THEYDON BOIS PARISH COUNCIL
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
Thursday 27th March 2008
THE CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
Parish Council has had another busy and productive year, with the usual mix of successes and disappointments. Undoubtedly our biggest success was wining the “Best Kept Village” Award, in our class, for the first time in several years. Congratulations go to all the residents and active workers who have pulled together to achieve this fantastic result.
Over the last twelve months there have been:-
7 Public Meetings
12 Administrative Meetings
2 Finance & General Purposes Committee Meeting
32 Planning Committee Meetings
2 Cemetery Committee Meetings
1 Allotment Holders’ Meeting
Frequent and numerous Meetings of Member(s) of the Highways & Environment Committee with the County Highways Authority and their contractor.
5 Epping Cluster Community Transport Meetings.
Ad Hoc Meetings for particular subjects, e.g. the bus service, Youth Club premises or Christmas tree lighting.
In addition, various Councillors, and/or Madeleine, have attended liaison and information meetings with various District or County organisations. As previously, some Councillors will have attended up to 50 or 60 meetings during the year. This is a considerable commitment to request from volunteers, on top of the many hours spent phoning, e mailing, and writing , etc, and, as Chairman, I would like to thank them all.
Planning
During the year the Planning Sub-Committee reviewed 122 applications and raised 50 objections to them. Parish Councillors have spoken at the District Council’s Planning Sub-Committee Meetings to put these objections in the most contentious cases.
The vast majority of applications were for fairly standard extensions or conservatories but the applications for the Parsonage Golf Development continued to cause difficulties. It is still not yet finally resolved but the weight of the District and Parish Council’s evidence, along with the considerable support of the Rural Preservation Society and TBAG, seem to have discouraged the developers from pursuing their plans to find a way to continue dumping material on the site. The Parish Council will maintain its vigilance, and its effective contacts with the EFDC Planning Dept, to ensure that the best interests of the residents of Theydon are the prime concerns of the District Planning Authorities.
Planning permission to convert the former Wansfel College was granted on Appeal, but it was for a reduced number of 14 flats and with the car park re-positioned so as to hopefully preserve the caretaker’s cottage. It was probably about the best result we could realistically have expected. Another victory was to retain Theydon Lodge, all-be-it with a new house in the grounds. Councillor Sue Jones continued her sterling job as Chairman of the Committee and I know she appreciates the help from the other Committee Members and the valuable assistance of Jim Watts, from the Rural Preservation Society.
With regard to the former Youth Club building, the legal procedures are continuing for having the surrounding land declared “Village Green”, or to reach a compromise that achieves the Village’s aim of acquiring ownership of the site, including the Scout Headquarters. However, it does seem a slow process. We would like to thank Councillors Hammond and Purkiss, and Mr Roy Newland, for all the time, effort and expense they have put into protecting the village’s interests. We would also like to thank the organisers, and all the signers, of the Petition to open a Village youth facility. It is this sort of community effort that is needed to make an impression on the County Council.
Village Design Statement
The last year has seen the welcome establishment of a Village Design Statement Group. This consists of both Parish Councillors and enthusiastic residents under the Chairmanship of John Eaton. Stands, explaining the concept, have been erected at Village functions and the next major step is the “Photo Day” on Saturday 3rd of May, here, in the Village Hall. We strongly urge as many residents as possible to attend as this is a very important way of helping to control the development of the Village.
Finance
The Parish Council continues to maintain a sound financial position. The precept has been increased this year by less than the rate of inflation but continues to include the concept of contributing directly to the improvement of the pavements in the village. By thus joining in a partnership with the County Council we hope to gain considerably more work done than we would otherwise have achieved
Neighbourhood Watch
The Neighbourhood Watch scheme continues to operate in the village and we pass on our sincere thanks to Caroline Law for her work as co-ordinator. We once again repeat her request for more road co-ordinators to step forward as it is in all our interests to have every road covered.
