Wereham Parish Council March meeting

WEREHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Draft minutes of the meeting held on 13th March 2012

at Wereham village hall at 7.30pm

Present: Chairman Cllr P Norris, Cllr G Koopowitz, Cllr C Humphries, Cllr J Bruce, Cllr G Key, Cllr D Deighton, Cllr K Newell

Apologies: Borough Cllr C Sampson

Members of the public: 17

1.  Confirm appointment of the Clerk

New Clerk to Wereham Parish Council was introduced, Mrs Natasha Clifford-Everett.

Proposer Cllr K Newell, 2nd Cllr G Key.

2. Minutes of last meetings

Minutes for meeting held on 10th January 2012 were approved. Proposer Cllr G Koopowitz, 2nd Cllr K Newell.

Minutes for meeting held on 24th January 2012 were discussed and it was suggested that the wording was be changed to could have been in section 6/11 a. Proposer Cllr G Koopowitz, 2nd Cllr D Deighton. Full Council voted in agreement with this action. Following these changes the minutes will be signed as a correct record.

3. Declarations of interest

Members are invited to declare personal or prejudicial interests in items on the agenda. It is a requirement that declarations from a member include the nature of the interest and whether it is personal or prejudicial. None declared.

4. Chairman's reports/Matters arising

1)      Borough Council of Kings Lynn andWest Norfolkhave approved the name of Springs Court, Wereham for the former The Springs, Flegg Green.

2)      Cllr G Koopowitz gave a full report on the issues regarding the replacement of a willow tree near Wereham pond. It was proposed that the willow is replaced with a smaller less vigorous growing tree. Clerk has obtained maps of sewerage/clean water pipes in area from Anglian water. Clerk will write to Anglian water to state tree is being replaced on advise from Borough Council, conservation area, and that the replacement is to be of a smaller variety. Anglian water will be asked to confirm that they are happy with the proposed siting of the planting (Midway between the tree at the Margaret’s Hill end of the pond and the old willow midway around footpath. Tree to be planted 1 meter inside pond edge of the footpath.)Await reply from Anglian water before tree is planted (April ideal month.) A regular maintenance/pruning schedule will be suggested, and a tree preservation order applied for, for the remaining trees. Proposer Cllr G Key, 2nd Cllr J Bruce.

3)      Council suggested Clerk to compose a letter with regards to obtaining quotes for village maintenance.

4)      Cllr J Bruce discussed quotes received fromCGMand Wickstead for repairs to play area and equipment. The repairs required have been prioritised in order to comply with health and safety standards. It was proposed to accept quote fromCGM of £986.00 + vat for the repairs and four visits per year at a cost of £18.50 + vat per visit to kill the weeds in this area. Free of chargeCGMwill assess the Oak tree at the end of the play area and quote for any required work.

5)      It was agreed to accept this quote and Cllr J Bruce will contactCGMto inform them of the decision.

6)      Proposer Cllr G Koopowitz, 2nd Cllr P Norris

7)      A quote has been received from Peter Hurrel for future painting jobs.

8)      The date for the Annual Parish meeting will be 8th May 2012 at 7.00pm in Wereham village hall. Proposer Cllr G Koopowitz, 2nd K Newell, all councillors voted and agreed.

9)      Elizabeth Truss MP will be visiting Wereham on 23rd March 2012 at6pm until7pm in the church. Issues to be discussed includes village hall fund-raising, high speed broadband, railway and bus services and the proposed incinerator at Kings Lynn.

10)  Actions to be taken by Cllr/clerk as a result of points raised at the meeting will be highlighted in the minutes.

11)  It was proposed that a draft copy of the minutes will be sent to Group 4, Village Pump and put on the website. Proposer Cllr J Bruce, 2nd Cllr G Key. Full Council agreed to this action.

12)  A report was received from Highways, the roundabout at the junction of B1160 and A134 is Highways responsibility. The repairs requested have been passed onto the Highway Engineer for inspection.

13)  Cllr K Newell attended a training session on Neighbourhood planning. This session discussed the latest changes to the planning system and how it affects Parish Councils. A new national planning framework comes into force on April 1st 2012 and Parish Councils are advised to quote relevant sections of the framework to back up their comments. Parishes are being encouraged to draw up neighbourhood plans which can be very useful, but will take a large amount of time to prepare, up to 2yrs. Cllr K Newell requested that this be on next meetings agenda.

14)  Cllr K Newell and Cllr P Norris attended a Parish Council update session, the paperwork is not yet available from this session. Will be circulated as it becomes available.

15)  Council training session will take place on Tuesday 20th March 2012 at7pm in West Dereham Village Hall withSueLake form the Norfolk Association of Local Councils.

16)  Council will seek advice from Norfolk Association of Local Councils up to and including legal advice on how to deal with vexatious behaviour and bullying, intimidation and harassment .

5. Correspondence

1)      Master composter training Thursday 22nd and 23rd March 2012 at Swaffham Ecotech Centre.

2)      Affordable housing seminar 20th March 2012, Walsingham.

