Latest Old Buckenham Parish Council minutes

Plenty of discussion
These notes have been written by the blog editor from the draft minutes so may contain information that it is amended at a later date.
Old Buckenham Parish Council met on Thursday 5 July. Those present were councillors Phil Little (chairman), Ben Devlin, Gemma Frost, Jon Hicks, Adrian Joel, Andy Nichols and Steve Milner along with Andy Emms (parish clerk) and nine members of the public.
Minutes of June meeting.These were approved subject to amending minute 18/033(c) to include: “A further meeting between the Village Hall Management Committee representatives and parish councillors had been arranged and it was agreed that the parish council would be represented by the chairman, vice-chairman and councillors Joel and Milner”.
Matters arising from the minutes. The bank had been contacted regarding changing the bank mandate and had sent forms to be completed by the new signatories. The minute confirming the approval in principle to the OB2000 Trust holding a firework display on the recreation area, subject to more details being received, had been circulated by the chairman.
Public participation (agenda items only). A parishioner said that she understood that schools do not have to provide parking but there were four schools in close proximity in the village which caused parking problems and it was important to find a solution to this. Parents had been disappointed that unsightly mounds of earth had been placed on the Green which they considered an aggressive action against them. She queried if anyone had approached the Gamekeeper PH to see if the landlord would be willing to allow parking when parents dropped off/collected children from school. She also expressed surprise that she had seen on Facebook that consideration was being given to turning more of the Green into parking spaces. The chairman cautioned against misinterpreting social media posts as no such proposal was being considered by the parish council at that time.
A parishioner said she understood that the Village Hall Management Committee was intending to stop running its parking permit scheme and close its car park to parents. Several councillors expressed concern about such a possibility and Jon Hicks, the council’s representative on the Village Hall Management Committee, confirmed that was his understanding.
A parishioner said a sign had been placed on a tree on the pathway along the Green in front of the high school which suggested this was a private access. However, the council should look into this as the pathway had been provided as an access to school.
A parishioner said he had been privileged to see in advance the plans for the pelican crossing and expressed his concern that its position would be dangerous. He added that he believed parish council agendas were too long and suggested they be made shorter concentrating on prime objectives; reporting outstanding items and highlighting what has been achieved.
A parishioner considered that the Village Green Management Committee should be more open and suggested that its minutes be published, preferably within seven days.
A parishioner said that great crested newts had recently been discovered during works to the wall at West View Farm and suggested the impact of this be considered at the next meeting.
A parishioner questioned whether the council had a copy of the lease agreement between the parish council and the Green Right Proprietors. Also, was there a formal agreement between the parish council and the Ox and Plough PH for the use of the Green? The chairman confirmed that he had a copy of the lease agreement. The issue of the use of the Green by the Ox and Plough would be dealt with under the later item on the agenda.
Councillor vacancies. The chairman reported that Paul Phillips had expressed an interest in being co-opted again but had been unable to attend this meeting. Paul had earlier resigned as councillor due to work commitments but that contract had finished and he would be available for co-option again at the next meeting.
Financial matters. The current account balance was £41932.94 with £2874.63 in the Premium account. Income received included £500 from the village Green Right Proprietors, a Greggs Foundation grant of £2000 and £25 rent for allotment plot 6.
New planning applications. Alice Cottage, Ragmere Road. Proposed detached cart lodge and alterations to existing dwelling. (3/PL/2018/0624/HOU). Resolved, with five voting in favour and two abstentions, to support the application.
Hunters House (off Banham Road). Proposed detached cart lodge and alterations to existing dwelling (3/PL/2018/0414/HOU). Resolved, with six voting in favour and one abstention, to support the application.
Land south of March Field Way (off St Andrews Close). Residential development of 12 dwellings and associated ground works. 3/PL/2018/0791/F). Resolved, with six voting in favour and one abstention, to support the application.
Planning decisions by Breckland District Council. Old Hall Farm Cottage, Cake Street. Existing porch to be extended to the left (3/PL/2018/0452/HOU). Approved.
Buckenham Priory, Abbey Road. Conversion of existing barn to one bed annexe (3/PL/2018/0103/F). Approved.
Chairman’s report. The chairman said he had attended the last meeting of the Village Green Management Committee (VGMC) and was impressed by all the work being undertaken. The VGMC had agreed in principle to the proposed pelican crossing on the B1077 and the use of parts of the Green for associated pathways. He also said the VGMC had lobbied EDF to get trees affecting power lines at Ottomer Pond cut back. EDF had been asked to cut down trees identified by Breckland Council’s Tree Officer as being in need of such action. It was hoped EDF would remove as much as possible from the site but there could be need of expenditure to undertake clearance of anything left behind and it was resolved to approve expenditure up to £500 using the Greggs Foundation grant to undertake any clearance work necessary. The chairman added that at the VGMC meeting the suggestion of having a ‘works order’ form was discussed. The idea would be to enable works that met laid down criteria to be undertaken quickly on submission of such a document to say the chairman, vice-chairman and one other councillor. If they agree the works can be undertaken and the payment reported retrospectively to the following parish council meeting.
