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 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2009/10

The purpose of this report is to give a summary of what the Parish Council has been doing during the last year and to comment on the major issues that we are facing as a parish. There is more information available on all these subjects on our website at www.eastwickandgilston.org.uk and also the STOP Harlow North website at www.stopharlownorth.com 

During the year, the Parish Council have held seven Parish Council meetings and an Annual Parish meeting.  Individual Parish Councillors took the following responsibilities.

Mark Orson – Chairman - Parish Paths and Parish Website
Colin Marston – Vice Chairman - Highways Matters
Tim Geddes – Parish Plan Steering Group representative
Keith Harvey –Parish Council Grant Funding
Alan Jenkins – STOP Harlow North representative
Christine Law – Parish Clerk

Lorna Adams-Sofroniou was a Parish Councillor representing Eastwick from May 2009 to January 2010.  She resigned from the Parish Council due to changes in her family circumstance and I would like to thank Lorna for her contribution during this time.
Lorna’s departure has left a vacancy for a Parish Councillor in Eastwick and we are now actively looking for someone to take this role.  Parish Councillor’s and the Parish Council have the responsibility of representing the views of local residents on matters such as planning applications, management of local services and the local environment.  In addition to the routine, we also face a number of challenges with the continuing issue of Harlow North, the future of Terlings Park and land south of the C161 and Redricks lane to name a few that will impact our Parish.  If you are interested in finding out about the role of Parish Councillor please contact Christine Law, Parish Clerk, on 411646 or email christine.law2@btinternet.com for an informal discussion.

Parish Plan
Thanks again to Anthony Bickmore who chairs the Parish Plan Steering Group and members of the team.  The Parish Plan phase 1 document is now being published on the parish website www.eastwickandgilston.org.uk and printed copies are being sent to key stakeholders. A summary document is also being published and a printed copy will be distributed to each household. We hope that you will enjoy reading it and will engage with us on the ‘Action Plan’ that we have now started to work on.  Progress on individual projects within the action plan will be reported in the Parish Magazine and website. If you are interested to find out more about the work on the action plan and perhaps to become more involved please contact Anthony Bickmore or myself.

At our March Parish Council meeting we had presentations from the Countryside Management Service and the Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust.  Both were highly relevant to the thinking in our Parish Plan work and it is worth summarising these as examples of the direction that we are taking at a practical level with some of the projects in the Parish Action Plan described above.

The Countryside Management Service works with communities in Hertfordshire to help them care for and enjoy the environment by:

• Encouraging people to get involved in looking after their local countryside or park by offering a range of voluntary opportunities, from practical conservation to leading Health Walks.
• Providing advice to landowners or managers helping them to look after their land with wildlife in mind. Helping a range of people from individual land owners to community groups’ source and secure funding for landscape improvement and conservation work.
• Promoting outdoor recreation through organising events such as guided walks, and working with groups to develop walk and cycle routes to link towns and villages to their surrounding countryside.

The presentation focused on the Countryside Management Service’s work with landowners and farmers and the grant structure available to support projects that enhance landscape and biodiversity, as well as encouraging people to understand and enjoy the countryside. More information about Countryside Management Service can be found on their web site www.hertslink.org/cms . 

Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust has developed the Stort Valley Living Landscape Vision document and the presentation discussed the background to this and how work is being progressed.  The Stort Valley represents one of the most important wetlands areas within Hertfordshire & Essex; however, it is vulnerable to many threats, including habitat loss, fragmentation, inappropriate management, development, climate change and pollution.  Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, working together with Essex Wildlife Trust and other partners, have developed a vision for the Stort Valley Living Landscape. The Living Landscape Vision is about creating large, well connected, wildlife rich areas which are highly valued by the local communities which live and work in them and by visitors which come to enjoy them.  It is about ensuring the landscape and its ecosystem services are functioning well so they are robust enough to deal with climate change and land use change so they can provide long term benefits for both wildlife and local communities

This is a working document and they are now seeking wider consultation amongst local communities and groups. More information about Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust can be found on their web site www.hertswildlifetrust.org.uk . 

