Minutes of the annual meeting of Moulton Parish Council held at Moulton School on Monday 9th May 2016 at 6.30 pm.
Present Cllrs / W Rampling ChairmanP Collin / D Clarke
Julie Bonner
M Price
D James / Rachel Webb
ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN
Cllr Bill Rampling, opened the meeting and asked for nominations for the Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year. Cllr D James proposed that Cllr Rampling be elected Chairman; this was seconded by Cllr P Collin, and unanimously agreed. Cllr Rampling signed a Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE – Cllrs Ed Chambers and Ron Wallwork (excused due to personal commitments).
ALSO PRESENT – the Clerk, D Cllr Roger Dicker and Mrs Marian Brown
DECLARATION OF INTEREST – None. Cllr D Clarke requested that his register of interests be amended as he no longer rented a unit at Griffiths Yard.
APPOINTMENT OF VICE CHAIRMAN
Cllr Julie Bonner was proposed by Cllr D James, seconded by Cllr P Collin and unanimously agreed. Cllr Bonner signed a Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
POLICE MATTERS
Inspector Mark Shipton had advised the Clerk that he had investigated the concerns regarding the theft of lead from church roofs and reported that this was not a particular issue for the Forest Heath area. Such crimes in Suffolk were sporadic and opportunist in nature.
Community Speed Watch & Vehicle Activated Speeding Signs
The portable SID had been delivered and the Clerk was authorised to pay the invoice for £3,075 plus VAT, and recover 50% of the net cost from Gazeley Parish Council. The equipment had been placed on cover; the additional insurance premium of £15.54 was approved and half the cost would also be recovered from Gazeley.
The Clerk had contacted the Locality officer at the County Council to claim the grant of £1,500 allocated by Lisa Chambers before she resigned last November.
The Vice Chairman advised that she had heard from the Kentford Community Speed Watch team that they were not covering the Bury Road from the Bell at Kennett to the Animal Health Trust. It was previously understood that this area would be included in their speed watch duties. It was suggested that this decision may have been reversed and the Chairman undertook to follow this up with Kentford PC, so that it was clear who would be responsible for Moulton End. Representatives would be needed from Farriers Grange and Lambert Grove if Moulton Speed Watch was to carry out checks at these locations and it was suggested that a notice asking for volunteers could be put in the next edition of Moulton Matters.
The site criteria for SID locations had been received from the Officer at the County Council now co-ordinating the installation of speed activated signs in the villages, and the Chairman undertook to discuss the requirements with Tim James the Moulton Speed Watch co-ordinator. It was noted that adjacent residents should be consulted over the plans to locate the device in their location.
REPRESENTATIVES ON VILLAGE CHARITIES
The following members of the Parish Council and parishioners were re-elected to serve on the charity committees detailed below, for the ensuing year:-
Church & Bridges Charity D James & P Collin
Fuel Land Josling Bequest Charity W Rampling, Rachel Webb & Lorraine Stone
Village Hall Management Committee W Rampling & David Clarke
Finance Working Group R Wallwork had agreed to serve, along with the Chairman and Vice Chairman.
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 11th April 2016 had been circulated, and it was unanimously agreed that these should be signed as a correct record by the Chairman.
MATTERS ARISING from March and April meetings - covered in agenda items.
COUNTY COUNCIL MATTERS
Cllr Robin Millar had given his apologies and had emailed his report as detailed, which had been circulated prior to the meeting.
Farriers Grange
Woodland Walkway - with regard to the grass, this is obviously not hard wearing enough. I have spoken with officers who are now working on a harder wearing alternative which will be suitable for all round use. I will be meeting with Julie Bonner on 10 May to discuss further. Lighting Columns – I am currently speaking with the relevant officers to progress the removal of the lighting columns. Village Hall Site - I will be attending a meeting this week with residents to hear their thoughts and views on the village hall site.
Highways
I have received confirmation that the B1085 through the village will be resurfaced in 2016/17.I am keeping an eye on the works that have been promised to ensure that these are completed within the timescale of which we have been informed.
New District Councillor
Congratulations to Cllr Roger Dicker on his election. I will make sure he has the full support of the District Council on District matters and I will of course work with him if he has any questions on County issues.
I am grateful for the strong working relationship that the Parish has built up with me in recent months and I look forward to building on this over the coming months.
HIGHWAY MATTERS
Following confirmation that the B1085 was at last to be resurfaced in the current year , the Clerk had been in touch with the Area Highways Engineer to request an update and schedule of other works programmed. It was noted that the patching at the Newmarket junction was already breaking up in places, the surface at the end of St Peters Avenue was in a very poor condition, and there were various loose manhole covers which needed fixing, including one outside the PO Stores, and on Chippenham Road just up from the cross roads.
SCHOOL EXPANSION
All plans were currently on hold and were unlikely to be discussed further until the Spring Term 2017 for opening in Autumn term 2018. In view of this delay the School representatives had asked that works should now proceed with the planned path along School Road, as this was essential for children’s safety. In the long term there would be an independent review of all safety/parking concerns, which it was suggested should be encouraged by the Parish Council, although this would only happen if the school expansion went ahead.
The Clerk undertook to contact the West Area Highways Engineer and ask that the design for the footpath and school bus layby should now be followed up and implemented with the S106 funding held by the County Council. The expansion plans would not affect the path, and by cutting back the hedgerow this would generally improve road safety and visibility at this busy location outside the school gate.
SUFFOLK FIRE & RESCUE – Integrated Risk Management Plan 2015-2018
Following earlier consultations a report had now been published and recommendations were to be put to the County Council Cabinet on 17th May. The Chairman advised that various changes had been made to the original recommendations and the cuts to appliances and staff would not be as great as had originally been proposed. However, there were still concerns that the ability to respond would be reduced, and there was a need for sufficient full time rapid response fire fighters, due to the reduced number of available on-call operatives caused by the changing nature of employment within rural Suffolk. It was proposed, seconded and unanimously agreed that the Chairman (with his knowledge as a retired full time fire officer) should, on behalf of the Council, draft a response, to be emailed to the C Cllr Robin Millar.
