These notes have been written by the blog editor from the draft minutes and so may contain information that is amended at a later date.
Old Buckenham Parish Council met on Thursday 7 March in the Village Hall.
Those present were councillors Gemma Frost (Vice-Chair), Jonn Hicks, Steve Milner, Andy Nicholls and Donna Oakley as well as Rachel Noyes (Clerk) and six members of the public. Apologies for absence had been received from councillors Adrian Joel and Ben Devlin.
The minutes of the February meeting were approved (4 in favour, 1 abstained) and there were no matters arising.
Public participation relating to agenda items. A parishioner highlighted the talk by Norfolk Wildlife Trust about Common Wildlife on Friday 15 March at the Village Hall.
Financial matters. The balance in community account at the end of February was £38,714.68 and the balance in the premium account was £2,877.49. There was no income in February and payments approved totalled £971.98 including £110 for the installation of the defibrillator at the Village Hall and £225 for community car services.
A parishioner had submitted an invoice for approximately £400 for placing wooden posts and reflectors around the playground to prevent cars from parking on the Green in that area. The posts themselves had been donated and the invoice was for the labour and reflectors. However, this work had not been discussed or approved by either the Green Working Party or the Parish Council. Councillors discussed whether to pay this invoice as approval has not been sought beforehand and if they paid for this then others might carry out unapproved work and expect the Parish Council to pay for it. While all councillors were very grateful to the parishioner for all their help and contribution to the village, they felt the need for consistency was important. It was highlighted that the parishioner had not gone through the proper channels, they had not used the village handyman or sought three quotations for the work which is the standard practice on all work carried out in the village. A proposal to reimburse the parishioner £55 for the reflectors only and write a letter explaining why the Parish Council was unable to pay the full invoice was approved (5 in favour).
New planning applications. (All planning applications are available for viewing on the Breckland District Council planning portal – www.breckland.gov.uk/article/2933/Search-Planning-Applications. Parish councillors have been asked by the chairman to view the new applications in advance of the meeting).
Willow House, Mill Road. Construction of a single storey rear extension along with extending and converting a loft space over an existing garage to form additional bedroom accommodation. Erection of a two-bay cart lodge with non-habitable space over. (3PL/2019/0080/HOU). There were no objections from the parish council (5 for).
Land to the north of Fen Street. Erection of four detached dwellings (3PL/2019/0231/O). There have been previous applications for this land by Askew & Partners, which have been refused due to utilities such as water and sewerage. This is the first application for four dwellings (previously for eight). There were several issues for existing residents of Fen Street such as traffic speeds, junctions with poor visibility and water pressure. While no one objected to the general location, it was questioned whether or not the existing problems could cope with more houses. Andy Nicholls highlighted that Breckland Council haven’t reached their five-year housing quota and so might be more likely to approve this time. Steve Milner suggested using the potential building of these dwellings to help improve the issues current residents are facing. This would include extending the 30mph zone to the full length of Fen Street, improving the visibility at junctions and making it safer for walkers and cyclists. If these issues are addressed, then the council would support the application. A proposal to support the application with letter explaining that it is on the condition of addressing these issues was approved (5 in favour).
Planning decisions by Breckland Council. Shardalows Farm, Fen Street. Two-storey and single-storey extensions to farmhouse (3PL/2019/0040/HOU).
Meadowcroft, Doe Lane. Removal of Agricultural Restriction on planning permission W.8024 and W.85233 (PL/2018/1460/VAR).
The two above applications have now been considered and both the applications have been approved.
Tourism/Breckworld. New Buckenham Parish Council had been in contact to inform about an idea they had to develop tourism within their parish, with the possibility of linking it with Old Buckenham. Breckland Council are developing an app (Breckworld) to promote five market towns in Breckland. New Buckenham Parish Council would like to join forces with Old Buckenham Parish Council and extend the Attleborough information to cover both villages, possibly through the Tas Valley Way which runs through Old Buckenham. All councillors viewed this as positive for the village as it would support local businesses and may be a way of promoting, and therefore protecting, local wildlife. Jonn Hicks explained that the only issue was funding. However there are lots of grants available which were being investigated by New Buckenham Parish Council. It was suggested that we could also link up with other nearby villages (eg Banham, Keninghall, etc) which would help spread the cost too. A representative of New Buckenham Parish Council would be invited to next month’s meeting for more information and an update.
Action Log review. The Action Log was reviewed and updated. Items still to be completed included putting together a welcome pack for all new villagers with useful information, to produce a Neighbourhood Plan (which will now be deferred until a new council is elected in May), and arranging repairs and conversion of the old phone box into an information point.
Village Green Working Party. The three quotes for clearing vegetation behind the bus shelter had been obtained. Only one of the quotes included chipping, despite this being requested from all three companies. There was not enough time to go back to ask the other companies to re-quote as the work must be completed before birds start nesting. Therefore, it was proposed to accept the company ‘B’ quote of £600. This was approved (4 in favour, 1 abstain).
Road Safety. One of the Speed Watch signs had been stolen. A letter and email had been sent to Highways regarding extending the 30mph zone on Fen Street but Highways claim there haven’t been enough accidents to justify this. Steve Milner appealed to residents of Fen Street to all write to Highways about this topic.
Play Area. The Safety Inspection has been passed. Nothing serious to do but there were quite a few advisory notes. An initial estimate of approximately £650 had been made to complete all improvements. Now waiting for Playdale to come back with more information before making a detailed costing.
Recreation Area. Stuart Barker has asked if the Recreation Area needs cutting this year. While it has already been agreed, Rachel Noyes will contact and confirm this with him.
Councillors’ reports. Steve Milner stated that work on broadband in Stacksford has started. Also he asked if there could there be a poster to publicise the elections in May to get people’s attention. Donna Oakley wished to remind all dog walkers to pick up dog mess. The minority of people who don’t do this make the village and the Green look awful. Gemma Frost said that the initial plans to plant snowdrops around Ottomer pond needed to be bought forward. It would now be taking place Saturday 9 March at 10am. Also the Primary School has requested an area around the pond that can be worked on with children for their Forest School project.
Items for April agenda. Play area to be discussed.
The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Thursday 4 April starting at 7.30pm in Old Buckenham Village Hall.
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