Stoke Ferry Pc - December MInutes

STOKE FERRY PARISH COUNCIL DRAFT Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on Wednesday 5 December 2018 at 7.00pm in Stoke Ferry Village Hall

In attendance: Cllr Sue Lintern (Chair) Cllr Jim McNeill (Vice-Chair) Cllr Daphne Clements Cllr Grant Hopkins Cllr Trudy Mann Cllr Gail Reeve (Vacancy – 1) Helen Richardson (Parish Clerk and Financial Responsible Person)

Public: 12 Also, in attendance: Cllr Colin Sampson, Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Cllr Martin Storey, Norfolk County Council

246/18 Apologies for absence Apologies were received and accepted from Cllr Mandy Leamon and Cllr Kit Hesketh-Harvey.

247/18 Declarations of Interest on Agenda Items and Dispensation Requests There were none.

248/18 Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting on 7 November 2018 The Parish Council agreed to amend the minute number 227/18 Clerks report to advise that it was Footpath 5 (FP5) and not Footpath 2 (FP2) which the Parish Council had been investigating. The Parish Council approved the minutes of the ordinary meeting held on 7 November 2018 as a true record, there was two abstentions in relation to non-attendance at that meeting. Cllr Trudy proposed, Cllr Gail Reeve seconded, five were in favour.

249/18 Clerk’s Report (Inc Matters Arising) a) Buckenham Drive – The Clerk advised that she and Cllr Mandy Leamon had met with Nathan Johnson, Manager of the Grounds Team at the Borough Council who had advised they would not cut back the area of land in question as it was amenity land. They had also advised the Clerk that they owned the piece of land. The Clerk reported that they asked who owned the adjoining land, to which they were advised it was the 2Agriculture mill and who were also looking to develop it for housing. The Clerk added that Nathan advised that through the planning process they may look to transfer the piece of land to the mill to be incorporated into the development. Cllr Colin Sampson shared that since that time he was now involved in getting a working party together to try and resolve the issues of land which included the piece in question and a further update would be available next year. He shared that a lot of small pieces of land had not been not transferred to Freebridge Community Housing due to issues with the land conveyancing at the time of housing transfer around 12 years ago. Cllr Colin Sampson shared that it might be the following financial year until anything would be cut there. The Parish Council asked that people who live in this location contact the Parish Council if they felt they had any issues with the piece of land. It was agreed to further discuss within an agenda item in February. b) Play Equipment – The Clerk shared that the Parish Council had not been successful in their bid for Wormegay’s play equipment. c) Children’s Centre’s – The Clerk had responded online to the NCC Consultation. d) Dukes Head – A letter had been sent to the Property Department at the Borough Council regarding the Dukes head on 28 October via email and the Clerk awaited a reply. The Clerk would be chasing for a response early December. e) Hedging was planted in the Cemetery – The Parish Council wished to thank the resident who had arranged the free hedging from the Woodland Trust and for a working party on 24/25 November to plant them, as well as thanks to those who attended to volunteer their time to help. The Handyman had removed brambles in the hedge prior to the event. The resident who had volunteered their time to the project had written a note for the Parish Council sharing further ideas and thoughts for the cemetery. The Chair read the note which advised the following: • Missing tree guards could be added; • Planting along the fence at the spoil heap and adding of a layer of mulch once the chip and guards have been delivered; • Leave the remaining hedge alone; the ivy was good for biodiversity, in be-ing full of birds, honeybees and other insects, the Woodland Trust had thought the same when they attended the site in April. • The resident was happy to continue to work with Stoke Ferry Parish Coun-cil to plant trees/hedges in the cemetery or village next year if required. • Suggestion to consider planting 1,000 crocus bulbs along the new hedge-row at the cemetery facing the road which approximate cost would be £90. • Sow wildflower seeds in the spring at the hedge and cemetery to attract pollinators and provide ground cover. Seeds from Emorsgate Seeds can be supplied for around £30. The Clerk agreed to write a letter of thanks to the resident who led the project. The Parish Council agreed to discuss the suggestions at the January meeting within an agenda item. f) Website - There had been hacking threats to the website in November which resulted in it being down for just over a week whilst the website administrator resolved it. The website was now back up and running. g) Grit Bins – NCC confirmed that they had it on their schedule to fill all grit bins. The Clerk agreed to write to residents of Bradfield place who may park their cars near the grit bins, to ask that they avoid it so that the grit bin is visible for refill by NCC. h) Portaloo Lynn Road – The Clerk advised NCC Highways had now removed this. 250/18 Application for Parish Council Co-option The Chair advised that the Parish Council had received an application for Co-option from Mr Doug Lawson and they had met with him prior to the meeting to discuss his application. The Chair asked the Parish Council to vote on his co-option application by way of show of hands, those in favour were zero and those against was six. The Chair thanked him for the application.

