CHAIRMAN’S REPORT OF THE

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING HELD ON 24TH MAY, 2010

Village Hall, Poors’ Field, School Road, Kelvedon Hatch.

The Chairman gave an introduction explaining the purpose of the Parish Meeting, i.e. where members of the public can have a voice on the progress of the village and bring up suggestions on how the village may be improved.

It is also a chance for the Parish Council Chairman to report on the year’s activities within the village and to listen to the public’s suggestions that might properly be taken back to the Parish Council. Although the Parish Meeting is not a Parish Council function, the Chairman of the Council normally calls and chairs the meeting to receive compliments, criticisms and suggestions. This is the last Annual Meeting before elections early next May, which include those to the Parish Council. All suitable, qualified Parishioners may stand. The qualifications are that the prospective Councillors are on the Electoral Roll, have sufficient numbers of sponsors (also on the Electoral Roll) and are not legally disbarred. It is preferable to have more candidates than seats so that an election can take place. It is better to have stood and failed than to have no election.

A report was given on the establishment of a “Dispersal Order” at Doddinghurst to help prevent vandalism and antisocial behaviour, but a reservation was made that this behaviour might be exported to adjacent villages.

Reports were given about repairs needed to some of our play equipment due to vandalism and wear and tear. Repairs have been made to the Village Hall roof and the Village Hall Trustees are aware of the increasing age of this structure.

The Parish Council is aware of the demise of ducks as they cross the road from the Swan Pond, but the work to the pond to re-establish its’ perimeter can only take place in the late Autumn. The Parish Council is still trying to establish ownership of the Swan Pond with the strongest opinion being that it is the Borough Council’s responsibility. Unfortunately, there is no Borough money to fund the desperately needed work and so the Parish Council is to try to secure Community Initiative Funding for this important project.

It was noted at a previous Parish Council Meeting some of our local police received criticism from Councillors and members of the public with regard to antisocial behaviour, to the point that it was pointed out that trouble could occur that very night. This duly happened and was fully reported in the Brentwood Gazette. It seemed that the “Zero Tolerance” promised didn’t start quite early enough.

Our Christmas Lunch for the Villages’ senior citizens was again a great success. Although there is the inevitable churn of the attendees the numbers slowly increase and we might soon be reaching the upper limit of the Village Hall’s capacity. In future hopeful applicants might have to get their bookings in early. An alternative solution could be raising our age bar in line with government practices with regard to retirement age.

Our website won the award for “Best Parish Website in Essex”. This accolade is awarded by the Essex Association of Local Councils, which represents nearly all Parish and Town Councils in our County. Our usual entry into the “Best Kept Village” competition received a very good overall report and our Play Area was given extra plusage points on top of a full 10/10 score.

Last year we had a group of local youths ask for a skateboard and mountain bike facility. This request was examined great depth from the points of expense, insurance, places to build and also nearby facilities already in progress at Ingatestone and Blackmore. It was felt that, in the current financial climate, plus the lack of any suitable space, we should reserve our position for the foreseeable future.

The Chairman then opened the meeting to public comment.