| In the 2003 Local Government Elections we had no election for the
three vacant Parish Council places. They were filled by Sally Easton ,Sarah
Lewis and Margaret Otter. The vacant CBC seat was won by Ian Grundy who now
represents Stock, Margaretting and W. Hanningfield with Roy Whitehead. Ian
attends as many Parish Council meetings as possible and reports on matters
relating to Stock and the environment. |
| Lord Hanningfield, the Chief Executive of the ECC, has attended
two of our meetings and has a list of dates for our meetings. He has reported
the concern of the ECC over the expansion of Stansted Airport and the
Government's recommendation to build an additional 200,000 houses in the South
East. He reported that local people need more health facilities, roads and
schools. |
| Planning Applications. |
| The council spends a great deal of time discussing plans
submitted to the CBC regarding applications in the village. The Parish Council
tries to be consistent and constructive in their comments. Our aim is to
maintain the village appearance and keep the Village within the Village
envelope. Exceptions are only made when vital services to the village can only
be built on land outside this area. |
| Policing. |
| P.C. Gilchrist was appointed to cover Stock in May. He is based
at Moulsham Lodge. He also covers Galleywood, W Hanningfield and Margaretting.
He is not in any one area at any one time but just as required. He can be
contacted on. 01245 491212. |
| PlayGround. |
| The PC is still seeking an area for a suitable playground.
Various suggestions have been made and are being investigated . Money has been
put aside for this project. |
| The Common. |
| Concern has been expressed about the water being held in the
ditch surrounding the Common. The Parish Council has appointed a contractor to
clear the ditch and resolve the problem. The work will be carried out as soon
as weather permits. |
| Rural Housing Trust. |
| Progress has been made. Posters were sent to us and were
displayed throughout the village requesting people to register their interest.
A number were submitted. An Architect is currently drawing up preliminary plans
of the scheme to be considered. |
| The Millennium Report. |
| The Parish Council is grateful to Gary Stringer for finalising
the Stock Appraisal which has now been printed and distributed and called The
Millennium Report. The Parish Council are most grateful to the original
Committee, chaired by Barry Woodgate, for all the hard work they put into the
project. |
| Best Kept Village Competition. |
| Stock was a runner up in the appropriate group and also received
a Highly Commended Certificate in the Area Village of the Year Competition. We
hope with a little more effort we can achieve a first in both these groups. We
are entering again this year so we hope you will make a special effort to
tidy-up around your own property. |
| Traffic Management. |
| The Parish Council has continued to work with both Chelmsford
Borough and Essex County Councils on traffic management. The consultation and
exhibition on proposals for the High Street was very well attended and many
helpful comments received. The majority of the work has now been completed,
with the remaining items, including the new village entrance signs, due to be
completed in the next few weeks. |
| We will be continuing our regular discussions to identify ways of
improving other traffic situations. There will be a major origin and
destination traffic survey on the B1007 just North of the Village in late
Spring. The results will be used to identify users such as HGV operators who
should be using other routes instead of coming through Stock. |
| Broadband. |
| Several parishioners have been active in a campaign for British
Telecom to enable broadband internet service at the Stock exchange. We still
need about 150 new registrations of interest for BT to proceed - please
register via www.stock.org.uk. |
| Website. |
| All Parish Council notices, agendas and minutes are available on
www.stock.org.uk. |
| All the council members work hard to represent the views of the
village and to liase with the CBC either directly or through our
representative. We would appreciate a keener interest in our work, especially
at our meetings which are held on the last Monday of the month (except in
August and December) in the Village Hall at 7.30pm. |
| I am immensley grateful to our Clerk, Lorraine Green, for all her
hard work on behalf of the Parish Council and to all the Council Members who
have attended the meetings and given me support. |
MRS SALLY JOHNSON
CHAIRMAN TO STOCK PARISH COUNCIL |
| APRIL 2004 |