DISTRICT COUNCIL
The chairman welcomed the newly appointed representative Cllr Roger Dicker
GARDEN WASTE SERVICE
The following update had been circulated to all councillors:-
“The new, paid-for West Suffolk Garden Waste Collection Service had now replaced the previous brown bin service. As well as paying for the service, another big change was the materials now collected. Green kitchen waste, shredded paper and cardboard, previously accepted in brown bins, were all excluded from the new scheme. Although food waste only accounted for about 6-7% of the previous collections, it meant the entire contents had to be treated at a more expensive facility. Switching to collecting garden waste only has significantly reduced the cost of treatment. More information about this can be found on our website at www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/brownbins .
Residents have a number of options:
Sign up: go online to www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/gardenwaste or call 01284 776119. The service costs £40 for collections between April 2016 and March 2017.
Household waste recycling centres: accept garden waste without restriction and free of charge.
Home composting: heavily discounted composting equipment can be purchased from our partners at Get Composting. A leaflet from the Suffolk Waste Partnership is being distributed to all households. See www.suffolk.getcomposting.com
Share a bin with your neighbour. If you only have a small amount of garden waste, why not share the cost with a neighbour? Payment for the bin needs to be made by one person.
For further information contact 01284 776119
PARISH FORUM – the Chairman reported that the next meeting would be held at the Jubilee Centre, Mildenhall on Wednesday 18th May – Cllr Ron Wallwork had volunteered to accompany the Chairman to this meeting.
Memorandum of Understanding – at the last Forum Cllr Miller stated that changes were being made internally after which he was hopeful of bringing this back to the table, but it was not to be considered on 18th May.
MILDENHALL BASE CLOSURE – an email detailing frequently asked questions about the Mildenhall closure and Lakenheath expansion, had been circulated.
PLANNING APPLICATIONS:-
Felling of a horse chestnut tree (with 30% crown die back to allow adjacent trees to develop) at 16 Anvil Way, and installation of Water Booster pumping station at the Animal Health Trust and minor refurbishment/alterations to the Small Animal Clinic, and a single storey rear extension (first floor and installation of 2 dormer windows having been previously approved) at 21 Dalham Road.
These plans had been previously circulated and were considered at the meeting. It was resolved to support the plans at the Animal Health Trust and the tree works at 16 Anvil Way, and to make no comments in respect of the Dalham Road application.
PLANNING DETERMINATIONS approved – tree works at Moulton Hall, 3 Park Close and the felling of one sycamore adjacent to Jennings Barn on the playing fields.
FARRIERS GRANGE – the Chairman reported that a residents meeting had been fixed for Thursday 12th May at the Gracewell Care Home. Representatives from the Parish, District and County Council would be present and residents from Farriers Grange and Lambert Grove would be invited to put forward potential uses for the original village hall site, and discuss the ongoing concerns regarding the completion of the long awaited planning obligations.
Outstanding issues included the following:-
Contractors had put down loose soil and grass seed on the footpaths leading off Farriers Grange, which had not been compacted down and the surface was already deteriorating. Residents were concerned that this will become muddy in wet weather, and was not a suitable surface for pushchairs or wheelchairs.
The lit woodland walk and cycle way which had been planned to run along the Care Home’s perimeter fence to the teachers union path had still not been carried out and currently the track remained overgrown and untouched.
The children's playground was still taped off and the grass had grown very long and now needed cutting. The grass corner of Anvil Way has been totally ruined by heavy lorries driving over it – the surface is muddy and badly rutted. Needs filling and compacting before re-seeding.
Robin Millar reported that he was currently speaking to officers regarding progress to remove the lighting columns alongside the concrete track. He had also advised the Council that S38 plans had been submitted for blocking off the roadway leading to the B1085 and the ownership of conifers would be determined for removal and clearance of the verge.
Village Hall Site – Cllr Millar had advised that Developers were always encouraged to speak to the residents to hear their views for the site, and he undertook to be involved and sit in on any scheduled meetings with the Developers. The planned meeting on 12th May would allow Council representatives to hear first hand the views of those living on this development.
Congestion/Parking issues Farriers Grange - facilities for improved parking in Jeddah Way need to be addressed. Currently cars are parked all the way up the side of the road. At previous site meetings it had been suggested that a lay by for parking opposite the Care Home would take the cars off the road and improve road safety and visibility.
Lambert Grove – Bloor Homes supported a link to Jeddah Way which would allow the 2 developments to be connected and provide a safe route to access the school bus and shop/PO Stores. Hopkins Homes own the other relevant piece of land, and Cllr Millar had agreed to approach their representative.
LOCAL PLAN – PREFERRED OPTIONS CONSULTATION
The District Council’s preferred option for additional housing numbers was:-
Mildenhall 1359
Red Lodge 950
Lakenheath 800
Primary Villages 750
Newmarket 680
Brandon 70
It had been suggested by the local Planning Authority that the debate on these documents and proposals for the most appropriate places for housing, employment, retail, community and leisure uses would help the elected councillors to make the best decisions. However, the Chairman reported that it was disappointing that none of the Council’s earlier comments on the Core Strategy for growth and site allocations had been taken into account in the 2016 stage of this Local Plan consultation. In particular, the suggested minimal growth for Brandon for just 70 homes, despite significant investment in the town was not a good option. It was also unfortunate that the suggested growth for Newmarket was minimal compared with the other market towns and primary villages, despite being capable of sustaining higher growth than the primary villages.