A parishioner had queried whether the parish council was arranging anything for Norfolk Day on 27 July 2018, a Radio Norfolk and EDP initiative. As that was the first he had ever heard of Norfolk Day and no one had suggested earlier that an associated event be considered, there was nothing the council could do in such a short timescale. This did however link into other thoughts he’d had about a central village event. Many things were organised in the village by specific organisations such as the village fete. However, there was a lack of a major central event that the whole village could get behind and participate in and asked parish councillors to give this some thought.
District Councillor’s report. Adrian Joel said that the plans for the Attleborough Strategic Urban Extension (SUE) would be published later in the week and this would show if the latest plan included land at Bunns Bank in the parish of Old Buckenham. He suggested that if it did, a public meeting should be called to consider the village’s response. He had spoken to a Breckland Planning Officer who would be willing to attend such a meeting if necessary. Also Breckland District Council would be promoting voter registration to encourage everyone, particularly the under represented 18 to 25 year olds, to register to vote.
Village Green Management Committee. Sarah Dye referred to the earlier comment by a parishioner regarding parking on the Green. She said that through Facebook the Village Green Management Committee was simply asking for views on alternatives for dealing with some of the issues faced in the village and had no firm plans to make such a proposal to the parish council. Parish councillors again commented on the care needed when considering whether social media was a suitable platform for a matter to be raised when it could easily be taken out of context and misinterpreted.
Following the successful such event held earlier in the year, another litter pick had been arranged for the following weekend on Saturday 7 July.
Adrian Joel referred to the offer of the daughter of Bill Cheesley to give £100 in his memory towards the refurbishment of the circular bench around the tree at the junction of Abbey Road and the B1077. Andy Nicholls said he was waiting for a specification to provide to the village handyman and once received the work could be undertaken. The parish clerk suggested that the council identify a maximum amount it was willing to commit to this work and it was agreed to commit up to £400 to refurbish the bench.
Road safety. Steve Milner said he had attended a recent Safer Neighbourhood Action Panel (SNAP) meeting. Parking near schools was discussed and it was clear this was a major problem in many towns and villages with many experiencing even more problems than in Old Buckenham. The major issue the police were trying to address in the local area was speeding cars and Old Buckenham was one of the sites they would be concentrating on. He said that Speedwatch checks showed that 10% of vehicles through the village were doing more than 36mph. He was concerned at the abuse that was often given to volunteers and said that every such incidence was reported to the police. He was concerned at the danger posed by the blind junction between Mill Road and Grove Road where there was a serious accident recently and he suggested this be raised with Norfolk Highways. Steve Milner was asked to provide information to the parish clerk to enable him to write to Norfolk Highways expressing the council’s concern at this dangerous blind junction.
Play Area. Jon Hicks said that the grass had been cut and he intended to carry out maintenance and painting which would require the play area to be closed during the second weekend in August. He had asked for this to be reported in the village newsletter and the parish clerk was asked to request the schools to inform parents. Jon Hicks said that an independent safety inspection needed to be carried out on the play area and the parish clerk would arrange an independent safety inspection of the play area either with RoSPA or Playdale.
Recreation Area. Adrian Joel said that the grass had been cut again in advance of the village fete and the chairman said that the fete organisers had confirmed they would organise a clear up after the event. Jon Hicks said that school pupils were still interested in helping with facilities but progress on this had been held up by the academisation process.
Proposal for signalled crossing on the B1077. The chairman said that County Councillor Stephen Askew had attended the last meeting and outlined the options for a crossing of the B1077 that had been identified by Norfolk County Council highways officers. Norfolk County Council needed a steer from the parish council to move the proposal forward and the parish council had agreed in principle that a signalled crossing was the best option. It had been placed on the agenda for this meeting to give parishioners the chance to express any views and to seek agreement from the Green Right Proprietors that they would not object to part of the Green being used for a crossing. That approval had been received from the Green Right Proprietors. Earlier in the meeting a parishioner had thought the proposed positioning dangerous and Steve Milner read out a comment received via the website which said that the proposal represented excessive urbanisation of our rural village and suggesting traffic calming measures would be a more appropriate and environmentally sound solution to address safety of pedestrians. Steve Milner said that the positioning of feeder footpaths would be key in the success of the scheme.
