Minutes of the Deopham and Hackford Parish Council Meeting
in the Gralix Hall on Wednesday 14th September 2011
Present :
Councillors : Martin Skidmore Jackie Phoenix
Jason Marsh Chris Coath
John Chilvers Mark Howard
Cllr. Yvonne Bendle, South Norfolk District
Parish Clerk: Rowena Harkness
Parishioners: Bruce Catmur
1. Apologies - Cllr. Steve Dorrington
2. Declarations of Interest in items on the agenda - There were none.
3. Minutes of Previous Meeting
3.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 13th July 2011 were agreed as a correct record.
Proposed Jason Marsh, seconded Jackie Phoenix
4. Matters Arising
4.1 The Parish Clerk had sent a response to NCC re the planning application for the power and recycling centre at Willows Business Park in Kings Lynn saying that the Parish Council had not got enough information to either support or oppose the application.
4.2 All of the planning applications have received approval.
5. Affordable Housing Scheme in Deopham
5.1 The Chair explained that he had received a letter from Peter Ramsdale at Saffron Housing in August following the letter to Saffron informing them that the Parish Council voted at the July meeting to withdraw support for the scheme. The letter had been circulated to all Parish Councillors. A discussion followed about the drainage situation and the Chair said that Mrs Skinner had told him that she has had no further communication from Mr Ramsdale regarding his ‘proposal plan’ and field drains. The Parish Clerk confirmed that Mr Ramsdale was aware of the date and time of this Parish Council meeting. After further discussion it was agreed to invite Mr Ramsdale to attend the October 12th Parish Council meeting to discuss the drainage situation.
6. Correspondence
6.1 South Norfolk Local Development Framework (LDF) – Site Specific Policies and Allocations Document, Long Stratton & Wymondham Area Action Plan.
The Parish Clerk explained that the information contained a map of potential sites put forward by landowners in Deopham (there is no map of Hackford as no sites have been put forward) and that she has notified SNC Planning that on the list of sites there are a couple of errors in addresses/names. There is also a list of consultation events when people can put forward comments. It was put in the circulation file.
6.2 Application to rebuild overhead 33Kv power line Wymondham to Dereham.
The Parish Clerk explained this was received during the summer and only really affects a field in Hackford – near the marshes – and therefore no comments needed to be made.
It was put in the circulation file for information.
6.3 The rest of the mail was circulated.
7. Finance
7.1 The account balances as at 18/8/2011 were £996.18 in the current and £1241.28 in the
deposit. There are no unpresented cheques and so the balances are correct and include the £420 profit from the Funday.
7.2 The payment of £21.41 to Hingham Community Car Scheme for April – June 2011 was approved. Proposed John Chilvers, seconded Chris Coath. The increase to 15p a mile was noted and agreed.
7.3 The payment of £60 to Mazars for the external audit (on behalf of Audit Commission)
for the year ended March 2011 was approved. Proposed Martin Skidmore, seconded Mark Howard.
8. Planning
8.1 Lime Leigh Kennels, Hingham Rd., Hackford – App. No. 2011/1247 – Installation of a single small scale wind generator. After discussion it was agreed that the Parish Council had no views or comments to make.
8.2 Moon Cottage, The Green, Deopham - App. No. 2011/1257 – Ground floor extension, replace windows and doors and apply smooth render to front elevation, installation of sun pipes, extractor fan and satellite dish to rear elevation. After discussion it was agreed to approve this application.
8.3 Pettingalls Farm, Morley Road, Deopham – App. No 2011/1362 – Removal of condition 3 of planning permission 2009/1716/F to allow holiday unit to be sold or leased independently from the main dwelling and severed from the common ownership of the main dwelling. After a discussion about the history of this application it was agreed to recommend refusal of the application for the following reasons: the Condition 3 was to ensure that if the neighbouring properties experienced nuisance problems from the holiday unit that they would have some redress to the owner of Pettingalls Farm. Also, the building should remain in common ownership with Pettingalls Farm to avoid any conflict in amenity between the units sharing the land and access.
9. Deopham Playing Field
9.1 The FunDay was held successfully on 24th July 2011 and raised £420. It was suggested
that in addition to the thanks already given that Norse be thanked for cutting the grass
early on Saturday morning and to Mr Barraclough for bringing his steam engine.
9.2 The Parish Clerk reported that as well as Rocklands Football Club using the field for
training during the summer, Shropham FC has also hired it for a few training sessions and
have paid £10 a session for 3 training sessions and £20 for a friendly game – and so the
Parish Clerk has £50 in cash from them to be banked. The Chair suggested that a scale of
charges for use of the field be drawn up and agreed.
9.3 Alan Humphrey has provided a quote for doing the hut floor which is £957.60 (inc. Vat).
An application for a grant to cover this was made to the Geoffrey Watling charity, but unfortunately they were unable to assist on this occasion. They suggested Norfolk Community Foundation might be worth approaching and the Parish Clerk has spoken to a grants officer who has said we should put in an application. Cllr. Bendle suggested applying to the South Norfolk Neighbourhood Fund as well.
9.4 John Chilvers reported that he has ordered 4 oak trees from South Norfolk Council for
planting at the Playing Field having got approval from Mike Flowerday for the Rix Trust.
The Parish Council endorsed this and agreed to carry out any maintenance of the trees in
future.
9.5 After some discussion it was agreed that the Parish Council will not organise a firework
display this year but that there will be a Funday on Sunday 22nd July 2012.
10. Any Other Business
10.1 Jackie Phoenix reported that there had nearly been a very serious accident on the corner of Attleborough Road and Mill Farm, involving a driver going too fast and having to swerve into a field in order to avoid hitting a horse and rider. Other riders have also reported near misses with drivers going too fast. It was agreed to ask NCC Highways if ‘rider and horse’ signs could be put up in strategic places in the village given the number of horses and riders that there are in the village. The Parish Clerk suggested this could be raised with Rod Kelly, Highways Engineer, and that the NCC Letter re highway improvements could also be discussed with him.
10.2 PCSO Chris Shutt provided the Crime figures for the period 1st July to date. They included Hackford 4 calls to the police which included 1 crime of theft other. And Deopham was 12 calls to the police which included 1 crime of harassment. There was a discussion about the need to be vigilant and security conscious as there have been several reports of strange vans/people in the village.
10.3 Jason Marsh asked if the drain/ditch next to 22 Church Rd. can be reported to NCC for digging out – he has tried clearing it and unblocking it but it continues to cause a problem.
11. Date of Next Meeting Wednesday 12th October 2011 - 7.30pm.
There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.15pm.
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