Northwold Parish Council -October meeting

Councillors present: Cllr. R. Crisp – Chair (RC), Cllr. A. Collins (AC), Cllr. Frank Eglington (FE), Cllr. Alison Muir (AM), Cllr. Sue Leet (SL), Cllr. George Gillett (GG), Cllr. Stephen Gillett (SG) & Cllr. Mick Peake (MP) Present: Vicky Bright – Clerk. Item

Cllr. Crisp welcomed all to the meeting.

15/09/1Public Forum – LGA 1972, Section 100(1):

15/09/2 Local Authority Reports: i) Norfolk County Council No representative present and no apologies or report sent.

ii) Borough Council of Kings Lynn & West Norfolk No report from Cllr. Mick Peake.

iii) Norfolk Constabulary – SNT None.

15/09/03 Accepted Apologies for absence - LGA 1972, Section 85(1) & (2): Cllr. Adrian Jenkinson. Absent: None.

15/09/04 Members Declaration of Interest ( items on the agenda) – LGA 2000 Part III: None.

15/09/05 Minutes of the last meeting held on 7th July 2015- LGA 1972, Schedule 12, para 41(2): Resolved 15/09/5.01 The minutes of the last meeting held on 7th July 2015 were adopted as a true statement and signed by the Chairman (RC).

15/09/06 Reports and Matters Arising from the Minutes of the Last Meeting (For Info Only): i) Chairman’s Report “Firstly I would like to say thanks to Frank for the work & research he has done trying to discover more information about the land known as Constables Charity, which we should be receiving rent for. We also say thanks to him for doing the complete Risk Assessment of the village, as he points out there is much more work to be done on the upkeep of such things as the notice boards and the children’s play area on the recreation ground etc, which we hope our ‘odd job man’ will be able to take care of now he is feeling well again. Adrian send apologies for a late report, he is unable to be with us tonight.

I have ordered a wreath for Remembrance Sunday on behalf of the Parish Council, are you happy for me to place it on the Cenotaph”. To which it was agreed.

“Northwold WI would like to invite all Councillor’s to join them for a glass of wine at the Recreation Ground on Wednesday September 16th at 2pm, when the new bench given by the WI to commemorate 100 years of the Women’s Institute in this country, will be presented to the village”.

15/09/07 Highways Matters: i) West End/Methwold Road Flooding Update The new ditch still gets very full during rain and the gulley’s still need attention, perhaps the road sweeper needs to be more frequent. There appears to be no more cases of flooding on Inghams Lane. Cllr. Eglington is to carry out a full survey and pursue the issue with Highways. Action FE ii) Sign on Little London Road The sign has been repaired and is now completed. iii) Common Drove Footbridge The Council would like to look at widening the bridge to allow for wheelchair and pushchair access. Cllr. Eglington is to look at getting a detailed quote. The Clerk is to look at funding for this and to approach Highways regarding adopting responsibility for the bridge if necessary. The maintenance of the footpath so far has been managed by Cllr. Eglington and Carl Green, the Chairman extended thanks to them on behalf of the Council. Action FE/Clerk

15/09/08 Cemetery: Cllr. Collins advised that locating the owners of some of the headstones was proving difficult. Cllr. Collins, Cllr. Crisp & Cllr. Muir are going to try and search back to find who they belong to. Action AC/RC/AM

Cllr. Collins also advised that the state of the allotments is impacting on the cemetery; he suggested planting shrubs to screen it off. This was agreed by all and Cllr. Collins is to carry out the planting. Action AC It was suggested that the railings at the cemetery need re-painting and the Clerk was asked to get quotes for the next meeting. Action Clerk

Cllr. Collins advised that the hedges bordering Mrs Maynard’s land were overgrown and were trespassing into Mrs Maynard’s land. The Clerk was asked to get quotes to cut back the hedges for the next meeting. Action Clerk 15/09/09 Correspondence

i)  The Clerk read out a letter from Mr Steven Stark making a complaint to the Council regarding the recent Councillor vacancies and co-options and notification of said vacancies. The Chairman assured all present that the vacancy notices had been placed in the PC notice boards, although she agreed that no notice had been placed on the community boards around the village. The Clerk is going to discuss the matter and seek guidance from NALC, following which she will reply to Mr Stark’s letter accordingly. Action Clerk/NA ii) The Clerk read out a notification from BCKLWN Environment & Planning Department announcing the notification of a new commercial address at The Barns, Methwold Road, Whittington

15/09/10 Planning Applications. None.

