Theydon Bois Parish Council
Parish Office, The Village Hall, Coppice Row,
Theydon Bois, Essex CM16 7ER
Clerk to the Council: Mrs Jennifer Endean
Deputy Clerk to the Council: Mrs Julia Gale
Minutes of the Full Council Meeting of the Council held at the Village Hall 7:30pm on
Wednesday 26th April 2023
Councillors Present: Cllrs Gooch (Chairman), Purkiss, Amos, Blake, Burn, Cowup, Gill, Morris, Morton and
Wood.
• Officers Present: Julia Gale Deputy Parish Clerk
• Members of the Public: The meeting was attended by no members of the public.
1603. Apologies for Absence: Cllr Hannibal
1604. To discuss and approve the minutes from 30th March 2023.
Approved.
1605. Disclosure of Interests with regard to specific items on the agenda (existence of any Disclosable Pecuniary
Interest, or existence and Nature of other Pecuniary Interest or a Non-pecuniary Interest). The Council has adopted
Essex Public Law Partnership Code of Conduct.
None.
1606. Public participation session with regard to specific items on the agenda.
None.
1607. Police report.
PC Cook did not attend.
1608. Clerks Report
PC Cook left his crime report for the Clerk.
There was one theft from a motor vehicle in the village last month.
Cllr Cowup has emailed all councillors and asked if anyone can take part in an Emergency Response Exercise on 7th
June with Epping Forest District Council.
1609. Reports from Parish Representatives on outside organisations.
Cllr Gooch went to the Village Association (VA)meeting last week. The treasurer has resigned and a new one has been
appointed. The VA are also looking at refurbishing the hall toilets.
Cllr Purkiss went to Theydon Mount AGM two weeks ago and they had a successful meeting. They will soon be part of
the same ward as Theydon Bois after the boundary changes.
1610. Reports from District and/or County Councillors’
Cllr Amos provided an update from EFDC.
It is very quiet at EFDC at present, there are not any meetings due to the upcoming elections.
1611. Discussion and Proposals for future of Village News magazine.
Tony Ames, the editor of the Village News has asked the Parish Council to discuss the future of the magazine. Jim
Watts will not be able to continue due to ill health and Tony would like help. The survey he put in the Village News
last month had a positive response from a small number of replies, but he wants the Parish Council to decide what
they want the future to be. A number of names were mentioned for possible future Editors, should Tony want to stop
editing the magazine. The Parish Council agreed that they would want the magazine to continue in some form in
future. Cllr Gooch will speak to Tony Ames about this.
Cllr Cowup has agreed to do an article for the next issue about the litter pick and one about the Emergency plan.
1612. Finance and General-purpose Committee
1613.1 To approve the payments made since the last meeting.
Approved.
1613.2 To Approve payment to Village News Bank Account
Approved.
1614. Planning Committee: To receive an update on Planning matters since last month
Cllr Burn gave a report:
Cllr Gooch asked that the Planning Clerk put a PDF of the Parish Council’s response to the proposed development at
the end of Forest Drive onto our website.
1615. Highways, Cemetery and Environment Committee
1615.1 To receive an update on Highways, Cemetery and Environment matters.
Cllr Purkiss reported that a tree came down in the cemetery and was cleared.
The Loughton Lane project is coming close to fruition. At present, everything is on hold due to the upcoming election.
But he is 90% hopeful that it will be completed this year.
1615.2 To discuss the state of the roads in the village and Abridge Road in particular.
Cllr Purkiss reported that patching has been done in Epping Road and Abridge Road. This is a temporary fix. In the
next few weeks parts of the road will be re-planed and new tarmac put down.
Essex Highways have been given £14.8 million for potholes and a committee has been formed to discuss future
contracts for road repairs.
It was agreed by all that the roads in the area are in a bad state and Ringway Jacobs are doing a poor job repairing
them.
1616. Community Engagement Committee
Cllr Morton reported that the Community Engagement Committee have been quiet, but that the litter pick continues
to make a difference.
They have agreed to contribute £100 to the Theydon Bois Open Gardens towards their costs.
Cllr Cowup has been preparing our Emergency Response Plan and wants people in the village to take part.
The Community Engagement Committee will take this under their umbrella.
1617. Any Other Urgent Business for report (without decision)
Please note that no decisions can be lawfully made under this item. The Local Government Act 1972 section 12 10
(2) (b) states that business must be specified; therefore, the Council cannot lawfully raise matters for decision.
None.
1618. Public Participation
None.
1619. Staff Matters,
Staff cost of living increase was discussed at the Finance Committee meeting recently and Cllr Gooch asked that the
Council approve the 7% pay increase proposed by them.
Approved.
Cllr. Gooch closed the meeting at 8.28pm
Signed: ……………………………………….. Dated: 25/05/2023
Cllr Peter Gooch
Chairman