MINUTES
Minutes of a meeting of the FULL COUNCIL held at 7.30pm on Wednesday 16th February 2022 in the Day Centre, Crafton Green, 72 Chapel Hill, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex
PRESENT
Cllr M Caton (Chairman), Cllrs G Braeckman, A Guney, J Hogg, J Hudson, M Jessup, J Kavanagh, A Khan, J O’Brien, L Prior, F Richards, G Sell and T Smith
ATTENDING
Mrs Ruth Clifford – Parish Clerk
Mrs Emma Philbrick – Trainee Deputy Clerk
District Cllr A Dean – Via Zoom
County Cllr Ray Gooding
1 member of the press – Via Zoom
2 members of the public in person and 1 member of the public via Zoom
324 APOLOGIES
Apologies received from Cllr Barnes due to illness. Having been proposed by Cllr Richards and seconded by Cllr O’Brien it was unanimously:
RESOLVED to accept the apologies of Cllr Barnes
Apologies were also received from District Cllr Caton.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
One member of the public updated members on his actions relating to the need for a second dispensing pharmacy in the village.
Another member of the public asked members to consider the SuDS near to King Charles Drive when considering the Call for Sites at the East of High Lane. He asked District Councillors that following the special measures put in place on planning, can we assume that Uttlesford are still in control of the Local Plan and do timescales of having to deliver remain the same?
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ENDS
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325 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – None
326 TO RECEIVE THE MINUTES OF THE FULL COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 19TH JANUARY 2022
The date of the minutes state 29th January but the meeting was held on 19th January 2022.
RESOLVED to accept the minutes of the meeting held on 19th January 2022 as a true and accurate account with the one amendment made to the date.
327 TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON PROGRESS SINCE THE LAST MEETING
The Clerk updated on the action points from the last meeting:
PP – A letter had been sent to Boots but no response received back so far
300 – The Clerk had spoken to UDC’s Chief Executive regarding the commercial building at Walpole Meadows. Whilst the first floor has been leased to a fitness club, the remaining tenants, apart from UDC, have not yet been agreed but will be for new business start-ups.
328 TO RECEIVE THE CHAIR’S REPORT – Attached
329 DISTRICT COUNCILLORS’ REPORT
District Cllr Sell reported the following:
Uttlesford District Council are the only Local Authority in England to have received designation for failure of performance. Nigel Brown has advised that all major planning applications now needed to be treated as an appeal as we will only get the one chance with the Inspectorate. The Parish Councils in the district are at a disadvantage now and this will last for two years or more so we need to ensure that we get things right in our evidence first time. This is not good for democracy and the local element has been removed. The District Council will now be a consultee on these major planning applications as is the Parish Council.
Cllr Sell advised that he believes the timescale for determining applications will be the same and in response to the question in Public Participation, they will still be working on the Local Plan.
District Cllr Khan advised that in 2018, Uttlesford District Council were told that the threshold had been reduced from 20% to 10% but this had not been identified as a risk and members had not been informed. UDC had been warned they were on a trajectory and should have taken action.
District Cllr Dean endorsed everything said by Dist. Cllrs Sell and Khan. He also reported that along with Dist. Cllr Sell he had visited King Charles Drive with Nigel Brown who has gone away from it with a lot of issues to sort out.
Cllr Hogg addressed the District Councillors and advised that the Parish Council need to know the exact process that now needs to be followed as there will no longer be the opportunity to appeal, attend an inquiry or form a Rule 6 party. We need to understand the process the Inspector will run. He also asked if there was a detailed plan in place to get out of this situation? He also has concerns that the Inspector will fast track applications meaning that the chance to negotiate community benefits will be lost.
It was agreed that the Clerk would request that UDC arrange a meeting for Parish Councils with the Planning department to understand the implications of the situation.
