Minutes of the meeting of Ringsfield & Weston Parish Council held on Friday 21 November 2014 at 7.30 pm at Ringsfield Village Hall
Councillors Present : Cllr P Fearn, Cllr L Rees, Cllr A Wheeler, Cllr R Sherriff
Also Present : District Cllr K Springall, Mrs T Hazell (Clerk)
1. Apologies : Cllr P Johnson (Chairman), Cllr C Mehew, Cllr C Leggett, Cllr S Saunders
In the absence of the Chairman, Cllr Fearn nominated Cllr Wheeler as Acting Chairman. Cllr Rees seconded and the motion was carried unanimously. Cllr Wheeler therefore took the Chair.
2. Declarations of Interest : None
3. To confirm the minutes of the Parish Meeting held on 17 October 2014 at 7.30 pm
On the motion of Cllr Sherriff, seconded by Cllr Rees, it was unanimously agreed that the amended minutes be signed as a true and correct record.
The meeting opened for public consultation.
a. Residents’ Questions : None
b. Report from the Police : PCSO Le Surf was not present and no report had been received.
c. Report from Suffolk County Councillor : Cllr D Ritchie was not present and no report had been received.
d. Report from the District Councillor : Cllr Springall had nothing to report, but stated that the Mayor of Lowestoft, Roger Belham, had recently died and also another WD Councillor, Peter Byatt, was seriously ill in hospital.
The Chairman closed the meeting for public consultation.
f. Chairman’s Matters :
The Chairman was not present but had written a report for the newsletter which the clerk read out. He had also informed the clerk that all was in hand for Carols on the Green on 24th December.
g. Community Council news :
The clerk reported that she had met with Mrs Brenda Lanchester and they had got on to the Charity Commission website and had subsequently found the document that was needed to progress. The clerk had photocopied this for Mrs Lanchester to send to Mr Robert Horn.
The clerk further reported that she would send a copy of the signed minutes to Mrs Lanchester regarding the resolution to rescind their role as sole trustee of the Village Hall and Recreation Grounds and hand over the responsibility to the Community Council.
4. Clerk’s Correspondence
The clerk reported on correspondence as follows :
a. Beccles TC had written confirming the agreement for Beccles to join with adjoining parishes to produce a Neighbourhood Plan (except for Worlingham PC who have not yet agreed).
b. An email had been received from Mr J Melekzad of Oak Cottage about dog fouling problems in Paradise Row. Dog walkers are also causing a nuisance to land owners as the footpath to Paradise Row from the railway line has not been maintained by the Council with overgrown hedges and as parts of the path have slipped into the ditch making it unsuitable for walking and they are walking on the farmer’s field and other properties land without permission.
After discussion, the clerk was asked to write to SCC Rights of Way and ask them to investigate. The clerk was also asked to obtain some dog fouling stickers from WDC. The clerk was also asked to report this to Mr Melekzad.
c. SALC had written about their competition for the Most Active County Town and Village Competition for 2014. No action.
d. SCC had sent details of the road closure at Weston on 20/21 November, where the road was diverted.
e. J McCallum from WDC/SCC had written with details of Neighbourhood Planning Workshop grants (up to £2K) – the clerk will file this for the future.
f. SALC had written about a Planning Essentials course at their offices on 3rd December 9.30 – 12.30 – cost £25 + VAT, plus other councillor
g. Working Together had sent information of winter gritting and community preparedness. Cllr Rees stated that the bend on Church Road (where road goes off to Beccles) would benefit from a grit/salt bin and she would be happy to spread this if the grit is provided by the Council. The information stated that Parish Council can request grit loads directly or through their Cty Cllr, but the Parish should provide their own bin. The clerk was asked to contact Cllr Ritchie to find out about the provision of a new bin (there are two in the village already).
