Stanhoe Parish Council

Minutes of Parish Council Meeting

Held on Thursday, 12th March 2015 at 7.00pm
in the village Reading Room

Clerk to the Council – , tel 01485 518409

Present:

Present: Mr. T. Austin (TA)
Mrs. P. Austin (PA)
Mr. D. Bridge (DB)
Mrs. R. Brown (RB)
Mr. M. Roche (MR) – arrived at 7.20 pm during Item 5
Mrs. P. Roche (PR) – arrived at 7.05 pm
Mr. J. Seedhouse (JS)

Two members of public were present.

1. To consider apologies for absence

Two members arrived late as detailed above.

2. To consider approval of the Minutes of the last meeting

RB did not agree with the wording of the paragraph on War Memorial Maintenance in Item 9. An amendment to the wording was agreed as follows:

“The future maintenance of the War Memorial was considered and a separate cost item will be entered into the annual budget. The metal railing on one side of the Memorial had been knocked over slightly by a vehicle. TA had tried to rectify it but Mr. Punter would be asked if he could do more work on it.”

The Minutes were then approved and signed by the Chairman. An amended copy would be circulated to all members.

3. To record declarations of interest from members in any item to be discussed

MR & PR declared an interest in Item 8a regarding a planning matter.

4. To adjourn the meeting to allow public participation

Two members of the public present but neither wanted to raise any matter in particular.

5. SNAP Report

TA had attended a recent meeting at which the usual concerns of parking problems and anti-social behaviour in Hunstanton were raised. In general, crime figures were 16% up on the previous year, however, detection rate for the same period was up by 28%. Due to the potential for illegal fly tipping, a proposal to charge for the use of council recycling centres was being reconsidered by the County Council.

6. Village Inspection

The date of 23rd April was confirmed with members meeting at 2.00 pm at the village hall.

7. Annual Parish Meeting

This will be held on Thursday, 30th April at 7.30 pm in the village hall. TA agreed to organise drinks and nibbles for the evening and to arrange for a flyer to be distributed with Saints Alive inviting all residents to attend. The meeting would be preceded by a normal parish council meeting commencing at 6.00 pm.

8. Planning Matters:

a) An application had been received for outline permission for a dwelling on part of the land belonging to The Old Rectory. The owners (MR & PR) did not take part in the discussion. Other members had no objection to the proposal and an appropriate comment would be sent to the Borough.

b) An application had been made for the removal of a diseased tree from the boundary of Sarah’s Cottage on Station Road following an inspection by the Borough’s tree officer. The tree had been condemned and the owners were handling this matter directly with the Borough.

9. Parish Council Elections

The clerk explained the procedure for nominations and acceptance of nomination by prospective councillors. The deadline for submission is set for 9th April but ideally papers should be submitted before that date to allow for checking and any possible corrections. A meeting for new councillors to formally accept office must be held within two weeks from the Monday following the election on 7th May. The date of 20th May was set provisionally.

10. Jack’s Lane Wind Farm (road closures & benefit fund)

A CLG meeting had been held on 11th March following an afternoon tour of the site. TA reported that the site offices would be removed within about 2 weeks. That and re-instatement of the roadway hedges and verges would require temporary road closures. The turbines would be operational from April 2015. One more CLG meeting would be held in the Autumn and then the committee disbanded.

The total benefit fund for the affected villages would be approximately £30k per annum with individual projects limited to £5k. RES announced that they were in the early stages of planning a solar farm on a 25acre site to the west of Jack’s Lane.

11. Updates on ongoing matters:

  • MR reported that repairs to the shed should be carried out within two weeks.
  • Trees beside the village pond were still under discussion. A resident in Cross Lane had also expressed concern about a tree overhanging the pond in Cross Lane. Both situations would be looked at during the village inspection on 23rd April.
  • The War Memorial had been discussed previously and also in Item 2. It was agreed that provision would always be made for its maintenance.
  • A licence had been obtained from the County Council for the placing of plant troughs at village boundary signs on Burnham Road, Bircham Road and Docking Road. One had already been installed and the remaining two would be done in the near future.

12. Financial Reports and approval of payments

Income and expenditure reports, budget reports and bank statements were circulated by the clerk. No queries were raised. Approval was given for the payment of the clerk’s salary and for the invoice issued by the Borough for the collection of dog waste from bins.

13. To receive items for the next Agenda for the meeting of 30th April

Due to this meeting being held immediately prior to the Annual Parish Meeting, it was agreed that the Agenda should be brief and contain only the usual compulsory items, updates and consideration of the accounts for the year ending 31st March 2015.

Before the end of the meeting, thanks were given to the MEHM Trust for installing a new heating system in the village hall which was a great improvement. No other matters were discussed and the meeting closed at 8. 50pm.

Following the end of the meeting it was agreed that existing councillors would meet informally for lunch at the Duck Inn on 27th April as some councillors would be standing down at the forthcoming election on 7th May.