MINUTE 1234
A meeting of the Parish Council was held on Tuesday the 10th day of JULY
2012 at the Methodist Chapel, Bell Street - commencing 7.30pm.
COUNCILLORS PRESENT: - Mrs Batten ( Chair) Mr. Lambert (Vice Chair), Messrs. Cooper,
Storey, Spanswick,
Mrs McGeeney and Mrs Mills. Also present 11 members of public including
representatives from football club.
APOLOGIES - received from Mr Lawrence & SNT team.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST - Mrs Batten declared an
interest in a planning application at Rawlins Way.
MINUTES of the last meeting were taken as read, agreed and
duly signed by the Chairman. Clerk advised number sequence of Minutes for May
meeting were wrong and have been amended accordingly.
PUBLIC SPEAKING - the Chair suspended the meeting to allow member’s
of public to address the meeting. Meeting opened again at 7.35pm.
MATTERS ARISING
1 Presentation - letter
of thanks received from Mr Garland re his gift.
2 Vacancy - cost of
election held in May was £1281.10.
3 SNT - Clerk advised two
attempted thefts in village during June from a garage & vehicle.
4 Risk Assessment - work
to severe ivy on trees been done. Still no response from Mr Scarff, the Council
agreed to obtain alternative quotes for outstanding work. Mrs
McGeeney was unable to carry out inspection,
Clerk was going to do but due to weather conditions has not. Clerk checked area
a couple of weeks ago, nothing major, Clerk to do next inspection.
5 REGBIO - Vacant Area -
M Waters has quoted £60 to spray vacant acre on OBR, Mr L Enefer
has quoted £50 to spray this area and two other areas of allotment garden (as
required by allotment committee). Mr Cooper proposed Mr Enefer’s
quote is accepted, seconded Mrs McGeeney,
all agreed.
6 USAF Feltwell - Sq
Leader Neilds arrived and advised that one of the “golf
ball” structures will be removed temporarily for maintenance, it will be
re-instated. July 4th celebrations were discussed, some traffic
problems but not too bad, traffic lights may have caused extra congestion.
Range operations have been looked into, some problems have been due to urgent
training being required at short notice, Sq Leader Neilds
apologised for problems. The Council thanked Sq
Leader Neilds, he left meeting 7.50pm.
7 Changing Rooms - Clerk
read out letters received from both senior & junior football teams. The
senior team thanked the Council for their continued support of re-building the
changing rooms and the junior team requested that the Council reconsider its
decision to submit plans for changing rooms only and submit the plans showing a
hall attached to enable grants etc. to be applied for. The Clerk outlined to
the Council the history of this project, from the initial decision to look at
the building up to the last meeting.
MINUTE 1235
MATTERS ARISING CONT
7 Changing Rooms cont -
the Clerk reminded the Council that a decision has been made, by all Councillors present at the June meeting, to submit plans
for changing room facility only to the Borough and invite tenders. A discussion
took place, Mr Storey advised that a hall was sited
on the playingfield many years ago but it did not
achieve what was hoped and it was eventually knocked down, the Council has
always supported a new c/room facility on the site, not the building of a hall.
The Council has a moral duty to provide a facility to replace the current
building which is in very poor condition and if a new hall is built this should
be a parish project and the parish need to be
consulted and involved, the onus should not just lay with the football club.
The plans have been drawn up so that any future event held on the playingfield can use the toilet & kitchen facility
without having to enter the changing room area. The plans also allow for a hall
to be added in the future if that is what the parish want
and the monies are raised. Mrs McGeeney
advised that for grants to be applied for a hall, planning permission has to be
obtained. A further discussion took place and it was agreed that the football teams
should meet and come together on this project, decide the way forward, meet
with the Council and then go to the parish if it is decided that a hall is the
way forward. For the time being the changing room project continues, as agreed.
Mr Samuels advised that the cost to submit the plans to Borough is £1005 for
c/room facility only and £2010 if a hall was added to the current plans, the
plans will be submitted to Borough shortly as flood risk assessments etc. were
required to be completed, tenders have been invited from several local
builders. Mr Samuels asked for clarification that he now only takes instruction
from the Parish Council re this project, this was confirmed. The FA have only ever indicated interest in the c/room facility and
a grant would be applied for from them, they would not consider funding a hall.
A copy of the plans for the c/rooms were given to the
football club. Clerk also advised of letters received from class 5 at the
junior school, one was read out, Clerk to respond to class advising of the
proposed c/room project and thanking them for their letters.
