Old Buckenham Parish Council minutes

July Parish Council meeting
These notes have been written by the newsletter editor and are based on the draft minutes so may contain information that is amended at a later date. A printed copy of the full draft minutes is displayed on the notice board on the wall of the village shop.
Those councillors present were Adrian Joel (Chairman), Susan Brown, Jon Hicks, Jonathan Kemp, Phil Little, Steve Milner, Andy Nicholls and Paul Phillips.
Also in attendance were Hilary Clutten (Parish Clerk), Chris Wright (Wymondham Police) and Martin Render (Community Heartbeat Trust) as well as seven members of the public.
Apologies for absence were accepted from Rona Boggia and Sarah Hornbrook.
Co-option of a parish councillor to fill a vacancy. Four residents of Old Buckenham had expressed an interest in becoming a parish councillor. Three attended the meeting. In turn, candidates Jean Bornett, Gemma Frost and Paul Phillips addressed the Parish Council with details about themselves including their interests in the village. There then followed a secret ballot in accordance with the resolution passed by the Parish Council in April this year. The Clerk counted up the votes and Paul Phillips was duly elected a Parish Councillor for Old Buckenham.
Minutes of June Council meeting. The draft minutes were approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
Matters arising from the minutes. Steve Milner distributed copies of a dog bin sign he had seen whilst on holiday; it was agreed to add the words ‘Thank You, Old Buckenham Parish Council’ to the sign. Council agreed to use the sign as amended for each bin.
Public participation in relation to agenda items only. Chris Wright from Wymondham talked about the Norfolk Constabulary Dash Cam Campaign whereby footage of dangerous driving or other crimes can be uploaded onto the Norfolk Constabulary website. A number of successful prosecutions have been achieved through this initiative. The organisation of a presentation about the campaign is recorded later in these minutes.
Martin Render from the Community Heartbeat Trust gave a talk about the installation of defibrillators in villages. As part and parcel of purchasing a defibrillator (top price model £2,000) the Trust would run a training seminar in the village and teach basic CPR. A quality defibrillator has a warranty of between eight and ten years. The maintenance costs of the defibrillator would be around £110 per annum including the replacement of the battery and pads. If the defibrillator was put in a telephone kiosk the Trust will provide the kiosk paint free of charge. Some buyers have received 100% funding from the National Lottery.
A resident reported that there was no sprinkler system in the new Chapel Green school. Jon Hicks and Adrian Joel said that this issue had been raised with Norfolk County Council but they had been told that the water pressure in the village was not good enough to supply sprinklers. Steve Milner will take this issue to the Chapel Green School Stakeholders and he has already written to the Head of the School. The Council agreed that the Clerk should write a letter to Chris Hey of Norfolk County Council with a view to getting it put in writing about the lack of water pressure. A resident reported that his poultry unit has to have a 24 hour water storage system so why not the school?

