Parish Council deliberations

Parish Council in December
These notes of the parish council meetings are prepared by the editor of the newsletter from the draft minutes and so may contain information that is corrected later at the next month's meeting.
All parish councillors were present except Trevor Crook who had sent his apologies.
Matters arising. The Clerk had received a reply to his letter to Mike Jackson (NCC Planning and Transportation) concerning possible cutbacks. He has circulated copies to all councillors.
In addition to the scheduled highways inspection the Clerk has forwarded photos of the lay-by near the village shop to Jonathan Pearson (NCC Highways) pointing out the deplorable state of the surface of the lay-by.
Village Hall. The Clerk is still awaiting written confirmation from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on reclaiming VAT. However, pending receiving that information, definitive guidance has been received from the HMRC website which does confirm the Clerk’s opinion that VAT is reclaimable on this project. A grant application has been submitted to the Lottery in the name of Old Buckenham Parish Council.
Children’s Play Area. Kerry Talbot reported that a grant of £10,000 has been received from WREN. The cheque was presented in mid-November. Together with local support, a total (including £5,000 from the Parish Council) of £17,500 has been raised since June 2008. Adventure Playgrounds have completed the work requested some three months ago.
Settlement Boundary Review. Adrian Joel said that an information booklet will be published for the Parish Council to make sure that all aspects have been covered. This will be available on the website. There will also be a ‘sites specific’ release for the Parish Council to discuss at their next meeting.
Recreation area behind the Village Hall. An inspection report on both this and the playground is in hand and the Clerk was instructed to purchase an accident book. The Clerk is awaiting notification from solicitors that the agreement to lease has been executed. Then the planning application will be submitted.
The Green. A meeting will be arranged with the Green Rights Proprietors prior to Christmas (Saturday 20 December was suggested) to discuss the dissatisfaction that had been expressed over the state of Green.
Planning applications. Cotman Housing Association. Land adjacent to St Andrews Close. Erection of 12 dwellings. No objections from parish council.
A Nicholls, Cart Lodge, Cake Street. Erection of new stable and tractor store. Hedging on roadside and roof. No objections from parish council.
M Frazer, Peacehaven, 29 Fen Street. Proposed rear conservatory. No objections from parish council.
Planning decisions by Breckland. Mr and Mrs A Medley, Ottomer Cottage, The Green. Proposed single storey dwelling (resubmission). Refused by Breckland.
Mr and Mrs Mason, Willow House, Mill Road. Erection of domestic swimming pool building over existing pool. Approved at Breckland.
J A Becker, The Old Dairy Barns, Fen Street. Conversion of former workshop to dwelling with new garage. Approved at Breckland.
Account balances. The current account balance is £6123.90, the Instant Access Saver is £740, the Alliance & Leicester main account balance is £18954.23and the Bucks Just Play account contains £1136.09.
Setting of precept for 2009/10. The Clerk had previously circulated details of how the precept impacts on local householders as far as their contribution to Breckland Council is concerned. The sum of £15,000 was proposed by Tim Ing and seconded Adrian Joel. This was carried on a majority vote.
District Councillor’s report. Adrian Joel spoke about the local development framework. He said that a great deal may change in the next few years and the question of growth restriction of the parish will be revisited every three years.
Councillors’ reports. The question of fly tipping in village hall bins is being looked at by the Village Hall Management Committee.
The Clerk will be writing to the schools about the problem of children on bikes riding without lights.
Support for older people requiring help from the Eleemosynary fund was suggested. This subject will be discussed at the January meeting but this part of the meeting will not be open to the public.
Highways. There is a new Highways inspector at Norfolk County Council and the Clerk had arranged to meet with him and Adrian Sewell on Friday 5 December. The recent flooding in Cake Street is currently being investigated by the appropriate authorities. Other problems have been notified in writing and will be inspected at this December meeting.
Correspondence. A new scheme of providing information comes into force at the beginning of January 2009. Details are available on http://www.ico.gov.uk/ and the Clerk recommended that all councillors visit this site and consider any action on freedom of information that the Parish Council needs to take to comply with the new scheme.
The Clerk has received a letter from Sue Daniels (Electoral Services Manager) about the vacancy for a parish councillor He confirmed that no requests for an election have been received so the Clerk will advertise for a new member for co-option.
The Clerk has also received paperwork from Terry Cracknell on a number of issues including the provision of a Parish Council budget in the future and a survey on the public usage of the safer route to school.
Any other business. A letter of thanks will be sent by the Clerk to Jackie Stiff (lollipop lady in the village for many years) on behalf of the Parish Council.
The next parish council meeting will be at 7.30pm on Thursday 8 January as the first Thursday in January is New Year’s Day.