Latest minutes
These notes have been written by the blog editor from the draft minutes so may contain information that is amended at a later date.
Old Buckenham Parish Council met on Thursday 1 February. Those present were Adrian Joel (Chairman), Rona Boggia, Ben Devlin, Gemma Frost (following co-option), Jon Hicks, Sarah Hornbrook, Phil Little, Steve Milner and Andy Nicholls Also present were eight members of the public and Andy Emms, the temporary Parish Clerk). The Chairman announced that he had received letters of resignation from Jonathan Kemp and Paul Philips. He explained that there was a statutory requirement to advertise these vacancies and, if no election is required, then the council could consider co-opting councillors at a future meeting.
Co-option of new parish councillor.
The Chairman said that three candidates had applied to be co-opted following the resignation of Susan Brown. The three candidates (Gemma Frost, Paul Jackson and David Lumb) were each given the opportunity to speak for up to three minutes to explain why they wanted to become a parish councillor, identify any areas of the council’s activities they were particularly interested in and to highlight what relevant skills and experience they had. Councillors then had an opportunity to ask the candidates questions. After a secret ballot of councillors the temporary Parish Clerk announced that Gemma Frost had been duly elected. The Chairman congratulated Gemma Frost and after she had made and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, invited her to join the meeting. The Chairman also thanked the unsuccessful candidates for applying and it was highlighted that following the two recent resignations, there would be a further opportunity to put themselves forward again.
Minutes of the January meeting. These were approved.
Matters arising from January minutes. It was reported that Buckenham Pre-school will become part of the Wymondham College Academy Trust in April this year and as it would no longer be a charity it was not eligible to receive the grant agreed at the last meeting.
Public participation. A parishioner said that he had been informed that the signs on the dog waste bins were adequate and legal. He suggested that consideration be given to extending the Hargham Road footpath and commented on the poor condition of the parking area on the edge of the Green opposite the post office. Gemma Frost was asked to raise these issues at the next meeting of the Village Green Working Party. The parishioner also queried why there were two walnut trees planted close together at the junction of Stacksford Road and the Warren as these would surely undermine each other. Steve Milner explained that he had raised donations to replace the historic walnut tree which had fallen down but a generous local resident had planted one before he had the chance to do so. He decided to plant his tree as they were prone to failure and if both did take hold, the weaker one would be removed and replanted elsewhere. The parishioner said he had suggested previously that the minutes of parish council meetings should include details of actions undertaken by the council to improve communications with parishioners. The temporary Parish Clerk said that the minutes were a statutory record of decisions taken at a meeting. However, the issue of improving communications was a matter being addressed by the council as discussed at the last meeting.
Linda Foulger, secretary of the village hall management committee (VHMC), said that at the recent joint meeting with parish councillors she had been surprised to find that some councillors were not aware of the VHMC’s ‘hundred club’ draw which was an important fundraiser and also gave parishioners the chance to win cash prizes. The first of the monthly draws would take place in February. Both councillors and parishioners could contact her or any VHMC member to enter the draw throughout 2018.
Sarah Dye showed councillors the village Green tree map identifying the position of all individual trees on the Green. The aim was to update the map with the species of each tree and the names of individuals responsible for each tree where relevant.
Declarations of interests. Sarah Hornbrook said that she had changed jobs and her new employer would be acting as agents for potential developers within the Attleborough Strategic Urban Extension. She would need to update her register of interests accordingly.
New Parish Clerk. The chairman said that three applications had been received for the post of parish clerk. He had arranged for the collection of parish council property from the previous clerk.
Planning applications. Land to the south of Stacksford House. Resolved, with 7 voting in favour and 1 abstention, to support this application.
West View, The Green. Resolved ,with 7 voting in favour and 1 abstention, to support the application.
Sarah Hornbrook said that the examination in public of the Breckland Local Plan would commence on Tuesday 10 April and the parish council had the opportunity to register to appear. A hearing statement would need to be sent by Monday 19 March. She would be able to help prepare the statement but would not be able to attend. The chairman and Steve Milner said they would like to appear and the chairman would register with the Inspector the intention to appear.
Financial matters. The chairman said that he had amended the bank mandate as both previous parish clerks were still named on it. He, Sarah Hornbrook and Andy Nichols were the new designated signatories for the bank account. He also expressed gratitude to Mr and Mrs Bishop for their donation of £100 towards the cost of improvements to the driveway in front of their property at Rod Alley Row. It was hoped that other donations might be forthcoming.
Felling of beech tree. The chairman said that as the tree had fallen down there was no requirement to consider approving a spend to fell the dangerous tree.
Tagging the trees on the Green. Ben Devlin suggested that the species of trees could be recorded on a spreadsheet and the village Green map. He did not consider that spending £400 on physically tagging each tree was necessary. During discussion it was suggested that tagging would help if parishioners needed to report potential dangerous trees. It was agreed, with 4 voting for, 1 against and 3 abstentions, to approve spending £400 with Emerald Tree Services Ltd to supply and fix permanent metal tags on all trees so that they can be recorded and mapped.
Chairman’s report. He said that there would be a public meeting at All Saints Church on Tuesday 20 February to discuss problems with the thatched roof.
