WATLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

Clerk :  Colin Vince, 17 Bure Close, Watlington, KING'S LYNN,  Norfolk PE33 0TN

DRAFT MINUTES

Minutes of the meeting of WATLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL held on 6 December 2005 at 7.55pm in Watlington Village Hall.

Present: Cllr Lacey (Chairman); Cllrs Dagnall, Garton, Golding, Leedell, Miller, Pike (from 8.08pm), Rockcliffe and Toates.

BCllr Ansell and 7 members of the public also attended the meeting.

[Note to the Minutes: An open meeting was held before the Parish Council meeting to discuss the possibility of the village starting a Parish Plan. The meeting, which was addressed by Janice Howell from Norfolk Rural Community Council, was attended by parish councillors and 8 members of the public. No formal decisions were taken at the meeting. Information on Parish Plans has been left in the Information Centre for parishioners to review.]

Apologies for absence:  Cllr Amor; PC Bodley.

DEC 05/1 Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of interest for this meeting.

DEC 05/2 Minutes of the Council Meeting held on 18 October 2005

The Minutes of the Council meeting on 18 October 2005 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

DEC 05/3 Clerk’s Report and Matters Arising (Not on the agenda)

The clerk reported a number of items. 1) The Council’s funds currently stand at £14380.92. 2) The mid-2004 population estimate for the village is 2035. 3) The consultative article on the Village Pound has appeared in the Gossip. 4)The Information Centre is due to have broadband installed shortly provided by the Borough Council, along with a new PC and printer as part of the joint initiative to bring a Community Information Point to the village for borough services. 5) The Village Guide 2006 produced by the Information Centre has now been published. 6) A small working group is producing a local information emergency plan, as an add-on to the County Council Plan. 7) The Royal British Legion door-to-door collection in the village raised £517.

DEC 05/4 External Audit

Council noted that the 2004/2005 External Audit has been completed and that there were no matters arising.

DEC 05/5 Budget 2006/7

On a proposal from Cllr Toates, seconded by Cllr Leedell, Council agreed that £5000 should be allocated in the 2006/7 budget towards new play equipment.

DEC 05/6 Payments

On a proposal from the Cllr Golding, seconded by Cllr Leedell, Council agreed that the following payments be made:

*Includes VAT

DEC 05/7 Finish Time for Current Meeting

On a proposal from Cllr Rockcliffe, seconded by Cllr Garton, Council agreed that, given the late start of this meeting, it should finish at 9.30pm, with any outstanding business carried forward to the next meeting.

DEC O5/8 Annual Review of Subscriptions for 2006

It was proposed by the Chairman and agreed by Council that the current four subscriptions should be renewed for 2006; namely Norfolk County Association of Parish & Town Councils, Norfolk Playing Fields Association, Norfolk Rural Community Council and the Campaign to Protect Rural England, with budgetary allowance being made for a small inflationary increase in charges.

DEC 05/9 Grass Cutting Maintenance Contract

Council agreed to retain the current specification for the grass cutting contract.

On a proposal from the Cllr Toates, seconded by Cllr Golding, Council agreed to an offer from Country Grounds Maintenance Ltd to extend the grass cutting maintenance contract for the next two years on the existing terms. Council also agreed to the waiving of Financial Regulation 11for this item only to allow for the extension of the contract.

DEC 05/10 New Housing Development

The clerk reported that 9 of the names submitted to the developers for the new site had been accepted by them. The developers have now submitted a further 4 names and Council was pleased to approve these as they are also names taken from the war memorial. The full list of names, which is subject to final approval by the Borough Council, now has 12 names from the war memorial (Challis, Fendley, Franklin, Gathergood, Jackson, Kent, Kidman, Langridge, Lake, Martin, Wildman, Woodward) and one in memory of the late Ted Featherby.

BCllr Ansell reported that both he and the clerk had received many complaints from nearby residents of the new development about the continual early arrival of delivery vehicles and the amount of the mud on the roads. BCllr Ansell has arranged with the head of planning at the Borough Council to arrange for a site visit to ensure that the conditions of the planning permission are met, particularly in relation to these two problems. It was agreed that the clerk would write to the Chief Executive to highlight the situation.

Council noted the changed arrangements for planning applications, particularly the strict 21 day consultation period, the reduction of permissions and consents from 5 to 3 years, and the ‘support’ or ‘object’ response requirement, rather than the old ‘approve’ or ‘refuse’ responses.

DEC 05/11 Planning Applications

The following planning decisions were agreed:

Discussion was held on the planning application for Rowan Close. It was agreed that representations be made regarding the need for extra parking facilities for the surgery, the desirability to relocate the footpath through the site and the need for a Section 106 agreement. On a proposal from Cllr Rockcliffe, seconded by Cllr Golding it was agreed to seek a S106 agreement for the site to provide a footway along Fen Road. Following a request for BCllr Ansell, Council also agreed to support the S106 application from the Medical Centre.

The following planning decisions from BCKLWN were noted:

DEC 05/12 Police Liaison Officer Information Exchange

The chairman read the crime report submitted by PC Bodley who advised that during the period 1 October to 1 December there were 11 reported crimes in the parish, resulting in 6 detections. There were 4 assault cases, 1 theft, 1 burglary, 3 criminal damage cases, 1 criminal harassment and 1 possession of a controlled drug.

DEC 05/13 Highways & Transport Matters

The clerk reported that footway repairs had been carried out in Station Road, the kerbing work completed in Fen Road and the footway extension at the Downham Road Glebe entrance finished.

