Minutes of the Meeting of Doddinghurst Parish Council held on Thursday 6th October 2022 at 19.30 in the Village Hall, Church Lane, Doddinghurst, Essex, CM15 0NJ.
Present: Cllrs. Mrs D. Dicker (Chairman), Mrs J. LePage, , Mr M. Capon, Mr A. Smith, Mr G. Smith,
Mrs K. Pond, and Mr R. McCheyne.
Also Present: Mrs C Fuller – Clerk/RFO
Mrs C Tremain – Deputy ClerkAlso Present: Essex County Cllr. L. Wagland
1. Apologies for Absence: Apologies received from Cllrs. P. Arnell, D. Rogers-Harrison, T. Brooks and D. Potter. Also from Borough Cllr. C. Gelderbloem.
2. Declaration of interests in items arising on the agenda. None.
3. Minutes of Council Meeting held on 7th July 2022 Approved and signed by the Chairman
4. Meeting scheduled for 8th September 2022
Did not take place due to the death of HM The Queen
5. Clerk’s Report for June 2022
a) Funds held at end of September 2022
Barclays Bank
£124,498.56
Petty Cash
£79.13
Santander
£18,190.47
Barclaycard
£0.00
Sub-total
£142,768.16
Less unpresented payments
£869.00
Total
£141,899.16
b) Santander – the application to add Cllrs. Capon and LePage is still ongoing and has been chased up. c) New Barclaycard and PIN have been received and direct debit set up for monthly repayments. d) Burial Ground Update – two ashes interments in July and August. e) Allotments Update – one allotment holder has vacated and has been replaced. f) Office Alarm – quotes for replacement are being obtained and will be presented to the GP Committee. g) Much of July & August was taken up with office and parish room refurbishments and staff to the opportunity to take some annual leave.
6. Financial Reports
Noted and approved
a) Financial Reports for July, August & September 2022.
b) Schedule of Payments for July, August & September 2022.
Page 12b-2022
c) Conclusion of Audit for the year ended 31st March 2022. No matters giving cause for concern, regulatory requirements have been met and Notice of Conclusion of Audit has been published as required.
7. Feedback from Committees
a) Planning Committee – 14th July. Minutes were noted.
b) Planning Committee – 29th September. Draft minutes were tabled and noted.
c) Feedback from members relating to other meetings attended:
i) Doddinghurst Community Bus. Minutes of the meeting held on 9th August were
circulated with the agenda and noted.
ii) Neighbourhood Planning meeting held on 7th September. Hosted by BBC and
attended by the Chairman and the Clerk. Notes of the meeting had been circulated
with the Planning Committee agenda 29th September.
iii) BBPCA meeting held on 28th September. Attended by the Chairman and the Clerk.
8. Public Participation
Cllr Wagland:
• Urged the Parish Council to report any highways defects onto the ECC interactive map as soon as possible as there may not be any budget next year.
• Locality Fund is now available and it is easy to apply. £20k is available, £10k of which has been allocated to a self-defence class in Blackmore run by ‘Chat First’.
• Proposed changes to borough boundaries are out to consultation.
• Braintree Borough Council is running Digigo, an on-demand bus service. She will provide contact details to the Clerk and suggests that contact is made to find out more about it.
9. Planning Application (received since the last Planning Meeting)
Application No: 22/01141/FUL
Development: Construction of detached canopy in garden with changes to
fenestration and landscaping (retrospective)
Address: The Willow, Church Lane, Doddinghurst
Resolved to support the application.
10. Complaint to BBC
Resolved to support the Planning Committee’s recommendation not to pursue any
further action.
11. Parish Office Refurbishment
The Clerk’s Report was noted. Most works are now complete with only the two external doors to be agreed on, and the faulty office carpet to be replaced. For future consideration: under-floor insulation, disabled access and refurbishment of the gents’ toilets. As the project had been considerably scaled back from the original plans, there is currently an underspend of £40,256.05 from the budgeted sum but this does not include the external doors or the balance of the office carpet. Members thanked former Clerk Roger Blake for his extensive and comprehensive work on the project and the Chairman will write personally.
12. Communications
Page 12c – 2022
a) The Deputy Clerk reported that work on the new website is progressing well, with the assistance of Cllr. Capon. Netwise is being very helpful with the set up and it is hoped that the new website will be launched soon.
b) Resolved to find out the cost to allocate individual email addresses to each Councillor.
c) Resolved to publish the photographs of each Councillor along with their phone
numbers and email addresses, subject to their individual approval.
d) Resolved to obtain a low-cost mobile phone for use by the Clerk/Deputy for out of
hours communication and other council work.
13. External Auditor Appointment
Resolved not to opt out of the central procurement regime managed by the Smaller Authorities Audit Appointments. No action required.
14. Christmas Lights
More research is required on the logistics of putting Christmas Lights onto one or some of the trees in front of the shops. The Clerk is obtaining advice from a local company.
15. Correspondence
a) ECC Minerals Local Plan Review. Call for sites is currently underway and public
consultation due October 2023.
b) ECC Cost of Living Support Scheme has been launched.
c) EALC Training Programme up to end December 2022 has been released.
16. Other Urgent Information not requiring actions
a) The Chairman reported that one of the cherry trees planted by Mr Farrow had been
snapped off and destroyed. It was agreed that it should be replaced when the time is
right for planting.
b) Cllr. Smith asked whether Cllr. Wagland was aware that planes to Heathrow are flying
lower and earlier over the village.
c) Cllr. Capon reported that Brook Lane and the bottom end of Peartree Lane are now listed
on the ECC Highways map.
17. Exclusion of Press & Public
Resolved in view of the confidential personnel business to be transacted to exclude press
and public (Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960.
(The Chairman thanked Cllr Wagland for her attendance and she left the meeting)
18. Staff Matters – Pension Scheme
Resolved that the Deputy Clerk be enrolled onto the NEST pension scheme because of
the change in earnings.
The meeting closed at 21.02
Minutes signed: Date: 3rd November 2022