HE HAS ARRIVED

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

Twenty-two members of the public attended the meeting held recently. Chairman Colin Coleman welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave the following report.

He thanked all the parish councillors for their considerable hard work and dedication, and was delighted that Lindsey Squire had been able to join as the 5th councillor in September as her legal knowledge will prove invaluable.

Thanks were also expressed to the clerk, Christine Wakeling, for her work over the year. Additional thanks to specific people in the village were also extended.

Firstly to Terry Wisbey for taking the role of civil co-ordinator of emergency planning - without him safety procedures for the village would not have been set up as efficiently and effectively as they have been.

Secondly, to the village plan appraisal committee who had achieved a tremendous amount in the year as shown by the fantastic return of the village questionnaires and a turnout of over 60 people at the public meeting.

Finally, the chairman wished to thank all the members of the public who supported both the parish council and other village events throughout the year.

Their support was both invaluable and appreciated.

HIGHWAYS

There had been much concern in the village about speeding.

Various calming measures were discussed with the highways department at the Essex County Council. Agreed restrictions will include a gateway at the entrance to the village and a vehicle activated speed sign to be installed just before the recreation ground, although all works have now been scheduled into the new financial year.

Remedial work to the subsidence in Church Road was carried out.

FOOTPATH REPAIRS

All problems have been frequently discussed with the ECC maintenance department, emergency repairs have been carried out and an extensive maintenance programme is to be included in the budget for 2008/9.

Request for road alterations at the junction of Ferry Road/The Avenue was rejected, although highways did carry out a speed survey there.

Bus stop lighting: faults are too expensive to repairs at present as it involves completely dismantling the shelters.

RECREATION GROUND

Following a safety report from Maldon District Council, safety recommendations to the entrance area were carried out.

Hedging was cleared to improved visual access and fencing installed around the ditch.

The inspector's report on the play equipment from MDC was mostly favourable, all minor repairs were attended to.

The recreation ground suffered one episode of vandalism when a bench was demolished, but otherwise has been well used and maintained.

SEWAGE

A letter was received in September from David Lane of OFWAT stating they had addressed all the issues relating to inspection, maintenance, cleansing and repair of sewers and consequently were not maintaining any active lines of enquiry.

The PC would not accept closure of this issue and requested a full statement that could be used as a press release.

This was given in October, detailing the investigations and repairs that had taken place, together with assurance that OFWAT remains open to any further approaches from residents or the parish council if further failures of the public sewer system occurs.

EMERGENCY PLANNING

Considerable work has been carried out this year with huge input from the civil emergency co-ordinator, Terry Wisbey.

The emergency resource pack has been completed listing procedures and contacts for an emergency.

Volunteer street wardens have been found for every road in the village, who have all received equipment and training.

The procedures have been put into practice on two occasions following extremely high tides and flood warnings.

The use of sirens has been ruled out for the present - the Environment Agency issues flood warnings to individuals via the flood line and residents were encouraged to sign up for this.

At a talk given by Gerry Richardson and Richard Holmes of CBC and MDC respectively, details of a riverwatch scheme currently established in South Woodham Ferrers were given to monitor river levels following a flood warning to feed information to the environment agency and to set up a rescue service with volunteers' support, hoped to extend along the coast to include North Fambridge this year.

VILLAGE APPRAISAL/DESIGN STATEMENT

A ninety percent return on village questionnaire had been received and over 60 people attended the public meeting. The final analysis and report is now being written and the results will be distributed to every household hopefully in June.

The parish council will be using the appraisal as the basis of their village design statement which, when complete, will be a consultative document for future planning permission within the village.

PLANNING

Twenty-nine planning applications were received this year. The parish council objected to ten of them, of which four received subsequent approval from MDC and six were refused planning permission or the application was withdrawn.

Planning issues remain a major concern in the village with strong feelings voiced over applications for Fleet Farm, Northside in Roberts Road, the Gables development off Roberts Road, the new development in Armstrong Road and development adjacent to 19 Rectory Road.

Peter La Grys, head of planning development and control, has agreed to attend a public meeting to discuss specific planning issues.

FINANCE

Precept was set at £8,800 for the coming year, which is a rise of just £300 over last year.

STATION/RAILWAY

Double yellow lines were painted at the station in June 2007, prompted at last by an incident when a Network Rail vehicle could not gain access because of parked cars.

As there is no bus service in North Fambridge, pensioners are unable to take advantage of the concessionary fares scheme. A request that they should have free local travel on the train was turned down.

The Parish Council has been concerned about cracking of the railway bridge. This has been inspected by Network Rail and by ECC highways and deemed fit for its purpose, but both organisations will keep monitoring the situation.

Other items: Councillor Coleman spoke of the lovely and very successful evening held at the Ferry Boat in memory of Roy Maltwood who died last year. Lottery: 242 tickets were sold this year.

DISTRICT COUNCILLOR'S REPORT

John Archer reported that it had been a difficult year at Maldon District Council, three months of negotiations with Chelmsford Borough Council to form a shared working relationship to use some of their officers to reduce costs had regretfully fallen through.

He extended thanks to all parish councils, including North Fambridge, for keeping precepts low this year.

Finances were stretched at the district council after the government did not meet the bill for concessionary fares as expected.

The Tourist Information Centre has now moved to the centre of Maldon in Wenlock Way where it will have a better presence in the town. It is now selling postcards and other gifts to help sustain it.

The Promenade Park is now complete. The Splash Park and Galleon have both proved to be extremely popular after the closure of the marine lake.

Initial talks have been held with the district council regarding the possibility of siting another nuclear power station in Bradwell, which Mr Archer favours from the point of view of providing both power and employment. In spite of various campaigns, it looks likely that there will be a wind farm also in Bradwell.

Police Report: The police could not attend this year.

Matters arising for discussion/ Any questions: It was requested that the parish council continues to pursue the matter of concessionary fares on the railway for pensioners in the village.

It was pointed out that in other local authorities pensioners are entitled to use the bus or train free of charge.

The district councillor was asked to explain the planning process and exactly what his involvement was. Mr Archer said that the committee acted as judge in the decisions, weighing up the arguments for and against any particular application.

Their guidance was mostly from the professional judgement of the council's planning officers, but occasionally they went with their own judgements to the contrary.

However, if inspectors were involved, the council would incur fees.

PARISH COUNCIL

The next parish council meeting will be held in the village hall on Monday, May 12, at 8pm.

PUBLIC PLANNING MEETING

This will be held in the village hall on Wednesday, May 14, at 7.30pm, when Peter Le Grys, the development control manager at Maldon District Council, will speak on planning issues and will answer questions from the public.