Stanhoe Parish Council

Minutes of Parish Council Meeting

Held on Thursday, 9th March 2017 at 7.00pm
in the village Reading Room

Clerk to the Council – , tel 01485 518570

Present:                     

Mr. D. Lord (DL)                            Chairman
Mr D. Bridge (DB)
Miss. R. Brown (RB)
Mr. M. Roche (MR)
Mrs. J. Lord (JL)
Mr. D. Vincent (DV)


Apologies:                  None

 

In Attendance:           -

                                

1.         To consider apologies for absence:   All Councillors were present.

2.         To consider approval of the Minutes of the last meeting held on 12th January 2017:  No queries were raised and the Minutes were passed and signed by the Chairman. 

3.         To record declarations of interest in any item to be discussed:  No declarations made.

4.         To adjourn the meeting to allow for public participation:  No members of the public were present.            

5.         Co-option of new Councillor(s): Councillors had not yet been able to identify other candidates who may be suitable to serve as Parish Councillors.

6.         Jack’s Lane Community Fund: The cut off for the current submission of bids is 31st March 2017. Councillors suggested a number of items which may be worthy of submission (notice boards, waste bin and the cleaning of playground equipment).  To avoid any nugatory work in obtaining estimates, the Chairman would first confirm with the Grants Officer whether such items fell under the remit of the scheme. 

7.         Village Maintenance Duties:  The Clerk reported that Derek Scales had agreed to undertake village maintenance duties, with the exception of the War Memorial which would still be looked after by Bill Punter.           

8.         Stanhoe.org – Support for the Webmaster:  With effect from 1st February 2017, the Clerk had taken over responsibility for publishing all items relating to Parish Council matters on Stanhoe.org. Whilst this would ensure the Council continued to comply with the Transparency Code, it was also hoped that it would reduce the burden on the Webmaster. Council agreed unanimously to the Clerk’s contract being amended to include an additional 3 hours per month from 1st February 2017 to cover the increase in workload (see also Item 10). 

9.         Playground:

Formal Equipment Inspection: The formal inspection of the playground equipment    was undertaken by David Bracey on 25 January 2017. Whilst no specific areas of concern were highlighted, the Inspector recommended that the equipment would benefit from a clean to remove a build-up of algae. The Chairman would confirm whether the cost for the clean could be in the form of a submission to the Jack’s Lane Community Fund. Failing that, Councillors would consider alternative options.

Waste Bin: The Clerk had contacted the Borough Council but they did not consider the installation of a ‘doggy bin’ in the play area to be appropriate. Council agreed that a bin located outside the play area, and accessible by the refuse lorry for emptying, may provide a solution. The Chairman would confirm whether the cost for a bin and housing could be in the form of a submission to the Jack’s Lane Community Fund.

10.       Transparency Fund: The Chairman confirmed that an application (for February and March 2017) had been made to the Transparency Fund to cover the additional costs in the Clerk’s salary (3 hours per month) to ensure compliance with the Transparency Code. A further application for FY 17/18 would be made should funding become available (see also Item 8).

11.       Community Transport/Go to Town: The Clerk confirmed that West Norfolk Community Transport would consider adding Stanhoe to the route when the timetable is next reviewed (May/June 2017). The Clerk would obtain a further update from West Norfolk Community Transport in early May.

12.       Cross Lane Cross: Concern was again raised by Councillors regarding the safety of the Cross Lane Cross as tyre marks were repeatedly apparent on the grassed/soil area surrounding the Cross. The Clerk had contacted the Borough Council regarding the concerns but suggestions for the refuse lorry to ‘tweak’ its route were not supported. The Chairman would write to the Borough Council to further express the concerns of the Council and would include photographic evidence to support those concerns. In addition, the Clerk confirmed that Highways did not support the installation of railings around the Cross but would agree to the installation of conservation kerbing. The Parish Council would be liable for the costs involved in installing kerbing, estimated to be circa £2500.

13.       Highways (including Rangers Visit): The Clerk had reported a number of issues to the Highways department regarding potholes, the repainting of white lines (at junctions and centre lines), the sweeping of Church Lane and the repairs required to the palisade fencing at the Bircham Road/Docking Road junction. Whilst some of the potholes had been filled, the remainder of the works had been scheduled into the 2017/18 Highways programme. The Rangers did not visit the village in February as the issues raised were outside their remit.

14.       Local Audit – Public Access to Documents Bill: This Bill would enable journalists to have the same rights of access as local electors and passed through the Committee stage in the Commons without amendment.  The Clerk would inform the Council of any such requests and would ensure that the Council complies with the Bill.

15.       Thoughts for the Annual Parish Meeting: Councillors agreed that information on traffic calming measures and the progress on obtaining faster Broadband in Stanhoe would be the main focus. In addition, the Chairman would brief parishioners on what the Council had done in the preceding year, plans for the coming year and how the Parish Precept budget is spent.

16.       Planning applications and information:  No new applications had been received.  

17.       Financial Report and approval of payments:  Up to date income & expenditure accounts, budget report and bank statements were circulated by the Clerk.  As requested the Clerk had produced a table showing the actual % of expenditure against budget.  In addition, the Clerk confirmed that it was not possible to be paid ‘gross’ so would continue to make PAYE payments by cheque.

A proposed budget for FY2017/2018 was presented to Council and was agreed unanimously.

Approval was sought and agreed for the following payments:

           

Chq No

Payee

Reason

£

100691

D. Bracey

Playground Inspection & Report

90.00

100692

HMRC

PAYE

90.60

100693

W. Leighton

Salary for January & February 2017

241.54

100693

W. Leighton

Printer Cartridges & Paper

51.88

 

18.       Items for the next Agenda – meeting of 11th May 2017:  

  • Cleaning of Play Equipment (All)
  • CPRE E-Mail regarding Housing Allocation Pledge (All)
  • Parking Issues – (There was some discussion regarding some parking problems being experienced on Cross Lane, resulting in damage to the edge of the road. It was agreed this would be added to the next meeting’s Agenda (All)) 

No other items were discussed and the meeting closed at 9.15pm.