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Parish Council News - 1 November 2005 |
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Notes of the meeting of the Much Hadham Parish Council held on Tuesday 1st November 2005.
- Following the departure of Blaise Morris from the Parish Council we have been fortunate to co-opt Carmel Naughton to fill the vacancy. Carmel will take over responsibility for the foot and bridle paths in the village. If you need to contact her the telephone number is 844949 and the e-mail address is naughtons@aol.com. Sadly there is continuing vandalism to fences, stiles and notices on the public footpaths. It is believed that this is the work of a sad and anti-social member of our community. This person has been spotted at work and a description has been supplied to the police. They are anxious to catch the offender, as I am sure we all are. Please be vigilant of this criminal activity and please do report anything suspicious to the police.
- Highways. Two matters of concern are the traffic measures in the village and the traffic lights on the road leaving the village towards Widford. Unfortunately the work on the traffic calming and other works in the High Street has been halted as there is a potential legal dispute which the Highways Authority have to resolve. Work should resume shortly, but the Parish Council are not aware of the exact date. With regard to the traffic lights and necessary work at the end of the village, the Parish Council are still awaiting news of when this will commence. The work will require that section of road to be closed and a diversion will then be in progress.
- The War Memorial. A further detailed grant application has been made to the War Memorial Grants Committee, who will meet in November to consider this. If a grant is awarded then hopefully we can then instruct the stone masons to commence work on the new memorial.
- Playground equipment at the playing fields. The matting underneath the swings and the merry go round needs replacing and those areas to be made level. On each of the individual pieces of play equipment the ground area needs weeding and then bump absorbing bark needs to be laid. A quotation was obtained but the Parish Council though that the price was very high. We are conscious that this work needs attention and have identified the necessary products and a further quotation is being obtained. The Council considered the possibility of erecting a low fence around the play equipment, but decided this would cause problems when maintaining the area and decided not to erect any fence at this time.
- We are awaiting signs from the Local Authority concerning the nuisance and danger of dog fouling. As soon as these are received they will be erected.
- Stansted Airport. The chairman, Martin Dillon, has prepared and delivered a submission to BAA concerning night flights on behalf of the Parish Council. He has also written concerning the pre-planning consultation they are now beginning on the increase use of the existing runway. If you would like any further details please contact Martin.
- Harlow North. You may have seen on the national news that the Examination in Public of the East of England Plan commenced on 1st November at Ely. This examination will run for several months and will shape the way that the east of England will look in the future. Various interested individuals and groups have been invited to make submissions to the examination. The pressure group, Stop Harlow North, are one of those associations and will be attending the examination on certain dates to make their concerns known to the Inspectors. If you would like to receive any further information about this please contact Ralph Camp or the StopHarlowNorth web site at StopHarlowNorth@aol.com.
- The local Authority has granted permission to the owner of the Barn School on Tower Hill (now called Hill House) to change the use from school to residential. This only applies to the building on the site fronting Tower Hill.
- It was noticed that we were awaiting the Local Authority to undertake various necessary items of work. If these are classified as of emergency status then they are attended to, however non essential work was not being undertaken within what we considered to be a reasonable time. We will continue to badger the Local Authority; however there may be a self help remedy available. The Parish Council wonders if there are volunteers in the village to undertake some of this work, which would make life more attractive and beneficial for us all. Hopefully this would also encourage a spirit of cooperation and community. We appreciate that residents may say that these jobs are the responsibility of the Local Authority and this is why we pay our council tax and why should the residents become involved. That is perfectly valid, but the fact remains that these works simply are not receiving attention. The Parish Council would be happy to coordinate any working party and to identify what tasks should be tackled. If you would be willing to help please let Ralph Camp know. His telephone number is 842826 and e-mail is ralphdcamp@aol.com.
- The dates for future meetings of the Parish Council are 24th January 2006, the Annual Parish meeting is on 2nd March, Tuesday 7th March, the Annual Parish Council Meeting is on 9th May, July 4th and September 12th. Members of the public are welcome and encouraged to attend the meetings. There is always an opportunity for them to raise any issue or concern if they wish. The Annual Parish Meeting on March 2nd is essentially a forum for the inhabitants of the village to attend and raise any matter concerning the village.
Ralph Camp. Information Officer, Much Hadham Parish Council.
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