Wretton Parish Council Meeting Minutes

MINUTES OF WRETTON PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

HELD AT THE CHURCH MONDAY 13th September 2010

Present: Cllr D Llewellyn - Chairman, Cllr M Peake, Cllr A Box, Cllr B Glover, Cllr J Wyett, Cllr L Peake

Cllr C Sampson - Borough Councillor

PSCO Sara Clipperton

3 members of the public

Sara Clipperton gave a report to the Council stating that there has been extremely few incidents reported in Wretton recently and that no matters are ongoing. Parking in Church Road was discussed. If cars park along the road it makes it difficult for large vehicles to pass and it can be hard for residents to get out of driveways. It is an offence to park on a pavement and this can result in a ticket being issued. Police need to be made aware of the problems with parking in Wretton and residents were advised to use the 0845 456 4567 number to report concerns. Sara Green is the village liaison officer and she could be asked to write a letter from Norfolk Constabulary which could be issued in a leaflet drop to ask residents to park considerately. Stoke Ferry is suffering similar problems with street parking. Motorbikes are being ridden on Stoke Ferry Common and this problem is to be tackled by the Safer Neighbourhood Team over the forthcoming week. It is possible that the team could check parking in the two villages when the Common is visited.

1. Apologies for Absence accepted from:

Cllr S Bristow

2. Declaration of Interest:

None stated

3. The minutes of the meeting held on 12/07/10 were agreed as a true record.

4. Matters Arising:

* The Clerk has been in communication with Freebridge Housing regarding overgrown hedges at All Saints Place. An officer from Freebridge is looking into the matter and should report back to the Parish Council in the near future.

* A dog waste bin will be purchased to be erected on the Green.

* Mr. Wyett has trimmed overgrowth in the Green Lane.

* A notice which was put up asking that litter should be placed in bins has been taken down twice.

4.1 Upgrading of Parish Council website

Since the beginning of the year the Parish Council website has received an average of forty hits per day. It appears that the village sign and the Parish Council minutes attract most interest. The Parish Council hosts its own site and this and the domain name have been renewed at a cost of £70.96.

The Chairman has suggested the website should be improved but this will incur a cost. A specification of what is wanted will be drawn up and circulated to establish how much it would cost to upgrade the site and make it easier to post notices.

5. Chairman's Report:

* The Chairman reported that a recurrent odour problem remains in the village. He has spoken to Claire Hanna (Borough Council Environmental Team) and Angliawater and all bad smells need to be logged on sheets provided by the Borough Council. Anglia water should also be informed.

Smells have also been reported emanating from the ditch by the Old Red Lion. It is believed sewerage from a septic tank overflow may be released into the ditch.

Clerk's Report:

* The grass is still not being cut in all areas of the Churchyard and the contractors will be approached about this

* Mrs. Rose Procter was thanked for arranging for removal of the old padlock from the notice board at the bus shelter. New padlocks will now be fitted on both notice boards.

6. Accounts were presented and accepted for payment.

Cheques for approval of payment

Clerk's wages/expenses (July/August) £112.11

Inland Revenue (Aug. Sept. Oct) £42.15

MHB Services x2 £32.50

Royal British Legion £16.50

Posts for Green £126.98

Dog waste bin £78.26

Website £70.96

Finances as at July 30th 2010

Community Account £2505.54

Business Saver Account(1) £3397.82

Business Saver Account(2) £686.03

Business Saver Account(3) £12252.65

£18842.04

6.1 Allocation of Reserve Money

Discussion took place regarding how the Council's reserve money should be allocated.

* The Parish Council would like to assist to make All Saints Church suitable for community use. The Church is the only building in the village that could be used as a general meeting place. It is hoped toilets and a kitchen can be added to the Church and re-wiring and plastering are planned. The Diocese will need to approve any such plans and the Parish Council would need to find out whether it could legally financially support any work to the interior of the Church. If the Parish Council were to assist with any project at the Church there would certainly need to be a guarantee that the Church would be open for use by the community.

* It is possible the Parish Council could take on the cutting of verges in the parish and if this were to be the case additional grounds maintenance costs would be incurred.

* The Parish Council would like to be able to retain money to replace play equipment in the village as necessary.

7. Correspondence:

1. Norfolk Link etc.

2. An update from the Standards Committee

3. Norfolk Police Authority's Local Policing Plan Summary 2010

4. Home Risk Fire Checks

5. NALC AGM

6. NRCC Signpost

7. E.on unit rate change

8. SNAP meeting dates

9. BCKLWN meeting agenda 12/08/10

10. BCKLWN Local Development Scheme for King's Lynn and West Norfolk - Core Strategy Focused changes to Proposed Submission Document - Discussion took place as to what response should be made by the Parish Council. Councillors were encouraged to pass comments to the Clerk which will then be collectively forwarded to the Borough Council.

11. A request had been received to allow parking on Wretton Green for an 18th birthday party. As previosly agreed parking on the Green will only be permitted in exceptional circumstances and thus this request was refused.

8. No Planning Applications received

9. Other Reports - for information only:

(Members of the public were invited to comment on issues raised)

9.1 A sycamore tree needs trimming back at All Saints Place.

9.2 It was reported that traffic speeding through the village is of concern. The 40mph sign and the footpath sign opposite the Clover Club are both hidden by overgrown hedges. Hedges all around the parish are in need of trimming.

9.3 Further discussion took place regarding the parking in Church Road. It is felt this problem might be alleviated if access to the car park in Jane Forby Close was made easier so encouraging more people to use it. As this is a private car park residents would need to decide together whether the current obstruction into the Church Road access should be removed.

Meeting closed at 21.00.

Parish Clerk