Roydon Parish Council

Draft Minutes of the Meeting held at St Remegius Church, Roydon, on Tuesday 27 March 2018

Present:Paul CursonPJCChair

John TaylorJTVice-Chair

David GoldsonDGDistrict Councillor

Jenny ShorterJS

Angela BrownAB

Andrew DanielsAD

In Attendance:Gareth Roderick-JonesGRJClerk

Keith KiddieKKCounty Councillor

Absent:Pam MurtonPM

1Apologies for Absence:none

2Declarations of Interest:JS and DG (item 10 – Village Hall)

3Residents’ Forum

  • Factory Lane: telecom work at the Football Club has resulted in a mess on verges and the road, and the footpath is still signed closed although the work has finished. KK will follow up with Highways.
  • The Roydon Residents Group has been canvassing opinion as to how money can be spent within the parish. Ideas include:
  • Footpath between the school and Long Meadow
  • Drainage at the Village Hall
  • More Roydon signs and relocation of the Welcome to Roydon sign
  • Relocation of the recycling centre
  • Recreation area similar to that in Harleston
  • Footbridge or underpass over/under the A1066
  • Bird hide on the green
  • Tennis court
  • Pond enhancements/furniture/wildlife signs
  • Waveney river walk
  • A resident pointed out inaccuracies in the PCs objections to proposed site for development GNLP0104. There was a Bronze Age burial site but no evidence of a settlement, and what was there has been thoroughly excavated. There was no Roman villa.

4Minutes of meeting 6 March 2018: the minutes were amended to reflect accurate information regarding the proposed development site GNLP0104 as above, and the finalised date for the Litterpick, 29 April. They were then agreed and signed.

5Matters Arising from the Minutes

  • Parking issues at Queensway will be discussed at the next meeting.
  • A1066 issues: KK is in touch with Highways, who are aware of the need to clean out/jet drainage channels and that the drainage opposite the filling station need more radical work.
  • Item 5 War Memorial: Keith Rackham will meet PJC in the near future and the crack will then be dealt with.

6Payments: the following were approved:

PAYEE / NARRATIVE / AMOUNT
G Roderick-Jones / Salary March 2018 / £236.86
HMRC / PAYE / £59.22
Cozens Ltd / Streetlights (SO – for info only) / £150.00

7Banking

aNOTED: Balances as at 2 March 2017

Current account£26,412.77

Savings account£7,682.95

Total£34,095.72

bAuthorised signatories signed two letters for Barclays Bank requesting a stop on the original cheque made out to Anglian Floor Craft (which has been refused by the bank but not returned by the payee to us – see item 10 below), and to stop the standing order which is still being paid monthly to Pearce and Kemp.

8Diss & District Neighbourhood Plan

There have been four meetings recently, including discussions involving officers from the various districts involved. £20k is now available for a traffic study on the A1066, the aim of which is to help the market town and surrounding area to develop.

Preliminary results from the recent residents’ survey are now being analysed. Out of a total of 6,800 households, there have been responses from 12.5% - considered a good total against an average of around 5% in surveys of this type. Roydon had the greatest number of responses out of the smaller parishes involved. 65% agreed or strongly agreed with proposals which would benefit Roydon’s residents. All the parishes involved will present more detailed findings at their respective forthcoming Annual Parish Meetings.

9Brewers Green

  • The laying of fibre has been completed in Queens way and Swamp Lane is now being done, then the work will move across the road in the direction of Little Manor.
  • A resident has sent an email to the PC regarding the fate of a streetlight – this has been circulated to councillors and will be discussed at the next meeting.
  • The lime tree with dead limes: S Jones has agreed to work being done on this tree later in the season.

