Parish Ranger – The Parish Ranger came to the meeting and gave a brief overview of his work in the parish. He makes regular patrols and, with PCSO Deb Green has dealt with problems with mini-motorbike riders on Scotch Pasture. He was thanked for his work.
Village Maintenance
–The Parish
Council agreed the arrangements for advertising
for a Village Maintenance Employee. The council is seeking to
appoint a conscientious and enthusiastic individual to carry out this
vital role in the village to help keep Castle Hedingham looking its
best. The post will be for 10 hours a week £6.50 per hour.
Duties include emptying the village bins, litter picking and street
sweeping. Applications forms are available from Parish Council Chairman
Mrs Allfrey 01787 461108 or the Parish Clerk Mrs Carter 01787 461149
(please telephone after 4.30 pm). The closing date for applications
will be 19th February and interviews held on 28th February.
Village Design Statement (VDS)- The next
VDS meeting will be held on 31st January and two matters will be
considered: grant funding and setting up the character assessment
workshop. The village has been divided into 5 character areas and 5
teams of 5 people will be needed on the workshop day to collect the
required information. The provisional date for the workshop is Sunday
14th May. This will be held at the Memorial Hall.
Planning Comments
Councillors had no objections to the following applications: 05/02480/LBC - Remove door and portioning at top of stairs and add stud partition to create separate bedroom and landing - 66 Nunnery Street, Castle Hedingham and 05/02398/FUL - Alterations to existing flat-roofed garage to form a new pitched roof and first-floor play room - 8 Queen Street, Castle Hedingham.
Application 05/02528/FUL -
Erection of timber frame carport and summerhouse - 8 Queen Street,
Castle Hedingham - The Parish Council object to this application as
they consider it to be an excessive development that would be
detrimental to the street scene.
Application 05/02473/FUL - Alterations to
plan approved under 04/00343 to increase roof pitch to allow for double
camer plain tiles and amended details to north east elevation - 5
Castle Lane, Castle Hedingham - The Parish Council object to this
application as the original planning agreement was that the north east
elevation would be sunk so that there could be a continuity of
roofscape with the existing property resulting in a 0.3 m increase in
the roof height. This was agreed by all parties including the
developer, local residents, the Parish Council and District Council
specifically to allow for the use of double camber clay tiles and to
address concerns about the original plan to raise the roof height by
1.2 m. The Parish Council can see no reason to change this agreement.
Youth Council – The Youth Council have been successful in obtaining a grant of £1,200 from Essex County Council. Nomination for the council were called for before Christmas and 12 nominations for 9 places were received. A ballot has taken place and the votes will be counted on 20th January and the results announced on 23rd. The steering committee will meet with the Youth councillors on Wednesday 25th January and a launch event will be planned.
Withdrawal of a Specialist Nurse for Parkinson Sufferers - The NHS Trust advised the council that this service had come to an end following the promotion of the post holder. The Trust is reviewing Parkinson Disease services and a decision has been made not to replace the post immediately. The reasons for this are three fold: it is difficult to recruit staff with the necessary skills; the NHS is undergoing a reorganisation which leaves the provision of these services unclear at present and, due to the increasing demand for support for Parkinson disease sufferer a review of the services provided to this group is taking place to try to establish a more coordinated approach. Councillors were disappointed with this response. The District Council are meeting with the NHS about the reorganisation on 24th January and Mrs Scattergood agreed to raise this matter at this meeting.
Meeting Dates: 8th February and 22nd March 7.45 p.m. Old Court House, Castle Hedingham
N.B. For further information about this press release please contact the Clerk (Mrs. Helena Carter 01787-461149) after 4.30pm or Parish Council Chairman (Mrs. Sonia Allfrey 01787-461108).