August
DECISION TIME ON SITING OF NEW HEALTH CENTRE
At a meeting with representatives of NHS West Essex (formerly West Essex PCT), the working party of the Parish Council was told that negotiations on the central site in the village had failed to reach agreement. The NHS WE have asked the Parish Council for its views on the way forward with the indication that a decision needs to be reached before long. In response, the Parish Council has sent a request for information on all the main potential central sites to enable it to consider the way forward. By the time this Link is delivered, a Special Meeting of the Parish Council will have been held on 21 July to determine the Council’s views. Results of this meeting will be reported in the next Link and will be posted on the Council’s website. The Parish Council recognises that there are strong views about the location of the health centre within the village. What is equally important is that Stansted receives health service provision that is fit for the 21st century.
ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL (ECC)
There are five areas where the Parish and the County Councils mainly interact:
• Highways - the repair of most footpaths and roads (but not unadopted roads) fall to ECC as does the painting of lines on roads and the provision of pedestrian crossings. Speed limits, traffic calming measures and parking restricting all form part of the remit of highways. As you may imagine there is regular contact on all of these issues and more. Sometimes there is a difference of views but more frequently there is delay in implementing agreed changes either because of the time consuming procedures or because of limited funding where we, as a small community, complete with demands from the whole of Essex.
• Tackling winter weather conditions - if there is a repeat of last winter’s frost, ice and snow in coming years, then ECC is the authority with the responsibility for gritting roads and footpaths (supplemented in limited areas by UDC). However, these actions will only be taken on main roads and not in residential areas. Generally ECC did a good job last winter in this village.
• Libraries - this is a valued service in Stansted and, given the enlargement of population once Foresthall Park is completed, there will be discussions as to whether there needs to be changes to meet increased demand.
• Schools - education in all forms is an ECC responsibility. We talk with the schools and ECC about the needs of our children and of adults. The probable relocation of St. Mary’s is a major event not just for children and parents but for the community.
• Lighting - although about 75% of the street lights in Stansted are owned by the Parish Council, the remainder are in the hands of ECC which explains why some roads have no lighting between 12 midnight and 5 am. This mixed ownership is unsatisfactory and discussions are to be requested by the Parish to create a more rational approach. It is hoped that parishioners will find it easier to understand where responsibilities lie but, if in doubt, consult the Parish Council.
TREES
We have many well-established and mature trees In our village and are lucky to have them. However, like most things in life, they require care and maintenance. Most towns and parishes have a community Tree Warden who can be called upon to look at trees in public ownership and advise on their condition and whether any maintenance is required. Our Tree Warden retired a few years ago and we are still looking for somebody to take on this role. We appreciate that it could be a lot for one person to take on, so are trying to establish a list of qualified people who could be called upon - we do already have a couple of people from whom we have taken advice and are grateful to them for having come forward. If you are suitably qualified and happy to be included on the list, please contact the Clerk on 01279 813214 or email parishcouncil@stansted.net 18 County Council and Uttlesford District Council to receive comments. By late autumn it is hoped to lodge the Parish Plan with the District Council where, hopefully, it will receive approval and will form the basis for action. Although it is too large a document to include in the Link, the draft Plan will be able to be read on the Parish Council website (www.stansted.net) from about the middle of August.
STANSTED IN BLOOM 2010.
This year ten gardens were entered for our two invited judges, Mrs Anne Berrisford and Mrs Diane Newland to view and assess each garden on its merit, ably assisted by Mrs Joy Thomas and Cllr. Iris Evans. The standard of the gardens was high and the results of the Competition will be published in next month's "Link" magazine. On Saturday 10th July in Stansted Free Church Lecture Hall, prizes and certificates will have been presented to all our participants. Photographs of all the gardens were taken and we hope to print some of them next month, along with a photo of the competitors themselves. We would like to thank those businesses in Stansted who have given very generously to our Competition. A list of the donors will appear next month. Watch this space for news concerning our three local schools who have also taken part in "Stansted in Bloom".
PROPOSED RELOCATION OF ST. MARY’S PRIMARY SCHOOL
At a recent meeting Cllr Stephen Castle, Cabinet Member for Education Essex County Council spoke about the Councils plans for a 300 place primary school. A new school is required he stated because: The existing school doesn’t have enough capacity New housing at Forest Hall Park, eventually 700 houses Accommodation at St. Mary’s is in poor condition and there will be little money to address this in the short term.
TREE PRESERVATION ORDERS AND CONSERVATION AREAS
If you live in one of our Conservation Areas, or have trees within your boundary with a Tree Preservation Order on them, it is essential to check with Uttlesford District Council prior to undertaking any surgery. In most cases consent will be required either to lop the tree or most certainly to fell it. Failure to receive the appropriate consent from Uttlesford may result in a hefty fine to the property owner, so if you are thinking of having any work done, please contact Ben Smeeden on 01799 510466 in advance.
HELP OUR LOCAL POLICE
The Police face many law and order challenges in their increasingly busy role locally. The public are encouraged to pick up the phone and report anything which is not an emergency but they think warrants reporting, to the non emergency number 0300 333 4444. Phoning this number will register the issue for police intelligence purposes and the matter will be reported back to local officers to deal with if necessary but equally as important, it will be logged as a reported incident. It is important for people to have the confidence to call as the Police can only understand the issues affecting us if we report them and what you may believe is a minor incident could have been related to other incidents in the Village or district which viewed individually may seem relatively minor but may be part of a wider problem. Senior officers will receive a report of the number and nature of incidents being reported and will be able to see any emerging patterns which may be cause for concern and which will enable them to make deci sions on the information received. If they don't receive the information from us they cannot spot the problems as they develop. For problems locally which need the attention of the PCSO's when they are on duty, the public are asked to use the number printed in the "Link", phoning the PCSO number will not necessarily mean the issue is logged so use the above number to ensure it is registered as an incident For all Emergencies use the 999 number.
