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September’s parish council minutes
The following notes have been prepared by the blog editor from the draft minutes and so may contain information that is amended later.
Two members of the public were present and all parish councillors except Sarah Windle and Jonathan Kemp who had sent their apologies.
Minutes of the July Parish Council meeting. These were signed as a true and accurate record of the meeting
Matters arising from the minutes. John Frost said the Church Room toilets would not be able to be made available for users of the play area.
‘Doe Lane meeting’ notes. Tim Ing said he had concerns over the continuing referral to these notes. Having received comments from residents that the meeting was attended by only 30 residents it was not necessarily the views of the village. As chairman he sought the views of the other councillors who, in the main, supported his view. The councillors said that the open forum meeting being held on Saturday 24 September would address any concerns and the Doe Lane meeting notes no longer need to be discussed.
Health and Safety policy. It was proposed by Sandra Dye and seconded by Carol Marshall that the policy be adopted. This was agreed unanimously.
Governance and accountability policy. This was proposed by Adrian Joel and seconded by Sarah Dye that the policy be adopted, this was agreed unanimously.
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Tim Ing said Parish Council had £500 from the Pride of Norfolk Awards competition and, having heard from organisations in the village, it was the view of many that the money be spent on a celebration of the jubilee. It was suggested that the matter be discussed at the open forum meeting on Saturday 24 September.
Bribery Act 2010. The Parish Clerk gave a brief outline of this new legislation which came into force on 1st July 2011. It placed a responsibility on all public bodies and businesses to have a policy to ensure no corruption took place in their organisations. The Parish Clerk said that as the Parish Council had very strict financial regulations and Governance and Accountability policies there was a minimum risk of theParish Council or its employees being open to bribery. Akis Chrisovelides is to carry out a risk assessment on the matter and report back to the Parish Council.
Planning applications. Land adjacent to 12 Hargham Road. Three bedroom dwelling and garage. It was proposed by Derek Smalley seconded by Akis Chrisovelides that this be rejected. This was agreed unanimously.
Ashwood Farm, Stacksford. Change of use from agriculture. This was agreed with 8 votes for and with Tim Ing abstaining as he had declared an interest.
Eel Farm. Fen Street. Removal of condition 8 of earlier planning application and new garage block and alterations. Proposed by Derek Smalley and seconded by Paul Boggia that it be approved. This was agreed with 8 votes for and 1 against.
All the following applications were proposed by Derek Smalley and seconded by John Frost that there be no objections. This was agreed unanimously.
New Barn Farm. Installation of two small turbines.
The Coal Yard. Erection of fuel storage building.
Crown Lane Cottage, Crown Road. Variation to conditions of previous planning application.
Abacus House,The Green. Proposed new rear sunroom.
Old Buckenham Mill, Mill Road. Removal of old stocks and sails, replace and repair.
Old School House, The Green. Installation of solar panels.
Twitchers Cottage, Stacksford. Erection of mobile home for use as an annex.
Planning decisions received. The Shrublands, Puddledock. Refused by Breckland Council.
Approval of accounts payable. It was pointed out that all village organisations that wished to apply for a grant had to have a written application to the Parish Clerk by Friday 30 September 2011.
District Councillor’s report. Cotman Housing Association has confirmed that they will be starting on the site at St Andrews Close in June/July 2012. They will be doing drainage works in early 2012. Adrian Joel informed the meeting that Breckland councillors are looking for additional members for their Youth Council. This organisation allows young people to put forward their views and ideas to Breckland Council. Any young person interested should contact Steph Barnard on 01362 656870 by Friday 30 September. Breckland Council are making funding of up to £100 for organisations organising street parties to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, contact Adrian Joel on 01953 860663 regarding this.