3)      A request for a donation to Norfolk Lowland Search and Rescue has been received. The Parish Council have previously agreed not to support any charities with Parish Council funds.

4)      Information regarding The Willows, Power and Recycling centre (A.K.A the Incinerator).

6. Planning applications: None received

7. Payments for approval

Hodson office supplies                      £155.38

Temporary clerk                                    £581.44

HMRC                                                         £134.40

Clerk expenses                                      £206.75

Haward HorologicalLTD– Two invoices are being investigated by Cllr P Norris due to two adhoc repair visits from this company in five weeks.

All payments approved proposer Cllr G Koopowitz, 2nd Cllr G Key

8. Matters requiring attention

Issues raised by the Council to be addressed at the next meeting of the Parish Council, no decisions will be taken at this meeting.

Cllr P Norris reported that the salt/grit bin is missing from theEast Endof back Lane. This will be raised in the next Group 4 magazine.

The Council appreciate offers of help from the parishioners, Clerk will check that the insurance will cover voluntary work.

Cllr G Koopowitz on behalf of the Council thanked Cllr D Deighton for the loan of a laptop computer to the Clerk for Council business and also thanked Shelia Goodwin temporary clerk for her help.

Cllr G Koopowitz announced that the hedge infill has been completed.

Cllr C Humphries proposed that we request a brown dust bin for the cemetery as food packaging and greenery was being put in the current black bins. Clerk will contact BCKLWN to request free of charge a green and brown dustbin. Cllr C Humphries will monitor the rubbish.

Cllr K Newell requested an item for the next agenda be to discuss Neighbourhood planning.

Cllr K Newell requested dog fouling signs, Cllr C Humphries will investigate.

Cllr J Bruce reported that the hedge needs trimming on the West end of Back Lane/A134. Cllr P Norris has spoken to Highways and they plan to deal with this issue.

Cllr J Bruce clarified to members of the public who have been concerned that the current cul-de-sac at the top of The Row (near A134) has not been approved by the highways agency for an entrance to a housing estate should the site at the rear be suggested as one of the preferred sites by the LDF team at the Council. The LDF team have their own advisers who would check the site out to ensure it did have an adequate entrance before it could be considered as a potential site & they have suggested this is the most obvious choice of entrance.

If it’s an approved site in the months ahead & the owners wanted to put in a planning application

then the villagers, parish & borough councils would have their say at that point. The important fact is that nothing has been decided yet.

Cllr D Deighton reported a that there is a bicycle warning sign on the A134 (approximately 100 metres west of the Church Road/The Row/A134 crossroad and beside the east facing carriage-way), which is unreadable. The "100 yards" rectangle on this sign is correctly positioned and therefore fully readable, but the triangle containing a bicycle picture is 90 degrees out of position so completely unreadable. Highways have been advised twice.

9. Members of the public comments/question time.

No decisions will be made by the Council regarding these issues; any matters will be brought forward to the next meeting.

At the meeting on the 10th January 2012 a parishioner offered to trim the new willow tree beside the village pond. This has been done but was not minuted. Parish Council thanked parishioner for his work.

Parishioners would like the agenda and copies of the minutes to be put out on the tables before the meetings.

Pot holes reported on Queens Close and A134 close to the filling station, These will be reported to Highways.

Members of the public felt it was appropriate to obtain 3 quotes for any maintenance work to be carried out to ensure a competitive price is secured. Parish Council fully support this approach.

Parishioners have reported a lot of incidents of dog fouling in public areas, dog waste bins are available to purchase, prices range from £133.74 + vat for a 25l bin up to £291.71+ vat for a 50l bin. The bins have to be emptied weekly at a further cost of £1.13 per bin. A request was made for a notice to be put in Group 4 magazine to politely ask people to clean up after their dogs.

Members of the public discussed why the precept has been increased for Wereham.

At the meeting of the Parish Council on the 10th January, the Parish Council considered the funds required to operate through the coming year. Beyond the known fixed costs for the parish there are a number of essential maintenance activities that need to take place to ensure that the play equipment and surrounding area and the cemetery meet required standards plus the need to consider more extended and proactive tree management. Additionally with the resignation of the long standing Clerk, there are extra costs for recruitment, temporary cover and salary. Cash reserves are extremely low; they do not meet best practice guidelines and this needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

With these factors In mind the Parish Council saw no option but to increase the precept for 2012/13.

Council are happy to review the ongoing income, expenditure and bank balance at Parish Council Meetings.

Public suggested Council look at ways to get external funding such as grants. Grants may be available to assist with projects such as purchasing new equipment, but not for maintenance.

Public bridleway sign is missing from the West end ofLammas Meadow Lane, it appears to be chopped off by a flail mower. Clerk will inform Highways.

Parishioner stated that machinery and vehicles working at the Bennett’s site Flegg Green are parking on and destroying the grass verge and the road is very dirty. Clerk will write to Bennett’s and Highways.

Meeting closed 9.45pm

Next meeting will be 8th May 2012