343

Bressingham Parish Council

Draft Minutes of the Meeting held on 3rd March 2008

The meeting opened at 7.30 p.m.

Present

Councillors, Chairman Mr D Hodges, Mr R Aves, Mrs S Craggs, Mr D Craggs, Mr A Kinnear-King, County Councillor Mr B Spratt, District Councillor Mr K Weeks.

Also present was Mr G Harvey, Ms G Hirst from SNDC and the clerk, Mike Mortimer.

1 Apologies for Absence

Mr N Morley, Mrs E Gerrard, Mr R Bartrum, Mr D England

2 Minutes of the meeting held on the 7th January 2008

The minutes were agreed

3 Declaration of Interests

There were no declarations of interest

4 Matters Arising from the Minutes

The clerk informed the meeting that Hastoe had agreed to replace one of the two bedroomed properties in the planned housing in School Road with a three bedroomed house. The Chairman welcomed the decision but expressed concern at the slow progress. The clerk was asked to contact Hastoe Housing to request an update.

Mr Craggs said he had spoken to Ken Webb about the Bressingham web site and agreed to a trial at running it.

5 Presentation by Georgina Hirst from SNDC on Parish Plans.

Ms Hirst outlined some examples of parish plans and explained how the plan should be developed by a steering committee of volunteers from various groups in the parish. Having formed the committee the people of the parish should be consulted, usually by a questionnaire, to establish the aim of the plan which could regard traffic, housing, access to services, playgrounds and so on. She pointed out that parish plans could sometimes be incorporated into the local development framework and even be adopted as supplementary planning guidance. She said funds were available.

It was agreed that an announcement should be made at the Annual Parish Meeting in April that the PC was considering adopting a Parish Plan and a request made for interested groups to come forward.

6 County Councillor Spratt's Report

Mr Spratt informed the meeting that the County Council was increasing its part of the council tax by 3.9 per cent.

7 District Councillor Weeks' Report

Mr Weeks reported that the District Council was not increasing its portion of the tax at all.

Regarding the redesign of the SNDC logo Mr Weeks said that the combination of the less complicated new logo and a new printing machine the District Council had bought would result in great savings over time.

On the matter of restructuring Norfolk's local government he informed the meeting that it seemed unlikely that Norwich would given unitary status and that Norfolk would either have a single governing body or two dividing the county into East and West.

344

8 Highways

Mr Weeks spoke about a meeting he and Parish Councillor Morley (Vice Chairman) had had with Mr Overland of the Highways department at School Road. He reported that Mr Overland had expressed the view that a long term policy was required but that it was also important to do something in the short term regarding the state of the road which he felt needed piping. Mrs Craggs expressed concern that improving or widening the road was inviting more heavy traffic.

Regarding the flooding on Agar Road Mr Aves informed the meeting that he had been in contact with the landowner who was already planning to deal with the problem. Mr Aves also mentioned a pot hole and trench in Kenninghall Road that needed attention and the clerk was asked to bring it to the attention of Mr Overland.

9 Correspondence

A request for a donation towards the CAB was considered and it was agreed that a contribution of £100 be made.

The clerk relayed the content of a phone conversation with a person from South Lopham who was looking for

an allotment. It was agreed that the small amount of vacant allotment available should be held in reserve for Bressingham and Fersfield residents.

10 Planning

A schedule of planning applications and decisions was provided.

11 Finance

A financial report was made available and payments were agreed.

12 Noticeboards

The Chairman expressed a view that the noticeboards were in a poor state of repair and it was agreed that they should be renovated.

13 Any Other Business

There was no other business

13 Next Meeting

It was agreed that the next meeting should be on Monday 12th May with the Annual Parish Meeting on the 22nd April.

The meeting closed at 9.35pm