330 COUNTY COUNCILLORS REPORT
Cty Cllr Gooding reported the following:
After discussions with Cllr Caton regarding the Columbia Threadneedle planning proposals, he is happy to support the Parish Council. The Burnt Mill Academy Trust who run Forest Hall School have previously been reluctant to allow community use of their facilities because they have no outdoor changing facilities, and they only have the ones based inside the school. Columbia Threadneedle would need to provide these. He will discuss with the Chief Executive of the Trust.
With regard to the issues with the planning department, these will also affect Essex who are a statutory consultee and beneficiaries of contributions under S106 agreements.
The Essex County Council budget has been increased by 4.49% which is more than they had wanted but is largely due to the increasing costs of adult social care.
Cllr Hogg spoke regarding the Burnt Mill Academy and advised that the two major parties are not talking to the major providers of football in the area, and we need to make sure that the local football teams are supported. Cty Cllr Gooding advised that he would ask Active Essex to get involved. Cllr Caton commented that it seemed to be a quick tick box exercise for Columbia Threadneedle and this is unacceptable.
331 TO APPROVE THE LIST OF PAYMENTS
In response to a question from Cllr Prior, the Clerk confirmed that the payment for the
Jubilee tree in the Memorial Gardens was for supply and planting.
The list of payments was approved
332 PLANNING APPLICATIONS
1 UTT/22/0231/HHF – 58 RAINSFORD ROAD
Single storey rear extension
No Comment
2 UTT/22/0235/HHF – JASYMN – 19 BURNELLS WAY
Single storey rear extension, partial garage conversion, loft conversion with front and rear dormers and new entrance hall (alternative scheme to that approved under planning permission UTT/21/1539/HHF)
No Comment
3 UTT/21/2376/FUL – LAND TO THE WEST OF HIGH LANE – AMENDED APPLICATION
Variation of condition 18 (footpaths) of planning permission UTT/18/1993/FUL – condition 18 to read “The pedestrian links, as indicated on drawing no. BRD/19/045/052 as Footpath 1 and Footpath 4, shall be constructed to a minimum width of 2 metres”. The omission of footpaths 2 and 3 approved under planning application UTT/18/1993/FUL.
The Parish Council objects due to the following:
- Health & Safety grounds – The removal of the variation forces residents to walk in the road to reach a safe route, as well as along a footway which Highways recommended should be improved.
- Condition 17 stated that all paths should be provided “prior to occupation”
- There are no walkways/footways on the site – removing the footpaths creates risks to pedestrians who will be forced to walk on the road, known as King Charles Drive.
- The only retained footpath forces pedestrians to use the unimproved footway along the Cambridge Road, rather than the new footway into the centre of Stansted along High Lane.
The footpaths should be retained
333 CALL FOR SITES – TO CONSIDER ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
The Clerk advised that when the sites had previously been discussed, there were four potential sites included within other larger proposals which had not been spotted. Members needed to agree their response. After discussion it was agreed:
002 – 60 houses – object on same grounds as 022
004 and 005 – Employment Sites – Support
019 – Youth Centre – Residential – Support as sustainable site particularly for Almshouses
334 TO CONSIDER APPLICATIONS FOR CO-OPTION TO FILL THE CURRENT VACANCY
The Chair advised that only one application had been received from Peter Jones and this had been distributed to members ahead of the meeting. She asked if there were any questions for Peter but there were none. Having been proposed by Cllr O’Brien and seconded by Cllr Sell it was unanimously:
RESOLVED to co-opt Peter Jones to fill the current vacancy
335 TO CONSIDER QUOTES FOR ELECTRICAL WORK AT CRAFTON GREEN HOUSE AND THE DAY CENTRE
The Clerk advised that to achieve compliance with regulations, approximately five companies had been approached to quote with only two quotes being received. The first quote was for £10,230 and the second £9,615.47. In this instance she cannot see any reason not to accept the lower quote. Having been proposed by Cllr Richards and seconded by Cllr O’Brien it was unanimously:
RESOLVED to accept the quotes from SSE Electrical Ltd in the sum of £9,615.47.
