Castle Hedingham Parish Council and Burial Board

Report of the meeting of the Parish Council of Castle Hedingham held on Wednesday, 16th August 2006 issued by the Clerk

Vandalism/Off Road Parking Nunnery Street – A parishioner addressed the meeting to highlight problems she had experienced over a number of years with vandalism to her car and those of neighbours all of whom have to park on the road. Councillors discussed the problems experienced in detail. These incidents had caused a great deal of distress and a significant rise in the parishioner’s insurance premiums. They had mainly taken place on Friday and Saturday nights sometimes by young people but the most recent incident the parishioner had apprehended the vandals and she alleged they were two men on their way home from the pub. She had reported the incidents to the police. It was agreed that the Clerk contact CPSO Deb Green and PC Melanie Mullinder to let them know of the problems being experienced; ask how many such incidents had been reported and, ask for support to prevent more incidents.

Sudbury Hill – The Clerk had contacted Essex County Council regarding the possibility of extending the footway on Sudbury Hill and Essex County Council have advised that the Parish Council would have to carry out an assessment of the amount of pedestrians using the route to find out if it is viable for funding. This would not guarantee a new footway being supplied. Funding for this area is limited and a long waiting list exists.

Churchyard Yews – It was noted that the ivy in the yews in the churchyard is being dealt with by the grass cutting contractor but will take some time before it is fully removed.

Kirby Hall Road – A letter had been received from a parishioner giving details of a fall she had had in a pot hole in Kirby Hall Road when she had sustained a badly sprained ankle. She had reported the pot hole to Essex County Council and a repair had been carried out. However she was dissatisfied with the work carried out as only some of the holes had been filled and many others had been ignored It was agreed that a copy of the letter be sent to the County Councillor asking for this matter to be addressed. The Clerk will also write to the parishioner to advise her what action has been taken and that the Parish Council were aware of the problems and have been raising them with Essex County Council for sometime.

Byway 23 – This byway has once again become rutted and difficult to use particularly by horse riders. This will be reported to Essex County Council.

Planning Comments

The Parish Council had no objections to the following applications - Application 06/01267/LBC - Removal of partition wall in dining room and insertion of two low profile roof lights in kitchen ceiling - 8 Pye Corner, Castle Hedingham; Application 06/01452/TPOCON – Carry our works to trees - Goston Mount, Pottery Lane, Castle Hedingham and, Application 06/01412/COU – Temporary change of use of part of outbuilding to be used a an occupied annexe for a period of 3 years - 1 Crown Street, Castle Hedingham.

Application 06/01373/COU - Change of use of land for the temporary stationing of 2 No. portakabin buildings - Land to the rear of Memories, Crouch Green, Castle Hedingham - The Parish Council have no objections to this providing the time limit of two years is not exceeded. It was agreed to raise the question of security with Braintree District Council as drugs may be, or be perceived to be, stored in this temporary doctor’s surgery which could make it a target for break ins.

Application 06/01380/FUL - Erection of two semi-detached dwellings and carports- Land adjoining 16 Crown Street, Castle Hedingham – The Parish Council continue to have concerns about this application for the following reasons:

Two houses with garages/car ports on this relatively small site represent a too dense development. One house would be acceptable or possibly two smaller ones.
The site is on the edge of the outer bailey of the castle and we have concerns on the proposed development's effects on neighbouring properties. In particular the structural stability of both 8,Castle Close and 13, Pye Corner could be affected when the site level is lowered to road level as proposed. No 13 is only 2.0m from the face of the development and 1.Om higher, no 8 is 7.5m from the proposed garages and 2.0m higher. With the deeper digging of foundations this could lead to slip. We ask that a detailed geo-technical survey is carried out as a pre-requisite to development with particular consideration given to including boundary retaining walls.
We object to the chosen materials, particularly the garages/car ports. The roofs to these structures will be vast and dominating especially from Castle Close. The use of slate and weatherboarding will exaggerate this and is unacceptable in this conservation area. All materials must be in keeping with the surroundings, clay tiles and brickwork with scaled down roof proportions would be acceptable.
The historical and archaeological significance of this site on the castle's old outer walls/defences mean that we would ask for an archaeological survey/excavation to be carried out as a precursor to any development.
We have concerns about the safety of the site during construction. The site abuts a difficult junction for vehicles coming into or out of Crown St and the area can get congested. Construction traffic will exaggerate this problem.

Application 06/01419/LBC & 06/01418/FUL– Erection of single storey rear extension and detached play room building for family use - 22 Church Ponds, Castle Hedingham – The Parish Council has no objections to the extension but would prefer soft red bricks instead of weather boarding and tiles instead of slate.

Application 06/01526/FUL – Proposed staircase and balcony accessing first floor playroom over garage - 8 Queen Street, Castle Hedingham – As sadly this extension was granted in 2005 the Parish Council feel they can have no objections to the staircase and balcony.

Meeting Dates

Parish Council:

Wednesday 13th September 2006

Wednesday 11th October 2006

Wednesday 15th November 2006

All commencing 7.45p.m. at Castle Hedingham Club, Church Lane, Castle Hedingham

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