Parish Council Meeting 16 Nov 2009

J Rix (Chair) S Churchyard J Goodwin Mick Paines P Ross Also in attendance District Councillor Weeks, County Councillor B Spratt, the Clerk and 5 members of the public.

D Doherty and Marion Paines

The Chair thanked everyone for coming and asked if there was anyone who wished to take advantage of the Public Speaking time. Mrs Lord said she had come to present the Parish Council with a donation of £320.00. She had undertaken a sponsored swim for the New Village Sign. She had swum 20 lengths of the Diss Swimming pool. (A further £30.00 was added to this.) She also presented a cheque for £369.03 this was the final sum in the Memorial Clock fund which she and Mr Paice had closed. She reminded the Parish Council that they would now have to pay for all the maintenance.
Ms Rix thanked Mrs Lord for undertaking the swim and raising so much money towards the sign. This, along with other donations, would now enable the Parish Council to pay off the remaining balance without having to draw on the reserve funds.
Ms Rix also thanked Mrs Lord for the balance from the Memorial clock fund and said that she had done a great job along with Mr Frank Paice of raising the funds for the major overhaul which had taken place. The Clock is now in good order and looks great, the Parish Council were happy to take over the complete maintenance.
BOYLAND COMMON
Ms Rix explained to the meeting that the Boyland Common item from the Agenda has been moved to enable Mr Tony Cooke SNDC, to leave the meeting after he had ... See rest of item below

As everyone agreed they had read the minutes Ms Goodwin proposed that they be signed as a true record. Mrs Ross seconded the proposal and everyone else agreed.

Footpaths
The clerk said that she had now received copies of the definitive map, which anyone could look at.
Mrs Ross said that she had been in touch with Zoe Woodhouse and has a map on which she has marked all the footpaths she and her husband have walked. She has marked where marker posts are missing, bridges are broken or removed or any other matters which need addressing. She will be sending this through to Zoe for her comments. The time frame for correcting these issues depends on the funding available from NCC.
The chair thanked Mrs Ross for all the work she has been doing on the footpaths.
Grasscutting
Ms Goodwin advised the meeting that the Shelfanger Football club had folded for the time being, so there should not be an issue with the Grasscutting. The Clerk advised that she had emailed a price for cutting the grass next year and had asked for a price with and without the winter cut, thinking that perhaps we would not need the winter cut. It was suggested that the Village Hall should look to renting out the pitch to other clubs and therefore the winter cut should stay for the time being. The clerk said that when she had received the prices she would write to the Village Hall and suggest they try and rent out the pitch.
Footway along Church Road
The clerk read out a letter from NCC Highways Planning dept, in which it stated that the path was not likely to be started until 2010 – 11 as there were some compulsory land purchases to be made. Councillor Spratt suggested that letters be sent to Mike Jackson of the Planning and Transportation Department and to Adrian Gunson saying that “we want the Path Now”. Letters to be sent every three months.
Highways
The overgrowth at the end of Heywood Road had not been cut. The Clerk was asked to write to Gary Overland and remind him of this. She said she had actually emailed and asked what the rangers had been doing in the village but no reply had been received. Mrs Churchyard pointed out that the pipes at the Ford need clearing as the leaves have collected there and they could cause a blockage. The clerk to advise Gary also the reflective posts alongside the bank opposite the village hall have been destroyed so need replacing. The clerk said she had been advised that The Environment Agency will be doing some dredging work along this bank in December to keep the waterway clear. The Environment Agency had been in the village that day cutting down any overgrowth along the waterway to keep it clear.

Councillor Spratt said that Norfolk County Council have a huge deficit and money has to be saved. They are hoping to freeze the council tax 2 years out of 4. At County Hall there are new Council Members and less staff. The Long Stratton By Pass is now “Dead in the Water”. There is a rise in teenage pregnancies in Kings Lynn and Gt Yarmouth mainly due to the differing cultures which now live in this county. The mothers realise that they can get flats and money once they have children. The Schools Building programme is still good at the moment.

District Councillor Weeks said that as money is now tight any bodies which have relied on grants in the past must not do so, as they many well not get the funding they had been hoping for from the District Council and other Government sources. He had good news that the Affordable houses in Bressingham had now been finished and allocated. Two had been for Shelfanger residents but only one couple took up the offer. The rest are Bressingham or Fersfield residents.
The Chair said that she had called in on the open day and had found it tricky getting in and out of the complex. Mr Weeks said that Highways would have been consulted on this. There are plans to widen the road and fill in the ditch.SNDC are looking at ways of saving money and there are discussions taking place with Breckland Council to try and see if it is possible to double up on some jobs. Where both councils, each have one person doing the same job they may be able to do it for both councils thus makings savings.
Mrs Ross asked Mr Weeks what had happened to the Boundary Committee. He said it is still there but not seen to be so active.
The Chair thanked Mr Weeks for his comprehensive report.

There was very little correspondence as most of it had been circulated.
The Clerk had the CAB annual report and request for a donation.
Norfolk Lowland Rescue asking for a donation. Mrs Ross to check out their activities.

Shelfanger Hall- erection of duck rearing building- approved with conditions
Crown Inn – Application for Flue system was withdrawn
Manor Farm – retrospective application for Alterations to Summerhouse/store and stables
Tivetshall Wind Farm – application returned to SNDC ( Parish council 5 approvals 2 disapprovals)
Street Farm – replacement of bathroom window – Parish Council full approval.