251/18 Furlong Road Access Cllr Trudy Mann presented the item and shared that there had been residents in contact with the Parish Council about issues regarding access and use of Furlong Road by lorries as a short cut or in error following their SAT Navs. The Chair shared the following advise received from Norfolk County Council’s Karl Rands, Area Manager for Highways:

‘he was aware there was a 7.5T weight restriction (except for access) on Furlong Road with unsuitable for HGV signs erected. He hoped it would be enough to deter most HGV’s although access for deliveries are exempt. It would not be impossible to implement a permanent one-way traffic regulation order (TRO) although the main issue we often find is an increase in vehicle speeds. A TRO would need funding £6k and would take a year to process from start of the design work. It would be subject to the usual consultation exercise and therefore would have no certainty of success. I have no budget for TRO work and therefore funding would need to be sought externally. This would not prevent determined HGV drivers from using the route but may encourage them to driver faster. Enforcement of the weight restriction is a matter for the police and may be worth raising this with them. Alternatively, if you know which company is ignoring the restriction it might be helpful for the Parish Council to contact them directly.’ Members of the Public shared the following points and some emails also had been received from residents which were noted:

• A British Sugar lorry had scrapped a resident’s car and which the driver had been caught; • Signage was an issue and current ones were obscured by overgrown trees; • To make it one way may turn it into a rat run; • The Parish Council could write to the resident whose tree it was and ask that it be cut back to reveal the signs; • Two properties along Furlong Road had entrances that stepped straight out into the road which was a concern when lorries and vehicles travel or speed down the road; • Parking of cars down Furlong Road helped to slow traffic down.

The Parish Council agreed that improvement of the signage to Furlong Road was an option which it hoped would stop lorries and alert drivers when entering Furlong Road to slow down and take care or avoid travelling down it. The Clerk agreed to investigate access only signage as well as any other options in order to resolve the issues and agreed to write to the owner of the tree which over hung current signage to ask that it be cut back.

252/18 To Discuss: Planning Consultation: 18/02068/RMM Reserved Matters Application: Residential development at Land South of Lark, Road Stoke Ferry Norfolk The Parish Council commented that the same issues seemed to apparent within the planning application submitted regarding the narrowness of the road as commented before by the Parish Council. It was noted that the footpath stopped part way into the development, the Parish Council thought this was an outturn of the road being too narrow to accommodate it further. The Chair shared the NCC consultation letter which was publicly available on the Borough Council’s planning portal and which were the same comments of which had been raised before. Cllr Jim McNeill proposed to object to the planning application for the same reasons that the Parish Council had submitted before based on highways issues, seconded by Cllr Daphne Clements, all agreed.

253/18 To Approve: Parish Partnership Funding 201920 Application The Chair shared that there were two proposed projects which NCC would pay 50% costs towards as follows:

• Markers on Finger Posts for the footpath walks around the parish in conjunction with the booklet that was being drafted, total project cost £500 plus VAT, NCC and Parish Council contribution £250 plus VAT. • Wooden village gates for all four entrances, total project cost £2432 plus VAT, NCC and Parish Council contribution £1216 plus VAT. Prices included eight wooden gates, NCC highways team installation, paint and handyman time to install.

The Chair advised that she was concerned if both projects were submitted, they might only choose one and it was agreed to submit the application for the village gates for 201920 and submit the application for finger posts markers within the 2020/21 submission. The Chair proposed submission of the Parish Partnership Bid for village gates to the costs of £1216 plus VAT to Stoke Ferry Parish Council, seconded by Cllr Trudy Mann, all agreed.

254/18 Approval of Village Sign Design and Costs Following discussion, it was agreed to include solid pieces within the design of the sign to avoid it appearing in the shape of the cross and have it painted in colour. The Parish Council acknowledged that it may need painting every 2-4 years, but it would be worth having it painted for impact. The Chair advised that the sign would be placed within the gardens area. Cllr Gail Reeve proposed accepting the drawing and costs of £2820 including VAT to have it commissioned and in colour, seconded Cllr Daphne Clements, all were in favour.

Following a query, the Chair shared that she had been unable to source a local company to etch the gardens area footpath map in metal to date and if anyone knew of any company that was able to provide this to let the Parish Council know.

