Dedham
Parish Council

Minutes of Parish Assembly meeting held on 10 May 2006

                            DEDHAM PARISH COUNCIL


MINUTES of DEDHAM PARISH ASSEMBLY
Held on WEDNESDAY, 10th MAY, 2006.

Present: In the Chair Cllr. Mrs. V. Guglielmi
Councillors D. Bradbrook, C. Clover, R. Cort, Rl Laverick,
Mrs. L. West, P. Moorhouse, J. Osborn
Parish Clerk Mrs. J. Flewin
Electors 16

1.APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE received from Cllr. Cannon and Ward Cllr. Garnett.

2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The Minutes of the meeting held on 12th May, 2005, were read to the meeting, approved and signed.

3. MATTERS ARISING Matters arising will be dealt with in the Chairman’s Report.

4. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Yet another busy year has passed and I would like to thank all my fellow Councillors for their hard work and the public who make a valuable input to our meetings.

We have seen a very successful Hopper Bus running during the summer months and carrying on with a limited service during the winter. Sadly, however, this has now ceased to operate and will be greatly missed. We now have a very informative website up and running and we must thank Cllr Laverick for devoting so much time and effort to achieving this and also his assistants Cllrs. Mrs. West and Osborn who help when he is away. Cllr. Laverick is also to be congratulated on the production of a very comprehensive updated Dedham Emergency Plan. The roundabout was re-opened and is in frequent use as are the three new pieces of equipment in the play area.

The Planning Committee has again had a very busy year and has worked extremely hard to keep a balance with the overall interests of the village in mind.

We now have a Neighbourhood Watch team in operation co-ordinated by Mr. Brian Hindley and we thank him for that. We must also thank Mr. & Mrs. Ruff for their
constant battle to keep our village as litter-free as possible. They do such a good job.
Heavy lorries still persist in using the village and are a problem, but it is hoped that that with new initiatives being put into place the situation will improve.

I think possibly the most exciting thing that has happened this year is the start of the Medical Centre. After much discussion and fund raising the project is finally underway. This has been made possible by various grants received and a big thank you is owed to Sandra Howard of Colne Housing, members of the Steering Committee and the general public for their hard work and support over the past years.

Finally my grateful thanks go to Jean, our Clerk, Her work is invaluable and she has been a great support to me and the rest of the Council.

 



5. ACCOUNTS The Income & Expenditure Accounts for the year ending 3lst March, 2006, were presented to the meeting. These were approved subject to audit.

6. REPORT OF BOROUGH COUNCILLOR In the absence of Ward Cllr. Garnet C.Cllr.Clover gave a report. Although it was early days, C.Cllr. Clover had hopes that a cross county bus service like the Hopper serving at least Stratfortd St. Mary, Dedham and Manningtree might come into being. This would be welcomed. Colchester Borough Council now has an integrated service with Tendring Council. Sustainable development money will be available and the Town & Parish Clerk’s Forum will be used for grant schemes.

C.Cllr. Clover had taken the opportunity of a meeting with Essex Tree Officer, Mr. Brian Stacey, to ask him to look at the oak tree in front of the church. He had done so, and Mr. Neil McShane, Churchwarden, was asked to report on his findings. The tree is dying and the outcome is inevitable. It has stood in the churchyard for over 170 years and is such an important part of the village that the views of all should be considered. The wall is also in danger and poses a highways problem which must be dealt with. The conclusion is that the tree will go sooner or later and there are two avenues towards this (a) to cut it down straight away or (b) to prune it severely over the next 7 – 10 years and finally cut it down. As this inspection is so recent there has been no discussion, but the vicar and PCC feel that before any action is taken the views of residents must be considered.. This has to be a joint parish decision. No doubt more details will be published at a later date and the Parish Council will discuss the problem at the next Parish Council meeting.

7. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Cllr. Osborn reminded those present that BBC Essex was covering the Essex Way walk through Dedham and gave times and details of three parts which could be enjoyed by local walkers.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 9.20 p.m.

 

 

 

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