The Responsible Financial Officer advised the meeting that the precept needed to be set for the following year. She had drawn up a budget sheet which she circulated to members. After discussion it was agreed to keep the precept the same because the insurance figure should remain the same as last year, only the maintenance of the clock to pay ( no donations need to go to the fund) and the sign will be paid for. There is £1,571.15 in the deposit account which can be used if needed. As the football club has folded there will be half of the grasscutting costs to be paid but that can be carried with the budget of £3,605. The Boyland Common regeneration work should, hopefully, be financed by the lottery grant.
On a proposal by Mr Paines, seconded by Ms Goodwin it was agreed that the precept for next year be set at £3605.
A cheque was drawn for £243.71 being the last payment of the year for the grasscutting. The Audit invoice also had to be paid. This was for £120.00 not £50.00 because the expenses for the year 2008 – 2009 had been over £5,000 by £29.00. The RFO had rung to enquire why the huge increase as she thought the figures were based on the precept figure. If this had been realised before then something could have been done to prevent this.
The subject of a donation to CAB was discussed and it was decided to send a donation of £50.00 after approval of a Proposal made by Mrs Ross and Seconded by Ms Goodwin.
Lastly the final instalment for the sign needed to be paid. Following the sending out of letters asking for sponsorship £650 had been received. £500 had been received from the Recycling group and along with the £350 from the sponsored swim enabled a cheque for £1402 to be written without having to draw on the bank reserves.
The matter of a brass plaque was discussed to commemorate all the donors of sponsorship. The Clerk to go to Diss Trophy centre and enquire about costs.

Item 8 text to follow after meeting.

BOYLAND COMMON
Ms Rix explained to the meeting that the Boyland Common item from the Agenda has been moved to enable Mr Tony Cooke SNDC, to leave the meeting after he had given the council an update on the position of the travellers on the common.
Mr Cooke explained that the Harford Traveller site was now open. Tom and family had moved there along with 7 other families. Another family from the Breckland area, had now left the common and returned to Breckland after taking refuge as their site was wet.. This only left Michael, Cherry and family and he thought that they would be leaving soon. Mrs Webster confirmed that she thought they were preparing to leave as one caravan had already gone and things were being packed up.
Mr Cooke said that he had set up a meeting with the relevant agencies to discuss this family and see what could be done to assist them, but he did not think he would need to have this meeting because they were sorting themselves out. He knew that they would have to leave the common soon as it would soon be too wet for them.
County Councillor Spratt said that he had visited Mr and Mrs Webster and had been appalled at what he had seen on his visit. He admitted that he should have got involved sooner and the officers who deal with travellers had been dragging their feet. He would be making the chief executives of both SNDC and NCC aware of the problem and said he did not know how the Websters have put up with the situation. He said that once the common was clear the Parish Council must take the Initiative and fence off the Common. Ms Goodwin said that the P C had plans to fence off the common and regenerate it. An application to the Community Spaces Lottery Fund was well under way and once the funding had been secured the work would begin. It was suggested that perhaps some temporary fencing could be erected to look as if we are going to graze animals. Mrs Webster said that she did not think that we would be troubled with travellers until the spring as the common is too wet during the winter. Hopefully by then the regeneration work will have started. Mrs Ross explained where the funding application had reached. As planning permission is needed for the parking area a Development Grant is needed to enable the planning application to be submitted. This would cost £750.00 and £15.00 had been added to pay for the printing of the questionnaires, which are currently being circulated to all villagers, people living on Common Road Bressingham and some of Fersfield. Ms Goodwin suggested some were distributed in Winfarthing which she was happy to do. Mr Spratt said that the planning permission should not cost as much as that, if the Parish Council applied it would cost about £75.00. Mrs Ross sai would look into that possibility as the application had not been submitted yet.
There was concern raised over the erection of temporary fencing before the grant had been secured. District Councillor Weeks advised that extreme caution be applied, so that nothing jeopardised the application.
Mr Spratt said that digging ditches would be a winner. Ms Goodwin told him that plans were well under way for that to happen. She said that the PC had been banging its head against a brick wall to get anything done. Mrs Ross said that she had emailed Mr Spratt with three questions which he had not answered. He said to ring if you email him so he knew to check his emails, he had been having trouble with his South Norfolk email Mrs Ross said he had received hers as he had replied but not answered the questions. They were: a) Why aren’t the travellers prosecuted for taking water from the hydrant? b) Why aren’t they fined for their dogs fouling on the common? c) And why aren’t they prosecuted for starting toxic fires when they burn fridges etc? Mr Spratt replied that Anglian Water were responsible for the water, the dog warden won’t go near the travellers, because of Health and Safety issues, so no prosecutions can take place. Lastly the police won’t prosecute for the fires. The point was made that, like this, the government endorse the traveller’s way of life and won’t help villagers.
Lastly it was pointed out that a taxi has been going to take the children to school everyday. Mrs Webster had only seen them go on 2 occasions. Councillor Spratt said this must be stopped so that public money is not wasted. It was also pointed out that there is another taxi which goes to Druids Lane, again where the child does not go to school. Mr Spratt asked for more details so he could look into the matter.

Dealt with at start of meeting

The Parish Council had been asked to complete this survey which was done.

Recycling Group
As it was getting late it was decided to carry this matter over to the next meeting for a full discussion. It was agreed that a report should be given to the PC on a regular basis. The funds received have to be accountable but it was thought that this money could not go to the Parish Council. The Clerk to enquire.