Old Buckenham Parish Council in December

Latest parish council discussions
These notes have been written by the blog editor from the draft minutes and so may contain information that is changed at a later date.
Seven members of the public were present at the December meeting of Old Buckenham Parish Council. Apologies had been received from councillors Steve Milner and Akis Chrisoviledes. In Steve Milner’s absence Jonathan Kemp chaired the meeting.
The meeting was suspended to allow members of the public to speak. A report of the subjects raised will be posted on this blog at 12 noon tomorrow.
Minutes of November Parish Council meeting. With two minor amendments these were signed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
Matters arising from the minutes. Adrian Joel had arranged a public meeting to discuss the Breckland document Issues and Options earlier in the evening. A presentation was given by Breckland Council and he asked if the Working Party could get together and agree a way forward to put views forward to Breckland by Friday 9 January 2015. The Working Party arranged to meet later in December.
Minutes of Precept Meeting in November. These were signed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
Chapel Road School. Jonathan Kemp gave details of an update from Steve Milner and said that details of the consultation process will be put on the Old Buckenham Facebook page with a link for people to put forward individual comments. Also he was forming a letter which could be sent to George Freeman MP asking him to write to the landowner John Alston. Adrian Joel raised the matter of the MUGA which had restricted hours for its use and the Parish Council had previously suggested the MUGA be moved to a more central location of the school site so that more use could be made of it. He also asked if the school could be used by village organisations. Tim Ing raised the possibility of a swimming pool. Could this also be used by villagers and wanted to know if this was still part of the development.
Neighbourhood Plan. Adrian Joel said he thought there was a need for a Neighbourhood Plan in Old Buckenham but he did not know the strength of feeling of the residents for such a plan. He said some grants were available, up to £7,000 or £8,000. Various councillors expressed views on the subject including the point that the cost of a Neighbourhood Plan could exceed £20,000. It was agreed to put the matter on January meeting agenda.
Flashing speed signs. Fifty percent funding for the signs was available from NCC and the other 50% is available from Parish Council funds. It was proposed by Adrian Joel and seconded by Sarah Dye to get costs of the different lights that were available, this was agreed unanimously. Adrian Joel also raised the matter of a report drawn up by Norfolk Constabulary about road safety in the village on the B1077 to assist children crossing the road to get to and from school. It suggested a path be installed across the Green from the B1077 to Hargham Road, the cost would be approximately £20,000. The item is to be put on the January agenda.
Norfolk Playing Fields Association. It was proposed by Carol Marshall and seconded by Tim Ing that the Parish Council obtain membership of the Association, this was agreed unanimously. The Parish Clerk is to arrange.
Planning applications. Whitelands Farm, Stacksford. Conversion of barn to holiday accommodation. Agreed (with 7 for, 1 against and 1 abstention) that the Parish Council had no objections
Burghfields, Stacksford. Demolish rear porch and conservatory and erect first floor extension over whole dwelling and remodel. No objections from Parish Council.
Airbase and Old Buckenham Aero Club, Old Buckenham Airfield. Insertion of new caretaker's flat into existing vacant office/workshop space. No objections from Parish Council.
Barns adjacent to Amberley, The Green. Minor material amendment in respect of earlier amended scheme. No objections from Parish Council. Orchard House, Mill Road. Erection of two -storey residential extension. No objections from Parish Council.
Waterworks House, Abbey Road. Extension and associated alterations. The Clerk is to seek an extension to reply as application only received on day of parish council meeting.
Planning decisions received from Breckland. 6 Oaklands. Single-storey front extension, change flat roof over porch and garage to lean-to roof and extensions to front roof slope dormers. Permission granted.
1 Barbers Yard. Change garage to annex. Permission granted.
Chairman’s report. Jonathan Kemp had attended a meeting of the Village Hall Working Party regarding the additional parking at the Village Hall. Various solutions were discussed and costings will soon be available and then a pre-review will be sent to Breckland Council before submission of a planning application. It was asked if the Parish Council could submit the application as this would halve the cost, the Parish Clerk said there would be no problem with this as there was no VAT element involved. Parking fees at the Village Hall had become a point of discussion in the village in terms of timing and the level of fees. The PreSchool Play Group is having trouble finding the fees in full. The Parish Clerk suggested a loan could be made available as a last resort and repayment could be made over the year 2015. The Attleborough Neighbourhood Plan was raised and an overview of the media brief was given to the meeting.
District Councillor’s report. Adrian Joel reported that he was invited by Cotman Housing Association to open officially the 14 new properties in March Field Way along with Ben Barrett, Chair of Cotman Housing Association, on Friday 28 November. All the properties are now allocated to people with connections to Old Buckenham. He had also attended the Attleborough Development Partnership Seminar as the Old Buckenham District Councillor and he will keep the Parish Council informed of their progress.
Parish Councillors’ reports. Tom Johnson said the Village Hall had discussed the resurfacing of the car park and are now awaiting costings. The next Film Nights are Friday 6 February and Friday 20 March. Christmas Bingo night will be Friday 12 December starting at 7pm. He raised the matter of damage to roadside grass at the new Cotman Housing development. Adrian Joel said the repair work would be carried out in the near future. Paul Boggia raised the matter of the parking at the play area and outside the public house as it needs a lot of attention. He would carry out some repairs to the matting to make it safer. He said that the Attleborough Christmas lights would soon be turned on. Derek Smalley had again reported to SNAP the matter of parking along Abbey Road. Norfolk Constabulary had sent some letters that could be put on people’s cars who were parking inconsiderately. He reported that the Community Car scheme is kept going by voluntary drivers and they are in desperate need of more volunteers to offer their services taking people to hospital and doctor appointments. Anyone who could offer their services could contact the Parish Clerk on 01953 880110. John Frost said All Saints church gets lots of enquiries regarding burial plots from people outside Old Buckenham who are seeking information on the graves there. The Church now has a registry of all the grave plots which is available for anyone to look at in the church. Tim Ing raised the matter of farm vehicles collecting sugar beet and parking their vehicles on the road when they were not very well lit and it could cause an accident. He also said last year John Hicks had donated £250 to Scotties Little Heroes in lieu of any payment for the work he carried out on the play area throughout the year. He asked if it could be repeated this year, item to be put on January agenda.
Parish Clerk’s report. The Clerk reported that a national agreement had been reached on pay for clerks and other local government workers. This resulted in a one-off payment to clerks on his grade of £115 for 2014 (£100 would be paid in January and £15 in April). This figure would not be consolidated into hourly rates. From April 2015 the hourly rate has been increased by a few pence per hour.
Highways. Concerning mud on the road around the village, the Parish Clerk reported this was the responsibility of the farmers to clear this up. Also a letter had been received from a resident regarding school buses not taking the proper route through the village to and from the school. The Parish Clerk to contact Children’s Services at NCC on the matter.
The Green. Tim Ing raised the matter of the duck house on the pond which was still floating upside down. Sarah Dye said it was on the list of work to be carried out by the Green Right Proprietors. Adrian Joel said that some residents may contribute to replacing it with a new one.

The next meeting of Old Buckenham Parish Council will be on Thursday 8 January in the Village Hall starting at 7.30pm.