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CLEY PARISH COUNCIL
Chairman : Mr. Richard Allen
Parish Clerk and RFO : Louise Stevens
The Red House, 1 Holt Road, Letheringsett, NR25 7AR
Tel : 01263 713857. email :
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Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of Cley Parish Council held on Tuesday 7th March 2017 in The Club Room, Cley at 7.30pm.
Attending : Chairman Cllr. Richard Allen, Vice-Chairman Cllr. Mark Randell, Cllr. Judith Holman, Cllr. Richard High, Cllr. Tim Baker, Cllr. Simon Read and Cllr. John Pryor.
There were 11 parishioners present.
Also present were District Councillor Mr. David Young and Louise Stevens, Parish Clerk and RFO.
1. Welcome and Apologies and reasons for absences :
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
There were no apologies.
2. Declarations of Interest and requests for Dispensations :
Cllr. Judith Holman declared her interest over the proposed social/affordable housing site on Church Lane, Cley.
3. Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on February 7th 2017 :
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On a proposal by Cllr. Judith Holman, the minutes were APPROVED, seconded by Cllr. John Pryor.
4. Matters Arising from the minutes for information only :
There were no matters arising.
5. Receive reports :
5.1. Police :
PC Jason Pegden stated that there had been no calls to police, and no crime for February.
He reported that in December 2016, the police routinely stopped a van , and discovered stolen outboard motors on board. Foreign nationals were arrested. A result for North Norfolk and historic marine crime.
In future the crime figures will be reported as a whole for the area and localised.
5.2. There was no County Councillor present.
District Councillor David Young gave his report to the meeting :
A report on the Council's response to the January storm surge concluded that it was generally well handled. Further protection of Cromer Pier, the Rocket House and RNLI
museum is to be provided. The surge was less than anticipated and the protection measures taken by individuals after the 2013 surge, using government grants, appear to have prevented much loss to private property, apart from some beach huts. The cost to NNDC is estimated at £300-500K depending on the extent to which money's can be obtained from the Environment Agency and Insurers.
Full Council confirmed the calculation of Council Tax for 2017/18, allowing for a 4.8%
increase in the County Council's share, an extra 2%for the Police and Crime Commission
and the relevant town and parish precepts. The Band D rate for Cley rises by £60.00
and will be £1,650.94.
Following the last meeting, I emailed Mark Burghall regarding the concerns around the selling off on the open market of houses in Cley owned by Victory Housing and suggested that he send me or Louise, an answer to these concerns. I have had no reply from Mark but a colleague provided the following by email shortly after the meeting.
" Victory operates a robust asset management strategy and ensures that all of the housing that we own meets the government's Decent Homes standard. We believe
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a strong investment programme is necessary for the long-term maintenance of our housing stock and drives high levels of resident satisfaction for the quality of the homes we own.
One of our most important jobs is to manage the housing stock we have so it meets the needs of our residents, both now and in the future. There is a current mismatch
between the composition of our housing stock ( in terms of the number of bedrooms ) and the sizes of the households which occupy them. To help redress this imbalance, Victory is actively building new homes, in part funded from the sale of some existing, out-dated properties.
By selling carefully selected properties we also ensure our property investment is targeted at the right properties and has maximum impact. Properties are selected for sale based on their energy efficiency, condition, construction, location size and amenity, as well as the cost of short term and longer term repairs and maintenance.
In a typical year, Victory will seek to sell 45 to 50 properties, and to build over 120 new homes.
This policy helps to redress the current imbalance between the composition of our housing stock and housing demand, and generates funds which we invest in building new homes which are cheaper for residents to heat and have lower
maintenance costs for Victory. It also avoids expenditure on maintaining unsuitable
properties. These savings are in turn reinvested in improving the retained housing stock and building new homes.
To January 2017, Victory had sold a total of 187 properties, but had built 736 new homes.
Salthouse Parish Council at their meeting earlier this evening felt unable to take on the task of running a non-profit organisation to benefit from the Community Housing Fund but would be prepared in principle to co-operate with neighbouring parishes, if this were possible.
The Chairman thanked District Councillor David Young for his report.
5.3. Affordable housing / Victory Housing:
After discussions at the last meeting about Victory Housing selling off older properties, it was suggested that Louise write to Norman Lamb MP, to raise the concerns of the Council.
Louise has done this and read a copy out. As of this evening, no reply had been received.
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5.4. Allotments :
Louise read out extracts from another email from John Ebdon, who is enquiring about the hedge cutting on Church Lane. This has been organised and it is hoped that it will be completed as soon as possible.
Louise and Christine Williamson have been working on a new plan of allotment plots, with up to date details of plot holders. This will help in the future and a copy will also be given to John Ebdon.
