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 AGM and Full Council Meeting of the Council held at the Village Hall 7:30pm
on
Thursday 25th May 2023
Councillors Present: Cllrs Gooch (Chairman), Purkiss, Hannibal, Blake, Burn, Cowup, Gill, Morris, Morton
and Wood.
• Officers Present: Jennifer Endean Parish Clerk
• Members of the Public: The meeting was attended by 4 members of the public.
1620. Election of the Chairman: Cllr Morris nominated Cllr Gooch and Cllr Purkiss seconded the nomination. Cllr Gooch
accepted the position of Chairman.
1621: Election of the Vice Chairman: Cllr Morris nominated Cllr Purkiss and Cllr Gooch seconded the nomination. Cllr
Purkiss accepted the position of Vice Chairman.
1622. Chairman Cllr Gooch gave a short speech to thank all the Councillors for their hard work and dedication to the
Parish Council and included thanks to all the Clerks – Jennifer Endean, Julia Gale, Jane Sounes and Fiona Dodd. Cllr
Gooch thanked PC Andy Cook for his police work in the Village and extended his gratitude to the members of the public
for their attendance.
1623. Apologies for Absence: Cllr Amos
1624. To discuss Committee members.
The following Councillors agreed to be members in the following Committees:
Finance and General Purposes Committee
Chair: Mike Hannibal
Peter Gooch
Clive Amos
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Linda Blake
Elizabeth Burn
Annie Wood
Anthony Purkiss
Clerk: Julia Gale
Planning Committee
Chair: Peter Gooch
Mike Hannibal
Elizabeth Burn
Annie Wood
Clive Amos
Ian Morton
Linda Blake
Paul Morris (stand in only)
Clerk: Jane Sounes
Highways and Environment Committee
Chair : Anthony Purkiss
Peter Gooch
Petr Cowup
Paul Morris
Pat Gill
Clerk: Jen/Julia
Cemetery Committee
Chair : Anthony Purkiss
Peter Gooch
Clive Amos
Paul Morris
Pat Gill
Clerk: Julia/Jen
Allotments Committee
Chair: Anthony Purkiss
Peter Gooch
Pat Gill
Bev Soutar (volunteer)
Clerk: Jennifer Endean
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Neighbourhood Plan Committee
Chair : Peter Gooch
Elizabeth Burn
Clerk: Jane Sounes
Community Liaison Committee
Chair: Ian Morton
Linda Blake
Peter Cowup
Pat Gill
Paul Morris
Clerk: Jennifer Endean
Responsibilities
Health & Safety – Parish Clerk
Bank Signatories – Councillors Peter Gooch, Mike Hannibal, and Anthony Purkiss.
Complaints – Councillors Mike Hannibal, Peter Gooch and Linda Blake
Transport Rep – Paul Morris
Health/GP Liaison – Clive Amos
Police Liaison – Anthony Purkiss
Parish Councillors Representing the Council on External Bodies
Buxton Trust – Cllr Anthony Purkiss
Local Council Liaison – Cllr Anthony Purkiss; Cllr Elizabeth Burn
National Playing Fields – Cllr Mike Hannibal
Neighbour Hood Action – Cllr Anthony Purkiss
Theydon Newsdesk – Cllr Elizabeth Burn
Theydon Bois Rural Preservation Society – Cllr Anthony Purkiss
Tree Strategy – Cllr Anthony Purkiss; Cllr Elizabeth Burn
United Charities – Cllr Mike Hannibal
Village Association – Cllr Peter Gooch
Parish Council Nominated Persons on External Bodies
Theydon Bois Youth and Community Trust Cllr Peter Gooch
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1625. To discuss and approve the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 26th April. Approved.
1626. 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.
1627. Public participation session with regard to specific items on the agenda.
None.
1628. Police report
All of the crimes in the Village this month were vehicle related. 2 thefts of motor vehicles and 3 thefts of parts off
motor vehicles. 8 recorded crimes and 22 calls. There was an incident in Thrifts Mead on the 18th May with a
paedophile being hunted. This caused a disturbance and concern or residents. The police took part in a door-to-door
campaign to promote since there was a change in the law it was now illegal to have weapons in your home. The
police re-visited the neighbourhood to collect old weapons residents may own.