Environment
We are sure that everyone will have noticed the continuing significant improvements around the village. The re-surfacing of roads, the re-instatement of kerbs, the removal of redundant street furniture, and the vastly improved standard of verge maintenance, are all a tribute to the working relationship that Councillors Purkiss and Hammond have established with the County Highways Dept. In particular the resurfacing of the publicly owned areas around the shops, along with the forthcoming new planters, has enormously improved the look of the village centre. Along with the Councillors we would like to thank Paul Argent, Robin Llewellyn-Jones and Matthew Riley for their much appreciated efforts.
Parking in the village continues to be a difficult subject, there are many differing views as to the best outcome and any compromise inevitably disappoints someone.
We have written to the County Highways Dept with suggestions to try and help the most seriously affected.
Visitors to the Allotments will have noticed many improvements, not least the new hard surface parking and the planting of a Heritage Orchard. We are at the stage of being very nearly “full”, which is a dramatic turnaround from a few years ago.
The villages CCTV system continues to improve with new cameras and increased coverage. We would like to thank Tesco for their help and, in particular, thank Tim Penegar of Theydon Security for his considerable help, advice, and contribution, over and above the requirements of the Maintenance Contract.
The City of London has carried out its consultation to find out the residents’ preferred options for the future one of the Villages’ most important feature, the Avenue of Oaks across the Green. We await the outcome with interest. We would like to thank the Tree Strategy Group for their continuing work.
Litter Picks
Richard, our new village road sweeper, is doing a tremendous job in helping to keep the village tidy. However, we all still need to make an effort. On the first Saturday of every month a small band of volunteers meets at 9.00am at the Village Hall to collect the litter from the Green, the pond, and the other open areas. More volunteers, particularly in the summer months, are very welcome but in the meantime, our grateful thanks to the hardy bunch of regulars.
School
Our local Primary School remains at the heart of the community and it is encouraging to see the schools continuing developments, in particular the success of its web site. The active support of the PTA was demonstrated by the enjoyable “James Bond” Ball, held last summer, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of moving to the current site. More recently, the “curry evening” in the Indian Ocean restaurant was an excellent fund raiser.
Village News and Web Site
Another success for the village occurred when our quarterly magazine, “Village News” won the prize for being the best local newsletter in Essex. Including the Village Web Site, we think that our village information media go from strength to strength. Jim Watts is an indefatigable organiser on both and we are very grateful for his contribution. We also would like to thank the editor of Village News, Tony Ames, and all the Team who help produce both.
Horticultural Society
Once again this last year the Society has been looking after the planters in the parade of shops. Watering and maintaining them is quite a chore, particularly as they are double tier, and we need to pass on sincere thanks to Barry and Jane Turner and the other helpers. The planters are being replaced this year as the previous ones were showing their age and perhaps becoming unsafe..
Closing Remarks
Once again, I know you are pleased to hear that phrase. However it is really necessary to acknowledge, with gratitude, that it is the many volunteers in our community who contribute to making it such a special place to live. I have already mentioned quite a few names but there are many others who quietly help, either individually or through the Churches, the Village Association, the Theydon Bois Rural Preservation Society, TBAG, the Youth groups, or in any of the other village organisations, too numerous to mention: our sincere thanks to them all.
George Gardener, as Burial Supervisor, and Trevor Roberts, as Local History Recorder, continue to earn our thanks for doing great jobs, and especial thanks are also due to our indefatgable Parish Clerk, Madeleine. Without her, and our assistant clerk, Sally, the job of Chairman would be infinitely more difficult. Thanks also to my Vice-Chairman Sue Jones for all her help and advice. It is the efforts, and support, of all the Councillors that makes a Chairman’s task worthwhile.
This is the final Meeting of this particular Parish Council and at the May Parish Council Meeting their will be some new faces sitting here. We should remember that they, like us, are all volunteers who have taken on a commitment, on behalf of their fellow residents, that is often time consuming, sometimes thankless, but usually ultimately rewarding.
I should like to wish them a continuing success.
Robert Glozier
Chairman
Last Up Dated: 8th April 2008