Minutes of the Meeting of the STOCK Parish Council
held on 26/3/01 at 7.30 p.m. at the Village Hall

Present : All members of the Parish Council and Borough Councillor Stringer.
In the Chair : Councillor Mrs Johnson.

308	Minutes of the Meeting of 26/2/01 Once the last two Minutes had been correctly numbered, these were approved and signed by the Chairman as a true record.
309	Matters Arising:
	(1)	Traffic Calming: Cllr Tully reported that parents of children at the school were very supportive and it was agreed that a further protest concerning the continuing failure to provide traffic calming measures in the village should be organised during the 17th May. It was further agreed that the Best Value Group should agree some traffic calming proposals for the village as a whole so that there was something positive to present to the Highway Authorities.
	(2)	Buttsbury Signpost: Cllr Lusty reported that the judge had declared the first defence supplied by the company that had damaged the signpost to be inadequate. The time by which a new defence had to be submitted had elapsed and he had therefore applied for a judgement. It was possible that bailiffs might be required to recover the debt and Cllr Lusty was authorised to incur the necessary expenditure to engage them. Any such bailiff's fee would be recoverable.
	(3)	New Doggie Bin: Although this was being emptied it was apparent that the ban on the use of footpaths because of the foot and mouth outbreak was causing more use to be made of the bins and it was agreed that the Acting Clerk should ask the Borough Council if more frequent collections could be arranged, at least for the duration of the footpath use ban.
	(4)	Additional Street Lighting: The Acting Clerk reported that he had delivered letters to householders affected by the street lighting proposals with a deadline date of 20 April for any comments to be made. To date he had received two expressions of strong support for the proposed light in Common Lane but that two people had stated that they felt that the light should be not on the pole nearest to the Common Road bend but on the next one towards Mill Road so that it provided illumination to the stretch by the wooded area of the Common. It was agreed that an amended letter should be sent to those households affected.
	(5)	Affordable Rural Housing: The Chairman reported that she and Cllr Elliott had spent an informative day at this seminar and The Rural Housing Trust had expressed interest in providing such housing in Stock. The main problem was that suitable land outside the village envelope needed to be identified as they could not provide affordable housing unless they could secure sites for considerably less than current housing land value. The need for affordable housing in the village would also have to be established. It was agreed that the Trust should be invited to address a future meeting of the Council to fully explain the procedures and ramifications before any decision was taken to proceed.
	(6)	Crondon Park Club - Proposed Entrance: Cllr Elliott reported that he and Cllr Williams had met with Mr Fox and listened to his proposals, which, he had stated, had the blessing of the Borough Planners. The Acting Clerk reported that he had received a subsequent telephone call from the planning officer dealing with this case to the effect that Mr Fox would was to submit revised plans which would be passed to the Council for consideration in the normal way.
	(7)	Proposed Map: It was agreed that "Millennium" should be dropped from the title and, as Cllr Williams had established that the Parish Paths Partnership were prepared to offer considerable help with the preparation of such maps, the Council should rejoin such Partnership.
	(8)	Village Hall Car Park: Cllr Elliott reported that he had arranged to meet with the Borough Planner responsible to agree the type of finish which the car park should have. The Acting Clerk had obtained a list of suitable contractors from the County Council.
	(9)	Chelmsford Borough Council Replacement Local Plan The Borough Council had indicated that the First Deposit Draft Plan had been approved on 21 February and that the Draft Plan would be published in late May. Information would be sent regarding details of the arrangements for public consultation. B.Cllr Stringer emphasised the importance of objecting to the proposals to expand the industrial/warehousing site at Temple Farm/Temple Wood, which would lead inevitably to more HGV's traversing the Parish. Villagers as well as the Council should object to this proposal
310	Best Value Report of Sub Committee Cllr Peacock reported that:
	(a)	He, Cllrs Tully and Tant had met Heather Parsons, the school's head teacher, and she had been receptive to the idea of providing a joint-use play area. A sketch plan would be submitted to the school governors' Finance and Premises Sub-Committee on 27 March. If they agreed the idea the Borough Council would be approached concerning the acquisition of the land outside the School's boundary.
	(b)	Cllr Tully had purchased the heater for the Clerk's Office and the telephone line was to be installed next Monday. Cllr Lusty indicated that he had a receiver/answer phone surplus to his requirements, which the Council could have. Investigations were proceeding regarding the acquisition of a suitable desk and computer.
