Old Buckenham Parish Council

 Latest Parish Council minutes

These notes have been written by the blog editor from the draft minutes and may be incomplete or amended at a later date.

Old Buckenham Parish Council met on Thursday 6 June at Old Buckenham Village Hall. Those present were Councillors Naomi Bailey (Chair), Lesley Evison, Pete Twissell, Stan Burton, Ali McWilliam, Doug Irons and Steve Gowers. David Taylor arrived part way through the meeting. Also attending were Jonn Hicks (Clerk) and four members of the public.

The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 11 April were approved (5 in favour, 2 abstain).

Financial matters. The Community Account balance presently stood at £26,069.04. Payments of £4776.15 were approved (6 in favour) and were made up of:

Community car drivers £165.20

Grass cutting £446

Clerk’s salary £375.25

and Suggitts £3780.

Councillors’ reports. Pete Twizzell said that the damaged areas of the Green will be repaired this month. David Tranmer was invited to the meeting but was unable to attend due to ill health.

The Clerk has reported that the instruction banners for Two Wheel Tuesdays are being made and being donated by a local company who wish to remain un-named. Martin Lambert are willing to donate some used road cones and traffic banners to help ease the parking issues on a Tuesday evening. The clerk to collect with the trailer before the end of the month. Councillors asked about payments for TWT. The clerk informed them that he agreed to delay the first payment due to the poor weather that has had an effect on the event but is to speak with David Tranmer to ensure payments are caught up.

Naomi Baily had a meeting with Steve Askew, George Freeman and representatives from Banham parish council regarding the local flooding issues. George Freeman was to lobby parliament to try and find a solution but this is now on hold as parliament is being dissolved due to the election. Naomi Bailey will press for this action to restart once we have an elected MP, whoever that will be.

Pete Twissell also reported that that the Village Hall Management Committee members thought the joint meeting was a success and Graham Dye will attend the next Parish Council meeting.

Steve Gowers said that the Almshouse Trust has thanked the Parish Council for their precept grant.

Ali McWilliam reported that the ditch at the allotments still hasn’t been cleared by the land owner but it was not possible due to the burst water main that has now been repaired. The Clerk to chase the landowner to clear the ditch.

Pete Twissell also reported that the Village Hall Management Committee are looking for new committee members as some of the current members are wishing to retire.

Steve Gowers reported that he felt that the sign for the bookshop is blocking the view on the junction and will speak to the owner. Clerk has ordered new batteries for the SAM sign.

Naomi Bailey reports that she and the Friends group at the primary school would like to hold a few car boot sales to raise funds for Old Buckenham Primary School and were asking for the use of the recreation area for such an event. Doug Irons voiced his concerns about the event getting too big and causing traffic issues within the village. However Naomi Bailey assured the Parish Council that this would only be one or two events so should not be a problem. All the Parish Council agreed this can go ahead.

Naomi Bailey also said that a meeting had been arranged to see if there was an interest in forming a youth club for the village.

Action Log updates. The Clerk has sent all the Policies to Doug Irons in electronic form so they can be added to the new website. Many of these documents are now out of date and need updating and re adopting.

Planning updates. There have been no new planning applications but Breckland Council have approved the following: Land off Attleborough Road. Amendment to pp 3PL/2021/0236/F - regularise the approved drawings so that they align with the new skylark mitigation set out in the CEMP and EMP. The revised layout also increases the distances from vegetation along the southern boundary to the panels, improving the efficiency of the panels (3NM/2024/0024/NMA).

The next Parish Council meeting will be on Thursday 4 July starting at 7.30pm at Old Buckenham Methodist Chapel (as the Village Hall is being used for General Election voting).