District Councillor’s report. The chairman referred to the earlier discussion regarding the public examination of the Breckland Local Plan. Breckland District Council had appointed a Programme Officer and any queries regarding the process or any correspondence to the Inspector should be sent to her (Charlotte Brennan, Programme Officer, Examination Office, Elizabeth house, Walpole Loke, Dereham, NR19 1EE, email e.programme.officer@breckland.gov.uk).
Village Green Management Committee. A summary report of action completed and proposed had been circulated. The issue of tagging had been discussed earlier in the meeting. The actual and budgeted spend had been as per the 5-year plan.
Road Safety. Rona Boggia reported that together with the chairman and Mike Bartlett, she had met with County Councillor Stephen Askew to receive an update from him on the parish council’s campaign to get a pelican crossing on the main road through the village. Stephen Askew said that the crossing had been included in the county council’s list for capital improvements. An assessment was required and he had used some of his budget to enable the assessment to take place early, hopefully within the next six weeks. He had also arranged for ‘Road narrows’ signs to be put up on Hargham Road. Regarding the 20mph flashing school sign that the parish council wished to see installed on Abbey Road, Stephen Askew suggested that an application be made to the Parish Partnership fund next year. This would require the council to pay half the cost so this would need to be considered at next year’s precept meeting.
Play Area. A circular had been received from NALC regarding a serious accident elsewhere that had been caused by a dangerous swing. Jon Hicks confirmed that the swing in the village play area was a different product and that ours was safe.
Chapel Green School. There had been a meeting with Norfolk County Council and Chapel Green School concerning Footpath No 4. Chapel Green School had agreed to maintain the trees and the footpath to the standard that would allow wheelchair use. In response to comments about the lights along the access road to Chapel Green School, Steve Milner said that the lights were on timers to come on at dusk and, unless an event was held in the evening, they would go off at 7pm. There was discussion regarding traffic and the vehicular entrance to the school and Steve Milner said that he would monitor this.
Meeting with Village Hall Management Committee. Sarah Hornbrook reported that there had been constructive discussion and sharing of views which had helped provide a better understanding of how the committee worked and the issues it faced. The chairman welcomed these positive discussions and said regular such meetings would be held in the future.
Attleborough Development Partnership meeting. It was confirmed that a link road is still expected to be built before any residential development takes place. Adjustments to the plan may mean that the road will not affect land at Bunn’s Bank. The committee could not give any assurances that the land remains ‘green belt’ so pressure will need to continue to be maintained.
Requests from the Old Buckenham 2000 Trust. It was resolved, with 7 voting in favour and 1 abstention, to allow the Green to be used by the Trust for emergency parking for the 10K run on Sunday 22 April, subject to any use being supervised by members of the 2000 Trust. The Trust also wished to hold a bonfire and fireworks display on the recreation area in November. Ben Devlin suggested that consideration should instead be given to holding a joint event on the village Green. It might be possible with donations and sponsorship to hold a free event for the benefit of the village. If this could not be achieved, then in future years funding could be considered as part of the precept. It was resolved, with 6 voting in favour, 1 against and 1 abstention, to agree in principle to a bonfire and fireworks event being held by the Trust on the recreation area in November 2018 subject to more details, including safety aspects, being received. It was also unanimously agreed to consider, at a future meeting, the possibility of holding a joint event between the parish council and the OB 2000 Trust.
Annual General Meeting. It was agreed to hold the Annual General Meeting on Friday 13 April commencing at 7.30pm at the Village Hall. The parish councillors were asked to identify potential guest speakers.
Village Handy person. It was agreed, with 8 voting in favour and 1 abstention, to accept Ian Kerridge as a village handyman at a rate of £20 for the first hour and £15 per hour thereafter.
Highways. There had been a request from a resident to consider moving the flashing 20 mph sign from the Green to just before the entrance to Chapel Green School and to increase the width of the entrance to the school to allow lorries to turn in safely. During discussion parish councillors said that measures that would slow down traffic entering the village from the Attleborough direction would be welcome. The matter had been raised with County Councillor Stephen Askew who believed that a sign before the Chapel Green School would be too far away. Jon Hicks suggested that rather than moving the existing sign an additional ‘school’ warning sign be considered, possibly through an application for parish partnership funding. This was supported by Gemma Frost who herself had experienced a ‘near miss’ from a speeding car near the Gamekeeper pub. Steve Milner suggested asking the new school to contribute and added that any requests made for new signage would be more likely to succeed if backed up with data about traffic volumes and speed. It was agreed to consider this matter further after more data had been gathered once the new school was in full use after Easter.
Trustee to the Eleemosynary Trust. Jon Hicks was appointed as the parish councillor trustee on the Eleemosynary Trust.
Resignation. Rona Boggia handed in her resignation from the parish council. She was sorry to do so following other recent resignations but had no choice as she would no longer be resident in the village and would therefore not qualify as a parish councillor. The chairman said he was sad to hear this and a notice of the vacancy would need to be posted.
The next meeting of Old Buckenham Parish Council will be on Thursday 1 March commencing at 7.30pm in the village hall.
