Parish Council Chair Report – February 2025

For  her report in February Parish Council Chair Maureen Caton updates on the continued search for county council funding for PCSO roles and plans for a VE event this summer

PCSO roles

We are still awaiting confirmation from Essex Police that the PCSO post we are currently part funding will remain. We understand that the role remains in jeopardy unless the government issue written confirmation of the proposed additional funding is to be made available to police forces across the country.

Essex Police have indicated that they have funding available to update the ANPR cameras in the village and have asked in principle if we would be happy for them to take over the monitoring of those.  There was no indication given that they would consider taking on the whole of the CCTV system unfortunately.

Grant for Youth Club

On a brighter note, we have secured funding from UDC as part of their Community Support Grant for Youth Activities. We have been awarded £8k for the first year, year 2 £9K and year 3 £10k. This will put the youth club on a firm footing to develop the service provision for the future.

Council reforms

I have arranged to meet with the Chairs of Finance, Highways and Open Spaces, along with my vice-chair – to consider the restructuring/devolution of local government arrangements into a Mayoral Authority of Essex, Southend and Thurrock – and how this may impact us. Following these initial discussions, we will consult with you all for your views on the way forward and what initiatives you consider we should promote in the best interests of our community. A Working Group may be the best way to consider the complexity and impact of any ideas/decisions we wish to promote. I have also invited neighbouring parishes to meet with me.

I have now also instigated regular catch-up meetings with County Cllr Gooding ahead of Council Meetings to receive updates on any of his actions or activity at the County – including Devolution.

Developers’ plans

The Planning Working Group met with representatives of Bloor Homes for them to update us prior to them undertaking their public consultation on February 13^th.

We were informed Walpole phase 2 was initially held back to ensure the application aligned to the Local Plan and NPPF update; but would be ready for consideration by the time of the public consultation. They were clear they would be applying to UDC and not PINS for planning approval, and were predicting build time would be quicker for this development.

In relation to the development on High Lane, they will pursue a traffic reduction order to reduce speed to 30mph. They will also formalise the current lay-bys with enforceable restrictions for non- residents. Marketing will be focussed on Stansted residents for the first opportunity to secure new homes.

It was also confirmed that the roads in Walpole phase 1 are in the process of being adopted.

Lanterns found

I’m pleased to report that two of the lanterns stolen from Chapel Hill appear to have been recovered by Herts Police.  They have sent images across which certainly look the same as our lights and we await details of how to retrieve them as they appear to be intact.

Business networking

UDC are proposing to support and promote our Economic Working Group and Business Forum by holding an event in April to encourage more smaller business networking in the region. Because the EDG and Business Forum are an established group here, it was thought we could showcase the success of the group and promote the development of networking groups elsewhere in the district. It is also noteworthy that a number of forum members are up for awards at this year’s UDC Business Awards Ceremony, one being the Stansted Business Forum itself, for a community award, and We Create Better in the category of supporting local business.  Touchpoint CIC is also nominated in the People’s Choice category.

Airport expansion

MAG organised 2 sessions of consultation today – not sure how many people attended as notice of this appears to have gone to people’s junk email or the wrong email address altogether. The consultation was to be aligned to the airport’s growth over the next 15-20 years – with that growth said to hit 50million by 2040 and catered for by a single runway within the existing boundaries.

Cllr van de Bilt – was notified of the sessions but was unable to attend. The consultation closes on 10^th March 2025 – Cllr O’Brien will send the slides of information he has to all Councillors and Cllr van de Bilt will call a meeting of the Airport Working Group as soon as possible.

Foodback stigma

Last week I attended the I AM MORE presentation from the organisers of our local Foodbank service. I would urge you to view this travelling exhibition if you get the chance. It illustrates the emotional impact of our prejudice on others and how individuals have grappled with the stigma and labels we are ready to apply to them when they are at their lowest point. Their individual stories of resilience and self- determination showed their victory over our prejudice.

Annual Parish Meeting

Finally, a reminder that the Annual Parish Meeting will be held at 7.30 pm on 12^th March in the Exchange. I hope you will attend.