It was agreed to add improvements to the gardens area to the January agenda under the same item where bulbs would be discussed.

255/18 Grass Cutting Monitoring Cllr Trudy Mann shared that the grounds maintenance contractor had suggested that a skip be placed behind the fenced area in the cemetery and cuttings could be collected to make it appear nicer. The Chair was concerned that it might encourage people to use it for their own rubbish and it seemed to be the case for litter bins elsewhere in the village. The Parish Council confirmed they were happy for Cllr Trudy Mann to monitor the grass over the year, she added that grass was cut every two weeks, but in order to maintain the best schedule of cuts she felt that the contract should allow for flexibility. It was agreed to review the Grounds Maintenance Contract in February.

Cllr Grant Tomkins left the meeting due to health reasons at this point.

256/18 Cemetery Memorials Cllr Daphne Clements shared that there had been complaints about some the memorials in the cemetery particularly use of mesh and wooden surrounds, it was believed to be an effort to stop rabbits. The Parish Council was concerned if it allowed such additions to memorials others may do the same, the Clerk agreed to review the cemetery regulations. Cllr Daphne agreed to take forward with the memorial owner and report back in January.

257/18 Planning Decisions from the Borough Council: 18/01639/F Stoke Ferry Barn Behind Bramble Hall Greatmans Way Stoke Ferry Norfolk - Rebuild of agricultural barn for the continued use of agricultural storage and the welfare of animals Application Permitted 22 November 2018 Delegated Decision

The Parish Council noted this item.

258/18 Handyman/NCC Rangers or Public Rights of Way (Footpaths/Bridleway) Issues The Chair shared that all the paths in the public footpath booklet had been walked by various members of the public as a test and further drafting would now take place. There had been no further information regarding Footpath 5 which the Parish Council was trying to find which side of the ditch it was located on.

259/18 To Approve: Payments and Accept Accounts The following payments and statement of accounts was available for approval to the Parish Council.

Clerk Clerks Wages and Expenses -Nov 18 283.92 0.00 283.92 HMRC Nov-18 64.20 0.00 64.20 Veolia Cemetery Bin Emptying 16.04 3.21 19.25 EON (DD) Streetlights Electricity - Oct 2018 65.28 3.26 68.54 Ocean Remix Website Hack Fix 20.00 4.00 24.00 Royal British Legion Poppy Wreaths x 2 50.00 0.00 50.00 Mr A Stannard Handyman - Nov 18 24.00 0.00 24.00 Mr Sparkle Grounds Maintenance 162.00 0.00 162.00 SF Village Hall Village Hall Hire 30.00 0.00 30.00 total 715.44 10.47 725.91

As at 2 November 2018 Business Account 35671.43 Community Account 722.12 36393.55

The payments and statement as presented was proposed for approval by Cllr Trudy Mann, seconded by Cllr Daphne Clements, all agreed.

260/18 To Discuss: Draft Budget and Precept 201920 The Chair read items from the draft Budget and precept that had been received prior to the meeting. The Clerk advised that it would be made available on the website. The Chair shared that final approval would be at the January meeting. The Parish Council agreed to consider placement of the costs in relation to the village gates and village sign for further discussion in January. Following a query, the Clerk shared that the Parish Council could continue to budget for the membership of NALC and when membership figures for the next financial year were received the Parish Council would be asked to review it at that point. The Parish Council felt that the budget looked good for the following financial year and were pleased to see that it was likely that they would be able to reduce the precept.

261/18 To Approve: Revised Policy on Dealing with Abusive, Persistent or Vexatious Complaints Cllr Jim McNeill proposed its approval as presented, seconded by Cllr Daphne Clements, all in favour.

262/18 To Approve: Standing Order Amends The Chair approved the amendments to the Standing Orders as presented, seconded by Cllr Jim McNeill, all agreed.

263/18 Urgent items as agreed by the Chairman

1. The Chair had been advised that she had been notified that due to ill health the last date of trading of the Stoke Ferry Post Office would be Thursday 28th February 2019. Work was taking place to find a company to take it on and these efforts would continue.

2. The Chair shared that there had been mill alarms queried by residents in the last month and Sam Brown, Regulatory Office, Norfolk Installations Team at the Environment Agency advised on email the following:

• Email dated 27.11.18 – ‘We have had just one incident reported to us in the last two weeks. This was a fire alarm on the 16th November 2018. A non-compliance was not issued to the site as it was a genuine alarm following a smoulder in one of their feed bins’. • Email dated 29.11.18 – ‘The only alarms he or his site contact had been aware of was the fire alarm relating to the smoulder and then some additional alarms last week, during the week, as they were changing the fire alarm panels and doing some testing related to this’.