Council agreed that the chairman and clerk would undertake to complete the questionnaire on NCC Local Transport Plan 2006-2001.

Cllr Golding agreed to respond to the Draft Right of Way Improvement Plan for Norfolk 2006-2016.

Council agreed that the clerk should respond to the Draft Statement of Community Involvement for the Norfolk Mineral and Waste Development Framework with a similar response to that of the community involvement statement issued by the Borough Council as part of the Development Framework Plan.

Council noted a slight variation to the 7.5 Tonne Weight Restriction Order 2005 and that this should have no impact in Watlington.

DEC 05/14 Railway Station Car Park

Council noted a letter from the Chairman of the Fen Line Users Association in which he stated that the issue of the need for an extension to the station car park is raised at every meeting, but he was not optimistic in the short-term. BCllr Ansell stated that he had spoken to the Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Development, who is to raise the issue at a rail consultation meeting this month. Cllr Rockcliffe stated he will continue to raise the issue at County Council level and would seek to see if the existing area could be tarmaced, which would increase the current capacity. It was agreed that the clerk would write to the Chief Executives at the  Borough Council and the County Council to express the urgency that something is done and to the new franchise holder when announced this month and to the local MP. Cllr Rockcliffe also agreed to pursue the matter of seeking parking control in the Station Road / John Davis Way area, where more and more vehicles are now overspill parking.

DEC 05/15 Community Projects Committee

Cllr Pike reported that the committee had met and agreed a consultation programme for the type of play equipment that would be sought for the 5-12 age group and that he was waiting further information from the equipment companies to allow the consultation to proceed.

Cllr Pike also advised Council that it might be expected that the 2006 Play Inspection will highlight faults on existing older play equipment that might involve the Council in extra expenditure.

DEC 05/16 Glebe Committee

Cllr Dagnall introduced a discussion on the level of dog fouling on the Glebe Land, which had increased considerably since the football pitch has been developed and the dog walking area on the new housing development has disappeared. It was also noted that levels of dog fouling on river bank walks has also increased. Council agreed that an article should be submitted to the Gossip pointing out that dog fouling within the 30mph zone is illegal and that any owners caught could be subject to prosecution and fined. It was also agreed that the clerk would contact the dog warden regarding this matter.

Council also note their disappointment at the amount of litter left on the Glebe Land after football matches. The clerk to contact Cllr Finnis again on this matter. Cllr Garton reported that he had recovered 3 footballs belonging to the Youth Football Team. It was agreed that the clerk would contact the team managers as there was concern that the Council’s recent grant should not be spent on replacing lost items.

DEC 05/17 Environment Committee

Cllr Miller advised that there had been a problem with obtaining the gifted tree for this year. Cllr Rockcliffe agreed to help out if the tree could not be sourced and would liase directly with Cllr Miller and Mr Aisthorpe. Cllr Miller advised that the light would not be installed until the week before Christmas to lessen the chance of vandalism.

Council noted its disappointment at the decision of the Millennium Green Trust not to allow a permanent Christmas Tree on the Green, particularly as Mr &. Mrs Newman wished to donate a tree. It was agreed that Cllr Pike would raise the issue at the next Trust meeting with a remit to seek that a tree of any species which could be suitably decorated at Christmas be planted.

It was agreed to defer the issue of the Britton Close Light and the request to close the footpath between Cecil close and Station Road to the next meeting as further information was awaited.

The clerk reported that despite an application to the Land Registry the ownership of most of Fairfield Lane had not been ascertained, but advised Council that the new development would have two footway entrances onto the Lane and that part of the fencing would be replaced by walling. Council agreed that Persimmon should be contacted at a later date regarding environmental management of the area. Cllr Toates reported that Fairfield Lane had recently been surveyed and Cllr Rockcliffe undertook to find out if this related to drainage works.

Council noted the closing of the old railway bridge across the Relief Channel but felt there was little that could be done to seek it being reopened given the response by the Environment Agency.

DEC 05/18 Correspondence for Action

DEC 05/19 Correspondence for information

DEC 05/20 Members Information Exchange

Cllr Rockcliffe raised the issue of whether it was felt that there was a need to consider yellow parking restriction lines around the new zebra crossing area. Council agreed that this idea should now be dropped and also that a letter of thanks be sent to NCC for the installation of the zebra crossing and new road / footway arrangements which have proved to be a great success.

Cllr Miller proposed and council agreed that a letter of thanks should be sent to the Post Office Stores owner thanking him both for his responsible attitude to the both the controlled sale of fireworks, which resulted in far fewer incidents being reported, and to alcohol sales.

Cllr Miller reported that lights No.28 in Church Road and the one along the village hall footpath need attention. The zebra crossing beacons are also out of action. The clerk to report.

The Chairman then opened the meeting for public comment. A parishioner raised the issue of the overgrown nature of the Fairfield Lane ditch and to the level of litter contained therein. Cllr Rockcliffe advised that drainage should not be particularly affected but he was aware of problems relating to drainage in that area that would need resolving. A parishioner asked that in its consideration for the Village Pound the Council consider CCTCV for the area and removing the litter bin, rather than changing the site generally.

There being no other business the Council rose at 9.35pm.

The next meeting of the Council is on Tuesday 24 January 2006 in the Village Hall at 7.00pm.

SIGNED

Chairman                                                          Clerk                                         24 January 2006