White Colne
White Colne
White Colne
Parish Council
White Colne
Parish Council
White Colne
Parish Council
Chairman’s Report to the Annual Electors’ Meeting 20th April 2009
Good evening and welcome everybody.
Thank you for taking the time tonight to come to our annual parish meeting, and demonstrate your interest in White Colne.
We have a packed agenda and I hope you will all take an active role in the discussions affecting our village. It is your contribution that lets our Parish Councillors know what is important to you.
I would like to start by welcoming our visitors tonight from Essex County Council and Essex Air Ambulance. Welcome and we look forward to hearing from you later in our meeting.
I would now like to introduce some specific people here tonight
First of all the members of White Colne Parish Council.
Sarah Adlem
John Brace
Chris Pearcy
John Watt
Our other Parish Councillors are Jane Taylor – deputy Chairman and editor of the White Colne News and website and Michael Abrahams who both send their apologies.
All these people live in White Colne and really care about the past, present and future of our Village. I would like to thank them all for the time and hard work they put into White Colne on a completely voluntary basis.
I would also like to introduce you to David Williams, our Parish Clerk. David looks after all our administration, communication and financial matters and he ensures we operate correctly within the terms of our local government rules.
I addition to these formal roles we are fortunate enough to have a great number other eager volunteers who contribute greatly to White Colne and get involved in a wide range of matters including
· Peter Norris & Colin Armstrong -
· Sue Norris -
· Jean Armstrong -
· Glen Moore -
· Christopher Chamberlain – Tree warden
It is because of these and other dedicated volunteers that Village costs are kept to a minimum and unlike many other Parish Councils in the district, White Colne was able to help its community during the current financial climate and actually reduce the precept – this is the amount added to your council tax bill by Braintree District Council for living in White Colne.
So please join me in thanking them and all the many other people who have volunteered time to our village in the last 12 months.
Talking about the last 12 months I would now like to summarise some of issues that have arisen in White Colne since our last electors meeting.
HIGHWAYS
Over the past year we have made a significant progress on Highways issues
namely,
1) 'Unsuitable for HGV' signs have been installed at either end of Boley
Road although we are waiting for a replacement sign at the junction with Bures Road
which apparently was stolen!
2) The temporary shared vehicle activated sign was installed
in January and our own Speed Indicator Device is planned for later this year. The
Community Speed watch is ongoing and has prompted increased checks by Essex Police
throughout the Colne Valley. We have been in contact with Essex County Council regarding
the "Draft Essex Speed Management Strategy 2009" and how this affects road speeds
at the Fox & Pheasant centre, Whites Farm and Bures/Boley Road in particular.
3) Raised
kerbs have been installed at bus stops to assist access on and off buses and a bus
shelter is due to be erected outside of the Old Kings Head in Colchester Road with
another one at the Fox and Pheasant Centre planned.
4) The repair to the road side
wall at Colneford Hill was delayed for longer than Highways would consider normal,
due an unstable EDF pole and budgetary constraints but we are advised that the work
will take place soon using materials in keeping with the conservation area.
5) One
on going issue is on the subject of damage to the village green. Highways say that
the problem is caused by parked cars leaving insufficient room for other vehicles
to pass. They insist double yellow lines are the only answer. We do not want yellow
lines as car parking space is already at a premium in White Colne and our research
shows that with or with out parked cars there, lorries cut the corner and drive over
The Green. We currently have an impasse, so if you have solution please let us know.
6) Other ongoing discussions include the possibility of a foot path and cycle way from Fox and Pheasant maybe extending as far as Halstead. So watch this space.
Meadows
On the Meadows in the last year we have had spring and autumn working parties, a village picnic in June, the Trafalgar Day celebrations in October. As well as conker competition, apple bobbing, apple juice tasting and other activities. In November, 3 villagers attended a course on fruit tree pruning to prepare us for when the heritage orchard trees need pruning.
A pancake race was held for the first time on the Meadows in February and an Easter egg hunt took place in April.
White Colne news
6 issues of the White Colne News were published plus 4 updates.
A calendar of Events was produced for the first time and delivered to each household in January.
The web site was re-
Planning issues included
41 Colchester Road – successfully rejecting a number of planning applications and an appeal to build 5 houses on the site
Coney Byes -
We were less successful despite widespread local opposition from preventing permission being granted to open a pizza restaurant at the Fox & Pheasant centre.
The issue of transferring the village hall and surrounding land from Essex County Council has been an ongoing issue in the Village for many years but this year all parties were finally able to sign and exchange contracts for the matter to proceed to development. The matter has been a long and frustrating one for those concerned. Exacerbated by Essex County Council trying to change the terms to White Colnes disadvantage on a number of occasions and worst of all refusing to pay in full our legal costs as originally agreed. This has meant White Colne has recently had to pay our solicitors over £1300 that was not budgeted for and should have been paid by Essex County Council. I am personally taking this matter up with Lord Hanningfield, Leader of Essex County Council at County Hall, Chelmsford. I have to say though to date I am very disappointed with his attitude regarding this situation.
On a lighter note Councillors attended parish councillor training events, the Rural Community Council of Essex Conference and the Braintree district council Parish in springtime event as well as various local cluster group meetings during the year.
The Clerk has been working hard this along with our internal auditor, Peter Norris,
on the completion of previous years' audits -
The White Colne Village History Group.
Produced a leaflet with 3 guided Heritage trails around the village, distributed free to all households. The footpaths were improved and way marked.