A resident raised the question of trying to get a doctor’s surgery in the village – this had been investigated by the Parish Council last year. The Clerk will look for the negative response from the Attleborough Surgeries.
A resident wanted people to recognise the work of John Fernihough on the Green, asked about its insurance (public liability), what happens if a dog bites someone and should the grass be cut in front of the barn past the Post Office? He also remarked that the entrance to the school is not wide enough and on a bend which makes it a dangerous road access. Steve Milner said that there were a lot of building materials lying around at the moment and once cleared the splays would be enlarged; also some hedgerow removed. It was agreed that when writing to Chris Hey about the sprinklers, the school entrance should also be mentioned.
Gemma Frost agreed to fill the Old Buckenham resident vacancy on the Green Management Working Party.
A resident offered her help as a trained First Responder. She also reported that the Play Area was dangerous, including the equipment, and that the grass is not cut often enough.
Planning applications. West View Farm, The Green. Rebuilding of front boundary wall at a listed building. Council agreed not enough detail in the application to make comments.
The Granary, Mill Road. Replacement of windows in a listed building. Agreed to support.
Barn adjacent to Stacksford House Farm. Variation of planning conditions. Agreed not qualified to comment on this.
Development plot, Harlingwood Lane. Discharge of planning conditions was noted.
Builders’ Yard, Hargham Road. Discharge of planning conditions was noted.
Planning decisions by Breckland. Gamekeeper Public House, The Green. Consent for new signage.
Development plot, Harlingwood Lane. Approval of reserved matters.
Other planning matters: Local List 2017 Consultation, Breckland District Council – agreed no comments.
Draft Guidelines for Recreational Provision in New Residential Developments Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPD), South Norfolk District Council – agreed no comments.
Gamekeeper Public House – CAMRA has accepted the Gamekeeper as a right to bid for Community Asset. The Parish Council will consider the local shop for the same at next meeting.
Financial matters. The Clerk had distributed her Financial Report to the councillors prior to the meeting. The completion of the purchase of the telephone kiosk has taken place; she has added this to the Council’s insurance policy with a replacement cost of £2,000. The sum of £5,000 has been received being a grant towards the new fencing for the Children’s Play Area and is included in the bank balance which at the end of June stood at £45,535.88.
The sum of £3,201.40 has been received from Norfolk County Council being the balance of the Parish Partnership Award 2016-17 for the work on the Village Hall car park. The Council agreed to pay an invoice from MW Surfacing for £3,841.28 for the Village Hall car park using the balance of the Parish Partnership Award received.
Chairman’s report. The Chairman welcomed Paul Phillips to the Parish Council and suggested that perhaps the unsuccessful candidates might like to join one of the Parish Council’s Working Parties.
District Councillor’s Report. The Emerging Local Plan is moving forward; it goes to Cabinet and then to Full Committee in July. It will then be published so that a further consultation can take place. The allocation of houses for Old Buckenham is 37. Of this number 20 have been identified already leaving 17 to find over the period of the Plan.
A new street sign, “The Green leading to Hargham Road”, has been put in position and further new signs may be forthcoming.
Parish Councillors’ reports. Susan Brown remarked on the parking issues when the Ox and Plough has its weekly gatherings. It was suggested that a sign could be put out on Tuesday evenings in the summer asking drivers to go down the road. Phil Little agreed to speak to Ben Devlin about parking issues. Steve Milner reported that he had updated the Old Buckenham.org and Parish Council websites and people should let him know if they want anything put on these websites.
The Old Buckenham Church funding raising campaign “Raise the Roof” has started. Paul Phillips suggested that the Parish Council sponsor a larger event to make the village residents aware of the Norfolk Constabulary’s “Dash Cam” campaign – a Saturday in the large room at the Village Hall seems appropriate. He will liaise with the Police. Andy Nicholls thanked John Fernihough for his hard work on the Green and wondered if the Green would be cut again in August. Work will soon start on clearing Green Pond opposite the Post Office.
Old Buckenham Neighbourhood Plan. Andy Nicholls and Adrian Joel had met with Susan Heinrich of Breckland Council who had said that some of the key issues might be solved by the Breckland Local Plan so that a Neighbourhood Plan for Old Buckenham might not be necessary. It was suggested that Tim Bornett be asked to look at the next Breckland Local Plan consultation document once it was published.
Attleborough Neighbourhood Plan. This is coming to a close in its current form but a new guise is anticipated.
Road Safety Working Party. The local MP, George Freeman, will be having a meeting with the Road Safety Working Party.
Play Area. The state of the Children’s Play Area had been brought to the attention of the Parish Council through letters received from concerned parents/residents. The grass had been now been strimmed and needs to be kept neat and tidy during the school holidays. Jon Hicks said that he was willing to take over the grass cutting from Ben Devlin and he is arranging to have overhanging trees trimmed. The Play Area has been inspected by Jon Hicks twice in the last month. He has done various jobs and identified that the tractor and trailer are no longer fit for purpose. He and Phil Little have agreed to refurbish the tractor and trailer. The fencing will be done in July/August once the new railings arrive. Various parish councillors offered help in removing the old railings to save the expense of £500 that the supplier of the new railings would charge.
Recreation Area. The Village Hall Committee has reported that it believes the Recreation Area belongs to the Parish Council and not the Village Hall. This being the case the Parish Council wonders why it has been being charging rent to the Village Hall for the land all these years. Also NCC wants to upgrade the footpath that passes over the Recreation Area for the use of school children. It was generally agreed that NCC should pay for this work and agree to maintain it.
Chapel Green School. The topping out ceremony had been arranged for July.
Precept Working Party. This will meet during August.
Highways matters. The Clerk was asked to thank Highways for some work that had been carried out in the village and to report various dirty road signs – hopefully the Highways Rangers can deal with this particular issue.
Report on the Green. The Council agreed that the Green Management Working Party should spend up to £300 on identified tree works. Another tree was identified by a resident as needing work and the Chairman will inspect it. There was general consensus is that there is not much that can be done about dog mess on the Green as it is Common Land. The purchase of a bag dispenser was considered but no firm decision made.
Telephone box update. There was a proposal to advertise for a contractor to refurbish the telephone box now that the equipment has been removed. The Parish Council agreed that Steve Milner should put an item on Facebook.
Defibrillator. Steve Milner read out a statement from a retired local doctor asking the Parish Council to consider installing a defibrillator in an alternative location such as the Village Hall where it would be available to more people. A portable machine was also discussed for taking to village events but the First Responder present said that she had one. It was proposed and seconded that the Parish Council should purchase a defibrillator for a site at the Village Hall (subject to Village Hall approval) and the vote was carried by four votes to three with one abstention. The Clerk was asked to contact the Village Hall Committee.
Correspondence. This included an invitation to the Annual General Meeting of Community Action Norfolk and also a letter concerning the winding up of Norfolk Community Transport Association. The Parish Council agreed not to support the winding up of this important organisation.
Items for the next Parish Council meeting. These will include the defibrillator, Chapel Green School, the telephone box, community assets, the Green, the Children’s Play Area and the Recreation Area/upgrade to footpath.

The next Parish Council Meeting will be on Thursday 7 September starting at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.