Saxlingham Nethergate Parish Council

Saxlingham Nethergate Parish Council

Monday 12th September 2016

Present: Roger Stocks (Chairman) Julie King (Clerk)

Paul Newman

Zoe Yarham

Marie Francis

William Goff – from item 5

Members of the public – Florence Ellis, District Councillor.

1)  Apologies
It was resolved to accept apologies from Chris Clements – away; David Moore – working and Lucy Jackson – other commitments, Alison Thomas, County Councillor also sent her apologies.

2)  Minutes of the Meeting Held on 11th July 2016
These were agreed as a true record of proceedings with no amendments.

3)  Declaration of Interest for Items on the Agenda and Dispensations for Councillors with a Pecuniary Interest
None.

4)  Vacancy on the Council
There hadn’t been any further expression of interest. It was agreed that if there was no interest by the next meeting then consideration would be given to advertising.

5)  Public Open Forum
William Goff joined the meeting.
Florence spoke of the call for sites for the local plan 2026-2036, saying that once again there had been more sites put forward than would be needed. She also spoke of the proposed District Council boundary changes, each Councilor would have 2550 residents and the proposal at present would see the removal of the Tasburgh Ward with Saxlingham Nethergate and Shotesham being joined by Newton Flotman and Tasburgh joining Hempnall. Results of the Devolution consultation were awaited and Florence was pleased to say that Long Stratton Leisure Centre had been successful in gaining funding for a 3G football pitch.

6)  Planning

a)  2016/1969 Holgate House, Church Hill
Erection of brick and cobble wall to replace existing tired conifer hedge at front.
It was agreed to recommend approval providing there were no objections from neighbours.

b)  It was noted that for the following application received during the summer, the Clerk had consulted with the members of the Council and had then responded under delegated powers:
2016/1689 1 Kensington Close
Erection of conservatory to the rear of property.
Recommend approval.

c)  Planning Decisions taken by South Norfolk Council
2016/1518 – Agricultural Storage Building Approved with conditions
2016/1689 – 1 Kensington Close Approved with conditions
2016/1642 – The Stables The Green Approved with conditions.
It was noted that there had been an appeal against refusal, made to the Secretary of State against South Norfolk Council regarding 2016/0691 – The Nook, Norwich Road, demolish existing bungalow and replace with 2 no bungalows.

d)  Planning Enforcement Issues
It was noted that the caravan on land off Windy Lane had been removed. It was agreed to thank the Planning Enforcement Officer and Florence Ellis for their persistence in what was acknowledged as a difficult case.

7)  Matters Arising From Minutes

a)  Highway Issues
It was noted that the collapsed footpath on Church Hill had been reported to Highways but that further erosion meant that the area was now dangerous, the Clerk would follow up with Highways.

b)  Allotments
Nothing to report.

c)  Community Emergency Plan
The updated Emergency Plan had been printed and copies would be held by Norfolk County Council, South Norfolk Council, Bryn Austin (Emergency Co-ordinator), Peter Barnes (Deputy Emergency Co-ordinator), Roger Stocks (Parish Council Chairman), Marie Francis (Parish Council Vice-Chairman) and Julie King (Parish Clerk).
Consideration was given to the inclusion of a list of contractors, however concern was expressed that any such list would imply that the contractors were approved by the Parish Council, it was agreed not to include a list of contractors.

d)  Damage to Church Green
Roger Stocks, William Goff, Geoff Blyth (PCC) and the Clerk had met with the owner of Church Green. He had been very willing to work with the Parish Council and had agreed to the installation of two bollards to prevent vehicles using the Green as a turning point and six further posts to prevent parking on Church Green. He had already undertaken some work to the ornate railings and was not against the pruning of the trees to allow easy access for pedestrians across the Green.
It was noted that work had already been undertaken to improve the access tract to the Church car park.
Councillors considered bollards that may be suitable and it was agreed to purchase two steel posts at a cost of around £25 each and six wooden posts at a cost of around £10 each.

e)  Painting of the Railings on The Street
Highways had supplied details of the products and application methods and had agreed to reimburse the Parish Council for the cost. It was noted that it would be necessary to clear the growth under the railings before the painting was done.
It was agreed to obtain a quote from the contractor that had been used to paint the outside of the Village Hall before deciding how to proceed.
It was noted that the paint was already flaking from the railings around the War Memorial.
It was recognised that the railings would need to be repaired following the recent accident before the painting could be done, the Clerk would chase.

f)  Parish Partnership Scheme 2017/18
Indicative prices for bus shelters had been obtained and a further request for a shelter on the A140 at Saxlingham Thorpe had been received. Whilst Councillors understood the request they were aware that there were several places in the Parish where people waited for busses, with limited resources they felt that they were unable to fund the request.

g)  South Norfolk Litter Pick
Some litter picking equipment had been purchased at a cost of £51.37, leaving £168.63 still available to spend. Neil Smith had suggested a picnic bench be purchased for The Meadow, it was agreed to look at suitable all-in-one, man-made timber benches.

