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MINUTES OF
THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING 2001. |
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The Minutes of
the last Annual Parish Meeting, having been previously circulated, were then
duly signed as a true record of events. All agreed. |
| 2. |
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MATTERS
ARISING FROM THE MINUTES. |
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Mr Dixon asked
what the situation was with regard to last year's plans for a better Children's
Play Area. The Chairman explained that the Parish Council were having a problem
finding a site and to-date had not been satisfied with any area. She explained
that one area that had been considered was on the Common, in the far South East
corner where it had recently been cleared of trees, but that high fencing would
be needed on the road side. The other area was The Larches in Swan Lane, which
was on the left-hand side, which was a wooded area. The only problem here was
that nobody could discover who actually owns the land. The Chairman asked that
if anybody had any ideas on suitable sites please could they let the Parish
Council know. |
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Mr Dixon also
raised the question as to what the Best Value Group were actually doing. The
Chairman advised that the group were looking into matters such as traffic, the
new playground, the problems of litter and damage to verges etc. |
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Mr Dixon
enquired about the increased Precept for 2000/01 in order to fund the extension
to the Village Hall Car Park. The Chairman advised that the main reason for
raising the Precept had been for the project of the Village Hall Car Park,
which had now got the go ahead. She explained that it was due to go through in
the last financial year but that it had taken the full year to get through
planning and to get to the tender stage. Cllr. M. Elliott advised that the cost
would be between £30,000 and £35,000. Cllr. M. Elliott also advised
that the application had gone to the Planning Department at Chelmsford Borough
Council on 11th June 2001 and had not been approved until 29th November 2001.
He explained that they had been arguing re the topping of the car park which is
still to be agreed and the order is to be sanctioned at Monday's Parish Council
Meeting. |
| 3. |
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CHAIRMAN'S
REPORT. |
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The Chairman's
Report had been prepared and circulated. |
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Doug Taffs
reported that Chelmsford Borough Council were only patching up roads rather
than totally repairing them. The Chairman advised that the Parish Council were
looking into the matter. |
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Margaret Otter
commented on the first page, last sentence, with regard to the The Parish
Council having made representations to Chelmsford Borough Council as part of
the new Local Plan which included objections to Temple Farm. |
| 4. |
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TWEEDY
CHARITY. |
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The Chairman
read out a report that had been prepared by the Trustee, Mr Barry Woodgate. In
the report it stated that Mr H.B. Woodgate had been adopted as the Stock Parish
Council Nominative Trustee replacing Mandy Fenwick who had resigned earlier in
the year. It was reported that Mr Terry Vanner had stepped down as the
Co-optative Trustee after over 11 years of service but he had agreed to be the
Consultant Architect. Mrs E.M. Woodgate had been appointed as the Co-optative
Trustee in Mr Vanner's place. It was reported that the properties had enjoyed
100% occupancy during the year with no change of tenants and that double
glazing had been fitted to the front of the properties. Bakers of Danbury are
due to be undertaking a series of remedial work over the Summer months of 2002.
A copy of the accounts will be provided to the Parish Council when they are
finalised and audited. |
| 5. |
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SCHOOL
GOVERNOR'S REPORT. |
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The Clerk read
out the following report that had been prepared by Peter Bentley. |
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Staff
Changes: Mrs Gallagher (Deputy Head) left in March to take up a
Headteacher position at Crays Hill School. Her time at Stock has been very
valuable to all the pupils who came in contact with her over the years. Her
considerable teaching skills and general enthusiasm for all that is involved in
school life will be missed. She did a wonderful job when Mrs Driver was so ill
and the School (and Governors) will remember her for her zest for the job. In
her place we have recruited Mr Robert Pike as Deputy Headteacher and, in his
first two weeks, he has settled down well and the children have reacted
positively to having a man for a change leading the class! Staffing levels
remain unchanged from previous years and we continue to have one 'floating'
Teacher available to help with specific needs or in the larger classes. |
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Head
Count: The School has a head count of pupils around 200 (max 210) and
the Head is satisfied that at this level we can maximise the per capita income
we receive. Billericay still provides us with a number of pupils from outside
the actual catchment area. |
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Financial: The School has been visited by the Essex
Audit Team each term under the arrangements I made when I took over the
Responsible Officers position two years ago. The audit reports have all been
satisfactory and the Governors are satisfied the stewardship of the finances is
of a high quality. In the last financial year we achieved a surplus which is
being carried forward to fund the building project (see below). In addition,
this years Budget (2002/03) which was recently set should provide us with a
further financial cushion by March 2003. |
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OFSTED: In general this report highlighted many more
strengths than it did weaknesses in the conduct of teaching and in the general
management of the School. Where weaknesses were identified the Governing Body
and Staff have addressed these and made changes where they felt
appropriate. |
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Results: The School had some very good results at the