15/09/11 Finance: i) Parish Council Bank Balances and Reconciliation

Eon Street lighting Sep 15 &O/S 001975 £135.98 Westcotec Street Lights 001977 £19.96 Collier Turf Care Chaffer Bugs Tx 001978 1,986.00 CGM Ltd Grass cutting Jul 15 001979 £301.92 Mrs P Angus August salary 001980 £68.77 Mrs V Bright Expenses/ Mileage 001981 £24.40 CGM Ltd Grass cutting Aug 15 001982 £301.92 Mrs R Crisp Postage reimbursement 001983 £1.50

The Payments and receipts from 8th July 2015 to 4th September 2015 were scrutinised and approved. The Lloyds Treasurer account balance was confirmed as £54,655.34 as of 18th August 2015. Resolved 15/09/11.01 That the Bank balances and reconciliation of payments & receipts be received and adopted and initialled as such by the Chairman (RC). ii) Cheques for signing and approval and to authorise payment of outstanding invoices Resolved 15/09/11.02 It was agreed to approve the payments of the following outstanding invoices and the cheques were approved and signed by Cllr. R. Crisp and Cllr. A. Collins. Approval of Cheques and to authorise payment of invoices signed between meetings. Resolved 15/09/11.03

Cheques signed since last meeting.

Eon Street lighting 001971 £65.67 Mrs P Angus Salary 001972 £234.07 Mr F Eglington Reimbursement 001973 £36.00 Robert King Maintenance 001974 £134.00 Mrs V Bright August Salary 001976 £142.63

iii) Quarterly Internal Audit The Clerk and Cllr. Eglington are to draft a new procedure for internal audit to incorporate quarterly internal audits to be carried out by the Clerk and a Councillor. A date is to be confirmed to do this, as the Clerk advised she is currently moving office due to the change in personal circumstances at home, and that the new office build is not yet complete. Action FE/Clerk

15/09.12 Parish Matters i) BT Faster Broadband Update Cllr. Crisp reports there is no update. Lightsource/Solar Panels Update The Clerk is to chase up LightSource for an update on an installation date. Action Clerk Whittington Closed Cemetery Update Cllr. Collins advised he had spoken with the Church Warden and they have no update. The Clerk is to chase up the status with the Department of Justice for the next meeting. Action Clerk iv) Play Area Repairs Cllr. Eglington confirmed all repairs had been completed in August and the gates had been repaired free of charge by Stephen Eyles, the Chairman on behalf of the Council extended thanks to Mr Eyles. Registration of Clay Pit Land Cllr. Muir confirmed this was completed and the title deeds show that the Council do own the land. The suggestion of selling the land was discussed and the Clerk was asked to obtain valuations in the first instance and for the item to be deferred to the next meeting following receipt of said valuations. Action Clerk vi) Land at Stoke Ferry Cllr. Eglington spent a lengthy time at th County Records Office researching the land and he states that more research is needed. It was agreed that Cllr. Eglington and Cllr. Peake would try to establish the boundary, so that title deeds can be registered. Action FE/MP vii) Sports & Social Club—Chafer Bugs update The Clerk confirmed this had been done. viii) Asset Risk Assessment The risk assessment has been carried out and the  Clerk advised that she would produce a report on the findings and present it at the next meeting to be addressed. Action Clerk ix) Allotments With Cllr. Jenkins not being present the outcome of the meeting with the allotment tenant is to be deferred to the next meeting. The issue of suspected Ragwort on the allotments was raised; the Clerk was asked to arrange quotes for it to be cut back and treated for the next meeting. Action AJ/Clerk x) Storage of Parish Files & Documents Audit The Clerk and Cillr. Eglington are to address this within the new audit procedure; date to be arranged to do this. Action FE/Clerk

15/09/13 Items for next meeting to be held on Tuesday 6th October 2015 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall

There being no further business the Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and declared the meeting closed at 21.05pm.

Signed R Crisp Chair date: 6th October 2015