Regarding the above corner, it was reported that there is a Renault Megane which speeds around this corner and is considered very dangerous. Councillors stated that this car is seen speeding in other areas of the village. The Acting Chairman asked councillors to try and get the car registration number so this can be reported.
h. Waveney Norse had emailed again about quoting against EFMS for grass cutting – the clerk has already accepted the quotation from EFMS but will keep this on file for next year.
i. WDC had written about rough sleeper estimate and do we have any homeless rough sleepers in the village – councillors had not seen any.
j. Information had been received via SALC regarding bogus police officers calling pensioners and asking for bank details over the phone. They ask all parishioners to be vigilant.
k. WDC had sent an invitation to the Chairman to attend the Christmas Carol Service at St Marks Church, Oulton Broad on Friday 19 December at 7 pm. The clerk will pass this on.
l. An email had been received from Cllr Saunders about the blocked culvert on the corner of Kings Lane/Redisham Road. The clerk had heard from Mrs Lanchester that Mr Byles had been given 48 hours to clear this. Councillors thought this had been sorted as nothing further had been heard.
m. WDC had sent details of their Budget Review Meeting at the Town Hall on 26th November at 6.30 pm. The clerk felt it would be interesting to know how they intend to spend their money – and it was suggested she write and ask for the report of the meeting for information.
n. An email had been received from the East Suffolk Partnership suggesting all planning application responses are sent by email and there is no need for a hard copy to be posted back to the Planning Department.
o. SALC had written about a further Film Seminar to be held on 11 December at SALC offices in Ipswich 10 am – 1 pm (£30 per head) regarding the filming, social media and recording decisions for Parish/Town Council meetings.
p. WDC had emailed about the news section of the WDC web site (www.waveney.gov.uk) and asking for any newsworthy items to be submitted by parish councils.
q. Details of the next SALC Waveney Area Meeting to be held in Beccles on Thursday 11 December at 6.30 pm had been received. The clerk was asked to pass these on to the Chairman.
5. Councillors’ reports on meetings attended
None
6. Planning Applications
a) DC/14/3551/VOC – Variation of Condition No. 1 of DC/14/0906/COU – Change of use from outbuilding to Holiday Cabin – Period for an individual let to be extended from 28 days to 56 days at Park Farm, Kings Lane, Weston by Mr C Spaans.
On the motion of Cllr Wheeler, seconded by Cllr Sherriff, it was unanimously agreed that no objection be given.
c) WDC had granted permission for two applications as listed on the agenda.
9. Finances
a) On the motion of Cllr Rees, seconded by the Cllr Sherriff, it was unanimously agreed to sign the following cheques :
Mr S Darch (grass cutting at Weston) £100.00
Mrs P A Hazell (Clerk’s net salary) £144.25
HMRC (Clerk’s PAYE) £36.20
As there were no signatories present, the clerk was asked to post them to the Chairman to sign and get counter-signed before returning to the Clerk.
b) The Clerk reported had prepared a budget build for 2015/16 which had been circulated.
This was gone through item by item and on the motion of the Acting Chairman, seconded by Cllr Fearn, it was unanimously agreed to submit a request for a precept of £6500 (no increase on last year) when WDC request this.
10. Matters Arising
a) Cllr Fearn referred to the parish notice board which she felt should be replaced. Cllr Sherriff stated that the doors were being glued at the moment and this should be fixed by next week.
b) Cllr Fearn stated she had received a report about a flickering light – she will get exact details and pass on to the clerk.
c) Carols on the Green – Cllr Mehew had asked the clerk to get clarification about the Carol Sheets. He had printed out new ones but apparently they were not in the order the band is used to playing them. Therefore he needs to know whether to change the order and to what? Cllr Fearn reported that she had the old ones if necessary.
Cllr Mehew had also confirmed he would provide mince pies and Santa’s presents for the children. Cllr Fearn also confirmed she would provide mulled wine.
Cllr Sherriff is sorting out Christmas tree this week.
d) Regarding the stones in the pits, Cllr Rees has referred this to someone at CEFAS and a report is being prepared. Cllr Rees further reported that she had done a google satellite to try and discover the pill box, but nothing was shown. She stated the next step would be 1st World War maps.
e) Newsletter – Cllr Rees had prepared this and printed off a few. However she had not received Cllr Fearn’s report on the late Mr Stuart Wilson. Cllr Fearn will re-send this and Cllr Rees will add this. Once approved, these will be printed and distributed as soon as possible. Steven Hemp’s distribution round needs to be re-allocated.
f) Nothing further had been received regarding the WW1 commemoration, but it was agreed to keep this pending.
11. Date of Next Meeting : Friday 19th December 2014 – defer unless there are planning applications or other urgent business. January date Friday 16th January 2015.
The Clerk/Chairman to produce a new list of 2015 dates and book the hall accordingly and circulate a list of dates to all councillors.
There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 8.45 pm.
Chairman …………………………………. Dated ………………………………..