11+ this year with four girls gaining places at Chelmsford County High and one
boy into KEGS, three other places were gained by pupils to Southend. When
considering the size of the School and the competition for a limited number of
places available each year in the High School system, we are very proud at this
achievement. Other children won places into private schools. The Governors
thank the teaching staff and of course all the pupils who entered the
examinations who made this result possible. |
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Buildings: The School has had plans prepared to
extend the main building in a manner which will provide, for the first time, a
self contained computer room. The OFSTED report made a specific comment on the
standard of computer teaching which they felt was low when compared to the very
high levels achieved in all other subjects. The Governors and Staff believeer
that the School cannot meet the OFSTED requirement until separate facilities
are available. Some capital funding is available from Essex and the balance
will have to come from past budget surpluses and other grants. The PTA will be
asked to help with the purchase of some of the equipment. We hope to have the
work done during the holiday period but now await the planning approval process
to be completed before going out to tender. |
| 6. |
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ANY OTHER
BUSINESS. |
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Julia Seaman
questioned as the Parish Council had helped fund the Village Appraisal what was
happening with it? Mr Dixon reported that a lot of research had been undertaken
and that Barry Woodgate had taken it upon himself to prepare a report and take
on the analysis. As Treasurer, Mr Dixon had given the accounts to Mr Otter. He
explained that £994.00 was standing to the Village Appraisal account
which had been set aside should there be a report for the villagers to
read. |
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Gary
Stringer emphasised the point that the appraisal was a historical document
which would be referred to when questions came up regarding housing etc. He had
already found it useful when data was needed with regard to the traffic calming
etc. The Chairman advised that the problem of traffic in and around Stock was
currently under discussion with Chelmsford Borough Council and Essex County
Council. |
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Phil Gane
expressed concern at the way in which builders were ruining verges and not
leaving building materials on the properties they were working on. He said he
felt that the developers were riding rough shod over everybody and that he sees
Section 106 as a bribe. The Chairman explained that the Parish Council were
trying to get Chelmsford Borough Council to write in the planning permission
that the builders make good any damage they cause, i.e. verges are returned to
their original state. Mr Gane said that everyone seems helpless with regard to
the development taking place and verges being wrecked. |
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Margaret Otter
questioned why the Parish Council did not object to the field that needs
re-profiling adjacent to Greenwoods. She criticised that the Parish Council
were not objecting and putting in proper objections to plans. The Chairman
advised that as a Parish Council they did as much as possible to object to
plans. She reported that everyone was surprised that the Bakers Arms
application went through and when Cllr. M. Elliott had checked with Chelmsford
Borough Council only one parishioner had written a letter of objection. The
Chairman suggested that parishioners take more interest in the plans and write
letters themselves to support the Parish Council. Gary Stringer reported that
it is all about apathy and that not enough people were writing to the Parish
Council, Chelmsford Borough Council, himself and not attending Parish Council
Meetings. He supported the Parish Council by saying that not enough people were
turning up at Parish Council Meetings and then commenting that not enough was
being done to object to plans. Margaret Otter declared that there was not
enough time or opportunities for parishioners to object to plans and how could
parishioners find out about the plans? Beth Weaver advised that plans were
advertised on the noticeboard and in the Essex Chronicle. Chris Otter expressed
concern that only immediate neighbours were notified of planning applications
and that did not give other people the chance to object. |
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Richard Allan
enquired as to the Council's attitude to a weight limit. The Chairman advised
that the subject had been discussed with Chelmsford Borough Council and Essex
County Council and that now the first stage of the A130 had been opened they
were waiting to see what difference it made to the roads in the area. The
second part of the road is due to be opened at the end of 2003. The Chairman
advised that a census was currently being carried out on the B1007. Mr Allan
said that the larger vehicles had not been significantly reduced it was just
perceived. Gary Stringer advised that the item was still on the Agenda at
Chelmsford Borough Council and was a proposed item in the Borough Plan. |
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Richard Allan
reported that he had taken photographs, which had been lost between departments
at Chelmsford Borough Council with regard to the footpath in the Church
Meadows. He explained that he had heard nothing and was told that there was not
sufficient evidence that the footpath had been used for a number of years. The
Chairman agreed to go back to Mr Clarke at Chelmsford Borough Council to
investigate the matter. |
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Mrs
Raeburn advised that she had written to Chelmsford Borough Council with regard
to the proposed new Doctors' surgery. She was concerned that it was being built
on a very dangerous road and was going into green belt land. Mrs Raeburn
reported that her letters had been acknowledged but were not being shown on
file. Phil Gane also had written and received an acknowledgement. Gary Stringer
asked parishioners to send a copy of all letters that were sent to Chelmsford
Borough Council with regard to protests in planning to him. |
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Mr Dixon
offered a vote of thanks to the Parish Council. |
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The Chairman
thanked everyone for coming; the meeting closed at 9.05pm. |