311	Village Hall Report Cllr Williams reported that the final cheque in respect of the building of the Hall had been sent to the builders, taking into account deletions for uncompleted work etc. The hall was now fully manned and a caretaker in post. Hand driers had been installed to replace the paper towels which had been a source of litter.
312	General Correspondence 312. A130 - Post By-Pass Traffic Management - Downham Road The Acting Clerk referred to the presentation made by Downham Road residents at the start of the meeting regarding the not unsurprising decision not to close the Road at its junction with the B 1007 and the unacceptable failure to replace it with traffic calming measures. It was noted that 34 of the 35 householders in Downham Road, Seamans Lane and Great Prestons Lane felt that traffic calming measures were essential. It was agreed that the Best Value Group should include Downham Road in their deliberations and that strong representations should be made to County Councillor R. Williams concerning the need for their provision. A letter from Mr Capes, the Senior District Highway Manager, had indicated that he had not dismissed the possibility of such provision but it was clear that pressure would need to be maintained to secure it. It was agreed that the Acting Clerk should complain to County about the short notice given to the public regarding the A130 Display on 26,27 and 28 March.
312	Various Highway Matters The Acting Clerk reported that the Borough Council had indicated that there was no prospect of either Common Road or Well Lane being resurfaced in the foreseeable future. The Great Prestons Lane nameplate would, however, be refixed as sson as possible. A letter had been received from Mr Smart of Back Lane drawing the Council's attention to the poor state of School Lane, the track/footway running from The Square to Common Road and the track fronting the Almshouses. Members were already aware of these and other problem areas, such as Common Lane, in the village but it was clear that the Borough Council were unlikely to find the funding to do more than repair potholes, which could not be effectively undertaken while the current wet weather continued. A commitment had been made by the Parish Council to attend to the Almshouse Track once it dried out.
313	Rural Post Office Provision The Acting Clerk read a letter from the Department of Trade and Industry concerning various Government initiatives to secure the future of the rural post office network.
314	Chelmsford Police and Consultative Group The next meeting would be on 20 March, 2002 at the William de Ferrers Centre, South Woodham Ferrers at 7.30 p.m
315	Planning Matters Decisions by the Borough Council
	605/00	FULL	New hotel & spa accommodation including a new wing extension to the existing listed house together with associated parking provision and landscaping, Greenwoods Estate, Stock Road	Approved
	606/00	LBC	Partial demolition to north elevation, demolition of existing outbuildings and post war house. Internal and external alterations associated with hotel and spa use of the building as proposed to be extended, Greenwoods Estate, Stock Road	Approved
	38/01	FULL	Two storey side extension, 24 Myln Meadow	Approved
	2086/00	FULL	Garden machinery store to provide better security - replaces wooden building of same dimensions, Mornington House, 1 High Trees, Back Lane	Approved
	151/01	F ULL	New roof over existing double garage to allow formation of bedroom and shower room, 2 The Paddock	Approved
	2096/00	FULL	Demolition of existing house and erection of new dwelling and garage, Police Station, 29 Mill Road	Approved
	57/01	CLOPUD	Repair of outbuilding, Bellmans, Stock Road	Application withdrawn
	Application Referred Before Meeting
	361/01	FULL	Whitegables, Downham Road - detached double garage with car port - Meeting confirmed the Sub-Committee's decision -	no observations.
	Application Referred
	500/01	FULL	Mr B. Everitt - rebuilding of garage, April Cottage, Mill Road	no observations.
316	Accounts Cheques were signed at the meeting for:
	Cllr M.W. Elliott - mileage claim for attendance at Rural Housing
	Cllr M.W. Elliott - mileage claim for attendance at Rural Housing Seminar at Dedham - 72 miles at the official rate of 48.5p per mile			£34.92
	Cllr Tully - reimbursement of cost of heater for Clerk's Office			£70.48
317	Date of Next Meeting 30/4/01. A reminder was issued that the Annual Parish Meeting would be on Thursday 26 April at 8 p.m. in the Village Hall.
318	Any Other Business Cllr Williams reported that the best kept village competition had again been entered but that this year Stock would be in a different category of village. An article would appear in Stock Press exhorting villagers to keep their area of the village clean and tidy, although it was emphasised that other aspects such as community activities were also considered when judging took place in May/June.