There was to be an audit by the Environmental Agency in December and the Parish Council would await to hear an update on that. The Chair shared that the following was discussed at the last Mill Liaison Committee meeting:

• The air quality monitor showed an average of 13 PM10’s which was within their limits and anyone wishing to view the data could visit the website airquality.net. • There had been three complaints in June, the complaints were sent to Environment Agency regarding a sprinkler system and they did not issue a non-compliance due to working procedures being followed. • The Mill were reviewing the klaxon noises but not the fire alarm noises as they had to comply within regulations and their insurance. • They advised there was a complaint regarding a rumble to a resident’s property and it was believed to be from braking concrete up within the mill. • The Fire Brigade had attended the mill and advised that everything was safe. • Machinery fixes to a belt was being placed in the budget for the next financial year. • The Environment Agency were happy on progress made regarding dust management within the factory. They had enclosed a delivery area and replaced lots of pipes. • Amber Holdings, not 2Agriculture were starting to look to replace windows and guttering on the properties on Lynn Road. The windows had been inspected recently. • The Wretton Road access had been reviewed by the Police with Gavin Berry who confirmed they were working within traffic regulations and renewed their licence. • The factory agreed to a suggestion from Councillors to place a notice board outside the factory so that within 24 hours they would be able to make public aware and to explain any occurrences from noise, alarms or other issues and alleviate any concerns.

2agriculture had leafleted parts of the village advertising their public consultation event to be held on Wednesday 12 December from 4.00 - 7.30 pm in the Stoke Ferry Village Hall regarding their housing development plans. Cllr Jim McNeill shared that he thought when the mill had addressed the Parish Council at a previous meeting, they had advised that their housing development plans and numbers were only ideas, but the leaflet circulated seemed to show this was not the case and he was concerned about that. The Parish Council noted that the newly presented plans show 70 proposed dwellings on the Mill Site and 30 on the Storage Site. The Clerk agreed to add a copy of the leaflet onto the website.

3. The Chair wished to thank members of Parish Council and the public in their efforts for the Remembrance Sunday service.

264/18 Cllr Colin Sampson (BCKLWN) and Cllr Martin Storey (NCC), if in attendance

Cllr Colin Sampson • Reiterated thanks for the Remembrance Sunday services across the borough with some great initiatives shown, it was particularly nice that thought had been given for involvement of children.

Cllr Martin Storey • The Village Hall Christmas decorations looked very pleasant for Christmas. • Congratulations to the Clerk for coming runner up in NALC Clerk of the Year and shared that he felt Stoke Ferry were lucky to have a Clerk of that calibre as well as the other serving communities that she worked with. • PCC Lorne Green had held a consultation over Police and Fire Services coming together and over those that responded the had stated 58% were in favour. Cllr Martin Storey updated that the PCC had decided not to take amalgamation plans forward at this time. Cllr Martin Storey advised that he queried the fact that 9.5k people responded but the population was much higher within the whole of Norfolk to ascertain the true feelings of the people. He was grateful for those that had contacted him, and he had put those views forward. He had shared concerns of the people he had met that that the police were less visible, though he pointed out that Norfolk did very well statistically against the rest of the country. He shared that the National Farmers Union had reported up to October 2017 there had been £950k claimed for plant theft, but as at October 2018 it had dropped to £618k dropping which was positive. • The NCC website had lots of information on Christmas time events going on across Norfolk, for families and museums etc. • NCC was keeping an eye on the budget and was grateful if members of the public contacted them with any ideas on what they may be able to make savings for.

The Chair adjourned the meeting to allow for public comments at 9.40 pm.

The Chair reconvened the at 9.55 pm.

265/18 Receive items of concern & matters to be included on the next agenda from the Parish Council

Cllr Trudy Mann updated that the WI bench which had been agreed to add to the gardens area had now been shot blasted. It was agreed to obtain a quote for painting it in black with gold lettering. The Clerk agreed to add to the January agenda and Cllr Trudy agreed to obtain a quote.

Cllr Trudy Mann commented that the Remembrance soldier metal cut outs at the war memorial where marvellous and she and the Parish Council wished to thank the people who had created and installed them, the meeting gave a round of applause.

266/18 Confirm the Date of the Next Meeting

All agreed to hold the next meeting on Wednesday 9th January 2019, a week later than usual.

The Chairman wished all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.

The meeting closed at 9.00 pm