West dereham Parish Council Minutes

Minutes of the November meeting of Wretton Parish Council

MINUTES OF WEST DEREHAM PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

HELD AT THE VILLAGE HALL

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 5TH 2009

Present: - Mrs Claire Cann -Chairman, Mr Barry Glover, Mrs Ruth Marsters, Mr. Paddy Murfitt.

8 members of the public

Mr. Trevor Manley - District Councillor

1. Apologies for Absence:

Mrs Doreen Berry, Mr. Russell Drew, Ms Alison Richardson, Mr. R. Rockcliffe (District Councillor).

2. No Declarations of Interest made other than from Councillors who are also members of the Village Hall Committee.

3. Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on October 10th 2009 were agreed as a true record, with an addition to item 5.3 to clarify that the hedging at the village hall is to be paid for by the Village Trust.

4. Matters arising from previous meetings to be dealt with under other agenda items.

5. Reports

5.1 Chairman's Report

* The Chairman thanked the Vice-Chairman for chairing the September and October meetings.

* It was stated that although comment made in the public Open Forum does not need to be recorded in the minutes whatever is said will be noted in detail in the minutes as residents input is important.

* Richard Rockcliffe has reported that following a meeting of the IT Department of Norfolk County Council money has been found from the current years budget to pay the one off cost to allow broadband provision to reach West Dereham. It has been estimated that the cost will be £43000, with an ongoing annual fee 0f £22500. A repeater station will be provided at Hilgay School, and with three repeater relays, broadband coverage should be achieved for the majority of West Dereham. Mr. Rockcliffe will be thanked for his input and asked if a timetable for completion of this work can be provided.

* The Chairman, Mrs Marsters and the Clerk attended a workshop organised by Norfolk ALC relating to the running of small charities. Particular reference was given to the legal relationship between Parish Councils and the management of village halls. The Chairman and Mrs. Marsters personally funded their attendance at the workshop. This needs to be considered when allocating money for training in the 2010 budget and allowance should be made so adequate training for Councillors can be provided.

5.2 Clerk's Report

* Notification has been received regarding adoption of the telephone box in the village. This matter has arisen previously and it was decided the box should be adopted.

* The Highway Engineer has stated that Highways do not undertake regular hedge cutting in the parish and trimming will only occur should any issues of safety arise. Vegetation will be cut back around the telephone box and the verge which has been eroded along Lime Kiln Road will be reinstated in the spring.

* It is possible the Police will establish a regular surgery in the village if the Village Hall can be provided free of charge. This request will be put to the Village Hall Committee.

5.3 Village Hall Report (Ruth Marsters)

Although the planning application for the Village Hall extension has been passed building regulations have been rejected. Regulations relating to the number of ladies toilets have been queried and it is expected a decision will not be forthcoming until the end of the year.

Planning conditions include the need to provide a statement on asbestos (already available) and confirmation of drainage of the car park.

The Village Hall finances stand at £3913.59. One bingo session has taken place since the October Parish Council meeting and preparation work is being undertaken ready for planting of hedging.

5.4 Glazewing report

Councillors had previously been passed a copy of the October report but the Chairman talked through the report for the benefit of the members of the public.

* Decisions relating to planning applications presently submitted by Glazewing have not yet been received. Norfolk County Council will be contacted and a request for an update on the progress of these applications will be made.

* The map provided by Glazewing indicating preferred access routes to the Station Road site still omits Lime Kiln Road and thus indicates the road is an acceptable access route. Correspondence with Glazewing over this matter continues.

* Mr Jon Miles will attend the Parish Council meeting on December 3rd. Notices have been distributed informing residents of this.

6. Accounts/financial position update

Parish Councillors were presented with current income and expenditure lists for the present financial year. A bank reconciliation will be undertaken once bank statements have been received. The bank mandate noting new correspondence details and updating cheque signatories has been passed to Barclays but is still to be finalised.

6.1 Payment of accounts was agreed in accordance with the budget:

£

Limetree Printing 6.00

Village Hall (donation) 750.00

Village Hall hire (x3) 30.00

British Legion 16.50

CGM (hedge trimming) 235.75

CGM (grass cutting) 228.66

6.2 Quotes have been received for maintenance of the bus shelter and the village seats.

It was decided a more detailed specification of work would be drawn up and those who quoted previously will be approached for a revised quote. It will be decided at the December meeting whether to add other possible village maintenance costs to the 2010 precept request.

6.3 Quotes for repair of the goal posts on the Playing Field were considered. It was agreed to accept the figure of £154.00 submitted by Country Grounds Maintenance to undertake this work. Nets for the posts are stored in the Village Hall.

6.2 It was agreed to consider purchase of reference books for the Parish Council when allocating the 2010 precept. Books to be considered - Local Council Administration (£53.60), Governance and Accountability in Local Councils (£20.00) and the Law of Allotments (£15.20)

7. Planning

7.1 Training for Councillors relating to the Planning Service is to be offered in the New Year. Four places will be booked for the training session to be held at Downham Market on Thursday January 21st.

7.2 Information from the Preferred Options Mineral Extraction and Waste Disposal Allocations Documents was made available at the meeting. Previous consultation relating to the emerging mineral extraction and waste plans achieved a good response from residents of West Dereham. Mineral extraction sites at West Dereham identified in the document are mostly now not considered to be acceptable sites for development. MIN 32/WAS 56 have been classed as not acceptable. If this site is accepted the new quarry will be extended up to Lime Kiln Road.

However, WAS 12 is classed as acceptable and it is felt all village groups should respond to Norfolk County Council as previously. The Parish Council will submit consultation comments as originally offered.

8. Correspondence

1. Mayors Civic Award for voluntary service - residents asked for possible nominations

2. The Playing Field Newsletter

3. Your Council

4. Norfolk Matters.

5. Adoption of Procedures for Dealing with Notifications of Complaints against Councillors (copied to Councillors).

6. Code of Conduct information and declaring interests flow chart distributed to Councillors.

9. Website

The Parish Council website has been set up and should be live.

10. 2010 precept requirements

Discussion and consideration took place with regard to the 2010 precept needs:

* A figure of up to £300 was previously suggested for training needs.

* A figure of expected printing costs will be provided for the December meeting.

* It was felt £350 should be added to the current fund of £350 to provide a Parish Council laptop and software.

* Consideration may be given to allocation of reserve money for possible legal fees.

A draft budget will be presented at the December Parish Council meeting when the precept request must be decided.

11. Further Reports

1. A request was made that representation should be made to the Borough Council regarding recycling arrangements. This will be an agenda item for the December meeting.

2. Household rubbish has been deposited on the footpath near 2 Chequers Cottage.

3. Glazewing will be asked to provide statistics of vehicle movement and employment of local people.

OPEN FORUM

* It was noted that the Station Road end of the village is without a bus shelter and thus children are exposed to the elements when waiting for the school bus. It was suggested provision of a second bus shelter could be allocated in a future budget.

Parish Clerk