Parish Councillors' Reports. Tom Johnson said he attended a meeting of the Attleborough Task Force in late July along with Adrian Joel. Tom Johnson had also attended a recent meeting of the Village Hall committe. He then raised the matter of the circulation folder taking too long to get round to councillors. It was agreed that all councillors would only keep the folder for a maximum of two days before passing it on to the next councillor. Paul Boggia raised the matter of village archives and said Roger Wilson was not able to part with his own archives. The Village Hall has offered space to store them. John Frost raised the matter of footballs being used on the Recreation Area hitting parked cars and causing damage. The Parish Clerk explained the legal aspects of this and suggested a notice be erected saying that the Parish Council did not accept any responsibility for damage caused to parked vehicles. The Recreation Area working party should carry out a risk assessment on this situation. Derek Smalley informed the meeting that there had been no meeting of Homewatch for two months. He had attended the Attleborough Community Trust meeting. Three welcome packs for new residents had been delivered during the month and any new residents who had not received one should contact him. He then said Community Car scheme rates had increased and that users of the scheme now had to pay an addition 2.5p per mile for the service. He also raised the matter of funerals at the church and the play area being used by large number of children at the same time. He suggested asking parents to make their children aware of the funeral taking place and to keep their children quiet whilst the funeral cortege passed the play area. The Parish Clerk suggested a letter be created and then handed out each time a funeral took place. He suggested a sign be put out whenever a funeral took place. Tim Ing sought other councillors’ views on the matter. Carol Marshall and Tom Johnson are to liaise on the matter. Derek Smalley then said that the oil buying group now had 50 members signed up and have started using the service. He requested feedback on the service to assess the savings made and to see if they could be improved. Carol Marshall said the Recreation Area was opened in July by Tim Ing and with a football match and she thanked all the volunteers who helped on the opening. Also a village-wide garage sale had been carried out on Sunday 23 August and raised £415 before costs for the Recreation Area funds. Akis Chrisovelides said he had concerns that the school had started a youth council and they already had people in place who could qualify to run it as they were CRB checked. He is in contact with Breckland Council on the whole matter. Adrian Joel said the allotments were in full use and being enjoyed by the residents. New tenancy agreements had to be agreed and he would draft amended ones and circulate to all councillors for their comments before next meeting. He then read out an email from the Old Buckenham Allotment Society (OBAS) on various points which he would deal with direct. A letter from a tenant had requested permission to erect a polytunnel on his allotment. Tim Ing and Adrian Joel are to arrange a site visit and contact the tenant in question. Adrian Joel said an allotment Liaison Group Meeting would be arranged for September. Tim Ing referred to the Open Forum Meeting being held on Saturday 24 September and asked all parish councillors to attend and for all working parties to have a presentation ready for the meeting. The amenity area would be discussed at the next Green Right Proprietors meeting. Tim Ing said he was trying to obtain a map of all footpaths within the village.
Parish Clerk’s report. A letter had been received from Breckland Council seeking the views of the Parish Council on future opportunities for development in the village. The Localism Bill will give more powers to parish councisl in respect of planning applications and Breckland wanted the views of what the Parish Council would find acceptable in terms of future development suggestions. The Parish Clerk is to invite Ms Darryl Smith of Breckland Council to the November parish council meeting.
Highways. Tim Ing raised matter of lorries encroaching on the footpath near the war memorial and had spoken to Norfolk County Council (NCC) on the matter and they will look into it and see if any measure could be installed to prevent it happening in future. He had also raised the matter of gritting of roads and tried to get it extended within the village but was told by NCC that this would not be possible. NCC had informed him that the budget was in place for year 2012/13 for possible surface improvements of roads near the play area.
The Green. Tim Ing said next meeting of the Green Right Proprietors would be on Tuesday 4 October and they would look at improvements to parking around the play area and public house. He had met with local fencing contractors Carriageman about the cost of post and rail fencing on the Green. Adrian Joel raised the matter of precepting for maintenance of the Green in the future if the Parish Council and the Green Right Proprietors entered into a partnership.
The next meetings of the Parish Council are the Open Forum meeting on Saturday 24 September at 10am and the normal monthly meeting on Thursday 6 October at 7.30pm. Both meetings will be held at the Village Hall.