Councillors' recent discussions

July parish council meeting
These notes of the parish council meetings are prepared by the editor of the village newsletter and blog from the draft minutes and so may contain information that is amended later at the next month's meeting.
If you wish to read the full, unedited minutes, then they are posted on the notice board outside the village shop prior to the next parish council meeting.
There were eight members of the public at the July meeting of the Old Buckenham Parish Council. Vice-chairman Tim Ing was unable to attend and sent his apologies.
The minutes of the June meeting were signed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
Matters arising from the minutes. Adrian Joel raised the question of the meeting to be held in the village on Saturday 11 September on the Attleborough expansion proposals. He also asked about the damaged notice board on the Green. Norman Cawston said the matter would be dealt with shortly as he had spoken to the parties involved. Derek Smalley raised the matter of the recent court case between the Green Right Proprietors and the Ox & Plough which dismissed the claim of the Green Rights Proprietors and it was agreed that there would be further discussion later on in the agenda. Stephen Thorley raised the matter of the Dam Brigg junction of B1077 and B1113 as he thought the accidents were because the grass on the edge of the road was too tall and needed to be cut back. There had been another accident there on very recently and the Parish Clerk is to contact the County Council Highways Department on the matter.
Adoption of new councillor. Stephen Thorley proposed that Jonathan Kemp be adopted as a new Parish Councillor. This was seconded by Carol Marshall and agreed unanimously. Jonathan Kemp signed the ‘Acceptance of Office’ form and joined the meeting.
Adoption of new Standing Orders. The Parish Clerk gave a brief overview of the changes to standing orders and the reasons why these changes had been needed. They were agreed with 9 for and 1 abstention.
Allotments. Adrian Joel said he along with Carol Marshall and Derek Smalley had attended a very good meeting on allotments at Sprowston Council. They had visited the allotments there which were not fenced off as each allotment owner was able to pay for their own fencing. There was a water charge to the allotment holders. All matters relating to the allotments were controlled by Sprowston Council. The Old Buckenham allotment working party would be meeting in mid-July when they would visit potential sites and hopefully be in a position to report back to the Parish Council at its September meeting. Stephen Thorley gave details of some funding that may be available for the project.
Newsletter. Derek Smalley said he had spoken to Ron Brewer who was more than happy to put in articles that he submitted in addition to the Parish Council minutes. These articles would be used to keep villagers informed of what was going on. The submissions could be done either monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly dependant on what number of articles were submitted and Derek Smalley was authorised to submit items on subjects that were not being actively discussed by the Parish Council.
Planning applications. Holly Cottage, Ragmere Road. Garage extension. No objections from Parish Council, agreed unanimously.
The Old Dairy Barn, Fen Street. Amendments to previously granted application for conversion of former workshop to dwelling with new garage. No objections from Parish Council, agreed unanimously.
Scales Farm. Revised internal layout, solar panels and external finish. No objections from Parish Council, agreed unanimously.
59 Fen Street. Alteration to garage roof. No objections from Parish Council, agreed unanimously.
44 Hargham Road. Erection of tandem garage. No objections from Parish Council, agreed with 8 for and Jonathan Kemp abstaining as he had an interest in the application.
District Councillor’s report. Adrian Joel said the latest Breckland Settlement Boundaries consultation document is in line with the government’?s policy not to allow garden infills. Breckland are also trying to encourage glass recycling. During the period from Monday 21 June to Thursday 31 March 2011 a prize of £300 will be awarded to the parish which recycles the most glass per household. Breckland Council’s website now has a new free service which reads the website out aloud. The service called ‘Browse Allowed’ aims to make the sites more accessible to those with sight problems.
Parish Councillors’ reports. Stephen Thorley raised the matter of the firewood on the Green as he considered it a possible fire risk. Norman Cawston said he had offered to move it but the Green Right Proprietors said it would be dealt with once nesting birds had left. Norman Cawston agreed to speak again to the Green Rights Proprietors on the matter. Adrian Joel raised the matter of grass around the edge of the Green which is getting high and the Parish Clerk is to arrange with Highways to have it cut. He also raised the matter of the tree by the B1077 on the edge of the pond which was blocking the view and needed cutting back, Norman Cawston would speak to Mike Read on the matter. Carol Marshall said Norfolk County Services have not been cutting the grass properly on the recreation area so she had arranged a meeting with them. There had been a Recreation Area working party meeting in mid-June and they had discussed items that could be erected including full size goal posts. They also want to spend £420 on the goal posts and rounders equipment which would bring the total expenditure to approximately £600. Gerald Norton said that someone from Norfolk County Council was coming to see the state of the Village Hall car park. Derek Smalley raised the matter of the Ragmere Road and Crown Road grass verges needing cutting. He also asked about a footpath at Cake Street but the Parish Clerk said no funding was available. Tom Johnson raised the matter of the benches on the Green and said consideration should be given to cutting the grass around the benches. He also raised the matter of potholes and Parish Clerk informed the meeting of the Norfolk County Council comments on the matter. Norman Cawston said recently police had carried out many days of speed checks on the Green and had caught 137 speeding offenders while other drivers were caught not wearing seatbelts or using mobile phones while driving.
The Green. No report was available as the Parish Council representative was not at the meeting. The Green Rights Proprietors had very recently held a meeting and were considering lodging an appeal to the recent court judgement but were waiting for a transcript of the original hearing before taking it further. Adrian Joel raised the matter of the Parish Council being responsible for some of the costs of such an appeal. He said that three years ago most villagers had said they wanted the Parish Council to manage the Green and that the Parish Council should push for this to happen. He suggested a Green working party be set up and asked the matter be put on the September meeting agenda.
Any other business. Norman Cawston said the seat around the tree on the Green and another further down need painting, Mike Craven Romain said he would be able to help with this.
There will be no meeting of the parish council in August, the next meeting will be on Thursday 2 September in the Village Hall at 7.30pm.