8)  New Items

a)  Listing of the War Memorial
Historic England were encouraging communities to apply for their War Memorials to be listed. Councillors were not convinced that there was any advantage in having the War Memorial listed and were concerned at the potential liability, it was agreed not to apply for it to be listed.

b)  Bus Times
Concern was expressed that the bus service serving the village had been cut with only four busses per day to Norwich and the last bus into Norwich leaving at 2.50pm and the last bus home leaving Norwich at 6.05pm. It was noted that prior to February 2014 there had been approximately nine busses a day and Councillors were concerned that the service had been cut by more than half in two and a half years.
It was acknowledged that the service was probably subsidised by the County Council and it was agreed to ask Alison Thomas to look into the minimum service expected by the County Council and seek some assurance that the provision of a public bus service would remain for the foreseeable future.
Concern was also expressed at the lack of communication of the change but it was agreed to obtain a view from the County Council before contacting the bus company.

c)  CPRE Norfolk’s Campaign
CPRE Norfolk were calling on Parish and Town Councils to join with them in opposing the inclusion of Additional Housing Targets in the 2036 Local Plans. It was agreed to support CPRE in their ‘pledge’:
“… to support CPRE Norfolk in its campaign aimed at ensuring that no new sites are allocated for house building in revised local plans to 2036 until all existing allocations in current core strategies have been developed.
… consider that unrealistic and unnecessary new housing targets, currently under consideration, would cause unacceptable damage to the environment and landscape of Norfolk.
… ask that our local authorities prepare cases to demonstrate that the environmental harm caused by slavishly following housing market assessments is serious enough to outweigh potential benefits and in so doing enable the adoption of local plans to 2036 that do not elevate housing targets beyond existing levels.
… note that the Annual Monitoring Reports of local councils reveal that housing delivery is considerable below target levels and that large areas of land already allocated for development remain available and therefore there is no need for new allocations to be made.”

9)  Finance Chq

a)  It was noted that the following payment had been made since the last meeting: No.
Martin Plane Countryside Management Cutting of the footpaths £196.00 356

b)  The following were approved and paid:
Mrs J King Salary & expenses, July & Aug £529.17 357

Norfolk Pension Fund Pension contribution £125.24 358

Glasdon UK Ltd Dog bin and post £152.02 359
Anglian Water Allotment water £18.41 360

Playsafety Ltd Play area inspection £100.80 362
It was agreed to ask a local contractor to install the dog bin.

c)  The following receipts since the last meeting were noted:
Barclays Interest £17.56
South Norfolk Council Litter Pick £220.00
South Norfolk Council Grant for projector £299.00
Saxlingham Nethergate Village Hall Windows & door £5,000.00
Norfolk ALC Transparency grant £176.58
Barclays Interest £16.02
It was noted that William Goff had undertaken the quarterly internal checks and had found everything to be in order.

d)  External Auditor’s Certificate and Report
It was noted that the External Auditor had advised that assets received by the Parish Council as donations, such as the play equipment and seats, should be recorded on the asset register at a nominal £1. It had been necessary for the External Auditor to return the Annual Return for corrections be made and it was noted that this was likely to incur an additional charge.

10) Reports

a)  Footpaths
William reported that he had asked Martin Plane to undertake a further cut of the path between Redwings and Mudhole, although this was a path that should be maintained by the County Council it had become impenetrable due to stinging nettles. He spoke about the 1st January 2026 deadline for any changes to the definitive map, after this date no further changes would be allowed. He said that there were one or two examples in the village of paths used but not on the map and one or two variants were paths were shown inaccurately. He was working with two other Parishioners to coordinate a strategy and would be hosting a coffee morning for walkers to inform them of the project.
Finally he said that some damaged posts had been replaced and that the County Council appeared to have replaced the Boudicca posts to incorporate a new logo.

b)  Village Hall
It was noted that the new windows and door had been fitted and since then the outside of the hall had been repainted. In addition the main hall had been redecorated, the next project would be to replace the curtains.

c)  Playing Field
Paul reported that there had been a burglary: a lawn mower had been taken and the committee were pursuing a claim with the insurance company.
There were plans to verti-drill the Playing Field and it was noted that the committee may ask the Parish Council for a financial contribution
Paul said that the car park was damaged at the Scouts end and that talks were ongoing regarding repair. The Playing Field now hosted Brooke football team as well as Hempnall Veterans. The inside of the Saxon Club had been altered to increase the area for seating. The Cricket Festival on bank holiday Monday had been well attended and a Beer Festival was planned for early October.
William spoke of an Under 14s County Cricket match he had witnessed at the Playing Field and suggested that future games on the circuit be publicised.

d)  Play Area

i  Annual Inspection Report
The findings of the report were considered and the following action was agreed:

(1)  Balance Log – decay to log tops Zoe arrange to be filled with concrete

(2)  Basketball Post – no warning sign Roger to obtain from Bartlett signs

(3)  Kick Wall – strimmer damage obtain quote for protective guards

(4)  Multiplay Junior – decay obtain quote for repair

(5)  Rocker – surface edges shrunk obtain quote for repair

(6)  Slide – foundations exposed obtain quote for repair

(7)  Swing Junior – surface edges shrunk obtain quote for repair.

ii  Maintenance of the Play Area
Onc quote had been obtained for the repair of the multi-climber, it was agreed that quotes for further work were necessary, see point i above.

iii  Grant Application – replacement springer
Three quotes had been obtained, it was agreed to use Action Play who would remove the existing rocking duck and install a new tractor springy and any rubber surfacing repairs for a cost of £824 excluding VAT. An application to Norfolk Community Foundation had been prepared and would be submitted.

11) Correspondence
The correspondence would be circulated.
The problem of fly-tipping was discussed and it was agreed to publicise the method of reporting:
e-mail –
Freephone – 0808 168 2999
on-line form – http://forms.south-norfolk.gov.uk/pub/FlyTipping.ofml

12) General Parish Issues
None.

13) Date of Next Meeting
Monday 10th October 2016.

Meeting closed at 9.26pm.
Chairman’s Signature………………………………. Date……………………

Minutes 2016 09 Page 1 of 6