It was acknowledged that the detailed plans of each option had not been publicly accessible so it was difficult to comment on the detail. However, the four options had been identified at the last meeting and the parish council’s preferred option had been publicised. Councillors commented that it had take a long time to get to this stage. Many people had put a lot of effort into responding to the views expressed to councillors over recent years that a safe crossing over the B1077 was needed. Councillors said that with only two parishioners expressing any concern over the proposal, the council’s support for this safe crossing should be given and the council resolved, unanimously, to inform Norfolk County Council that the parish council supported the option of a signalled crossing over the B1077.
(Ben Devlin left the meeting at this point)
School parking.The chairman said that this was raised as an item following comments received from a member of the public via the website. With four schools in close proximity ways needed to be found to alleviate the problem of parking. SteveMilner said he had been asked to collect relevant data and had found that space was often available in the mornings as parents mainly dropped children off and then left. The main problems were in the afternoon when they parked early and waited for the children to leave school. In the afternoons all areas were usually full (in front of the church/Ox and Plough, Abbey Road, the village hall car park and the access road from Abbey Road to the village hall). A parishioner reiterated her views expressed earlier in the meeting that the Gamekeeper should be approached about permission to park there. Parents should be encouraged to use the area near the church/Ox and Plough as much as possible but noted that it was legal to park on the highway. Jon Hicks said that the representatives of the Village Hall Management Committee (VHMC) who monitored the car park had often been abused and there was reports of parents being abused by the monitors. The VHMC had met the primary school to propose that the car park be managed by the school under licence for a year. Although the VHMC was waiting to hear back, he understood that those responsible for health and safety at Wymondham College had said no to this. The VHMC was waiting to hear back from the school and he suggested that parents should lobby the school and its governors to encourage it to take on responsibility for the permit parking scheme. If no positive response is received the VHMC could consider closing the car park. Several councillors expressed concern at this possibility. It was pointed out that the village hall had received funding from Norfolk County Council towards the refurbishment of the car park, the parish council had given a loan and parents had paid for permits. It would also create bad feeling between organisations and could affect community spirit. Steve Milner said that the car park must continue to be managed as it had improved the situation and without it the increased problems would return. The parish council could take on the permit scheme and its monitoring and he would be willing to help. The parish clerk suggested the parish council should not consider taking this on without clearly identifying robust capacity to do so. Andy Nicholls said that grid parking had been provided in the high school but was often not used. He added that a ‘stop and drop’ scheme would help if marshalled correctly. A parishioner said that such a scheme was already operated by the high school. It was pointed out that this worked well in the mornings but not with the different issues faced in the afternoons. A parishioner suggested that the high school teachers and visitors parked on Abbey Road taking up valuable space and the school should be approached about this. Gemma Frost said the school had been spoken to about this in the past but its view was that it was not doing anything illegal. A parishioner said that a scheme had been drawn up in the past for the possible use of the recreation area as a car park. This was a village asset underutilised by young people. She said if more land was identified for housing to meet the required targets, ie on the Attleborough Road, they pay off from developers could contribute to the cost. It was pointed out that the recreation area was gifted for charitable purposes and this could restrict other use. A parishioner expressed concern that the issue was divisive with all parties receiving criticism. The chairman agreed and said that a meeting between all parties should be called so that all could work together to alleviate the issue. It was agreed to get the parish clerk to ask the landlord of the Gamekeeper Public House if he would be willing to allow parents to park at the pub whilst dropping off and collecting pupils from school and the village hall and the schools, including parents representatives, if they would be willing to attend a meeting with the parish council to discuss working together to address the problem of school parking.
Parish Partnership bids. The parish clerk said that bids could be made for funding for highways schemes including small lengths of footway, improvements to public rights of way, flashing signs to tackle speeding, etc. However it should be noted that the grant would be a maximum of 50% of the scheme with the remaining funds needing to come from the parish council budget. Councillors were asked to consider whether to make a bid and to present any proposals to the next meeting.
Guidelines for use of Green for events. The chairman said that he had spoken to Green Right Proprietor representatives and no formal written agreement had been made between them and the Ox and Plough regarding the use of the Green. The informal agreement was that the area usually used for Two Wheel Tuesday could be used for other events. The parish council had continued with this agreement but had increased the fee for this to £500 for use towards maintenance of the Green. This would need to continue in place for this financial year but he was keen to draw up a more formal agreement in future. He had asked the Village Green Management Committee, which was the body responsible for authorising events on the Green, to draw up such an agreement for consideration by the parish council at a future meeting. He added that the wider issue was that the Green could of course be used, with permission, by any organisation. Guidelines would also be drawn up for use of the Green by other organisations to enable a speedy authorisation if the required criteria of the guidelines were met.
Agenda items for next meeting. Items identified were Parish Partnership bids, discovery of great crested newts, school parking, works orders, celebration of the end of the Great War, precept grants and communications/use of social media.

There is no parish council meeting in August.The next meeting of the parish council will be held on Thursday 6 September commencing at 7.30pm at the village hall.