 24 March 2022