Minutes of the meeting of Ringsfield & Weston Parish Council held on Friday 17 October 2014 at 7.30 pm at Ringsfield Village Hall
Councillors Present : Cllr P Johnson (Chairman), Cllr P Fearn, Cllr C Leggett, Cllr S Saunders, Cllr L Rees, Cllr A Wheeler, Cllr R Sherriff (arrived 8.25 pm)
Also Present : Mrs T Hazell (Clerk), several members of the public.
1. Apologies : Cllr K Springall and Cllr D Ritchie.
The Chairman welcomed councillors and members of the public and opened the meeting.
2. Declarations of Interest : None
3. To confirm the minutes of the Parish Meeting held on 19 September 2014 at 7.30 pm
Cllr Saunders referred to the item 9(a) and corrected the minute saying that a resident had asked her to bring up the matter of Mr Spaans’ holiday property being on the market. The minutes were duly amended.
On the motion of Cllr Leggett, seconded by Cllr Rees, it was unanimously agreed that the amended minutes be signed as a true and correct record.
The meeting opened for public consultation.
a. Residents’ Questions : None
b. Report from the Police : PCSO Le Surf was not present and no report had been received.
c. Report from Suffolk County Councillor : Cllr D Ritchie has sent apologies and had nothing to report.
d. Report from the District Councillor : Cllr Springall had sent apologies and had attached his shift patterns for the remainder of the year. He further reported on the mobile phone signal stating he had received information from Vodafone that they may be upgrading their signal very soon by renewing the mast at Shadingfield. Also Gillingham CC won their league winning 17 out of 18 games played and two of their players are up for awards of the season and wicket keep of the season in all divisions.
The Chairman closed the meeting for public consultation.
e. The Chairman welcomed Mr Martin Aust of Pathfinder Development Consultants to talk about a proposed housing development in School Road, Ringsfield.
Mr Aust explained the background of his organisation and stated this is an outline scheme proposed on land at School Road, and he is working in conjunction with Saffron Housing Trust of Saffron Walden and Wellington Construction of Lowestoft. The aim is to deliver affordable housing in local communities for local people and those who have a local connection. Mr Aust had a plan of the proposed development although he stated it is likely to be smaller than shown. The mix of houses will be as a result of a housing survey. He added that local people are being priced out of the housing market in the area where they want to live.
Cllr Leggett asked how they would ensure that local people do manage to rent these new properties. Mr Aust stated that there will be a Section 106 agreement limiting this to local people and only if there are no applications from people in the parish, will others from surrounding parishes be given the chance to apply for these properties. He added that the process will be a housing survey, collation of results, if a need is identified then a planning application with consultation will be made, so the whole process will probably be 12 – 14 months.
The consultation would show the numbers and mix of property types and the demand for 1-2 bedroomed bungalows/houses either for rent or a discounted sale. Regarding the school opposite, approval would be needed in the first instance from SCC Highways before a planning application is considered. If 4 – 6 affordable properties are built, there would be 1 or 2 family houses built for sale at market value. He stressed that the affordable houses would be for local people who lived or worked din the parish or who have a strong local connection. If there is no-one local, then the houses would be offered to people in surrounding towns/parishes.
The Chairman felt that if and when this goes to consultation, an exhibition should be held in the village hall. Some local residents who were present felt strongly that they had struggled to get mortgages to stay in the village, and now people can just come in and get a new cheap house.
The Chairman closed this part of the meeting and Mr Aust and the local residents left the meeting.
f. Chairman’s Matters :
The Chairman introduced Mr Bob Mounterey to the meeting who will be observing, as he could be interested in joining the Parish Council due to the vacancy.
Regarding the newsletter, the Chairman reported that he is preparing his Chairman’s letter and will email this to Cllr Rees who is preparing this. Cllr Fearn agreed to do a little write up on Stuart Wilson who had recently passed away. Any councillors who have anything they want to include in the newsletter should send this directly to Cllr Rees.
g. Community Council news :
The chairman stated that we need an official vote which needs to be minuted and signed, and sent off to Mr Robert Horn, to say we wish to rescind the role of sole trustee.
On the motion of Cllr Sherriff, seconded by the Chairman, it was unanimously agredd that the Parish Councilrescind their role as sole trustee of the Village Hall & Recreation Grounds Committee andhand over the responsibility and liability to the Community Council, whilst retaining the ownership of the land.
The clerk had heard from Mrs Lanchester who had stated that we also need to produce the Governing Document for the playing field (not the deed of sale). The clerk could not find this amongst the documents she had in her possession and the Chairman agreed to check the archives once again for such a document.
On the motion of Cllr Rees, seconded by the Chairman, it was unanimously agreed that if the Chairman cannot find the above document, then Mrs Lanchester be invited to go through the files with the Clerk and photocopy any relevant documents needed to begin the process.
4. Clerk’s Correspondence
The clerk had forgotten her report but agreed to circulate this to all councillors by email and attach to the minutes, for the record.
5. Councillors’ reports on meetings attended
The Chairman and Cllr Saunders had attend the Neighbourhood Planning Meeting at Beccles Town Hall when Beccles had invited surrounding parishes to join them in producing a Neighbourhood Plan. They ask for all the parishes’ decision by the following Monday. The Chairman stated that most parishes seemed interested, with the exception of Worlingham who had asked for a little longer to decide.
After discussion, the Chairman proposed that Ringsfield & Weston Parish Councilconsider producing a Local Plan in tandem with Beccles Town Council and other surrounding parishes. Cllr Saunders seconded and the motion was carried (6 for, 1 abstention).
The clerk was asked to inform Beccles Town Council by Monday 20th October of this resolution.
6. Planning Applications
a) DC/14/3004/FUL – Construction of two single storey side extensions on existing garage at Cucumber Hall, Cucumber Lane, Weston by Mr Craig Robinson.
On the motion of Cllr Leggett, seconded by Cllr Saunders, it was unanimously agreed that no objection be given.
b) DC/14/3268/FUL – Construction of single storey side extension at Beckhythe House, Primrose Lane, Ringsfield by Mr and Mrs N Parke.
On the motion of Cllr Rees, seconded by Cllr Leggett, it was unanimously agreed that no objection be given.
c) WDC had granted permission for the replacement agricultural building at Newlands by Mr Andy Parker, and also for the commercial stables complex at Bridleways by Mr and Mrs T Cattermole.
9. Finances
a) On the motion of Cllr Rees, seconded by the Chairman, it was unanimously agreed to sign the following cheques :
Mrs P A Hazell (Clerk’s net salary) £144.25
HMRC (Clerk’s PAYE) £36.20
b) The Clerk reported that she would prepare a budget build for 2015/16 as we will be asked for our precept figures shortly. It was agreed to put this on the November agenda for discussion.
c) The clerk had produced a quarterly bank reconciliation to 30/9/14 which had been circulated to all councillors.
On the motion of Cllr Rees, seconded by Cllr Leggett, it was unanimously agreed that this was a true record of the Parish Council’s financial affairs to this date.
10. Matters Arising
a) Cllr Wheeler referred to historical information about the stones found in a pit at Ringsfield. He asked if anyone knew anything about this – no-one present had but they will ask around.
b) Cllr Fearn and Cllr Rees referred to the whereabouts of the pill box – nobody had any information of this and where it had been. Cllr Rees will continue to research this.
c) Cllr Fearn stated that the parish notice board is a disgrace and suggested it is beyond repair and we should purchase a new one. It was agreed to discuss this at the next meeting.
11. Date of Next Meeting : Friday 21st November 2014.
There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.30 pm.
Chairman …………………………………. Dated ………………………………..