Mrs McGeeney gave her
apologies and left the meeting at 8.45pm.
8 Land Registry - NFN
9 Proposed Willows
Incinerator - Mr Storey advised that NCC planning committee recommended approval
at their meeting held 29/6, but the final decision will be taken by E Pickles
MP.
10 Plaque, High Street - Mr Samuels volunteered to send a digital
photo of plaque to Borough.
11 Report to Highways - walkway has been sprayed. Next Rangers
visit w/ c 6/8/12 - already reported areas will be done if not yet, signs top
of Paynes Lane & 30mph signs hedge growth need
cutting back. Walkway off The Beck into St Mary’s is very overgrown.
12 Oak Garden - quote received from CGM, to cut down and remove arisings, then spray area £85 net, then bi-monthly to spray
£24.50net per occasion. Email from S Withers advising that the Fish Piper are
interested in sponsoring the garden , what would the
Council expect from them and what size signage would be acceptable? Mr Lambert
felt it was a good idea to accept the offer to sponsor the area, as long as it
is kept clean & tidy it would be up to them to decide what to plant etc. Mr
Spanswick enquired if the crack in the wall had been
inspected, Clerk advised not yet. The Chair proposed Ms Withers offer to
sponsor the area is accepted, all agreed. A maximum of two small signs could be
placed on the site.
MINUTE 1236
MATTERS ARISING CONT
13 Audit - return posted 30/6. All Councillors received monthly balance sheets,
this is a requirement of the audit as advised by the internal auditor. Mr
Lambert enquired re the “other” expenditure, Clerk advised payments are Minuted but the majority of the
total so far is the cost of the parish poll.
14 Donation Request - invoices received for T shirts for inter
village games, NALC has advised the VAT can be reclaimed as the cost involves a
sporting event. Total of invoices £516.40 net, £607.72 gross, the Council have
agreed to pay £400, Mrs McGeeney
has raised £123 which will be donated to the Council, thus
the net cost is covered.
15 Review of Committees - next meeting.
16 Review of Rates Paid - Clerk advised that she has had her job
evaluated by NALC and has been advised that presently her pay scale is 21 and
she should be on pay scale 32 - Clerk advised the hourly increase from 21-32
would be £4.119 per hour. Mr Lambert enquired what the new hourly rate would be? Clerk advised while she has no problem with the public
knowing what she gets paid, this is Minuted monthly,
she would prefer not to disclose her hourly rate, Mr Storey felt a decision
could not be made without this evaluation being seen, the Chair had a copy of
this which was passed to Mr Storey to view. The Clerk advised that due to the
large increase she was willing to have her pay scale increased to 27 - an
increase of £1.991 ph until April 2013 and then for it to be increased to scale
32 from then, when it can be budgeted for. Mr Lambert enquired how many extra
hours the Clerk had worked recently due to the poll and elections?
Clerk could not give exact but she has worked several extra hours this year. Mr
Lambert felt that there was no reason to delay increasing the Clerk’s pay scale
to what she is entitled and proposed the Clerk pay scale is increased to 32
with immediate effect, seconded Mr Spanswick, Mr
Storey abstained, Mr Cooper, Mrs Mills & Mrs Batten in favour. The Clerk
thanked the Council.
17 Resignations - Election being held 12/7 - 6 candidates
standing for the three vacancies on the Council.
18 Activity Sessions - nothing further heard.
19 S/Light Maintenance Contract - each Councillor
received a copy of legal briefing from NALC following correspondence received
re MHB Services going into liquidation. K&M Lighting have offered a one
year contract, same terms as MHB, at a 5% discount of the cost. Clerk has
invited Westcotec to submit a tender but nothing received.
The Council can decide to continue the contract the Council held with MHB
Services with Westcotec honouring
the terms for another 2 years, accept 1 or 3 yr contract with K&M Lighting
or obtain more tenders. After some discussion Mr Lambert proposed a 1 year
contract is entered into with K&M Lighting Services, seconded Mr Spanswick, all agreed.
