Theydon Bois Parish Council
Parish Office, The Village Hall, Coppice Row,
Theydon Bois, Essex CM16 7ER
Clerk to the Council: Mrs Jennifer Endean
Assistant Clerk to the Council: Mrs Julia Gale
Minutes of the Parish Council held at The Village Hall at 8.00pm on
Thursday 31st March 2022
• Councillors Present: Cllr Gooch (Chair), Cllrs Purkiss, Amos, Blake, Cowup, Gill,
Morris, and Morton.
• Officers Present: Julia Gale (Deputy Clerk)
• Members of the Public: The Meeting was attended by 2 members of the public and
Cllr Holly Whitbread was in attendance.
1435. Apologies for Absence: Cllrs Burn, Hannibal and Wood.
1436. To discuss & approve the Minutes of the Last Full Council Meeting held on
Thursday 24th February 2022. APPROVED
1437. 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 the Essex Public Law Partnership
Code of Conduct. NONE
1438. Public Participation session with regard to Specific Items on the Agenda
None.
1439. Correspondence – Clerk’s Report
The Deputy Clerk recently attended a ride London briefing. This is a Legacy event from
the 2012 Olympic Games and is held every year, this year it is to come out into Essex
as well. It takes place over 3 days Friday 27th May, Saturday 28th May and Sunday 29th
May. The Ride London Classique is an Elite Race involving 120 cyclists, this will take
place over the first 2 days, the First stage on Friday will not affect us as this is being
held around Maldon. But on the Saturday the race will be Chelmsford to Epping. The
riders will cycle up from Chelmsford through Felsted, and Thaxted and then down
through Dunmow, and North Weald to Epping. The riders will do 2 laps around Epping
and another loop around Toot Hill, Stapleford Tawney. Epping Town Centre will be
closed 4am – 8pm and there will be rolling road closures from 1.30pm until 3.00pm.
This should all run to plan as the elite riders all move very quickly.
On the Sunday a public event will take place along the lines of the London Marathon,
whereby cyclist enthusiasts will take part in a sponsored 100-mile ride around Essex,
there will be 25000 riders occupying 30 miles of road, and as they are amateurs there
will be stragglers, and the roads will be closed for much longer. The route takes the
bike riders from Tower Bridge out through Woodford, Loughton, Epping and North
Weald, Ongar and back through Chigwell. Road closures will take place from 5am -6pm.
Again Epping Town Centre will be closed to traffic all day. Roads around Epping will be
closed around Midday onwards, then they will re-open later in the afternoon and roads
from Ongar to Chigwell will close late afternoon.
All details can be found on the Ride London Website. From May onwards Signs will go
up on the route to warn drivers.
We have had a notification from Barclays Bank that they are to close their Epping
Branch.
PC Andy Cook is on annual leave, but he sent me the crime statistics for Theydon Bois
from 24/02/2022 to 31/03/2022.
• Two offences of vehicle interference
•
• Two thefts from motor vehicles
•
• Two theft of motor vehicles
•
• Two offences of criminal damage.
•
• No burglaries reported at all.
PC Cook received the community service Medal from EFDC at their recent award
ceremony.
1440. To receive reports from Parish Council Representatives on Outside
Organisation
Cllr Burn attended the above meeting, hosted over Zoom and webcast by Epping Forest
District Council (‘EFDC’), on Monday 14th March 2022. Agenda items primarily focused on
aspects of Planning Policy which will be included within the Epping Forest District New
Local Plan (2011-2033). The Planning Inspector is still compiling her Final Report, which
is anticipated after the Elections in May.
However, concerns were raised at the abovementioned meeting with respect to how
certain aspects of Planning Policy are to be interpreted, including: Sustainability
Guidance (and the extent to which it may, or may not, be enforceable), compliance with
the Essex County Council (‘ECC’) Parking Standards, and Affordable Housing allocations /
S106 Agreements in relation to the submission of Viability Assessments (which may
reduce such developer contributions). Aspects relating to Enforcement matters were
mentioned generally, with EFDC having met with a number of Local Councils to discuss
these issues more fully during the past year.
