West Dereham Parish Council November Meeting

DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF WEST DEREHAM PARISH COUNCIL HELD AT WEST DEREHAM VILLAGE HALL AT 7.30 pm THURSDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2015 PRESENT (6 Councillors): - Claire Cann (CC) – Chairman, Pam Bullas (PB), Paula Kellingray (PK), Lorraine Hunt (LH), Pam Walker (PW), Claire Williams (CW). Clerk: - Sarah Thorpe Cllr Brian Long (BL) – County Council Cllr Sandra Squire (SS) – Borough Council 5 members of the public were in attendance. Papers presented to Councillors: (i) Financial Management Report (spreadsheet); (ii) Expenditure (for approval); (iii) Draft Budget for 2016/17; (iv) Glazewing report. The Chairman welcomed everyone present and opened the meeting.

1. Apologies for absence. Apologies had been received from Tom Foy (TF) who was attending a work course.

2. Declarations of interest. No declarations were made.

3. Use of social media and audio recording of meeting. CC asked “Will anyone present be filming, recording, blogging, or tweeting during this meeting?” No member of the public present at this stage advised that they would.

4. Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 1 October 2015. CC confirmed all Councillors had seen the minutes of the Parish Council (PC) meeting held on 1 October 2015. These were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

5. Reports. 5.1 Chairman’s Report. 5.1.1 Garden of Remembrance. CC advised that meetings had taken place with two other companies regarding quotations. This matter to be discussed further under item 7.1. 5.1.2 Preferred Options Consultation on the Single Issue Silica Sand Review. CC advised that the information received from Norfolk County Council (NCC) revealed that none of the preferred sites were in West Dereham (WD).

5.2 Clerk’s Report. 5.2.1 Additional sign for A134 re HGV access. Highways have confirmed that the sign has been ordered and should be installed within approximately eight weeks. 5.2.2 Local Council Award Scheme. The PC has now submitted an application for the “Quality” status of the award. 5.2.3 Highways and Borough Council (BC) clean-up issues. Pot hole on Church Road and Fly-tipping on Station Road and Basil Road which were reported at the last PC meeting have been referred for action.

5.3 Handyman’s Report. The new Handyman started in the middle of October and so far has trimmed back areas of overgrown vegetation and shrubbery on Station Road and Church Road; areas around NCC signs and footpaths have also been cleared. Benches and signs have been washed and litter picked on Station Road. He had noted that the allotment gates were left unlocked but Councillors advised that this was handled by the Allotment Liaison Officer. He had requested a list of urgent matters, the bulbs for the wooden planters and use of the water supply at the village hall to clean the bus shelter. Clerk to liaise with Handyman on all of these issues.

5.4 Police Report. PK advised that Police Connect weekly updates had shown a report of a theft from a garden on Hilgay Road on 9 October. CC invited members of the public to raise any issues. No matters were mentioned.

5.5 Village Hall Report. PK reported that the village hall had been busy during October and many events were taking place during November and December. The Halloween event had been very successful and had drawn in some new families to the village hall who had promised to return.

5.6 Broadband Report. The installation of the long awaited superfast broadband had been completed and many residents had reported that the service was greatly improved. Karen O’Kane (KOK) from Better Broadband for Norfolk had advised that another cabinet would be installed at some point to assist with speed for some residents. A resident from St Andrew’s Walk reported that their service had not been improved by the installation. They had been told that they would not be able to receive the superfast broadband despite previous assurances from KOK that they would.

5.7 Glazewing Report. Richard Stimson, Compliance Manager, at Glazewing had provided a monthly report for the PC meeting. It advised that one enquiry had been received regarding Eddie Stobart vehicles seen travelling from the site. It stated that they had been removing material from site, mainly wood from the biomass project. The report advised that the volumes of wood in and out have remained consistent over the years. The use of the Stobart vehicles reflected Glazewing exploring different recycling options rather than increase in material or vehicle movements. CC commented that she failed to see how they could know that there was no increase in vehicle movements as they had previously advised that they did not record this information. Clerk to reply to clarify this point.

6. Finance. 6.1 Accounts. Accounts for approval and the monthly financial management report were submitted by the Clerk. She advised that the income and expenditure for September 2015 has now been confirmed, and that estimated figures for October have been inserted based upon invoices received. Expenditure continued to be in line with budget. Payee Cheque No Net VAT Gross Clerk’s salary, expenses for October 15 – 56 hours 100827 649.52 629.52 CGM Ltd – grounds maintenance for Sept- Oct 15 100828 501.15 100.23 601.38 Norfolk ALC – Transparency code training 100829 15.00 15.00 Five Arrows Finance plc. – printing of annual report 100830 37.50 37.50 Mr R C French – maintenance at allotments 100831 115.00 115.00 Royal British Legion – Donation Poppy Appeal (wreath) 100832 20.00 20.00 Handyman’s contract – October 15 100833 47.50 47.50 West Dereham Parish Magazine – PC notice April-Sept 100834 45.00 45.00 Total 1430.67 100.23 1530.90 The above payments were considered and approved. Cheques to be signed at the end of the meeting.

6.2 Budget for 2016/17. Copies of the updated draft Budget for 2016/17 had been circulated to all. The document now showed figures for the previous year, current year and next year. CC asked that figures be calculated to show a possible spine point increase in salary for the Clerk and for the “living wage” figure to be checked to ensure the Handyman Contract was not below this figure. It was suggested that the annual donation to the village hall be increased by £50. Members of the public were invited to comment on the budget for 2016/17. No comments were made.