10Village Hall

  • The councillors agreed that the matter of payment for the reflooring work at the Village Hall should be aired publicly now that the contractor has had an opportunity to set matters straight and receive payment from the PC.
  • Mr Couperthwaite (t/a Anglian Floor Craft) originally gave a quote for the work which stated that VAT was included in all prices quoted. The PC paid the subsequent invoice in good faith. It then emerged that Mr Couperthwaite had wanted a cheque in his own name rather than in the name of his company. For this a different invoice would be required. Also, the bank informed us that the cheque had not been processed because of an unauthorised alteration, and had been returned to the payee.
  • Subsequent requests for the return of the original cheque have not been answered. Requests for a properly made out VAT invoice have also not been successful. It emerged that Anglian Floor Craft is not VAT registered. A registered letter has been sent to Mr Couperthwaite asking for the return of the original cheque plus either a correctly made out VAT invoice, or a non-VAT invoice for the total quoted less the amount that the PC had assumed represented VAT which could then subsequently be reclaimed.
  • JS will ask the Village Hall Committee to write to Mr Couperthwaite to confirm that he intends to honour his commitment to follow-up visits to complete the work – a final coat, dealing with some minor defects and subsequent maintenance work, to see if the matter can be clarified and finalised.
  • Section 106 monies: It can be argued that work carried out on the VH drainage would both replace and enhance a recreational facility open to all. Diss Town Council however would like the monies committed to expensive improvements to their athletics track. This would be of benefit to a closed group of people, whereas Roydon Village Hall is open to all (including Diss residents) and hosts a range of activities enjoyed by a large number of people with very varied interests. The council therefore concluded that the full amount available should be requested to upgrade Roydon Village Hall. PJC will speak to Diss Town Clerk to set up an informal meeting to discuss the disposal of the Section 106 monies.
  • Both DG and JS are actively chasing Steeles Law for progress on the registration of the land occupied by the VH. DG will write to see if a brief face to face meeting is likely to have results.
  • The VH Committee would like to develop part of the land for children’s activities – raised plant beds, for example. The PC have no objections.

11Planning:

a2018/0539 oak trees adjacent to 12 Old Rectory Close – granted

bY/7/2017/7013 Roydon Primary School – decided by Norfolk County Council

The PC have no comments of these applications.

12Norfolk Access Improvement Plan consultation

GRJ will circulate details for discussion at the next meeting.

13Street lights

Cozens are ready to produce and install identification plates once PJC has been able to obtain a mobile and SIM for dedicated use for reporting faults.

14Arrangements for Annual Parish Meeting

The APM will be held at the end of May to allow time for DDNP information to be made ready, so it will be combined with the Annual Parish Council Meeting, beginning at 7pm on Tuesday 22 May (avoiding the week of the Spring Bank Holiday). If large numbers turn up, the main body of the church can be used instead of the Parish Room.

15Recruitment of New Parish Clerk

PJC has received three applications and will approach them to find suitable times for interviews.

16Correspondence circulated to all councillors

… including notification of changes to dog bin charges – see AOB below

17District Councillor’s Report (as circulated to councillors)

District Cllr Goldson circulated a full report, and reported on the following:

  • SNDC has been shortlisted in several categories of the Local Government Chronicle awards 2018;
  • Weavers Court car park in Diss is to have two twin electric vehicle charging points;
  • A fund has been set up to help with home modifications to enable patients to be discharged more quickly from hospital to ease the bed-blocking situation;
  • The Gender Pay Gap figures for SNDC indicate a slight imbalance in salaries in favour of female employees;
  • Discussions with Broadland DC over shared services are progressing.

16County Councillor’s Report(as circulated to councillors)

County Councillor Kiddie briefed the meeting on the following topics:

  • the Scottow Enterprise Zone (formerly RAF Coltishall) where job creation has now exceeded 400;
  • the setting of the next budget for the county;
  • the most recent developments regarding the Colman’s site in Norwich;
  • highways issues in the immediate area and the effect of the recent weather conditions on plans for improvements and maintenance;
  • the Forest School initiative in Roydon, which Cllr Kiddie supports.

17Items for Next Agenda

As noted in items above, plus progress on the community defibrillator – GRJ will ensure that his information on defibrillators is made available.

18Next Meeting

Tuesday 24 April 2018 at 7.15pm

Roydon Parish CouncilDraft Minutes March 2018page Page1 of 4