MINUTES OFWEST DEREHAM PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

HELD AT ST. ANDREWS CHURCH

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1ST 2011

Present: Mrs Claire Cann – Chairman, Mrs Pam Bullas, Mr Tom Foy, Ms Paula Kellingray,

Mrs Ruth Marsters, Mrs Pam Walker.

4 members of the public

PCSO Sophie Watson

Papers presented to Councillors: Clerks timesheet, expenditure spreadsheet, 2012 budget, A Plain English Guide to the Localism Act, Glazewing Report.

1. Apologies for Absence accepted from: Mr Mark Dawson

2. No Declarations of Interest made.

3. Approval of the Minutes.

The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on03/11/11were agreed as a true record of the meeting.

4. Election of Vice-Chairman.

It was agreed to leave item 4. until the February meeting of the Parish Council when hopefully all members would be present at the meeting to vote in a Vice-Chairman.

5. No Matters arising from previous meetings.

6. Reports:

At this stage of the meeting PCSO Sophie Watson was invited to give a Police Report which would then free her to leave the meeting.

• PCSO Watson informed the meeting that thePSCOassigned toWest Derehamhas been relocated and that in the New Year changes to the organisation of the Safer Neighbourhood Team will take place which should result inWest Derehamhaving a regular Police presence at meetings.
• Since the third of November seven phone calls have been made to the Police relating toWest Dereham. These have included theft of metal, checking on a resident, speeding by the school bus, two instances of fly tipping and a lost dog.

The Chairman voiced concerns that there has been some anti-social behaviour occurring in the parish involving young people and that panes of glass have been broken in the two village telephone boxes. It was noted the Police have been involved with a family in the village and that some members of the family have now moved out ofWest Derehambut Police advice remains for residents to always report incidents of anti-social behaviour to the Police. The number of calls made from an area influences the frequency of Police patrols through a location. The Police are possibly in the village more than is realised as the Safer Neighbourhood Team use unmarked cars.

Comment was also made that no information seems to be made available at present through the Homewatch Scheme. PCSO Sara Clipperton keeps a register of those wishing to be part of the Homewatch Scheme and PCSO Watson offered to look into who is registered on the list forWest Derehamto receive Homewatch Voicemail messages.

6.1 Chairman’s Report:

Village telephone boxes

Both telephone boxes inWest Derehamare being progressively vandalised and BT has confirmed that they will not repair phone boxes. The appearance of vandalised phone boxes on one of the main routes through the village is a bad advertisement forWest Derehamand therefore villagers will be asked, through the monthly leaflet drop, whether they wish to keep the boxes in the parish.

NorfolkAssociation of Local Councils Autumn Seminar

The Chairman, Pam Bullas, Ruth Marsters and the Clerk attended the Norfolk Association of Local Councils Autumn Seminar held atSandringhamon November 15th. Speakers gave presentations on celebrations for the Queens Diamond Jubilee, the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge (the aim is to protect 2012 outdoor recreation spaces across the country by 2012), Road Closures for events, and Civil Parking Enforcement.

• Advice was given regarding governance, auditing and risk assessment. Councillors will consider risk assessment for the Council and this matter will be an agenda item for the February meeting of the Parish Council. Internal financial control has been implemented and regular monitoring of the accounts is undertaken by Ruth Marsters. The Chairman noted that the conference speaker emphasized the importance of recording account monitoring. [When the RFO and the Councillor meet to independently monitor the accounts the Clerk will record this under the Clerk’s report at the following meeting].
• Previously on-street parking offences have been criminal offences discretionally enforced by the Police and progressed through the Magistrates Courts with any income going to the Treasury. On-street parking has now become a civil offence and can be enforced by the Local Authorities under Delegated Powers. Income will go to support the operation of the scheme and related transport projects. Local Authorities will be dealing with off street Local Authority car parks, yellow lines, on-street parking, residents parking and on-street pay and display. Car parking offences can be reported 24 hours on 01553 616222 or via e-mail parking.operations@west-norfolk.gov.uk.

Youth Officers

It was agreed that Tom Foy and Pam Walker should act as Youth Officers of West Dereham Parish Council, in pursuance of the Parish Councils intention to provide activities and facilities forWest Derehamteenagers.

6.2 Clerk’s Report

• Before any work can be undertaken by Pear Technology to produce a digital map ofWestDerehamCemeteryan up to date ground plan of the Cemetery needs to be compiled. This will be undertaken by the Chairman, Pam Walker, Paula Kellingray and Tom Foy, to be completed by the February Parish Council meeting.
• The owner of the conifer hedge adjacent to West Dereham Parish Council Allotments has approached the Council regarding a possible joint venture to see the conifers which presently shade the allotments cut back. The maintenance contractors will be approached again to obtain an up to date quote for the work to be undertaken.

6.3 Village Hall Report:

• Building work at the Village Hall continues and is nearly finished. The heating is working and a projector and screen has been installed. The custom made gates are ready for installation, a chef is being trialled and external works are expected to be completed in a fortnight.

6.4 Glazewing Report:

• Councillors were presented with a copy of the monthly Glazewing Report.
• The Clerk has been sent a copy of complaints logged with Glazewing since January 2011.
• It was noted that private vehicles which travel through the village to reach the Glazewing site can cause problems as do some Glazewing vehicles and a large amount of heavy vehicles are travelling through the parish at the present time. Concern was voiced that vehicles are increasing in size and it is not known what they may be carrying.

6.5 Broadband Update:

• Jeff Jones, who has taken over management of the Broadband for West Dereham Project from Andy Ambridge, was due to attend the December meeting of the Parish Council. However, he was unable to be present, nor could he find a substitute, so Norfolk County Council will be asked to ensure that a representative is sent to the Parish Council meeting to be held on February 2nd 2012.
• Notice has been received that a planning application has been submitted for a Broadband Mast for West Dereham Village Hall. Andy Ambridge had verbally promised that a Broadband connection would be made available at West Dereham Village Hall free of charge in exchange for the Broadband mast being located in the grounds of the Village Hall. The Village Hall Committee will be sending a letter to Norfolk County Council asking for this commitment in writing. Once Norfolk County Council establishes services as a result of the Better Broadband for Norfolk Project the interim service which is being piloted inWest Derehamwill be withdrawn and therefore the mast will be a temporary measure. However, the Parish Council feels it should do its utmost to facilitate provision of Broadband forWest Derehamas soon as possible by whatever means are available.

7. Accounts

Financial position update:

The Parish Council bank reconciliation stands at