PROGESS TOWARDS A PARISH PLAN
On 28 July the Parish Council will receive a draft of the Parish Plan which will provide members with time to read and to produce any additions, deletions or amendments. Once these have been incorporated, meetings will be held with Essex 19 The County Council believe that redevelopment on the existing St. John’s Road site is not a realistic option. This is because the existing site is restricted, has significant changes of level and is accessed via a private road. Additionally, there would be an extra £2.4 million extra cost to build on the old site. This in large part due to the fact that Section 106 (planning agreement between the District Council and the developers) funding totalling £1.7 million would not be available. A new building on the Forest Hall site would it is claimed offer a significantly enhanced and better quality accommodation for the school both in terms of curriculum delivery and sustainability. The headteacher confirmed that the classrooms will be larger than the existing ones. The Parish Council had raised with Cllr Castle about preserving the links with the Church of England if St Mary’s were to relocate. It was confirmed that the links with the Church will continue to be a vital part of the school’s identity. A new school building will be designed with the community in mind. There will be community room/facilities attached to the new school’s hall. The school therefore will serve the community not just during school hours. Questions were raised about access from the centre of the village to Forest Hall Park. The pavement is narrow in Church Road. Concern was also expressed about airport noise. The Council undertook to look at these issues. What now? A statutory period of consultation is now taking place. After which Cllr Castle will take a decision on whether to relocate to Forest Hall Park. My view is that this will go ahead. If so the new school could be expected to open in the first half of 2012. If St. Mary’s vacates its existing site what will be its future use? My longstanding view is that the existing playing field should be preserved as an open space. I should like also to see some community facilities on the site. It was confirmed that no decision has been taken yet on what to do with the St. John’s Road site. Stansted currently has one Pre-School facility Rainbow which is attached to St. Mary’s. The County Council stated that it will relocate to the Adult Community Learning premises on the Peter Kirk site in St. John’s Road. The Council has secured £550,000 capital funding for this. Both Rainbow and St. Mary’s will work together to ensure that there is sufficient time for parents to drop off and collect children at both establishments.
NEWS FROM UTTLESFORD D.C.
Several important local issues will be influenced in one way or another by the agenda that is being rolled out by the coalition government. Geoffrey Sell has written about the runway cancellation and also about the St. Mary’s primary school. Support needs to be given to the county council to get on with the construction of the new school before spending cuts kick in. There have already been reports that 6-700 new schools across the country may be chopped. I have similar concerns about the long-overdue health centre and doctors’ surgery for Stansted. News is seeping out that the health service in Essex is due to be reorganised yet again to save management costs. New management might bring confusion and further delay and so I think it is time for the present primary care trust (PCT) to press ahead with building the new surgery wherever it can provide the best the facilities. If no suitable central site is available, which seems likely to be the case, I do hope that the PCT will press on at Walson Way, Foresthall Park. I have spoken to many people who are fed up having to climb the stairs at the cramped surgery in St. John’s Road and only a few people who want to avoid a Foresthall location at all costs. The other big issue is planning. The new government is sweeping away regional plans and housing targets, telling councils they now should get on and plan for local needs such as housing based on their own evidence. The council’s own evidence shows that the local need is about the same as the scrapped regional target. The problem is that many councils aren’t used to delivering these responsibilities without central government/regional guidance. So far Uttlesford is waiting to be told what to do next. In the past the council has blamed its idea for a new town at Elsenham on ‘higher authorities’. Now it has no such excuse. The need for new housing over coming decades has not gone away with the new government. We must all hope that Uttlesford DC gets to grips with this by the autumn or we will face a very uncertain future as the development industry gets frustrated and kicks off a wave of speculative planning applications to fill the vacuum. (District Cllr Alan Dean)
SECOND RUNWAY-STANSTED AIRPORT
The Council is delighted that BAA has formally withdrawn its application for a second runway. The company announced recently that it would no longer be pursuing expansion at Stansted or Heathrow. The airports application had been due to come up for public inquiry sometime this year but the plan for a second runway, which has always been opposed by UDC has now been scrapped altogether. The Council unanimously agreed a cross party motion. Councillors resolved that a letter be sent from the Council to the Prime Minister to thank him and the new coalition Government for honouring the pre-election commitment on airport expansion plans. The letter also requested a meeting with the Secretary of State for Transport. Council agreed that at this meeting we would call on his support to force BAA to sell back all purchases for the second runway, and to help rebuild and compensate the communities (for example, Mole Hill Green) affected. We will also request that a moratorium on a second runway at Stansted Airport be in place for a period of at least fifty years. In conclusion, I should like to thank the hard work done by Stop Stansted Expansion in opposing the application.
POSSIBLE PARTNERSHIP WITH HARLOW DISTRICT COUNCIL
Financial pressures are encouraging local authorities to consider the benefits of working with neighbouring councils. Earlier this year a partnership with South Cambridgeshire District Council failed to proceed. It was recently announced that Harlow and Uttlesford Councils have agreed to explore the possibility of entering into a shared service partnership to provide Council Tax, Business Rates and Benefits services. A feasibility study is being commissioned to identify cost and benefits (including savings) of the councils working in a partnership. Subject to the findings of the feasibility study and decision-making processes, such a partnership could potentially come into operation from 1 April 2011. (District Cllr Geoffrey Sell)
DATES OF COUNCIL MEETINGS
28 July Full Council
There are no meetings scheduled during August.