1629. Clerks Report
• The Parish office received a complaint from a resident about the rubbish in Station Hill. Gilles, the street cleaner
was notified and actioned the clean up the next day.
• The Village saw many street parties for the Kings Coronation, these were a great success.
• The internal auditor attended the Parish Office this Tuesday, and the audit was successfully concluded without
and adverse comments. Well done, Julia.
1630. Reports from Parish Representatives on outside organisations.
Nothing to report as Cllr Gooch had not attended the last Village Association meeting.
1631. Reports from District and/or County Councillors’
None.
1632. Finance Committee
Cllr Hannibal Finance Annual Report.
Our precept increases for the year 2022/23 was 6.7% and for 2023/24 it is 8.3%
Whilst we will all be aware of the recent inflationary circumstances affecting the precept increases, I would mention
three items of financial note from the accounts.
1. Over many years our Highways Committee has been continually seeking to establish closer working highways
relationships to facilitate our close involvement with repairs and, when possible and appropriate, to initiate
joint financing. We have also moved forward with establishing being able to initiate certain repairs with our
direct funding. The Parish Council has therefore been, and anticipates going forward, to be maintaining its
higher allocation of monies towards highways and pavement repairs.
2. We continue to need investment in the upgrading of the Village CCTV network to meet with current
standards along with equipment failure replacements and any increase in areas of cover.
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3. During the year our budgeted for over precept expenditure was offset by unbudgeted increased income from
the Cemetery of £14,655. This level of additional income is not presently anticipated to be maintained.
We closely monitor our budget and continue to seek community value from our expenditure.
Our accounts for 2022/23 have been provided to and inspected by our Internal Auditor but we are
presently awaiting their formal report. We are not anticipating any issues of significant note.
1633. To approve the payments made since the last meeting. Approved.
Planning Committee.
1634. To receive an update on planning matters since the last meeting and included an annual report.
Cllr Burn read the Annual Planning Report (May 2022-2023), on behalf of the Committee:
Since the time of the Parish Council’s AGM in May 2022, 134 Planning Applications were registered with Epping
Forest District Council (‘EFDC’) this year, of which 107 were determined within the same period. All applications but
one (of which the Parish Council was not notified by EFDC) were viewed by the Planning Committee, in line with their
regular meetings, which usually take place every two weeks.
Of the abovementioned proposals, 64 full planning applications were approved by EFDC, with 24 refused.
Some of those refused were later revised to gain approval. Ten Certificates of Lawful Development were granted,
with 3 being found not to meet the relevant criteria. All 4 Prior Approval applications received were approved.
Requests for work to Preserved Trees numbered 3 – one of these was approved and the other two applications are
yet to be determined.
Four Planning Appeals were decided by the Planning Inspectorate, 3 of which were dismissed. Two of these related to
Green Belt sites, where the Inspectors found those proposals would have an adverse impact on the openness of the
rural locality.
Overall, the percentage difference between applications approved and those refused was similar to previous years.
However the percentage of applications yet to be determined – at 20 percent – is higher. This may be due to the
introduction by EFDC of its new Arcus System: Online Planning Portal last summer, leading to some amount of
backlog in the administrative process.
The Epping Forest District Local Plan, 2011-2033 was formally adopted in March 2023 – after a long period of
consultation, modification, and a Final Report by the Planning Inspector. The recent adoption of the Local Plan is
aiding the work of the Planning Committee, since it now only needs to consider applications against the policies of
this new Local Plan, alongside National Planning Policy Framework guidelines (‘NPPF, 2021’).
The most significant planning application to come before the Planning Committee this year has been an amended
application for 38 new dwellings in the field at the end of Forest Drive, this site being the largest of three locations in
Theydon Bois that have been identified for development in the Epping Forest District Local Plan, 2011-2033. The
Planning Committee gave the aforementioned Amended ‘Land North of Forest Drive’ application careful scrutiny,
having listened to concerns from councillors, local residents and amenity groups, before submitting the Parish
Council’s detailed response to EFDC.
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Finally, planning enforcement matters continue to take up a considerable amount of Planning Committee time. The
Parish Council is committed to working alongside EFDC to effect satisfactory resolutions for the village where
instances of planning breaches occur.
Highways, Cemetery and Environment
1635. To receive an update on Highways, Cemetery and Environment matters with the Village.
Cllr Purkiss Highways Annual Report.
