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SAHAM TONEY PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A MEETING HELD ON THE 13th APRIL 2015
A meeting of the Parish Council was held on the 13th April 2015 at 7.30 p.m. at The Wells-Cole Community Centre.
Present – Mr. J. Kemp in the Chair supported by Messrs T. Bunce, R. Harrold, B. Hinkins, J. Laws, and Ms. M. Baldwin.
1. Apologies for Absence: Apologies received and accepted from Messrs R. Cooper, P Cross and M. Nichols and Mrs P. Grieff.
2. Declaration of Interest in Items on the Agenda: No councillor declared an interest in the Agenda items.
3. Minutes: The Minutes of the Meeting held on the 2nd March 2015 were taken as read, proposed by Mr. T. Bunce, seconded by Mr. R. Harrold and unanimously agreed and signed.
4. Matters Arising from the Minutes and Action List:
· Registration of Coburg Lane - on Agenda
· Accident on bridge in Cley Lane – Bridge has been repaired and standing water reported to the Highway Ranger for his forthcoming visit.
· Registration of Church Green – on Agenda
· Oak Tree on the Playingfield – The Clerk and tree warden had met with a representative of the tree preservation office at Breckland who had advised that the tree merely needs the dead wood removed and the crown checked for disease. Three quotes had been received and were discussed. It was proposed by Mr. T. Bunce, seconded by Mr. B. Hinkins that Andrew Harrold is asked to do the work.
· WCCC - on Agenda
· Seat in front of WCCC – leave for new council to organise.
· Road surface breaking up at the entrance and further along The Oval – the roads have been surface dressed and the pot holes reported to the Highway Ranger.
· Lack of dropped kerbs in the parish – nothing further heard – Clerk will contact highways again.
· Footpaths breaking up – these will be inspected during the next planned road inspection.
· Watercourse down the side of Ploughboy Lane and water crossing the road from the barns. The water level had gone down in the ditch but this is probably due to the drier weather. Problem needs to be monitored.
· Flooding on Cressingham Road near Saham Hall – nothing heard from Highways – clerk will report again.
· Broken cradle swing – now repaired.
· Hazard marker posts Chequers Lane – reported to the Highway Ranger.
5. Resolution to Adjourn the Meeting for Public Participation and District/County Councillor Reports: The Chairman closed the meeting and reminded the public that this is the only time they can speak.
Several parishioners spoke re the proposed development of 5 dwellings on Chequers Lane. The main points made are summarised below:-
1. Chequers Lane is an uncategorised road with no footpath and a narrow bridge. There are already 29 houses under construction on the Clayland development and an application in for 73 on Saham Road, Watton
2. The proposed site floods with surface water regularly. Chequers Lane and Cley Lane already suffer flooding due to the inadequate sewerage and surface water drainage systems. Further development would increase the problem for existing residents. There are already 29 extra houses on the Clayland development under construction.
3. The Medical Practice in Watton has already delisted patients from Saham who have had to find alternative practices and therefore there is no spare capacity in the local doctors.
4. The village school is full and children will therefore have to travel to schools in other areas.
5. Some of the photography is very imaginative even to the point of not showing an existing property in the photographs
- The site of the development is situated on a bend in the road. The road is used as a short cut to Watton by people travelling from both the Swaffham and Watton directions. Traffic travels at speed and the road is dangerous.
The Chairman reopened the meeting.
6. Correspondence:
· Email re merger of Norfolk RCC – The Norfolk RCC has merged with the West Norfolk Voluntary and Community Action to form an organisation called Community Action Norfolk. They will continue to operate from the office in Dereham.
· Letter from the Pensions Regulator re workplace pensions – Every employer with at least one member of staff must automatically enroll those who are eligible into a workplace pension scheme and contribute towards it. The Clerk has nominated herself as the contact and the staging date for the Council is 1st February 2017. Whilst this does not apply to the present Clerk as she is past retirement age, it will apply to any younger Clerk in the future.
· Email re Recreation Contributions – explaining that the Council will have to apply for any funding once it has been paid.
· Letter from the Chairman, Village Fete Committee asking for permission to hold the Village Fete on the grounds of the WCCC on the 25th July. All in agreement that this is in order.
· Email from Breckland re completion of new Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and Other Registerable Interests Form following the Election. Clerk will forward to all councillors.
· Information from NALC re new Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities – From the 1st April 2015 all items of expenditure over £100 for the previous year have to be published online along with the Annual Return and supporting documents. Items for the financial year ending March 2015 will need to be online by the 1st July 2015. The Code also requires draft minutes of all formal meetings to be published not later than one month after the meeting has taken place and meeting agendas and associated papers to be published not later than 3 days before the meeting.
7. To Approve Accounts for Payment:
The following accounts are due for payment:-
· CGM – £883.90 - Grounds maintenance at the WCCC and Church
· NALC- £250.54 – Annual Subscription
· Mrs. P. Nichols - £175.50 – Community Car Scheme (half repayable by Breckland)
· Mrs. J.S. Glenn - £496.75 – made up of Salary £476.76
Broadband £19.99
· Norton Anti Virus - £49.99 – Subscription
· Saham Toney Fuel Allotment and Perkins Charity - £250 – rent for allotment land
An invoice payable to Fenland Leisure Products Ltd in the sum of £78 for the replacement blue rings for the cradle swings had been paid between meetings.
The payment of the above accounts was proposed by Mr. J. Laws, seconded by Mr. R. Harrold and unanimously agreed.
8. To Agree a date for an Internal Audit Meeting: The Chairman and Brian Hinkins to attend this meeting at the Clerk’s house on Friday 24th April at 10.00 a.m.