20 Planning - amended plans for site west of 48 & 50 Wilton
Road advised to be viewed on website - Mr Spanswick
advised difference re turning area but no major problem - no further comment
made. Amended plans for site 2 Leonard’s Lane also advised, the changes relate
to the visibility splay as required by Highways - it was felt that having an
access to two properties on Long Lane in this vicinity was too dangerous and
the REFUSE recommendation still stands. Clerk advised she had enquired to the
planning officer if the Parish Council can request that a planning is “called
in” by a Borough Councillor if they feel it may be
necessary, the officer advised there is no reason why a Parish Council cannot
request that a Borough Councillor calls in a planning
application. On this occasion the 28 day consultation.
MINUTE 1237
MATTERS ARISING CONT
20 Planning cont - period has expired so it will not be possible
to have the application “called in” by a Borough Councillor
but it could be put to the DCB if the Parish Council and officer’s
recommendations differ - Mr Storey noted this matter.
21 Report to Highways - email advising that they are responsible
for weed control and spray twice per year, this has been done. They check a
sample of the sites after 2-3 weeks to see if the work has been successful and
the weeds have died back. With regard recent work on Oakfields
this has been passed to the central support team for further investigation.
22 Churchyard, St Nicholas - Mr Storey & Mr Lambert had met
with manager from CGM re the very poor condition of the Churchyard - it was
agreed that the area would be put right, the edges would be cut back, footpaths
sprayed and areas within graves strimmed, as a
gesture of goodwill they would tidy up the garden area also as a one off. The
work undertaken will be regularly inspected and another meeting is scheduled in
1-2 weeks time. Mr Storey felt the area was still not acceptable and requested
that somebody else attends at the next meeting, the Chair offered to attend
with Mr Lambert. Area still being monitored. Tender’s
have to be viewed carefully when next obtained, agreed.
23 Encroaching Hedges - been cut back.
24 Vermin on Allotments - three quotes received to deal with rat
problems on garden allotments, Hythe Road. Clerk read
out all quotes - G Smith quoted £30 per month for 12 month period, £360 net, JR
Pest Control £960 net total and P Ashman £560 net total. Mr Lambert proposed
that in principle Mr Smith’s quote is accepted subject to clarification on cost
to replace boxes and insurance cover against public contamination is advised,
seconded Mr Spanswick, all agreed.
25 Code of Conduct - each Councillor
received copies of the Borough Council’s adopted code & NALC’s proposed
code. After some discussion Mr Lambert proposed that the code adopted by the
Borough Council is adopted by Feltwell Parish Council, seconded Mr Spanswick, all agreed. Clerk gave all Councillors
present form to Register Member’s Pecuniary Interests, this new form includes
member’s spouse, partners etc. Clerk advised only details of any interest
within the Parish had to be disclosed on this form, copies of which have to be
sent to the Borough. Mr Storey & Mr Lawrence as Borough Councillors
do not have to complete a separate form but the Clerk must have a copy of their
forms for the parish records.
CORRESPONDENCE
26 KL&WNBC - Gambling Act - review of statement of principles
- any comments by 1/10/12. Monthly electors
alterations.
27 Norfolk Police - Local policing plan, survey & custody
visiting information. Nominations invited for Norfolk Safer community awards.
28 War Memorial Enquiry - Clerk to respond.
29 Norfolk Hospice - charity golf day.
30 Brochures - FLP. Rapid
Racking.com. J Parkers. Parish
magazine.
MINUTE 1238
31 CHEQUES - were signed for the following - L Peckham £663.22, Cash £10, Methodist Church £17, S Sargent £94.43, Post Office Ltd £93.04, Berryman £186.04, Mapac £607.72, Anglia Water £313.96, CGM £216, Viridor
£54, TWR Accountants £300, KL&WNBC £1281.10. D/Debits for
Eon & BT.
32 PLANNING - M Paterson - 23 Rawlins Way - extension to
principle elevation - APPROVED - Mrs Batten declared
an interest and did not vote, rest in favour.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
33 Encroaching Hedges - 22 High Street, 7 & 7a Oak Street, 12
Short Beck bush growing onto highway.
34 Report to Highways - pot holes o/s 6 Hereward
Way, junction of Hereward Way & Moatside.
35 Bin, Long Lane - litter collector has reported bin near take
away is very full & not being emptied, Clerk to write to owners of shop to
ask for them to empty this on a regular basis.
36 Methodist Church - the cost to hire the small room has
increased to £8.50 per hour from June.
Next meeting to be held 13th August 2012.
Meeting declared closed at 10pm.
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On the 19/7/12 the following Planning was REFUSED by 4 Councillors - Mr & Mrs Benham, 43B Paynes Lane -
construction of dwelling.
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