7. Cemetery. 7.1 Improvements to the Garden of Remembrance. Two quotations have now been received and the third is due shortly. It was agreed to ask one of the gardeners if they could provide a preliminary sketch. A decision to be made at the December PC meeting.

7.2 Quotations for pillars and gates. Information has been received from the builder on quotations for the gates; however all of the quotes were higher than had been anticipated. It was agreed to obtain other quotes for the gates.

8. Parish Assets. 8.1 Purchase of goal posts/hoops for recreation ground. A quote for installing the posts/hoops had not yet been received. The company concerned had advised that they could also quote for the supply of the posts/hoops. It was agreed that this should be chased up. CC advised that another trustee would need to be appointed for the Village Trust before the funds could be released.

8.2 Work for Community Payback Unit (CPU). PK had met with the CPU to discuss the work at the recreation ground and on the overgrown footpath near Stocks Bridge. The CPU had felt that four days would be needed to carry out all of the work and some material would need to be supplied by the PC. It was agreed that the Clerk should look into the cost of the material and produce a proposal, to include options, to be considered at the next PC meeting. The CPU should also be asked to quote for trimming the grass around the new hedge in the cemetery.

9. Parish Council policies and documentation. 9.1 Business Continuity Plan. The current document had been reviewed and minor amendments made prior to circulation to all. It was agreed to adopt this revised document. 9.2 Clerk’s job description & person specification. The current documents were reviewed and it was agreed that the job description should be amended to include maintaining the register of PC decisions; attendance at meetings. No amendments were needed to the person specification. It was agreed to adopt these documents. 9.3 Handyman’s job description & purchase agreement. The document was reviewed and it was agreed that no amendments were necessary. 9.4 Training Policy. The document was reviewed and it was agreed that no amendments were necessary.

10. Planning. 10.1 C/2/2015/2034-8 (five applications) – Crimplesham Quarry (Northern & Southern site) Variation of conditions of previous permissions to allow extension of date for operations to continue. Frimstone Ltd. The applications were displayed and discussed. No comments were received from the public. It was agreed to send a response to NCC to say that the applications had been seen and the PC had no observations.

11. Correspondence. 11.1 A letter had been received from NCC advising of a consultation on a part-time 7.5 tonne weight restriction on the B1160 via Southery. It was agreed that the PC would send comments which would provide information on concerns raised by the PC to NCC following the planning application by British Sugar, which will increase HGV movements on the A134 along with concerns that some of the traffic will end up diverting through WD and to note that another road traffic incident had occurred since receipt of the report provided by the police following Freedom of Information request. 11.2 A letter had been received from NCC advising of a consultation on Re-imagining Norfolk – Strategic and financial planning 2016/19. LH agreed to look at the documents and report back at the next PC meeting. 11.3 An email had been received from a parishioner regarding the ownership and maintenance of the river banks at the cut-off channel on Station Road. The PC had previously established that this belongs to the Environment Agency (EA) and at the meeting it was confirmed by BL that the EA are giving priority to clearing silt from rivers rather than maintaining the grass on the river banks as they have limited funding and a build-up of silt causes flooding. Clerk to issue response. 11.4 An email had been received from a parishioner asking if the PC was still planning to replace the goal posts at the recreation ground. A response to be sent to confirm that the PC is still planning to go ahead with this project and that a decision should be made on purchase and installation of these at the next PC meeting. 11.5 Three emails had been received from a parishioner on Church Road expressing concern about the increase in traffic speed and numbers on Church Road which they believed was causing verge erosion and was a safety issue to pedestrians. The emails also raised queries over the actions of the PC in dealing with these issues and other matters that they believed fell under the remit of the PC. A response had been sent, which was read out. It detailed all of the actions taken by the PC to try to combat these issues, referring the parishioner to previous PC minutes, and explaining that the Highways department of NCC have authority over the road signs, speed limits and verges.

12. Other Business – Any additional reports and items for inclusion on the next Agenda. 12.1 CW provided details on an incident of an anti-social nature that involved school children in WD. Contact had been made to the school to ask for the matter to be mentioned to all school children using the bus to WD. 12.2 PW mentioned the situation regarding the land falling away in the corner of the field next to the footpath from The Row to the village hall. It was agreed that the Clerk should contact the landowners. 12.2 A pot hole was reported on the corner of The Row near the entrance to Willow Farm. Clerk to refer to Highways. 12.3 PB advised that the edges of the bank needed trimming near Stocks Bridge on Station Road. Clerk to ask Highways to action as could cause flooding if water cannot drain away. 12.4 Another incident of fly-tipping had occurred on Lime Kiln Road near the pit and the fly-tipping on Station Road has not yet been cleared. Clerk to speak to BC Clean-up team about both issues. 12.5 LH suggested that in view of the incidents of fly-tipping maybe the PC would like to consider installing surveillance cameras. BL advised that this can be very expensive and complex to set up. LH agreed to investigate. 12.6 Mud was left on Lime Kiln Road from a farmer on 4 November. It was agreed to send a letter asking for any mud on the road to be cleared in future.

The official meeting concluded at 9.07pm, and was opened to the floor for general comment.

Open Forum. • A parishioner advised that they were able to provide quotation for the goals/hoops and cemetery gates and it was agreed that the Clerk would provide information on the requirements.

Closure. The Chairman thanked everyone for attending, and final closure of the meeting was at 9.09pm.

Next PC meeting is on Thursday 3 December at 7.30pm with Open Surgery from 7.00pm. Clerk: Sarah Thorpe Email: clerk@westderehamparishcouncil.com Telephone: 01945 430930

Chairman’s signature …………………………………… Date ……………………………