Minutes of Newton Flotman Parish Meeting
22nd May 2007
Held in Newton Flotman Village Centre
In Attendance
D Gibbs – Chairman Parish Council
R McKelvey – Vice-Chairman Parish Council
C Turner – District Councillor
A Pond – County Councillor
Rev’d S Gaze- Church
A Pownall – Allotments
A Simmonds – Newton Flotman Pre-school
S Gibbs – Village Centre Management Committee
J Wilson – Newton Flotman & District WI
D Robinson – Newton Flotman Primary School
B Adams – Parish Councillor
J Peterson – Parish Councillor
A Cox – Potential new sub postmaster
E Domeyer
Apologies
D Davidson – Parish Clerk
R Smith (Tree Warden) – Nothing to report
J Broughton (Home Watch) – Report sent
B Kelf – Parish Council
The minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting dated 23 May 2006 were taken as read and signed as correct.
Mr David Gibbs, Chairman of the Parish Council, welcomed everybody who attended.
A brief Summary of the main points mentioned by the organisations is as follows:-
Allotments
All 22 available allotments were let during 2006/07. 2 allotments have been split in half due to size of plots being too large for some allotment holders to manage. The ‘free allotment’ kept free for people to have manure delivered, which became a bit of a dumping ground, has been cleared and is now being used as intended.
A minor incident reported of non-allotment holder burning old furniture on the ‘free allotment’, person concerned was informed allotments are only to be used by allotment holders.
Most allotments are kept in good condition with a few becoming overgrown. It is anticipated these will become available in September 2007. Mr Pownall has a short waiting list so doesn’t think letting plots out will be a problem.
It was acknowledged that the Parish Council purchased some chestnut fencing to help prevent vandalism. Unfortunately it would appear there is a small area still unfenced which children are getting through, but it is hoped this area will be blocked by the growth of brambles.
Some Alan Avenue residents (south boundary) complained of rats entering their gardens. A rat trap was purchased but nothing caught. No nest could be found and it is thought there may only have been a few rats which were destroyed by the Rodent Officer who attended one of the households who complained.
The ditch along the west boundary still fills with water during heavy rain. The pipe under the gardens of Alan Avenue is not big enough to take the flood water. A grating over the inlet pipe from the west boundary ditch was promised by Bovis but has not been installed. A wire mesh has been placed over the pipe but this catches debris during times of flood which is difficult to remove.
The Allotment Society (affiliated to National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners) has 8 members. A barbecue held last year was successful and it is hoped to be repeated this year. The secretary of the Norfolk branch of the National Society was invited to the barbeque and took photos of the allotments which have been incorporated in the Society’s 2007 calendar.
Church
The PCC are considering if it would be possible to make some of the services any earlier than the current service time of 11:00am.
Special Agents, the title given to the children’s activities on Sundays, are held on 3rd and 4th Sunday meeting in the Church Room and are growing in numbers. They have a simple service and activities before rejoining the rest of the congregation towards the end of the main service.
Music – small team of people who play piano and organ have been joined by a guitarist to play at services.
Christmas services were well supported. Other special services held during the year were Palm Sunday Procession, Good Friday Meditation, Remembering Loved Ones and Christingle.
Social Events – In 2006 a car boot sale at the Village Centre raised nearly £200, there was also a Harvest lunch at the Mill. In 2007, a benefice quiz was held in March and sixties night.
The Church Room was officially opened in November 2006 during a special service attended by the archdeacon David Hayden and Chris Collinson (former vicar).
The church is financially sound but is still very much aware of being over dependent on a small number of generous donors.
The church actively supports Christian Aid and the use of fairly traded products.
The readers and clergy take communion to the housebound and a monthly service is held at Olive House residential home. Pre-school links are maintained through pre-school children visiting the church and S Gaze (vicar) visiting the pre-school. Regular assemblies are held at the primary school with end of term services being held at the church. A Tuesday club is run after school with the aim to involve youngsters in the Christian faith through games, songs and learning about the bible.
The PCC is still investigating the possibility of hosting a post office within the church. A survey carried out showed that many people would value this service.
Church Parish Development Plan – A series of workshops were held throughout March 2007 in order to develop the future of the church and the role it plays in the community. Task groups have been set up to progress some of the ideas raised i.e. Drop In Centre (for tea/coffee) which opens in the Church Room every Saturday, Welcome Pack, Toddlers Activity Group.
Pre School
High numbers of children means all sessions are nearly full. An Easter sponsored walk was very well supported with over £1000 being raised which went towards the cost of two coaches to take the children to Banham Zoo. The rest of the money raised will be spent on new equipment.
The pre-school now takes children from the age of two so they have had to organise their curriculum and purchase toys/equipment to suit these very young children.
Once again it has been another successful year which is the result of hard work and commitment by staff and committee.
Newton Flotman & District WI
Membership remains stable at 34 with 2 losses due to ill health and family commitments.
The WI have followed an interesting and varied programme of monthly meetings + visits to the Humbleyard Group, Wymondham Abbey, Bentley Gardens (Essex) and the Theatre Royal to see the Operatic Society production of 42nd Street.
Other interests are:
· Sport -darts, ten pin bowling
· Craft - a skilled team who have had notable successes in both county and local shows
· Public Affairs – some members actively involved with Farmgate Milk Prices Campaign and PCT consultation about closure of community hospitals.
