Read before the July meeting

Parish affairs
The next meeting of Old Buckenham Parish Council is this week on Thursday 3 June. Here is a report of the Parish Council in May.
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 amended later at the next month's meeting.
Eight members of the public were present at the May meeting of Old Buckenham Parish Council. Norman Cawston was in the chair and apologies were received from Carol Marshall.
The minutes of the April Parish Council meeting were signed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
Matters arising from the minutes. Adrian Joel raised the wording of the new standing order and asked for it to be amended. The Parish Clerk said it would be best to amend it when the review of all standing orders was being done by the working party.
Village Emergency Plan. It was proposed by Tim Ing and seconded by Adrian Joel that the plan be adopted and this was agreed unanimously.
Footpath in Cake Street. Tim Ing said that the matter had to be raised with Highways as they would have to fund the project. Tim Ing and the Parish Clerk are to speak to Norfolk County Council Highways on the matter.
Village Hall toilets. The Village Hall was looking for a grant of £1,000 from the Parish Council towards the cost of the refurbishment of the Village Hall toilets. The Clerk explained that the Village Hall would have to apply for a grant in writing before the end of September so it could be considered at the precept meeting in October. If successful the grant would be paid in April 2011 but, if urgent, the Parish Council could make a loan during the current year against any future grant.
Adoption of accounts. The Parish Clerk said the accounts for the year ending March 2010 had been circulated and they now had to adopt them by law so they could be sent to the Government Auditor. The accounts were agreed unanimously. The Parish Council Chairman and the Parish Clerk signed the annual return.
Annual Governance statement. The Parish clerk read out the requirements of the annual governance statement and said that the Parish Council had complied with it fully and the return had to be signed accordingly. It was proposed that the Annual Governance Statement be signed by the Parish Council Chairman and this was agreed unanimously.
Acceptance of fence quote. Mike Craven Romain asked for the quote for £1650 (including vat) for fencing to the play area to be accepted as it was the lowest of the three quotes. This was agreed unanimously.
Adoption of parish councillors. Terry Cracknell and Mr Bayfield withdrew their nominations so Tom Johnson and Derek Smalley were both co-opted on a unanimous vote. They then signed acceptance of office forms.
District Councillor’s report. At a joint meeting between Breckland Council and the Local Development Framework Task & Finish group, Site Specific policies were discussed and a proposed development plan agreed. This plan is being put out to public consultation for a six week period from Monday 24 May. Details of the consultation will be announced and publicised in the village newsletter and on the Old Buckenham blog.
Parish Councillors' reports. Mike Craven Romain said their was a large pothole in Hargham Close, Adrian Joel is to liaise with Breckland Council on the matter. Stephen Thorley raised the matter of the existing Parish Council vacancy and Parish Clerk said he would advertise the vacancy in the village newsletter. Adrian Joel said that he had organised a meeting of the allotment working party for Saturday 15 May at the Church Rooms. He was hoping interested parties would attend and they would get ideas for where possible land was available. Gerald Norton asked if the Parish Council could pay the recreation area rent by standing order to the Village Hall. The Parish Clerk advised that it was not a policy favoured by government auditors and that a single full payment each year was the best way. He then raised the matter of the state of the Village Hall car park which for repairs the committee only had £1,300. They had two estimates to properly repair the area with a cost of approximately £20,000. A rough repair would be approximately £10,000 and he hoped the Parish Council would be able to help with funding. He also raised the matter of the road leading up to the village hall which is in poor repair. Gerald Norton also said that lorries entering the school churned up the area.
Highways. There are a lot of potholes around the Green. The Parish Clerk informed the meeting that he and Kerry Talbot had toured the village with a Highways’ representative pointing out all the potholes. Unfortunately, because of budget constraints, Highways were concentrating on A roads first followed by B roads and then village roads. The Parish Clerk is to write to the County Councillor and involve him in trying to get some action on the matter. Also the Clerk will put an item in the newsletter giving a telephone number and email address of Highways and ask residents to report pot holes directly to them.
The Green. The Parish Clerk advised the Parish Council members not to discuss the Green as they had a 1/39th share of the Proprietors Rights and it could be necessary to find out if this breached the question of a prejudicial interest. The Parish Clerk will be obtaining advice on the issue.
Any other business. Adrian Joel raised the possibility of having two public recesses during the meetings. Norman Cawston said that one is enough because, if a serious issue is raised, the meeting can always be suspended to allow members of the public to speak.
The next meeting of the Old Buckenham parish council will be on Thursday 3 June at the Village Hall and starting at 7.30pm.