5.5. Village Hall and Play area :
Cllr. Tim Baker gave his report to the meeting :
The new Alcohol License is imminent, and with that more choice of drinks should be available.
A new projector screen has been installed in The Club Room. The main hall toilets have been redecorated, and the damp in the basement continues to dry out.
Sheringham Players will be performing a short , only 45 minutes play , called " The last
Bread Pudding ", on Sunday 19th March at 6pm. The usual £1 in the kitty covers costs.
Eastern Angles are returning on Saturday 8th April, tickets £10.00.
" Sophie and the good times ", will be performing on Saturday 30th May, entrance £6.00 on the door. This is an excellent covers band.
No progress to report on the front wall or the potholes, although new LED lighting and possibly Tarmacing the car park is now also being discussed.
The Chairman thanked Tim for his report.
6. Planning :
6.1. Decision Notices :
Planning Application Number PF / 16 / 1578
Variation of condition 3 of planning permission ref: PF / 07 / 1351 to convert 2 bedrooms of Unit 3 I to games room, fenestration changes erection of extension to create store and bin store at Swans Lodge Barn, Cley for Mr. G. Ambler. PERMIT
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Planning Application Number PF / 16 / 0181
Erection of car port and creation of new vehicular access ( part retrospective ) at Pheasant
Cottage, Church Lane, Cley for Mr. M. Lynton. PERMIT
Planning Application Number PF / 16 / 0197
Non-material admendment to planning permission ref : PF / 16 / 0197 to allow for the addition of a clue at Flanders, High Street, Cley for Mr. M. Miriams. APPROVE
6.2. Planning Applications
An application for alterations and additions at Newgate Cottage, Newgate Green, Cley has been withdrawn.
Louise made enquiries at the planning dept. at NNDC concerning the commencement of works at Arcady, and was advised that the conditions were discharged on 26th January 2017, using a new set of plans. However the appeal, was due to lapse on February 5th 2017.
7. Old Harbour Project :
The second stage of the dredging was completed last week, with the dredger completing these works in one less day.
Everyone agrees that this latest dredging looks fantastic with a high tide. Simon was thanked for his hard work with this project.
A working party is planned for March.
Judith and Louise have been researching prices for gabions. The baskets themselves are quite inexpensive, it all depends on the filling. It is preferred to fill these with flints, local stone.
A meeting had been held with the owners of The Mill, who have concerns about the gabions, being placed on The Quay. The Chairman confirmed that the gabions are to define the area of the quay heading, which is still quite freshly installed, and the area for some car parking. They will also act as a barrier and deterrent for cars going to close to the quay heading.
It is not the intention of the Parish Council to block access for emergency vehicles on the quay.
All members, except Cllr. Simon Read, AGREED that the gabions were a good idea.
Cllr. Simon Read explained that he has reserves about the positioning of the gabions.
Cllr. John Pryor asked if any car parking spaces would be lost after the placing of the gabions, and the Chairman said that was not the intention, and that health and safety needs to be observed.
The slip will be extended with more concrete in the near future.
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8. Correspondence :
Louise has received two emails from Mr. Knapp, Zetland House, Cley, who has concerns about the speed of the traffic past his property in Coast Road. He was present, and explained how some traffic reach speeds of 60-80mph through the village.
He invited members of the Council to visit his home and witness the traffic problems.
A long discussion of the traffic problems at the Coast Road end of the village, and the Parish Council will investigate with Mr. Knapp and report at the next meeting.
9. Financial Matters :
9.1. Louise circulated the financial statement for February to all members, and presented the original bank statements from Barclays Bank Community and Deposit accounts. All members AGREED these figures.
The invoice from Wordingham Plant Hire for the dredging will need settling next month. To do this £2,000 will need to be transferred from the deposit account to the community.
9.2. Payments to be made from 8th February to 7th March 2017 :
There is one payment to approve this evening
Toilets. Ltd. £105.60
Members AGREED this payment and the cheque was drawn and duly signed.
The NORSE contract for the new year has been received and it was checked and duly
signed by the Chairman.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
A 30 mph sign has been spotted in the hedge opposite Lime Kiln Close. Louise will notify Highways.
It was also noted that all drains need sucking out.
Mr. Roger Brownsword gave a short report on the actions of the flood wardens during the last tidal surge, explaining how the system works. He works alongside Tony Aberdein.
The Parish Council would like to show their appreciation and thank both gentlemen for all their hard work during these difficult periods.
10. Items for the next agenda :
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11. Date of next meeting :
Tuesday 4th April 2017 at 7.30pm.
There being no further business the meeting ended at 9.15pm
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Chairman. Date.