This year has been another busy year for the various committees and working parties within the parish council.
Thank you to you the parishioners for keeping us informed with the problems that you have experienced throughout the year.
Play Areas
The new equipment in the main play area has proved successful. The roundabout,
due to safety reasons and vandalism was removed. At present the parish council
is waiting to hear the outcome of a grant application that was made to assist
with the purchase of a replacement for the roundabout, and to providing a
basketball net in the area.
The Aingers Green play area is closed at the present time. More recently you have been made aware of the fact that due to the constant vandalism this area is under review.
Flag Pole
Because of the request to fly non national flags apart from the Union flag,
last year the parish council applied for planning permission to support this
request.
The Royal British Legion supplies a list each year, to the parish council, of the dates that they believe are appropriate for the flags to be flown.
Thank you to the members of the Royal British Legion for taking on this responsibility.
Affordable Housing
We are still waiting for more information from the Housing Trust as to whether
a suitable piece of land has been found.
Unfortunately, as we have discovered, these things take time. Once a piece of land has been found then the housing trust applies for funds for the project.
We are learning that we must be patient.
Parish Office
The parish council agreed to take up the Village Hall Management Committee’s
offer of accommodation in the Village Hall. Once established this should make
contact with all relevant aspects of council and other authorities easier
for residents.
Highways
Many concerns were, and still are, being bought to council’s attention regarding
the road junction at New Cut and Plough Road. All these concerns have been
discussed with the relevant authorities, and as previously reported the traffic
wardens now make regular visits to the village.
The parish council has agreed to meet with other councils in Tendring, where a Tesco Express store is sited to discuss how to overcome some of the problems experienced with deliveries to the stores.
A proposal was put forward to assist the children with a safer route to and from school by providing a public footway in Station Road and The Cut. The parish council agreed to the footway in Station Road. As the road in The Cut is very narrow and residents need to park, parish council agreed that a footway was not feasible.
The Highways Authority must wait until it has funds available to provide the Station Road and Thorrington Road footways.
The usual state of the roads are reported on a regular basis to Highways
regarding pot holes etc., The Parish Council has reported the concerns regarding
the poor state of the road surface in Plough Road from The Plough to the Level
Crossing. The Highways Authority is fully aware of this fact, but does not
have the funds to do a major repair to the road at this present time
.
Planning
Thank you to all those residents who throughout the year have responded to
the planning issues which come before council, especially the Tendring District
Council’s Local Plan. Your input is very useful to our planning committee.
Regarding the large development that has been proposed in the Ravens Green Great Bromley areas, the parish council has agreed to join with its neighbouring parish councils, if it becomes necessary, to fight against the development.
Police Community Support Officers (CPSOs)
This council has taken the initiative to invite other parish councils and
town councils in this area to discuss the possibility of joint funding CPSOs.
The cost per annum for each CPSO is £26000, at present the Home Office
subsidises this amount by 50%.
More information will be available once the meeting has been held and it can be established how many other councils are willing to take part.
Frinton and Walton Town Council employ six CPSOs; they state that the scheme has proved to be very successful.
Footway Lighting
We now have a new contractor for the repairs and maintenance of the lighting
throughout the village. All lamps have been inspected and any necessary works
carried out on them.
The Parish council is asking for quotes to supply a lamp standard along Thorrington Road, there has been some difficulty in obtaining quotes, but once these have been received and a contractor approved we can progress.
Village Green
The Grass cutting of the green and other areas came up for review this year
and tenders were invited for the work to be done. The work was divided into
two parts. The parish council agreed to two tenders, one part for the general
grass cutting using the mowers, and the other part for general strimming and
grass cutting in areas not easily accessible to the mowers.
The contracts are for one year.
Repairs and replacements have been carried out on the dog and litter bins.
Some benches this year have been in need of repair and painting. This work is now being done.
The usual maintenance of the track towards the south of the green has been carried out.
Allotments
Only one plot now remains vacant, the allotments are a credit to their users.
General repairs and maintenance have been carried out throughout the year.
The allotments are self sufficient financially to the parish.
Footpaths
We are grateful to Mr David Kirby who this year has come back as our Footpath
Representative. David has kindly agreed to oversee any work that needs to
be carried out on the footpaths.
Orange Mast
The Parish Council has had long debates over this issue in trying to respond
to the concerns regarding the issues involved. From our experience of the
issues involved parish council still concluded that, under the law as
it stands, the site 250 metres outside the village was the best deal for the
people of Great Bentley.
Finally thank you to those parishioners who attend our monthly meetings, to Vernon Walshe for keeping us informed on transport issues, when time allows him, and The Post Office who keeps copies of the approved minutes for parishioners.
Thank you to the Councillors, and the Clerk and the various committees within
the parish council for their work throughout the year and supporting me when
I came back into the Chair for the remainder of this year.
Lynda McWilliams
On behalf of Great Bentley Parish Council
Tel No 01206250732
e-mail lynda@boblyn.co.uk