Minutes of Oulton Parish Council Meeting – 2 May 2017

Cllr Hunter, Chair, opened the meeting at 19.35

1Attendance

Present:

Parish Cllrs Peter Collecott, John Grist, Lindsey Hook, Brian Hunter – Chair, David Jefferson, Bill Robertson, Valerie Small, Charles Swan

District Cllr Malcolm Cherry

Lynne Ward – Parish Clerk

Ann O’Callaghan – Chair, Oulton Neighbourhood Plan

Apologies received:

Parish Cllr George Hawes

County Cllr Len Jacklin

District Cllr Jane Murray

Absent:

County Cllr Bert Poole

District Cllr Ed Back

2Declarations of Interest

Cllrs Collecott, Grist and Hunter declared an interest as members of Oulton Community Association.

3Minutes of Last Meeting

It was proposed by Cllr Grist and seconded by Cllr Swan that the minutes of the last meeting held on 4 April 2017 be adopted as a true record.

APPROVED

4Clerk’s Report

  • The Clerk reported that acknowledgement of the renewal of Oulton Parish Council’s membership of Community Action Suffolk had been received, together with a membership certificate.
  • The Clerk reported that Oulton Parish Council has beenregistered for Love East Suffolk litter picking scheme for 2017-18. Litter bags had been requested for delivery to the Clerk.
  • The Lake Lothing Third Crossing Project Team has confirmed that the Project Manager, Jon Barnard, will attend the next meeting of Oulton Parish Council on 6 June to provide a 20 minute presentation.
  • As agreed at the last meeting, the Clerk accepted, on behalf of the councillors, the invitation from Matt Gooch for a walk around Suffolk Wildlife Trust land. A choice of Sunday dates had been provided by Matt Gooch. The Clerk was asked to request evening dates instead and to confirm that the councillors would like to visit Oulton Marshes.
  • The Clerk reported Chris Punt was willing to be appointed as Internal Auditor to Oulton Parish Council (appointment confirmed at the Annual Parish Council meeting which directly preceded this meeting). The Clerk will meet with Chris Punt during w/c 8 May.
  • The Clerk contacted Chris Sperrin and Phil Perkin for availability for a meeting with the parish council. The councillors have selected Monday 22 May and asked the Clerk to confirm with Chris Sperrin and Phil Perkin.
  • The Clerk contacted Louise Sayer in Waveney District Council Legal Department with regard to a by-law to prevent parking on grass verges in the parish. Louse Sayer referred the Council to the existing by-law which was confirmed in April 2008 by the Secretary of State. It was acknowledged that enforcement was difficult but that notices could be posted to warn drivers. The Clerk agreed to send an electronic copy of the by-law to Cllr Cherry and to contact Louise Sayers to request advice regarding enforcement.

5Matters Arising

  • The invitation to the Annual Parish meeting was circulated to councillors. The meeting will be chaired by the Parish Council Chair and refreshments will be provided. The invitation will be uploaded to the website and attendees are asked to let the Clerk know that they wish to attend. The Clerk will advise the Chair of the numbers for refreshments. A number of local organisations and traders will be invited
  • It was decided that future monthly meetings would start at 19:00.

6Council Vacancy

The Clerk reported that, as at the closing date of 24 April, no election was requested from Waveney District Council and that the Oulton Parish Council can go ahead and co-opt a councillor to fill the vacancy.

7Reports

Cllr Murray

Cllr Murray’s written report accompanies these minutes.

Cllr Cherry

  • Cllr Cherry reported that the issue of parking on grass verges was serious in St Margaret’s Ward. This issue was covered earlier in the meeting.
  • Fly-tipping was increasing in St Margaret’s Ward and Cllr Cherry reported that he was working on it. The Clerk advised Cllr Cherry of the pressure that the Bonds Meadow Committee had put on Waveney District Council to ensure that a number of recent instances of fly-tipping were appropriately dealt with and that this had resulted in a fine being applied. Cllr Collecott agreed to draft a letter to Waveney District Council on behalf of Oulton Parish Council to register councillors’ concerns and to request information about the number of fines and prosecutions that have been made.
  • Cllr Small asked Cllr Cherry for an update on the removal of the green bin in her area. Cllr Cherry reported that this had been passed to him by Cllr Murray and that he will follow it up.

Police Report

In the light of the reassurance from Tim Passmore that parish-specific police data would be provided, Councillors requested that Cllr Murray be asked to follow this up with Tim Passmore to ask how and when the data would be made available.

8Open Forum

Neighbourhood Plan

A report from Ann O’Callaghan accompanies these minutes.

Parishioners

There were no issues raised

9Planning Matters

  • DC/17/0704/VOC – approved
  • DC/17/1142/FUL – approved
  • DC/17/1276/LDO – observations have been submitted by Oulton Parish Council – no decision yet
  • DC/17/1641/FUL – no objections

10To receive Clerk’s Finance Report

1The Clerk’s monthly salary has not yet been paid but will be made very shortly

2The first precept instalment for 2017-18, a sum of £6,173.47, was received from Waveney District Council on 26 April 2017

3A schedule of S111 money available for spending on public spaces and play areas within the vicinity of Oulton developments shows various sums totalling approximately £7,566, with varying deadlines by which they should be spent through to January 2020. The majority must be spent by the end of this calendar year, with the first deadline being 3 October 2017 for £956 for land adjacent to 27 Church Lane.

4Information has been received from SALC re Transparency Funding Applications for councils whose turnover does not exceed £25,000. Councils are eligible to apply and the Clerk will find out more information.

5Councillors were asked to consider and approve the following payments:

Item / Date / Payment Method / Amount / Power
Extended Insurance Cover / 2.5.17 / Cheque No 100839 / £18.16 / LGA 2000
Oulton Neighbourhood Plan Questionnaire / 2.5.17 / Cheque No 100840 / £355.20 / Localism Act 2011, Town & Country Planning Act 1990, Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
SALC 2017-18 Subscription / 2.5.17 / Cheque No 100841 / £938.54 / S137

11Donations

Councillors were asked to consider and approve the following annual donations:

1St Michael’s Church - £500 (cheque no 100842)

APPROVED

2East Anglian Air Ambulance - £250

APPROVED

3Suffolk Accident and Rescue Service - £250

APPROVED

4Oulton Community Council - £1,000

APPROVED

5Waveney DIAL - £250

APPROVED

12Closure of Meeting

Cllr Hunter declared the meeting closed at 21.32.

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