Join us for our Annual Parish Meeting this Wednesday at the Mountfitchet Exchange when the topic of local authority reform will take centre stage.
Our Annual Parish Meeting as always serves as a forum for residents to engage directly with the Parish Council face-to-face without many of the rules that govern regular council meetings.
It is also the event to come to this year if you are curious to hear what the government’s plans for merging councils could have in store for Uttlesford.
Guest Speaker
Starting off the presentations will be Cllr Maureen Caton, SMPC Chair, and Cllr John O’Brien, the head of the SMPC’s Finance & General Purposes committee.
After their talks they will take questions from the floor before making way for guest speaker Peter Holt, chief executive of Uttlesford District Council.
Mr Holt will be sharing his thoughts on how the reform of local authorities may affect the delivery of council services in our area.
Back at the Exchange
This year, like last, the Annual Parish Meeting will be at the Mountfitchet Exchange library, located next door to TouchPoint at the top of Chapel Hill.
We would ask you to arrive at 7pm – that’s 30 minutes before the meeting officially starts. This will allow time to find a seat and enjoy some refreshments.
Not just any meeting
The Annual Parish Meeting (APM) offers you the chance to discuss any parish affairs you wish to raise.
Unlike regular council meetings where there is only limited time set aside for public participation, an Annual Parish provides a chance to bring to bring issues to the floor not addressed at our other committee meetings.
Also, at an APM you can demand a poll be taken on any question arising at the meeting. Technically, you would need the support of at least 10 other local electors, or one-third of electors at the meeting – whichever is fewer.
But a poll means you could ask the Parish Council to consider taking action on a matter for which it has statutory control — for example, how SMPC manages the cemetery or deals with allotments.
Annual Review
Below you will find Cllr Caton’s review of the 2024, which featured in the March edition of the Link magazine.
It has been confirmed the elections that had been expected for Essex County Council this year will be suspended. By the time of our Annual Parish Meeting on March 12th, we should understand more about the process of Local Government Reorganisation and the impact this change will bring. As it stands Essex County Council, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock Councils have had their request to be part of the Devolution Priority Programme approved.
Will three into one work?
The “Devolution Deal” will create a Mayoral Strategic Authority for Essex (via the election of a mayor who will have devolved powers from government) in May 2026. It is proposed the Mayor will be able to make strategic decisions, speak directly to government ministers, secure funding for local projects, attract investment and improve infrastructure. A directly elected Mayor will have significant powers over strategic functions, e.g. for economic development, housing, infrastructure and transport.
Key functions of any newly created unitary authorities resulting from devolution will include managing transport and concessionary fares, overseeing training for skills and driving economic growth, as well as having strategic control over planning and housing. For example, should Uttlesford be merged with neighbouring district authorities, such as Braintree and Harlow, collective decisions will be able to be made across the three council boundaries.
By the time of our meeting, hopefully with more clarity on the role of Parish Councils and following our own internal discussions, we can decide if there are any particular areas we would like to significantly influence going forward.
Peter Holt, chief executive of Uttlesford District Council, is our guest speaker at the Annual Parish Meeting. We look forward to Mr Holt’s talk on Local Government Reorganisation. We hope he will be able to give us some further information on this development and the expected impacts and costs of these changes — how to ensure our issues and needs are addressed and not lost to the interests of bigger players.
Last year boundary changes were approved that saw Stansted Mountfitchet linked with parishes in the west of the county up to Chrishall on the border with Cambridge. We need to understand how these changes will play out within the reorganisation of local authorities.
House building and Stansted
The district council’s Local Plan is now with the Secretary of State for independent examination. As I reported to the Parish Council, the number of houses Uttlesford are expected to develop over the life of the plan has already increased from 674 to 804 homes, an increase of 19%.
It is crucial our Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) fits with the strategy of the Local Plan. But we also need our views on where, why and how to build and develop housing with appropriate infrastructure remaining the golden thread in this crucial planning document.
Our NDP has been extensively revised following professional input from an advisor to parish councils on submitting neighbourhood plans to the planning inspectorate. This has been done to smooth the document’s passage through the adoption process. The sooner our plan is officially approved, the less chance the village is open to speculative development. With this in mind, the Parish Council aims submit its plan to Uttlesford early this summer. A public consultation on this Regulation 14 version of the NDP should soon follow.