· Science – hosted some of the Royal Society events at WI house in Norwich + workshops
· Arts – stained glass and photography workshops
· Food and Social Skills – have enjoyed entertaining visitors as well as their own culinary efforts. A successful fashion show (members were the models), a Garden Party and more recently 17th Birthday Party at Relish.
Last years Christmas Market was a great success with a donation of £350 being given to the local Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Newton Flotman Village Centre & Alan King Playing Field
The new heating system has been running successfully for some months. The gas tank has been removed together with the willow tree which has been growing next to it.
Hedges along the access road have been trimmed and the debris burnt.
Guttering around the front of the building has had to be altered as one of the drains was blocked. Parish Council kindly helped with the bill. A new drainage gully has been put in besides the front paving and piped into the rain water drain. It is now hoped that the paving will no longer flood.
Work on the new kitchen has been completed. The ‘easy access’ toilet is due to start soon.
Maintenance of the hedges and clearance of ditches is on going. It has been established that the ditches have not overflowed during the recent heavy rain.
The committee were thanked for all the work they have done to make this another successful year.
District Councillor
Four Initiatives from South Norfolk Council:
1. Want to introduce 5 neighbourhood panels across the district which are based on the Police's Safer Neighbourhood Teams so we join-up Council activity with police work. The 'Alliance' [rebadged South Norfolk Connects] will share out this money to the area panels and they can spend it as they wish on specific schemes.
The panels will comprise of 6 elected members and 5 people from the local community, which includes people from Parish/Town councils.
Parish Councils will be expected to identify projects in their parishes and submit a very short grant application [a side of A4], which their local Councillor will bring to the Panel and explain what is required. The Ward Councillor acts as advocate for the Parish's/local group's application.
2. We will enshrine the Community Call for Action in South Norfolk's Constitution. What does that mean? We will give the Parish/Town Councils the right to bring items of wider concern to them to South Norfolk Council and the Scrutiny Panels will take on those issues and investigate them on the Parish's behalf.
3 Affordable Housing - 60 years ago the architects Tayler & Green designed a series of 'Council Houses' for the former Loddon Rural District Council. They were ahead of their time. In Gillingham, there is a terrace of these houses which are listed, which shows how important they are on a national stage. Same in Bergh Apton and there are similar modest developments throughout the eastern part of the district. The designs at that time were avant-guard. They anticipated features that were only incorporated in the building regulations many years later. They have built communities. They have stood the test of time.
Where possible can the parish find a little space for a few homes, reserved exclusively for local people or those with a bone-fide connection with the village.
4. Telephoning the Council will be free.
Two items raised which the District Councillor was asked for support on were (1) Speeding on Flordon Road and (2) Flordon Road/A140 junction.
Newton Flotman School
This has been a very successful year for the school. Mr David Robinson started in September 2006 as the new Headteacher, taking over from Mrs Gill Cook who has moved on to Attleborough Infant School. Very soon after the appointment the school was visited by OFSTED for a full inspection. The inspection process confirmed the schools strengths and weaknesses and showed very clearly the emphasis being placed on the development of the whole child and their contribution to the wider society, which was praised as “Outstanding”.
Following this, being a Church Voluntary Controlled school, the school was visited by a diocesan inspector who once again praised the school in its focus to develop the whole child.
It has been an exciting time with many changes recently. The school currently has 105 children on roll and are going up to 120 in September with a full reception class arriving. They have been fortunate enough to be able to double the number of laptop computers in the school and enable the school to be wirelessly networked throughout. A minibus has also been purchased so that they can take children to all the exciting events around the area without the huge cost of coach rental.
Mr Robinson has introduced TAG Rugby in the school to such great effect that the school came 5th in the county championships having progressed through cluster and area tournaments. There is always a lot happening in the school and they are constantly grateful for the selfless and tireless efforts of so many people; parents, governors, friends and staff.
Tree Warden – Nothing to report
Home Watch
Throughout the year there has been an encouraging interest in developing Home Watch across the District such there are now 498 schemes with a total of around 8000 member households. In Newton Flotman there are three Home Watch schemes and other contacts in School Watch and Post Office Watch. The Home Watch schemes are in Dell Close, Higher Green and St Mary’s Close. It had been hoped, after an enquiry last November, that there might be another new scheme in Newton Flotman but there was obviously a lack of interest to take it further. That was disappointing because it remains a fact that people in Home watch are better informed about crime and crime prevention than other members of the public and therefore are unlikely to be victims of crime. John Broughton (South Norfolk Home Watch Administrator has now retired.
Parish Council
The Parish Council meets every two months plus various Planning Meetings. Agendas and Minutes are published on the Notice Board at Lime Bank. Items of interest are also published in Partnership.
Items of note:-
Pay for grounds upkeep Village Centre & King’s Green
Joy Avenue/Dell Close path – now included in Ground Maintenance Contract
Temporary repairs to Village Centre Access and Car Park completed
Support for the Church (maintenance of church yard and Partnership newsletter), ‘Victim Support Unit’ and Air Ambulance
Recycling (wheelie bins) - over £750 this financial year
Bus Shelter – has been cleaned on a regular basis – now need a replacement cleaner (£20 per month)
Further initiatives:-
Newton Flotman Mail Group
Parish Plan
Development of a Newton Flotman Web Site
Supportive of efforts to maintain a Post Office in the village
We are still short of a Village Constable and an Emergency Coordinator.