3 interpretation boards were produced. One on the village Green, one by the village Hall and one in the Heritage orchard on the meadows. Note all activities have been funded by Heritage Lottery fund.
In May Richard Parmee of the River Colne Countryside project led a Bat Walk. It was a learning experience for us all and was very interesting. There are lots of bats around White Colne but we are still not entirely sure what types we have!
In June many villagers were able to celebrate the varied "built and natural" history of our parish as well as making scarecrows and eating cream teas.
Replica station signs and 'named' areas of the hall were installed.
In July we were privileged to visit Baggarettes and had a wonderful evening exploring
under the guidance of the Christopher and Juanita White Thomson and Richard Shackle.
We hope to be able to do similar thing elsewhere in the village if home owners are
willing.
The Village Hall Committee held regular meetings. They implemented changes to hiring
charges and as a result have seen an income increase with many regular hirers now
taking advantage of the facilities.
Grant funded improvements continued with the completion of the kitchen and the purchase
of new chairs and recycling bins. All lights are now low energy where possible. Plans
progress and grants continue to be applied for to fund toilet and disabled access
improvements.
Other regular health and safety checks carried out. Thanks to Earls Colne Primary
School for allowing their caretaker to undertake the PAT testing free of charge to
the village.
White Colne Community design Group had its inaugural meeting in October and formed
a steering group. They were able to apply for grants that will fund most of the project.
The group has met monthly since and has maintained good momentum towards preparing
for our first main event on May the 9th -
Other activities included:
· Village was canvassed about saving the red BT phone box
· Grant received from BDC for solar light -
· Halloween -
· Regular "Swap its" started in December
· Carols and refreshments around the tree at Christmas.
So as you can see it has been a very busy and interesting 12 Months in the Parish
of White Colne and once again thanks go to all those who made it possible.
I would now like to hand over to Essex County Councillor Joe Pike for a report on ECC maters affecting White Colne.
Kevin Nolan
REPORT by GABRIELLE SPRAY, DISTRICT COUNCILLOR
FOR WHITE COLNE PC ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
During another busy year as your ward Councillor I have continued to give priority to local issues.
The Halstead Local Committee has provided a forum for discussing strategies and policies which will shape the future of our District. An example is the ‘One District, One Vision’ Document which, amongst other proposals looks at housing provision up to 2025; the need for increased housing to support a growing population has to be balanced against the demands placed on the existing infrastructure and the desire to hold on to our precious countryside.
In this ward Earls Colne has been identified as a ‘Key Service’ village which will hopefully lead to an increase in amenities but we can never be certain of this and need to be prepared to fight our corner!
The Local Committees also provide funding for projects and in this respect all three villages have done quite well. Grant money has been given to Earls Colne for flower tubs on the High Street, to White Colne for solar lighting on Bures Road and to Colne Engaine for some refurbishment of the Village Hall.
This process will continue in to this financial year; Parish Councils and other local organisations are encouraged to apply for funding if their project meets the criteria.
As a member of the Planning Committee I have been involved in a number of local issues, some of which are ongoing.
The Essex Air Ambulance application to use Earls Colne Airfield is currently under
discussion and will come before Planning within the next 2-
Other applications have produced apparently controversial decisions e.g. the restaurant in the Fox & Pheasant centre, White Colne and the Mill Lane developments in Colne Engaine. I will continue to do my utmost to represent the best interests of the ward whilst being conscious of planning rules which can be complex.
I continue to sit on the Culture & Leisure Partnership Board but have ‘retired’ from the Halstead & District Crime Prevention Panel; my place on that has been taken by Cllr Fred Swallow, Sible Hedingham.
There have been successes during the year, the most recent being the retention of the public toilets in Earls Colne. This was a short, sharp, well organised campaign conducted with great support from residents from all the villages. A triumph for local democracy!
Finally, the reason we had to fight the proposed closure of the toilets was due to the effect the wider recession is having on our District finances. We have to make savings and this can be a painful exercise; our aim is to cut costs without sacrificing services.
Braintree has managed to come in with the lowest Council Tax of any local authority in Essex and we are providing additional help both to small businesses and individuals who are facing hardship.
Despite the challenges of the year ahead I am looking forward to remaining in my role as your Councillor and assure you that I will continue to work hard on your behalf.
Kind regards
Cllr Mrs Gabrielle Spray
Three Colnes Ward
Chairman’s autumn letter to residents.
Dear Residents,
Since the last news letter the Parish Council has held a public meeting to canvass views on Essex Air Ambulance's application to relocate its operations to Earls Colne. Only a few members of our community attended the meeting but a lively debate was held. It was agreed that as a Parish Council we support the application in principle but will leave what is a very complex application to the experts on the Planning team at Braintree to decide on the technical merits of the application.
I am pleased see that after many false starts work has finally commenced on repairing the roadside wall on Colneford Hill. I hope the work will not cause too much disruption to traffic and will be complete soon.
The Village design statement committee have been working hard to produce a questionnaire that will be delivered to you soon. This is your chance to have your say on how White Colne develops in days to come so please take some time to complete and return it. On behalf of the village I would like to thank the VDS committee and especially Rita Pearcey for the many hours of work that has already gone into the project
We are having a working party day on the Meadows on 27th September at 10 am. Please come along, It is great opportunity to meet other members of our community and is usually good fun and as they say "many hands make light work". I therefore hope to see you there,
Kevin Nolan
Chairman White Colne Parish Council
White Colne
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