Stoke Ferry parish Coiuncil Minutes - April

STOKE FERRY PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on Draft Wednesday 3 April 2019 at 7.00pm in Stoke Ferry Village Hall

Present: Cllr Sue Lintern (Chair) Cllr Daphne Clements Cllr Kit Hesketh-Harvey Cllr Mandy Leamon Cllr Trudy Mann Cllr Gail Reeve (Vacancy – 1) Helen Richardson (Parish Clerk and Financial Responsible Person)

Public: 5 Also, in attendance: Cllr Colin Sampson Cllr Martin Storey, Norfolk County Council Mr Chris Philpott, Footpath Warden

67/19 Emergency Evacuation Procedures was read by the Chair.

68/19 Openness and Transparency Notice - The Parish Council record the meeting. The Chair notified the public of this.

69/19 Apologies for Absence Apologies were accepted for Cllr Jim McNeill (Vice-Chair) (personal reasons) and Cllr Donna Stocking (personal reasons).

70/19 Declarations of Interest on Agenda Items and Dispensation Requests There were none.

71/19 Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting on 6 March 2019 There was one minor amendment, the minutes of the Ordinary meeting held on 6 March 2019 were accepted as a true record, proposed by Cllr Daphne Clements, seconded by Cllr Trudy Mann, five were in favour and one abstained.

72/19 Clerk’s Report (Inc Matters Arising) • The Clerk had reported the drain cover 32-34 Wretton Road with Highways which has since been repaired. • Planning application responses from the Parish Council were returned following the March meeting in relation to the mill, mill grain store and Lark Road developments. • The Stoke Ferry Parish Council had been successful in its Norfolk County Council Parish Partnership Funding for Village Gates. The work involved to procure them as detailed in the bid would be actioned in early July after the election and audit period had finished. • CNC Building Control, who were contracted on behalf of the Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, advised that following a visit they did not deem the old Dukes Head building as dangerous or a concern with the fencing that was in place around the building. The Clerk had contacted them subsequently regarding the chimney and fencing that wasn’t around one end of the building, but CNC Building Control advised this was also not of concern in terms of their remit. CNC Building Control referred the case back to the Borough Council as a case of ‘Untidy land’. The BCKLWN confirmed to the Parish Clerk that the owner was undertaking some work which they would be monitoring. It has been reported that the chimney has since been repaired. • Norfolk County Council Highways had advised the Clerk on email at the end of March that they would be working with the owner of a collapsed wall on Furlong Road, to ensure the fencing currently in place was secure since coming loose and would also be looking to discuss a more permanent solution. • A Councillor advised that the mill and mill grain store planning applications had been called in and would be going before the Borough Council’s planning committee in early June and the date would be suitable for Parish Council attendance. • FP4 and FP1 had been ploughed up and needed re-instating, the Clerk agreed to contact the farmer and update with the Public Rights of Way Officer at Norfolk County Council. • The Clerk agreed to contact the developer about the Indigo Road site and ask for an update and make a strong request to clean the site up from brambles. It was noted that the metal fencing had been in place there for around seven years. 73/19 BCKLWN Local Plan Review - Consultation Draft The Chair advised that the draft BCKLWN local plan to 2036 had been received as part of their public consultation, available online, and closing for comments on 29 April 2019. She added that the local plan identified two further pieces of land for up to 7 further dwellings from the previous 27 in the plan. The Borough Council had supplied the Parish Council with an extract from the consultation document which would be made available on the website.

The Chair shared that if the infill of development occurred then there would be more housing than was detailed within the local plan. The Parish Council discussed that Stoke Ferry did already provide more than its fair share of housing and this was outlined within the Local Plan as exceeding its quota. It was noted that within the recent planning applications for the mill and mill store outside the village boundary, that there was potential for too many houses.

It was noted by the Parish Council that the Lark Road development in the local plan was detailed as being suitable for 5 dwellings, but the application that had been made was for 13. Cllr Martin Storey shared that the numbers in the local plan represented a minimum and therefore the final planning application could be higher than this level. He added that there were fees the developers may be required to pay for CIL payments or educational fees and the CIL payment had recently risen to 11% as at 1 April 2019.

The Chair shared that the Parish Council had received communication from the Campaign for Rural England who was seeking support for their campaign for no new sites for house building in local plans, until existing allocations in core strategies had been developed. It was agreed not to support their campaign as there was concern that such a scheme for development in terms of sites like the mill, could mean that they are prevented from development if only the sites within the local plan are permitted first.

The Parish Council strongly felt that since the draft Local Plan was written, Stoke Ferry’s circumstances had changed significantly, and this needed to be conveyed to the planning officers. The Parish Council wished to strongly outline the following in their response to the consultation:

• The Local Plan for Stoke Ferry was factually incorrect and the information within it was out of date. • The Primary School in Stoke Ferry and local High School in Methwold were both over-subscribed. It was noted that the primary school had indicated that they were able to find room extra classrooms. It was noted that Methwold also had housing development itself, further exasperating the problem. • The Stoke Ferry pre-school on the primary school site was also oversubscribed with a waiting list. • The bus route that the village had was very sporadic and infrequent. • The village had recently lost its public house which was currently up for sale. • The village had also lost its Post Office in March 2019, and it was hoped that a mobile post office van could come to the village though this was yet to be arranged or confirmed. • There was a lack of local employment currently apart from small business opportunities. The mill development would see some of the current employment in the village ending. • There had already been several dwellings developed and ones that were pending in the village, including the recent planning applications for the mill and mill store of around 100 homes. The housing levels for build within the village were already stated within the plan as exceeding levels required.

The Parish Council agreed to send the above points to the BCKLWN as response to the consultation.