9. To Consider Planning Matters: Planning Permission received to Plan 3PL/2014/1266/F - minor alterations to window and door positions and layout of plots at Clayland Development, Cley Lane and Plan 3PL/2015/0148/CU re change of opening hours to 10.30 p.m. on 2 nights per month at Penny’s Tearoom, Lowe Caravan Park, Hills Road. Planning Refusal received to Plan 3PL/2015/0009/F – residential development of 4 bungalows and double garages at The Croft, 69 Hills Road and Plan 3PL/2015/0103/F – new touring and static caravan park together with ancillary works at Land off Ovington Road.
The following plan was discussed:-
· Plan 3PL/2015/0242/F – Proposed 5 residential dwellings with associated access drive and amenity space and garaging at land adjacent Stanway Farm, Chequers Lane. After discussion on a vote it was unanimously agreed to object to this proposal. In addition to the points raised by parishioners the following points to be made:-
o Chequers Lane is supposed to be a SUSTRAN route where families can safely ride bicycles. Increased traffic would make it very dangerous for children to enjoy this route on their bicycles.
o A previous application for a single dwelling with an agricultural restriction was rejected some years ago.
o The site is outside the original development boundary.
o While the Environment Agency have commented regarding the aquifer running across the site, they have failed to highlight the implications regarding the high water table even during times of drought when you only have go down a couple of feet before water appears in the hole.
o The Designs and Access Statement is incorrect where it states that the application has been discussed with Parish Council members.
o No flood risk assessment has been submitted.
o Not on a bus route – only the school bus travels this route during term time.
o There should be an Environmental Impact Report on sites which exceed 0.5 hectares.
o The foul water disposal is of major concern given that the Council is aware of the pumping station which cannot cope with sewerage at present let alone when the 29 houses on Cley Lane are completed.
o There is no Climate control assessment.
10. To Discuss a Report on the Peacock Nuisance in Richmond Road: A parishioner had prepared a report on the peacock nuisance and councillors had read the report. All councillors were in agreement with the proposed plan and the Clerk will write to Breckland Council confirming this.
11. To Discuss the Progress of the Registration of Coburg Lane: - Nothing further to report.
12. To Discuss the Registration of the Church Green: Mr. B. Hinkins queried if this scheme is now financially viable when the Council are cutting expenditure and there is no budgeted expenditure for this registration. The registration fee is £150 and there would be the cost of making good the area and grass cutting and maintaining the green. The matter will be discussed further at the next meeting when Mrs. P. Grieff will be in attendance.
13. To discuss the Progress re the Wells-Cole Community: The Clerk had sent the Management Committee an Agenda for the Annual Parish Meeting but had not heard anything further. The Clerk will contact them before the meeting.
14. To Discuss the Local Council Award Scheme: The Clerk had been to a meeting re the new Quality Scheme. The Council has to decide and register for one of the new levels of quality before the end of this year. There are three levels – Foundation, Quality and Quality Gold and the Clerk thought the most appropriate one for the Council would be the Quality tier. Before the Council can apply the Clerk has to update her CiLCA qualification by taking the section on the General Power of Competence and is trying to find training to complete this. This General Power of Competence then has to be adopted by the Council. The total cost of gaining the Quality status would be approximately £200. This matter will be discussed further at the next meeting.
15. To Consider Reports from Outside Organisations: The Clerk read the Speedwatch report. During March there had been 20 vehicles recorded as exceeding the speed limit over 3 hours in 3 locations.
The Clerk read the Playpark Inspector’s Report. Screws had come loose and had been replaced with more substantial screws. Moles are starting to cause a problem and some braches need to be removed to above head height. The Clerk said the mole problem must be done before the Village Fete. The entrance to the Under 8 enclosure is again worn down and perhaps a more permanent filling than soil could be considered. The Chairman and Mr. T. Bunce to look at this.
The Clerk thanked Hazel and Keith Sultano for cutting back the brambles on the dog walk the morning after the last meeting before the Council could arrange a Working Party – this is much appreciated.
Mr. B. Hinkins had previously attended a meeting re the proposed development of 73 houses in Saham Road, Watton. The Parish Council had not objected to this development but had objected to similar developments of varying numbers on the same site. It was agreed the Clerk should write to Breckland and object as before.
Mr. B. Hinkins had attended a meeting re “Watton Matters” which is a group formed to work under one umbrella to deal with planning. A Chairman has been appointed and it has support from the local media. Mr. Hinkins had been invited because of his interest from Saham’s perspective in developments in Watton.
Mr. T. Bunce and R. Harrold had attended a presentation re Neighbourhood Planning at Breckland. Mr. T. Bunce said it had been organized by Breckland and the NALC and was attended by representatives from other areas including Broadland and West Norfolk and Kings Lynn. Cringleford PC was in the process of producing a Neighbourhood Plan because their village had grown by three times its original size. The cost of this is £20,000 (although £14000 has been received in grants) and it can’t influence the number of houses but gives local people a say over where new homes, shops and offices will be built. Once a Neighbourhood plan is in force the local council can benefit from the CIL levy to fund infrastructure. The Plan has to go to referendum and the cost of this is paid for by the District Council. Mr. R. Harrold said he thought the Council should apply for the grant from Breckland for a Neighbourhood Plan. This matter to be discussed further at the next meeting.
Mr. C. Carter (District Councillor) gave his report as he had been unable to attend the meeting earlier. Mr. Carter said that grants will be available for the production of a Neighbourhood Plan and he can help with this. He will again be standing for election to represent this parish at the forthcoming elections. Mr. Carter will give a full report for the past year at the Annual Parish Meeting on the 20th April.