Harlow North
Please see the STOP Harlow North website at www.stopharlownorth.com for full information on our campaign and subscribe to the newsletter for detailed updates. The most significant developments during the year have been the activities of North Harlow Joint Venture (NHJV).  It is important to take this opportunity to set out some facts relating to this group as there appears to be a level of spin in their communications that could lead to confusion.

• This group is a joint venture between Land Securities and Places for People formed in 2008. We do not believe that any land holdings have yet been transferred to NHJV as land sale conditions have so far not been met. At the moment it is effectively a lobbying group attempting to push through planning permission against the will of local people. The local development planning process still has to run it course and this land has not been allocated for development
• NHJV held a number of community engagement drop in sessions last year to hear the opinions of local people on their plans to build North Harlow. Those of you that did attend will have observed a strong consensus of opposition to the scheme.  Our SHN representative attended a session in Harlow and I can say with confidence that the people of Harlow share our views.
• NHJV promised to provide a feedback report on the views expressed at these drop in sessions and this finally arrived in late April.  As expected the presentation was to a high standard but disappointingly seems short on real substance and detail other than a list of activities that NHJV has undertaken so far to engage with the community. The conclusion from this is that NHJV want to demonstrate an audit trail of reasonable attempts at local engagement in order to validate their position and also to present a marketing campaign. In other words a PR document that says thank you for listening and your views count whilst all the indications are that they mean “We need to record that we have listened and your views don’t count”
• We would urge you not to respond directly to NHJV as they may use your interaction to demonstrate community engagement to support their case in the planning process. Please channel all communication on Harlow North matters through the parish council or SHN which we believe will represent the views of the overwhelming majority of the community
• By the time this report is published we will almost certainly have a different government whether by majority or a hung parliament. We hope that the new government will reject the East of England plan and return to a system where planning decisions are made locally and democratically. East Herts Council maintains its total opposition to any development north of Harlow, in East Hertfordshire District, as contained in the 2008 approved East of England Plan, and Harlow’s implied continual growth into East Hertfordshire, as set out in the September 2009 Regional Plan Review Consultation document.
• This parish council will continue to progress Harlow North matters through the STOP Harlow North campaign group. We continue to support its aims of being dedicated to positively and actively opposing proposals to create a major development north of Harlow around the Hertfordshire villages of Eastwick, Gilston, High Wych, Hunsdon and Widford, and the town of Sawbridgeworth, on the basis that the locality needs:
• A better Harlow, not a bigger Harlow. Any development north of Harlow will compete with the existing town and hamper its regeneration
• To protect our environment. Greenbelt is there for a reason and should not be built on until all other alternatives have been exhausted.
• To protect the unique identity and historic character of rural villages
• To bring back fairness and democracy in the strategic planning process.

Gilston Great Park
Gilston Great Park is still very much on the agenda and work towards this concept can be carried out and much achieved irrespective of the future use of the green belt and farmland in our parish. The Parish Council submitted the Gilston Great Park proposal to East Herts as part of our response to their call for sites for inclusion in the Local Development Framework, see www.stopharlownorth.com/GGP.htm .  All Parishes north of Harlow are united in their view of an appropriate future for the area.  It is one of conservation of the rural economy, landscape enhancement and the introduction of more leisure uses.  These views are set out in the plan for Gilston Great Park.  The Gilston Great Park plan is consistent with the Green Infrastructure Plan prepared by local authorities and Natural England. More information will be published in the Parish Magazine and website as progress is made.