Mr Richardson, Head of Planning Services, and Mr Marx answered questions from District,
and Parish, Councillors, but there was general dissatisfaction with EFDC’s approach to
restricted parking provision within new housing developments, with many
representatives feeling that the requirement for car ownership and on-site parking has
been underestimated by the Council. A revised version of the ‘Essex Parking Standards’
(presently adopted by EFDC), which may focus more closely on a ‘zonal system’ of
assessment, is anticipated later this year. Mr Richardson agreed to advise Local Councils
as to whether any newly-devised Standards will be open to public consultation prior to
adoption.
Cllr Morris informed the Council that he held a road safety meeting for horse riders in
Epping Forest on Tuesday 29th March in the Village Hall that was very well attended.
1441. To receive reports from District and/or County Councillors
Cllr Holly Whitbread, County Councillor for Epping and Theydon Bois, Essex County
Council (ECC), gave the update:
As Cllr Whitbread is Deputy for Community affairs, she updated on her recent work on
the new libraries’ strategy. All 74 Libraries will stay open, the idea is to make them
Community spaces with groups such as CAB and Children’s groups. There is also a new
young person’s strategy, and they are allocating the budget to this at present.
The council tax for ECC has increased by 4.3%, most of this is needed for Adult Social
Care, which takes up 43% of the budget. Cllr Whitbread stated that most of her inbox is
complaints about Highways matters, but that only 11% of the budget is allocated to
this. The good news is that there is a Pothole Fund worth £2 million which they must
spend over the coming year.
The issue of the Limes Medical Centre was raised with Cllr Whitbread who confirmed
that under the new structure in local NHS hierarchy, there will be two ECC councillors
on the new body replacing the West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group – a Cabinet
member and Deputy. Cllr Whitbread agreed to find out who this will be and send the
details to the Chairman. The Chairman will then approach them with a request for
assistance with the on-going issues.
1442. CCTV – Discuss the quote from Essential Security for repositioning the pole
and camera for Piercing hill.
Cllr Purkiss updated the Parish Council on the present situation. The Piercing Hill CCTV
camera is not working due to an electrical supply issue to the present pole. Essential
Security have supplied a quote to move the camera to a new pole that will be erected
further along the pavement. The Village Association (VA) have agreed to help fund this
by paying half the costs, as they will also use this pole for one of their cameras.
The present quote from Essential is felt to be too high at £6715.20. It was agreed that
Cllr Morris would find a company to do the work of digging the hole and erecting the
new pole. He will come back to the council with a quote in due course.
1443. To discuss new mobile telephone for Parish Office.
The Deputy Clerk set out the case for the Parish Office mobile phone.
Cllr Morris queried whether this would be a sensible thing to do as the Analogue
telephone line is due to be turned off soon and moved to a Voice over Internet Protocol
(VOIP) telephone. He wondered if it would be best to wait until then. Chairman Gooch
proposed that an agreement in principle was agreed and that details were sorted out
later. APPROVED.
1444. Finance and General Purposes Committee
1445. To receive an update on Finance & General Purposes matters since the last Meeting.
Cllr Hannibal was unable to attend but asked the Chairman to report that there was
nothing of significance to update on.
The Parish Council is within budget for the year with no item significantly overspent and
raising concerns. On income, burial income is down and has fluctuated throughout the
Covid period and there is a developing hint of an annual downward trend.
1446. To approve the payments made since last meeting: APPROVED.
Cllr Purkiss asked for permission to carry over £6722 from this year’s budget to next
year for kerbing works in Baldocks Road: APPROVED.
1447. Planning Committee
1448. To receive an update on planning matters since the last meeting.
Chairman Gooch read out a report from The Planning Committee:
12 Planning Applications were registered with Epping Forest District Council (‘EFDC’)
since the Full Parish Council Meeting of 24th February 2002. Of these, 10 have been
considered by the Planning Committee.
Applications included a revised proposal for extensions to a farmhouse, and a proposal
for the replacement of a storage building on the Blunts Farm site, both situated within
the Green Belt. These were strongly objected to by the Committee, on the grounds that
both represented inappropriate development, not compliant with national planning
policy.
