Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence and declarations of interest.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ranger and Ryles. 

Councillor Barker declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to item 10 as Chairman of Stansted Airport Community Trust.

The Chairman invited Paul Salvidge (Essex Wildlife Trust) to address Cabinet regarding ‘Item 10 - Requests for S106 funding for footway improvements, Stansted Mountfitchet’. A summary of his statement has been appended to these minutes.

To consider the request for s106 funding for footway improvements.

RESOLVED to:

i.              Approve the release of £11,977.20 to Stansted Mountfitchet Parish Council from S106 funds to secure the improvement works to the Foresthall Park right of way.

ii.             Reject the request from Essex Wildlife Trust. The Council should assist the Trust in identifying other possible sources of funding.

The Chairman thanked Mr Salvidge and brought Item 10 forward in proceedings for his benefit.

The Council had received two requests for the use of S106 funding for footway improvements in the parish of Stansted Mountfitchet. In both cases, the money would be drawn from an existing community facilities pot associated with Foresthall Park, of which £41,000 remained unallocated.

Essex Wildlife Trust had requested funding to provide an all year round accessible lakeside path at the Aubrey Buxton Nature Reserve, located north of Stansted Mountfitchet. Following consultation with local members, the report recommended Cabinet not to approve the release of S106 monies, but to assist the Trust in identifying alternative sources of funding.

The second request had come from Stansted Mountfitchet Parish Council who wished to resurface the public right of way located along the western boundary of Foresthall Park. Following consultation with local members, the report recommended Cabinet to approve the release of funding to secure the improvement works to the Foresthall Park right of way footpath.

Councillor Dean said the Foresthall Park footway was unusable by families at certain times of the year. He supported the recommendation to release funding outlined in the report.

The Chairman said both requests were worthy projects but Cabinet had to listen to locally elected members; if Cabinet were to approve the request from the Essex Wildlife Trust, it would be going against the advice of the parish council. He advised the Trust to enter into a dialogue with the parish council to convince them of the merits of the project.

Councillor Barker asked the Trust to contact her and she would assist in investigating alternative sources of funding to allow the scheme to go ahead.

RESOLVED to:

i.              Approve the release of £11,977.20 to Stansted Mountfitchet Parish Council from S106 funds to secure the improvement works to the Foresthall Park right of way.

ii.             Reject the request from Essex Wildlife Trust. The Council to assist the Trust in identifying other possible sources of funding.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on…

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 November 2018 were received and signed by the Chairman as a correct record subject to appending a report tabled on behalf of the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee at the previous meeting.

To consider any reports from Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Dean said an extraordinary Scrutiny meeting had been scheduled for Tuesday, 15 January 2019 to examine the Council’s procedure regarding the determination of major planning applications. He said he would like this meeting, and future Scrutiny meetings, to be recorded and broadcast through the Council’s audiominutes system.

The Chairman said Cabinet would give consideration to the broadcasting of future Scrutiny meetings and asked officers to source the initial Cabinet paper so the policy could be reviewed.

With regards to the meeting on Tuesday, he said it was important that Scrutiny Committee took an objective review of the Council’s planning procedure as a whole whilst determining the scoping detail for the study.

To consider the Corporate Plan Delivery Plan Q3 Progress Report.

The Chairman noted the good progress that had been made on a number of priorities of the Council’s Corporate Plan. He said work would continue to ensure the Council’s priorities were moving forward.

Councillor Redfern highlighted the progress relating to the delivery of affordable housing in the district. This included the completion of works at Reynolds Court in September 2018; an update on the development at Hatherley Court, with phase 1 due for completion in January 2019; and the development of the purpose built scheme for people with learning difficulties in Everett Road, Saffron Walden.

In response to a question from Councillor Dean regarding the ‘Pride in Place’ action plan, Councillor Barker said the success of the ‘Pride in Place’ scheme would depend on local people. She said she would come back with details of the action plan after the meeting.

Councillor Dean asked whether any progress had been made with regards to the capacity of Crafton Green car park, Stansted Mountfitchet.

The Director – Corporate Services said Councillor Ryles had been in dialogue with the relevant parties and the matter was now back with Stansted Mountfitchet Parish Council.   

The report was noted.  

To consider the report on kerbside garden waste collection service subscription charges 2019/20.

RESOLVED that:

i.              The kerbside garden waste collection subscription is set at £45 for the year 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.

ii.             A £10 discount will be made for new customers paying by direct debit, existing customers switching their payment method to direct debit and existing customers currently paying by direct debit.

Cabinet was informed that the majority of garden waste service subscribers paid by card over the phone. It was proposed that efficiencies could be achieved by moving subscriptions to direct debit, with an incentive offered to residents by way of a £10.00 discount against the annual charge. The report also sought approval for raising the annual garden waste collection subscription from £40.00 to £45.00 for the year 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.

In response to a Member question, Councillor Barker said all residents who paid by direct debit would receive the discounted fee. This included new and existing customers, including those who already paid by direct debit.

The Director – Corporate Services provided clarification and said the word ‘online’ should be taken out of the recommendation as online payments made by credit card would not have the discount applied.

                        RESOLVED that:

i.              The kerbside garden waste collection subscription is set at £45 for the year 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.

ii.             A £10 discount will be made for new customers paying by direct debit, existing customers switching their payment method to direct debit and existing customers currently paying by direct debit.

The meeting ended at 7.30pm.

PUBLIC SPEAKING

Paul Salvidge – Essex Wildlife Trust

Mr Salvidge said the problem the Essex Wildlife Trust was facing was one of increased visitor numbers to the Aubrey Buxton Nature Reserve. Existing pathways had been worn by the increased footfall and had left them inaccessible at times. He asked Cabinet to release funding to allow the work to improve the footways to be undertaken and said that like most charities the Essex Wildlife Trust were facing austere times and could not fund the works themselves. He said he did not dispute the need for the other path that had been requested by the Parish Council.