Terlings Park
The future of the Terlings Park site continues to be unclear. Terlings Park was formerly occupied by Merck Sharp and Dohme’s National Neuroscience Research Centre and has been closed for a number of years.  We have been in regular contact with CB Richard Ellis who is acting for Merck Sharp and Dohme to sell the site. CBRE believe maximum value will be obtained if the site can continue its use for pharmaceutical research but due to current industry trends this is not likely. Interest was shown earlier this year by the Health Protection Agency which has considered the site as an option for its new Centre of Excellence for research and bio-medical manufacturing. However, due to the changes recently announced at GSK the HPA have been strongly encouraged by Harlow Council and Harlow MP Bill Rammell to favour the GSK site in preference to Terlings Park.  At the time of writing there is no conclusion to this discussion and there also remains the possibility that the HPA will stay in Wiltshire where there is very strong opposition to their potential move away from the area.

As further background, Terlings Park is identified as a Major Developed Site within the green belt.  Beyond 2011, the future use of this site will be addressed in the first East Herts Local Development Framework, which is being prepared as a review of the Local Plan.

Highways
We continue to work closely with Highways to ensure that Highways maintenance activities are carried out effectively and meet our local needs.  As with all local services Highways work is governed by budget and availability of resources and getting work carried out in a timely manner can sometimes be a frustrating struggle.  However we have an agreed schedule of outstanding work and take every opportunity to push for priority treatment. The headline news this year has been completion of the repairs to the subsidence in Gilston Lane which has taken a number of years to work through due process and have funding.

Planning
We have had a number of planning applications to comment on during the year and most have been reasonably straightforward and non contentious changes to existing properties.  The major planning issues affecting our area are addressed by our Parish Plan and the STOP Harlow North campaign.

Parish Paths
The Parish footpath network is a real asset and I would again encourage anyone who hasn’t walked them to try and find the time as it will give you another perspective on our local area.  Our footpaths are well maintained and we have continued to keep them so during the last year with grants and practical help from the Rights of Way department and Countryside Management Service.  Work in 2009 included installing five oak benches at various points on the network and we are considering possible locations for additional benches to be installed later this year. You will find a number of display maps of the footpath network located around the parishes including both the Eastwick and Gilston War Memorial sites.

War Memorials
Both the Gilston and Eastwick War Memorials have been renovated in recent years which included cleaning the stone work; repairing the lettering, and making good the surrounding area.  The work at Gilston was completed last year and the final tasks have now been carried out to complete this work at Eastwick where the poor quality hedging has been removed, the area around the stone paving has been grassed over and daffodil bulbs were planted by the Brownies in November.

Village of the Year
We looked at taking part in the 2010 Village of the Year competition but overall did not believe that we are sufficiently ready or have enough time to prepare successfully for this year.  We will look at this again later in the year when we will consider the possibility of entering the 2011 competition.

Parish Precept
You will have recently received the booklet from East Herts District Council outlining your rates for 2010/2011. Part of the rates is made up of the Parish Precept which is set by the Parish Council to cover small running costs and a number of initiatives we undertake including maintaining the Parish Paths and War Memorials. The amount attaching to your rates for the parish is a function of what we spend and the number of properties and their valuation bands in the area.

This year we deliberately maintained our precept at the same level for the third year running.

If you have views on how we should spend our money and if we should spend more or less then let one of the Parish Councillors know or attend a Parish Council meeting. We are always keen to hear views and enjoy the interaction with members of the public at the meetings – all are welcome

Website
Work on the revised website has progressed albeit more slowly than we would have ideally wanted. We have applied for and obtained a grant from the Community Development Agency to fund the new website as part of our Parish Plan work for the community and are now completing the development brief for the website builders to start work. More information will be published in the Parish Magazine and of course the website www.eastwickandgilston.org.uk as progress is made.

Thanks to Bob Mitchell our developer for all his work building and supporting the existing website.

Conclusion
Overall, we have made some good progress and there are clearly some challenges for the year ahead. We are fortunate to have a dedicated and hard working team of Councillors. They devote a lot of their time for the benefit of the community which is unpaid and they claim no expenses. Thanks to Deborah Clark and Roger Beeching who are our District and County Councillors respectively. They give valued support to the Parish Council.

Thanks also to Christine Law, our Parish Clerk. Without Christine, the Parish Council simply wouldn’t function.

Mark Orson