Threat to community policing
At the time of writing this report, we are waiting to hear the fate of our Police Community Support Officer. This is in light of the announcement by the Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner in February that all PCSOs are to be made redundant in Essex. Whether this will happen is uncertain. We have learned Essex Police are reconsidering the position of its 99 community support officers after the government announced a further £100m in funding to support neighbourhood policing and the targeting of antisocial behaviour.
A meeting has been held by Essex Police to discuss how this new funding could alter their stance. But as we go to press, we have had no confirmation of the future of PCSOs. The Parish Council continues to part fund our PCSO. We do so because we believe they are an asset to our community’s well-being. We would not support any decision to remove this post nor the funding available. We hope to update you positively at the Annual Parish Meeting.
Action, not words, please!
We continue to battle with the ongoing issues of our highways — potholes, road closures, HGV traffic. These remain unchanged and impact our daily life and, in some cases, livelihoods. Perhaps the reorganisation and devolution of local authorities will address this.
We continue to hold regular meetings with our District and County Councillors, who take forward our concerns on highways matters and on issues such as the condition of Manor Road flats, which need to be made safely habitable.
Essex County Councillor Tom Cunningham, Cabinet Member for Highways, Infrastructure and Sustainable Transport, attended a Full Council meeting last November. Unfortunately, rhetoric at the meeting has not been replicated with action and with clarity on a way forward to solve the highway issues raised. The portfolio holder for highways is still (as far as are aware) to arrange a meeting with the Manchester Airport Group to discuss diverting HGVs away from the village using its roads. This potential line of action followed the negative outcome of a traffic survey measuring HGV use along Grove Hill.
County Councillor Ray Gooding has confirmed he has progressed the application to have the chicanes removed on Church Road and a new traffic safety scheme to be considered. We await a review through the Local Highways Panel and a design and scheme proposal.
There also has also been no feedback from Cllr Cunningham in relation to additional street lighting from the new Walpole Meadows development to the top of the village. He has responded via Cllr Gooding that he is unable to respond to the questions we have raised in relation to highways maintenance in Stansted over the last five years, as this information is not recorded at this level. But he did commit to look at what capital projects are planned for the next five years and what major project spends there have been.
Cllr Gooding is to arrange a meeting with the Environment Agency, ECC and Parish Council representatives in relation to safeguarding volunteers clearing the trash screen, and the maintenance that ECC are required to undertake.
Fighting for our green belt
In December, City and Country Group met with Councillors from Stansted and Birchanger to discuss their proposals to build 150 new homes on land between the two parishes. Both chairmen agreed that until the plans are developed, we are unable to comment further. But currently, in principle, we would object to the house builder’s plans. The encroachment on both villages and Bishop’s Stortford would be unacceptable. Helpfully recent legislative support means that development in “grey belt” still requires a significant determinant to do so.
Bloor Homes will have held their public consultation on Phase 2 of the Walpole development (270 houses) by the time we meet. This site is one of two included in UDC’s draft Reg 19 Local Plan. Their application is intended to be reviewed by Uttlesford District Council and not the Planning Inspectorate. In relation to High Lane where Bloor intend to build 57 homes, the developer is proposing to formalise the lay-by for resident parking and to apply for a road traffic order to reduce the speed limit to 30mph. They have suggested that marketing of the homes is to be promoted for Stansted residents in the first instance — with 5% being affordable bungalows.
14 plots close to hand over
The day when residents will have the keys to their long-awaited allotment plot at Walpole Meadows draws nearer. Fourteen plots will soon be ready for new tenants, with one having been set aside for community use. Although the developer had been keen to hand ownership of the allotments to the Parish Council, we have had to work hard with the Section 106 officer at the district council and Bloor Homes so the land is fit for use prior to the exchange but this has now been completed. The Clerk and Open Spaces committee are in consultation with the Section 106 officer regarding the handover of the remaining public open spaces on the Walpole Meadows development.
Youth Club blooms
The Youth Club is now settled into its new home on the old Peter Kirk School site. The club operates three nights a week. On average 25 young people attend each session — almost three times as many as before. The feedback from its young attendees is resoundingly positive. They enjoy the activities, social interaction and fun provided by the club. The leader is working with a number of community organisations, notably TouchPoint Radio, to spread the word of its success to the wider community. A Youth Club trip to our twin town of Rungis is planned for Easter weekend. This will allow some of Stansted’s younger residents to meet their French peers. This trip is being supported by a £1,000 donation from the Firework Event Group.