74/19 Additional Proposed Works to the Gardens Area It was agreed to defer until the May meeting.

75/19 Village Spring Clean – Keep Britain Tidy Campaign The Parish Council were in favour of a spring clean day. It was agreed that Cllr Donna Stocking lead on the campaign to advertise and make any other arrangements.

76/19 Mid-Summer Fayre Arrangements The Chair shared a poster that had been created for the Mid-Summer Fayre on Saturday 23 June. A band called the Elderberries had been confirmed with Ed Taylor. Andrew Standard had agreed to provide the disco. There was a plan to have a Giant Inflatable Slide and other inflatable equipment. The Ice cream van was also pending. There was to be a tortoise and parrot display, bingo event and race night during the evening time. Necessary licencing and insurances will be procured. It was agreed to charge £5 per stall to cover costs of the event.

Cllr Kit Hesketh-Harvey agreed to ask book author Richard Coates, who had written an updated version of a book about Stoke Ferry, if he wanted a stall. It was felt that this would bring an aspect of providing identity of the village to the fayre.

It was agreed to spend up £1500 previously allocated within the 2019/20 budget.

77/19 Revisions to the Communications Protocol The Parish Council had received a revised Communications protocol, proposed by Cllr Kit Hesketh-Harvey, seconded by Cllr Gail Reeve, all were in favour.

78/19 Equal Opportunities Policy Cllr Daphne Clements proposed the approval of the adoption of the Equal Opportunities Policy as presented, seconded by Cllr Sue Lintern, all were in favour.

79/19 Grievance Policy Cllr Daphne Clements proposed the approval of the adoption of the Grievance Policy as presented, seconded by Cllr Gail Reeve, all agreed.

80/19 Urgent items as agreed by the Chairman The Chair wished to congratulate Carol Nicolas Letch on becoming a Deacon, now Rev. Deacon Nicolas Letch as of last Sunday.

81/19 Payments and Accounts Reconciliation to Date The following payments and accounts were presented:

Payee Payment for Net VAT Total Clerk Clerks Wages and Expenses -March 19 286.32 2.08 288.40 HMRC Mar-19 64.32 0.00 64.32 Hodson Office Supplies Ink and Paper 24.96 4.99 29.95 BCKLWN Dog Waste Collection Annual Fee 226.20 45.24 271.44 Wave Cemetery Water 55.16 0.00 55.16 Veolia Cemetery Bin Empty 18.08 3.62 21.70 Handyman Mar-19 48.00 0.00 48.00 Grounds Maintenance Mar-19 150.00 0.00 150.00 SF Village Hall Village Hall Hire 20.00 0.00 20.00

Total 893.04 55.93 948.97

As at 1 March 2019 Business Account 30780.52 As at 1 March 2019 Community Account 2582.09 33362.61

The payments were proposed for approval by Cllr Mandy Leamon, seconded by Cllr Daphne Clements, all agreed.

82/19 Approval of Certificate of Exemption – AGAR 201819 The Chair shared that the Parish Council were not obliged to have a limited assurance review, or an annual governance return to the auditor provided that the authority has certified itself exempt after 31 March 2019 and a certificate has been submitted notifying the external auditor. However, the Chair proposed that the Stoke Ferry Parish Council should continue providing a return to the External Auditor. Cllr Sue Lintern proposed to return the audit to the External Auditor, seconded by Cllr Kit Hesketh-Harvey, all agreed.

83/19 Receive items of concern & matters to be included on the next agenda from the Parish Council and note forward items It was noted that the grass cutting at the Playing Field and in the cemetery was going well and looked good.

84/19 Cllr Colin Sampson (BCKLWN) and Cllr Martin Storey (NCC), if in attendance

Cllr Colin Sampson • Grass cutting cross authority agreement was progressing. • A report following the consultation on dog fouling within parishes had been complied but slipped for discussion by the Borough Council to June. The quality and quantity of information received from the public and parish councils was good. • The Borough Council Lottery had been in place for around 11 months and had been successful so far. People were able to support charities by making nominations online. It was a weekly draw, and a minimum purchase of a month’s tickets was applicable. Proceeds from the lottery went towards funding for local charities.

Cllr Martin Storey • Since the Budget meeting at Norfolk County Council security has been stepped up at County Hall. • Norfolk County Council highways had received £12m of funding from the Government for road repairs with £2m earmarked for fen roads. There had been many road works in the past few months and it was good to see works being done. • A decision had been taken to take off two of the mobile library vans across the county, though the vans left would be attending the same places within a revised schedule. A representative could attend to discuss anything the Parish Council should it be needed. • Norfolk County Council did not have an election like the Borough on the 2nd May and their decisions continue as normal. All information was on the website and worth reviewing on a regular basis. He was always available should the Parish Council or the public need to discuss any matters with him.

Cllr Daphne Clements shared that she was finding it hard to get in touch with the Post Office about a mobile van service come to Stoke Ferry. The Clerk agreed to forward details to Cllr Daphne Clements that she had and though the service may be from the Upwell Post Office.

85/19 Adjourn the meeting to allow for public comments The meeting was adjourned.

86/19 Confirm the Date of the Next Meeting It was agreed to hold the Annual Parish Meeting and Annual Meeting of the Parish Council on Wednesday 15 May 2019 at 6.30 pm in the Stoke Ferry Village Hall. The meeting was later in the month due to the elections and the bank holiday.

Meeting Closed at 8.25 pm

87/19 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC The Council to pass a resolution excluding the press and public from the meeting in accordance with Section 1(2) of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted. To discuss any urgent HR issues, Contracts or Legal Proceedings. To discuss HR related topic.

Resolved.