Acle Parish Council
Meeting Date: Monday, 28th November2016
Venue: Methodist Church, Bridewell Lane, Acle
Time: 7.30 p.m.
PUBLIC FORUM:
There were eightmembers of the public present. Matters raised: issues with the diversion for the traffic during the drainage work on the New Road, the helpfulness of the contractors who worked on the A1064 and a report that the Recreation Centre car park was busier than usual because of The Street being closed for parking.
Oliver Simons from the Broadland Youth Advisory Board gave a talk about increasing youth engagement in parish council issues and village matters. The councillors gave their support. Annie Bassham will continue as the link between Acle Academy and the Parish Council.
PRESENT:
Tony Hemmingway – Chairman
Sally Aldridge, Annie Bassham, Angela Bishop, David Burnett,Roger Jay, Julia Line, Jamie Pizey and Parish Clerk Pauline James.
Parish councillorsBarry Coveley, Jackie Clover and Ellen Thompson, County Councillor Brian Iles, and District Councillor Lana Hempsall.
2 / DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Roger Jay and David Burnett declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in any financial transactions with the Recreation Centre, as Trustees. Angela Bishop reminded councillors that she has a daughter at Acle Academy, which was the applicant for a planning application.
3 / MINUTES
The minutes of the meetings of 31st October 2016 were agreed to be correct, and were signed by Tony Hemmingway as Chairman of the Parish Council.
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4.1
/ MATTERS ARISING
The Parochial Church Council sent their thanks for the Parish Council’s increased grant towards the grasscutting at the churchyard.
4.2 / The drainage works on A1064 were completed and the contractors have started work on the New Road drainage scheme.
4.3 / There was some discussion about planting crocus and daffodil bulbs around the village.
4.4 / David Burnett reported on a useful restorative justice session with two young people who had caused some vandalism at the Recreation Centre.
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5.1 / CORRESPONDENCE
AcleFirst Responders – no further information was available.
5.2 / Decisions on grants for charities were deferred until the March meeting.
5.3 / The Police website listed 11 reported crimes in Acle in August 2016.
5.4 / BDC is updating the list of tree wardens. Local residents are welcome to volunteer.
5.5 / Better Broadband for Norfolk will be installing a new communications cabinet on the verge outside the telephone exchange, to improved Broadband speeds. This was noted.
5.6 / The Broads Authority is consulting on its Broads Plan 2017. This was noted.
5.7 / The Greater Norwich Local Plan Sites Schedule notes that Acle is not considered suitable for strategic scale growth because of the majority of land outside the flood risk zone is Grade 1 agricultural land and because of a lack of sewage capacity.
5.8 / Acle Allotment Society has decided not to continue with the purchase of a powered wheelbarrow because of thefts from the site earlier in the year.
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6.1 / PLANNING
Planning applications:
i)The Wensum Trust, The Bungalow, Acle Academy – change of use from educational facility to light industry (20161917) – short term tenant whose primary business is the supply of education hardware. The councillors had no objections in principle but asked the clerk to check that adequate safeguarding procedures would be carried out.
7 / HIGHWAYS MATTERS
7.1 / Litter picking – the councillors discussed a proposal to set up a group of local residents who wish to meet up to collect litter. It was agreed that the Parish Council would provide hi-vis jackets and litter picking tool, and bags. One or two residents already pick up litter in the village regularly.
7.2 / Christmas lighting. The Council’s contractor is booked to check and re-lamp the coloured lamps in The Street and to install strings of lights in the folly tree. A new length of cable was purchased for the folly tree. It was agreed that Rhino’s could advertise under the Christmas tree if they paid for the tree and assisted in the delivery.
7.3 / A resident requested a No Cold Calling Zone for Norwich Road – currently the only zones are Bridewell Lane and Priory Close. It was felt that several roads in the village could benefit from this scheme. It is necessary to obtain the approval of the majority of residents in each road. The clerk will write a questionnaire.
7.4 / There had been some vandalism at the public toilets again. It was agreed to consider the installation of CCTV. The clerk was asked to discuss this with a local contractor.
7.5 / The councillors chose a chevron shape for finger posts for village signage. There will be further discussion about location of signage at a later date.
7.6 / It was noted that one or two residents are continuing to park by Crossway Terrace, despite the temporary parking restrictions. It was reported that some buses are ignoring the signed diversion and are driving down Old Road past Wilkersons instead of going by Crossway Terrace. The parking restrictions and diversion are managed by Norfolk County Council.