336 OPEN SPACES COMMITTEE – TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 26TH JANUARY 2022
RESOLVED to receive the minutes of the meeting held on 26th January 2022
Meeting closed at 8.45pm
ACTION POINTS
229 – The Clerk to ask UDC to arrange a meeting with Parish Councils and the Planning Department
330 – Cty Cllr Gooding to discuss facilities at FHS with the Chief Executive of BMAT
330 – Cty Cllr Gooding to ask Active Essex to get involved in the discussions around the provision of football facilities.
CHAIR REPORT
Uttlesford District Council, as a Local Planning Authority is now subject to a S.62A process, and is a designated LPA for applications of over 10 houses or 1 hectare. This designation provides applicants with a choice to remove the District Council from the planning application process; and is basically a penalty on Uttlesford for not meeting the Government targets for the quality of decision-making i.e. meeting the 10% threshold of applications being dismissed at appeal hearing – currently being at 16%.
We as a Parish Council will remain a consultee and will need to ensure we communicate effectively and promote our local knowledge- which will not be the inspectorate’s forte.
Day Centre/ Touchpoint – Touchpoint have signed a licence agreement to occupy the Day Centre, with a review date in 6 months. This enables them to access and release a number of grant funding sources to assist the service delivery and the building environment in which they will be delivered.
UDC have also finally responded in relation to the Parish Council grant-funding application to support the refurbishment plans. They are agreeing to an initial grant of £22,000 – with the remaining £4,050 plus the new flooring costs to follow in April this year. This means the kitchen refurb and ventilation system upgrade can be actioned. Further consideration to the toilet upgrade will also be given when the quotes are finalised.
Columbia Threadneedle – We understand, but await confirmation from Samantha Hadland at Columbia Threadneedle – that they had had discussions with Burnt Mill Academy Trust, which, it appears was in relation the Trust hosting and managing the installation and use of a 4G football pitch on the school site.
Any agreement needs to create a benefit for the whole community- which should not have to negotiate use of this resource. It should be owned and managed buy a Community Interest Group and not the Academy Trust. The landowner is ECC with the Academy trust having a 100-year lease.
Our County Councillor needs to support the Parish on this issue and ensure this benefit is one which the community is able to access openly and fairly. Interestingly we have had no response to date to our emails requesting clarity on this issue.
Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment – I have submitted a paper outlining our position on this assessment to the Uttlesford Health and Wellbeing board at their request and hope to present to them in person in the near future.
Special Constable – I met with the Essex Lead for Special Constables last week, as there is a Special Constable who lives in our community, who could be available to us to use in conjunction with our PCSO. Birchanger have a Special Constable and this is working well. These posts hold all the powers of a permanently employed police officer. They are on the beat on average between 16 and 24 hours per month, and are paid between £3 and £10 per day dependent on the hours of each completed shift. They are also refunded mileage at 45p per mile. These repayments would be the responsibility of the Parish Council costing an average of £1,000 per year. We will consider this proposal at our next Full Council.
Jubilee – UDC have agreed to promote a grant of £700 via an application for the grant towards the celebrations in each Parish.
AGENDA
You are summoned to attend a meeting of the FULL COUNCIL which will be held on Wednesday 16th February 2022 at 7.30pm in The Day Centre, Crafton Green, 72 Chapel Hill, Stansted, Essex where the following business will be transacted:
1 To approve apologies for absence
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Adjourn for public participation
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2 To receive declarations of interest
3 To receive the minutes of the Full Council meeting held on 19th January 2022 – to follow
4 To receive an update on progress since the last meeting
5 To receive the Chairman’s Report
6 To receive the District Councillors’ Report
7 To receive the County Councillor’s Report
8 Finance – To approve the list of payments – to be tabled at the meeting
9 To consider the list of planning applications received– attached
10 Call for Sites – To consider additional comments
11 To consider applications for Co-Option to fill the current vacancy – to follow
12 To consider quotes for electrical work at Crafton Green House and the Day Centre
13 Open Spaces Committee – To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 26th January 2022 – to follow
Ruth Clifford, Parish Clerk – 10 February 2022