Backing for TouchPoint
SMPC have now granted a licence to occupy to TouchPoint for the old Day Centre building and Crafton Green House. We are delighted with the benefits that are provided to our community and the improvements made to the buildings through the organisation’s successful grant applications. TouchPoint’s occupation of these buildings has relieved the Parish Council of hefty business rates although we have continued to fund utility costs. TouchPoint has committed to try to repay the current year’s utility costs at our year-end review. In turn the Parish Council will continue to monitor and review its spend in support of TouchPoint.
Search for cemetery land
We are continuing to search for cemetery land to enable parishioners to have the choice to be buried here in Stansted. In the same vein, we continue to speak to Legacy East Almshouse Partnership, endeavouring to progress the reinstatement of our almshouses and the safeguarding of the financial legacy remaining after the loss of those on Church Road.
Financial Report 2025
F&GP’s John O’Brien provides an update on SMPC finances ahead of appearance of the Annual Parish Meeting on Wednesday. This text also appeared in the current edition of community magazine, The Link.
Looking back over the past two years, it is small comfort that the inflation rate at 3.7% remains well above the ideal target figure of 2%.
We have done our best to lessen the load on our community in setting the Parish Council precept. It has been kept to a rise of 4.49%. This equates to an increase of £6.26 per annum of our share for Band ‘D’ Council Tax in 2025/26 of £145.77. This compares to £139.51 last year.
Like all employers, the increase in the minimum wage and National Insurance has affected all councils. Going out to tender for new three-year gardening and grass cutting contracts was essential and the higher costs have had to be dealt with, but this has partly been balanced by the deferment of this year’s £25,000 payment to the Foresthall Park Community Fund.
The budget includes £7,000 for IT security back-up and an amount of £4,000, which has been set aside as a ‘surety fund’ to protect Youth Club finances in case Uttlesford District Council withdraws funding. These exceptional additions, along with the £10,000 for the Cemetery expansion, were the extras of note.
Energy costs
Overall, energy costs remain volatile, but we have been able to achieve a reduction in the energy costs for the Mountfitchet Exchange building on a short-term contract.
Our brokers have advised that we defer merging our energy contracts until February 2026. By having all our contracts to end at the same time will help us amalgamate them to achieve a stronger bargaining position and make budgeting decisions more accurate. We shall, however, keep our streetlight energy contracts separate.
Streetlights
We are unsure what savings have been achieved since the conversion to LED and part-night lighting. Streetlight energy costs are not metered, and we have had to chase UK Power Networks time and time again to obtain the necessary information to move forward. After over 12 months, we have now received a certification of our lighting inventory, and we are now awaiting confirmation from our energy supplier.
Still on streetlights, a structural survey is due in June 2026. It is feared that we shall have to replace around 30 lamps along Chapel Hill and Lower Street. Corrosion at the base of some of them was highlighted in 2023. This has prompted the inspectors to return after three years, instead of the usual five.
Lighting manufacturers have been contacted to provide costings of the replacement columns and lanterns in good time for us to prepare a suitable strategy. By next year, we will have raised £45,000 towards the cost.
IT Security
Cyber Crime has become a red-hot potato and the Council has sought protection within the Government’s “Cyber Essentials” programme. The Parish Council has at last received certification that we have the required IT Security competence level with the help of Genmar, a highly regarded IT Security and Business Support company.
Flood defence
The flood warning system was found to have failed this autumn, but the manufacturers are dealing with the problem and it should be back in place soon.
The two sets of pins in the Ugley Brook, along Gall End Lane, have taken a battering, but have been a worthwhile investment. The trash screen at the entrance to the culvert that runs under Lower Street has survived being overwhelmed by the closest of margins. Thankfully, at last we have received acknowledgement by Essex County Council that it is their responsibility to keep the area around it clear of vegetation. This will help our Flood Wardens keep the screen free of debris. Iain Rankin and the team deserve our grateful thanks.
Library lease
Finally, we are still waiting six years on for the lease of the Library area of the Mountfitchet Exchange to be signed. The procrastination of Essex County Council is a scandal. It shows a serious degree of indifference by the County Council towards their dealings with Parish Councils. Will the creation of a different Unitary Authority make any difference?
I wonder.
Key Information
Annual Parish Meeting – 12th March 2025
Mountfitchet Exchange, 72 Chapel Hill, Stansted Mountfitchet, CM24 8AQ
Doors open at 7pm. Meeting begins at 7.30pm
NB Crafton Green Car Park will be available for use on Wednesday as Essex Highways have confirmed there will be NO roadworks along Chapel Hill necessitating a closure.