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8.1 / RECREATION CENTRE
Trustee Barry Brooks gave a report; The portacabin for the outdoor bowls club will be delivered in the New Year. The ground works have been completed. The upgrade of the main hall has been finished. The committee is considering leasing an area to a car wash contractor. The income from this would be used to pay for creating additional parking. All expenses would be paid for by the hirer, such as drainage and power.
It was noted that £65,564.21 has been paid to date as part of the Parish Council’s agreed £82,000 donation toward the refurbishment of the main hall.
9 / PROJECTS
9.1 / Springfield:
The contractors have confirmed that the boundary hedge along the A1064 is to be trimmed back and reduced in height. The plan was to leave the hedge, but to install a wire mesh inside it, to allow access to the hedge for maintenance, but to leave the hedge as the visible boundary. Potential buyers have expressed concerns about road noise so the contractors are now considering installing a 1.8m close boarded timber fence with concrete posts, inside the gardens, but with removable panels to allow maintenance of the hedge. This was noted.
A resident reported problems with various sub-contractors parking in Springfield. The land has been very wet so they are trying to install a piece of road, which can be used for parking. Meanwhile the sub-contractors are being encouraged to park on-site.
The sub-committee will meet on 19th December to consider the various proposals for the new play equipment.
9.2 / CPO for Cemetery Land
Nothing to report.
9.3 / Fletcher Room
The Pre-school reported that there are 43 children registered with them at present; 10 x 4year olds, 20 x 3 year olds and 13 x 2 year olds – all bar 4 are from Acle.
9.4 / Youth Club
The youth club staff have agreed to monitor the use of the pool table and will remove it from use if any damage to ceiling tiles continues. They have reported some rubbish left behind from other hirers.
Only one permanent volunteer has been recruited. Only one YMCA staff member is contracted to continue after 20th December. There were concerns that if the volunteer had to miss a session then the club cannot run with only one staff member.
The cost to employ a second staff member for the rest of the year is an additional £2,000. After some discussion, it was agreed to pay for a second staff member until 31st March 2017 and to review this again at that point.
9.5 / Website
Discussions were postponed until the next meeting.
10 / FINANCE
Receipts: / £
Beighton PC / Share of exps / 15.58
Strumpshaw PC / Share of exps / 32.76
BDC / Community Infrastructure Levy / 9,644.28
Broadland DC / Prize for Resilience Group / 100.00
Cemetery / Memorial and burial fees / 751.50
Direct Debits:
SWALEC / Street lighting electricity for month / 761.57
Online Payments made between meetings:
L E Electrical / Christmas lights- bulbs / 1,814.80
Nisbets / Catering equipment – part of donation / 2,427.16
Online Payments:
Employment costs: / 3,322.98
Pauline James / Clerk’s fee and expenses - SO
-Balance of exps
Norfolk Pension Fund / Clerk’s pension – E’ees and E’ers
Mick Ward / Cleaning - SO
- Balance
HMRC / PAYE & NIC
Garden Guardian / Grasscutting / 1,158.59
Soc of Local Council Cl / Subs / 250.00
Acle Recreation Centre / Room hire for Youth Club - October / 60.00
Hugh Crane Ltd / Supplies for Fletcher Room / 76.78
Secker & Sons / Service of conditioner in Fletcher Rm / 38.95
Anglo Scottish / Portacabin for outdoor bowls / 5,400.00
Furniture Finishers / Kitchen Equipment (donation) / 5,743.90
B & Q (TH) / Cable for folly tree lights / 663.00
Cheques for payment:
Wilkerson’s / Consumables / 22.09
Acle Society / Delivery of newsletter / 40.00
T T Jones Electrical / Repairs of street lights / 259.01
Methodist Church / Meeting room hire / 34.00
Bal c/f 28th November 2016 / 230,854.48
Government Stocks / 136,446.00
Cambridge B/Soc / Instant access 0.15% / 75,000.00
Lloyds Bank / 12m to Feb 2017 1.05% / 175,000.00
Nationwide B/Soc / 12m to Feb 2017 1.2% / 75,000.00
Total monies / 692,300.48
£93,791.32 is held by Mills & Reeve to be used to pay for the crossing on A1064.
The report of Actual v budget for the 8months to 28th November 2016was presented and noted.
11 / MATTERS FOR NEXT MEETING
-Website
-Allotments
-Hedges and trees
12 / DATE OF NEXT MEETING – 19th December 2016
13 / TO CO-OPT A NEW COUNCILLOR
Two residents expressed an interest in being considered as parish councillors. After some discussion there was a vote and Anna Wade was co-opted on to the Council. The councillors thanked both candidates for their interest and reported that it had been a difficult decision.
There being no further business, the meeting was closed at 9.50pm
Signed:………………………………….Dated: 19thDecember2016
Chairman
28.11.2016 1