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Bressingham Parish Council

                                                                                                                           

      Minutes of the Meeting held on 5th January 2009

 

 

The meeting opened at 7.30 p.m.

 

Present

Councillors - Chairman , Mr R Aves, Mr D Hodges, Mrs S Craggs, Mr D Craggs,  Mr D England, Mr RW Bartrum,

District Councillor, Mr K Weeks and County Councillor Mr B Spratt.

Also present was Mrs J Harvey, two members of the public and the clerk, Mike Mortimer.

 

1      Apologies for Absence

        Parish Councillors, Mrs E Gerrard and Mr N Morley

 

2      To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on the 3rd November 2008

        After an adjustment to the reference to the sustainability of the shop the Minutes were agreed.

 

3      Matters arising from the Minutes

None.

 

4      Declaration of Interests

        There were none.

 

The meeting was closed to hear a request for some of the allotment land at Pipers Piece from Mr and Mrs Jennings.

The Chairman said that the request would be considered and that Mr and Mrs Jennings would be contacted.

The meeting was re-opened. 

 

5      County Councillor Spratt's Report

Mr Spratt expressed concern that central government seemed unaware of the effects its actions had on local government finance pointing out some of the immense costs the County Council was grappling with.  He   informed the Parish Council that a new school governor, Sarah Bullen, had been appointed and that Mr Overland from the Highways Department was looking into the PC's concerns about the junction of the A1066 and School Road.

 

6      District Councillor Weeks' Report

Mr Weeks informed the meeting that action was being taken regarding the horses on Boyland Common and expressed confidence that the matter would be dealt with effectively and quickly.

He expressed concern that some press reports were stating that SNDC was paying for the storage of recyclable waste when this was not the case. All such material, he said was being disposed of as usual.

He assured Parish Councillors that the matter of the name for the new affordable housing in School Road was in hand. He made reference to a rubbish bin that had been outside the shop but which was now gone. He informed Councillors that if the Parish Council chose to buy a replacement bin and choose a site then SNDC would empty it. Councillor Hodges suggested it would be sensible to monitor the situation as a bin might actually encourage waste that could be more appropriately dealt with.

The Chairman, Mr Aves, asked about the situation regarding Traveller Sites. CC Weeks said that the process of identifying sites was beginning again as the process had been considered unsound.

Councillor Bartrum asked how Parishioners should go about applying for the new housing as he had been approached by somebody who had tried without success. Mr Weeks stressed that applicants must first register with SNDC and provided Mr Bartrum with a form to pass on to the person concerned.

Several Parish Councillors expressed concern that the homes would go to people outside the Parishes for whom the homes were intended (Bressingham and Fersfield and Shelfanger) and it was agreed that when the time came for applications to take place Parish Councillors must do their utmost to make local people aware. It was further agreed that the clerk would try to get a number of copies of the registration forms from SNDC so that Parish Councillors could distribute them as required.

Several members expressed the view that since it had been stated on numerous occasions that the housing is for local people that it is important that they should know who gets the new housing once it is allocated.

                                                                                       

 

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7      Parish Plan

Mrs Craggs reported that another meeting of the committee was planned for later in the week. Mr Bartrum questioned the necessity of a Parish Plan and wondered if it was the best use of money. Mrs Craggs said it would give the village a voice and could, for example, help the Village Hall. It was agreed that the Parish Council would pay for flyers to promote the village meeting on the plan to be held on the 24th January at the Village Hall, subject to a reasonable estimate which Mr England agreed to obtain.

 

8      Highways

Concern was expressed regarding the 50mph speed limit on the A1066 through the Parish and the clerk was asked to write to the Highways Department asking it to look again the stretch with a view to reducing the limit to 30mph.

It was reported that Mr Hinds of Common Road, who had complained about the condition of the road, had had a cooperative meeting with the Highways Department.

The subject of flooding in Algar Road was raised and Mr Aves agreed to speak to the landowner concerned.

Mr Aves also agreed to pursue the matter of a hedge that needed cutting at Wood lane.

       

9      Correspondence

The clerk referred to an email describing a new service from Norfolk County Council providing rangers to deal with problems such as overgrown hedges and agreed to circulate a copy of it.

 

10    Planning

A schedule of planning applications was provided. Concern was expressed that applications were not being circulated within the deadlines. It was agreed that Mr Morley, whose ` business took him away regularly, should be emailed with planning application references so that he could be bypassed in the circulation process. His comments, which could be made to the clerk or Chairman, were of course to be taken into account.

       

 

11    Finance

        A financial report was made available.

The Chairman informed the meeting that he had asked the clerk to write to SNDC offering £200 in financial assistance to Village Hall Association regarding its request for a grant from SNDC towards essential repairs.

On the matter of the request from The Fersfield Church Meadow Committee for funding the clerk was asked to keep the matter on the agenda as  Dr Kinnear-King, who was unable to attend the meeting, had not yet reported on the possibility of the Town Lands Charity giving help.  

 

       

12    To consider inviting Mr Tony Game to speak about Community Composting.

The Principle of community composting was welcomed subject to finding a suitable site. It was suggested that it might be a suitable project for the Parish Plan and the clerk agreed to provide Mrs Craggs with a contact number for Mr Game.

 

13    Any Other Business

A quotation of £314 for repair and renovation of the two village notice boards had been provided and it was agreed that the work should be commissioned. Mrs Craggs agreed to instruct the contractor.

 

14    Date of the next meeting

        The date of the next meeting was agreed as 2nd March 2009

 

The meeting closed at 9.25pm