A retrospective application for the erection of high railings and gates to the front
boundary of a village property was also strongly objected to, since the Committee felt
the structure could set an unwelcome precedent for an industrial-like, ‘gated’ frontage,
out of character with the surrounding street scene, whilst a proposal for a substantial
two-storey side extension to an attractive Georgian-style property, bordering Forest
land, was felt to be out of proportion with, and unsympathetic to, the architectural
character of the existing dwelling.
Planning Enforcement issues, with respect to three Green Belt locations, continue to be
ongoing. A further meeting with Senior Planning Officers at EFDC will consider how
these matters can be more satisfactorily progressed. Meanwhile, the Planning
Inspectorate has advised that the Inspectors are still considering the Main Modifications
to the New Local Plan.
Cllr Gooch stated that the head of Planning Enforcement at EFDC will be meeting with
The Parish Council to update on Blunts Farm.
1449. Highways, Cemetery and Environment Committee
Cllr Purkiss, Chairman, provided an update on Highways, Cemetery and Environment
matters within the Village.
Thornwood Grounds Maintenance (TGM)will be carrying out more maintenance work in
the Cemetery to help the gardener with the upkeep.
One of the things that TGM will be doing is cleaning the footpaths with a special piece of
machinery to help make it look a bit nicer.
1450. Community Engagement Committee
Cllr Morton reported on the latest position with regards to the Community Engagement
Committee.
The Queens Jubilee sub committee had a meeting to decide on the way forward with
the beacon lighting ceremony. It was decided that the celebration would be on the
Village Green between 6.30 and 10.30.
The Open Gardens on the 26th June will be a low-key affair to gauge interest. It is a
joint venture between the Parish Council, Horticultural Society and St Marys Church.
The litter pick will be this Saturday at 9am, attendance has picked up, although there
will have to be a decision made about the time, as some of the adverts say 9am, some
10am.
1451. 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.
Cllr Amos informed the Parish Council that he recently attended a Speedwatch session
in Coppice Row and another had recently been held in Piercing Hill. He was appalled at
the speeds the cars drive along these roads. He asked for more people to come forward
to help the 9 volunteers from the present group.
Cllr Cowup asked about the possibility of getting a silhouette of a first world war soldier
to put on the green in the village for remembrance. The Parish did try to get one 3
years ago, but they were no longer being sold. Cllr Cowup stated that he would
investigate further.
Cllr Purkiss spoke about the benefits of the Parish Council taking over the care and
maintenance of The Hoppitt from the City of London, following on from all work that the
Parish Council has undertaken recently to renovate the area. Cllr Morris said that he
would have to consult with the City of London about this proposal.
1452. Public Participation session with regard to items of interest to the Parish
A member of the public complained about the Ultrafast broadband contractors not
restoring the pavements to their previous state after they have dug them up. Cllr
Whitbread said that they would come back and remedy any defects if they pressured
enough.
A member of the public mentioned Theydon Bois Cemetery and the drop in income. She
suggested that a lot of people are not aware of the Cemetery and there was a
preference to use Greenacres. Chairman Gooch did remind the Council that the original
idea for the new cemetery area was as a green, natural area for internments. it was
agreed that a Cemetery Committee meeting would have to take place to decide on
future use of the new Cemetery area.
A member of the public advised that the Community Champions for Epping Forest won
the recent Civic Award for Community Teams and that resident Sue Sowerby, our local
community champion was one of those.
A Member of the public raised the issue of the Old Foresters site and questioned
whether there had been more fly tipping at the site. Cllr Gill stated that he had visited
the site recently and had not seen any evidence of fly tipping – in fact the owners had
been making some efforts to clean up the site after EFDC enforcement.
Jerry Godden the head of Enforcement at EFDC will be taking the site owners to court if
the site isn’t cleared as promised.
Cllr Gooch closed the meeting at 09:38 PM
Signed: ……………………………………….. Cllr Peter Gooch(Chairman) Dated: 27/04/2022