During the year we have been able to maintain Village Assets to a good standard. We continue to work with Essex
Highways to achieve new kerbing and pavement in Loughton Lane.
New pavements have been delivered in Thrifts mead as well as numerous pothole repairs in the Village all set against
a very difficult Essex Highways / Ringway Jacobs with no monies available. Significant progress has been made in
introducing third parties into the project particularly with the background of the Government injecting 17 mill into
the contract, but they have limited manpower to deliver.
Sections of the Abridge Road have been re-planed and drainage issues attended to. However, this leaves much
needed work doing on the zebra crossing and Poplar Row.
Work continues on completing the “Hoppitt” project and two new Fingerposts are to be installed shortly.
We look to introduce the scattering of ashes into the “new” part of the Cemetery with the building of a HA HA on
which names can be placed and a small section devoted to Woodland burials.
Much of this work we hope to achieve by gaining a £22500 Grant from the UK Prosperity Fund when Govt releases
monies. A new Cemetery sign is due to be ordered and installed.
1636. To discuss communication with EFDC Officers.
The EFDC contact system has made contacting EFDC officers much harder.
1637. To approve the quote from Essentials of £580 + Vat to replace two cameras.
Note. There is an error on the above. The quote was £1840 + Vat to replace three cameras. The Council agreed to
suspend standing orders and approve the revised quote of £1840 + Vat.
Community Engagement Committee
1638. To receive an update on Community Engagement matters with the Village including annual report.
Cllr Morton Community Engagement Annual Report
The terms of reference of the committee require us:
• ….. To promote community cohesion, and a sense of belonging and civic pride by, for example: encouraging,
supporting and leading a programme of public events throughout the year, that celebrate the unique life of our
village, our relationship with each other and our place in the wider world and
• To present the best of us to the wider world.
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To those ends, since May 2022 the Community Engagement committee been involved in:
1. The celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee over the period June 2nd – June 5th 2022
This was reported on extensively last year.
2. The monthly village litter pick on the first Saturday of every month.
The litter pick continues to run every month, largely due to the determination of Cllr. Cowup. A small number of
semi-regulars attend, and we always collect loads of litter. Recent publicity has not significantly raised the
turnout.
3. The ‘Repair Café’.
Nothing to do with the CE committee of course, but an exemplary piece of community engagement, and very
popular too, by all accounts. Huge credit to Cllr. Gill for setting it up and running it.
4. Christmas Market – 25th November 2022
We again organised a very successful Christmas market. There were some changes made from 2021, particularly
around the siting of the choir at the village hall beforehand. Huge thanks are due to Jennifer Endean, who did the
great majority of the work.
5. Theydon Bois ‘Open Gardens Day’ – June 26th 2022.
This event was reported on extensively last year.
Theydon Bois Open gardens will take place this summer on Sunday June 18th. TBPC has contributed to the cost of
printing leaflets.
6. ‘Theydon’s Living Room’ – 13th February 2023
Supported by a small grant from EFDC, we opened the ‘Living Room’. In the village hall. Representatives from
Essex Police, VAEF, EFDC and Essex Fire & Rescue attended to offer information and advice to residents.
It was organised by Lisa and her Community Cuppa team. Our intention was support and supplement their
existing efforts during the cold, dark winter months – and to do it using the great facilities we have at the village
hall. Great turnout. Uniformly positive feedback form all who attended. Our intention, come winter, is to repeat.
Thanks to Cllr. Cowup, without whose efforts this would not have happened.
7. Emergency Plan
Cllr Cowup is currently developing an emergency plan for the village.
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1639. To discuss the Emergency Plan.
Cllr Cowup provided an update on the progress of the Emergency Plan. It was agreed that Cllr Cowup’s article for the
June edition of the Village News seeking ‘expressions of interest’ from residents to volunteer in support of the
emergency plan should proceed, but that it should be edited to fall in line with the comments/concerns made by
other Councillors.
1640. 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.
1641. Public Participation
One member of the public raised her concerns over the ongoing issues with the Limes Medical Centre.
Another member of the public was pleased to hear that the Parish were active in litter picking and working on an
Emergency Plan.
1642. The following items exclude public and Press.
Cemetery update.
Cllr. Gooch closed the meeting at 9.50pm
Signed: ……………………………………….. Dated: 29/06/2023
Cllr Peter Gooch
Chairman
