BANHAM PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

on WEDNESDAY 6 JANUARY 2010
in Banham Community Centre’s small hall at 7.30pm.

 

Present: Mr Burrell, Chairman, Ms Dormer, Mrs McNerney, Mrs Eggleton

In attendance: Ms Sayers Cowper, Clerk, Mr Askew, District Councillor

                                   

Item

Detail

Action

1.

Welcome. The Chairman welcomed the 4 members of the Public present and said the opportunity to speak would be in the adjournment only, unless invited to do so.

 

2.

Apologies for absence

Apologies were accepted from Mrs Green.

3.

Declarations of Interest

No interests were declared.

 

 

Meeting adjourned

 

 

The Chairman adjourned the meeting and invited comments from the Public on the draft Minutes of the meeting of 6January 2010 and the items on this evening’s Agenda.

Comments from the Public are recorded in the Appendix Notes.

 

 

Meeting reconvened

 

4.

Previous Minutes

The Minutes of the Banham Parish Council Meeting held on 6 January 2010 were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting and signed by the Chairman.

 

5.

Matters Arising

Hunts Corner telephone box

The Clerk had circulated an email from BT, which said that should the PC adopt the box, the glass would not be repaired beforehand and that the PC would be responsible for the electricity supply. The Chairman proposed that the electricity be disconnected and that the PC decides on the use of the box at the next meeting, all agreed.

Action: Clerk to inform BT.

Flagpole base

The Clerk reported that the flagpole base was now completed and in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clerk

 

6.

District Councillor

Mr Askew said that the Boundary Committee had passed its recommendations to Government, which now had to decide. He believed they would opt for a unitary authority.

 

 

7.

LDF Task & Finish Group

The Clerk had distributed maps and information from BDC, which showed that, whilst plot 1 had been included into the settlement boundary, plot 2 had been excluded, despite the PC’s recommendation for inclusion. Replies from BDC to her emails asking for reasons for this decision had not answered the question. Mr Askew said that, during the coming consultation, the PC should lobby hard to reverse the decision. He said that BDC had no local knowledge of the area and that the decision to exclude plot 2 appeared to be unreasonable. He understood that the reason for rejection was because of poor access, which was not the case, access was no problem. He advised the PC to write immediately to BDC and request that they visit the site to verify this.

The Chairman proposed that the PC request BDC to include this plot, as originally agreed by the PC in August 1008, all agreed.

Action: Clerk to write to BDC.

 

 

 

 

Clerk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8.

Community Centre/Farmers’ Market

The Chairman said that he and Mrs Eggleton had attended the meeting on 12 January. It appeared that there were several issues to address and that this would be a radical, long-term project. He was awaiting drawings of proposed changes to the bar area to the committee. BPC had offered several ideas for improvement, which would be discussed at future meetings. The next PC working party meeting would be on 11 February at the Rectory at 6.30pm.

 

 

 

 

 

9.

Elderly Residents

Rector Hill gave a list of existing support groups for the elderly and single people, which included:

·       Good Neighbours (Xmas lunch and outings)

·       Open door in the church (tea/coffee, monthly)

·       Coffee mornings at a parishioner’s house (monthly)

·       Banham Wheels car service

·       Coffee mornings at BCC (monthly)

·       Lift rota for Old Buckenham lunch club

·       Emergency car service during bad weather

Mr Askew suggested that the PC contact Teresa Cannon, Emergency Planning Officer for BDC, to invite her to attend a meeting. Ms Cannon would advise the PC on co-ordinating during emergencies, eg floods, snow and electrical failure; this was agreed.

Action: Clerk to contact Teresa Cannon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clerk

10.

Planning Matters

Planning Applications

  • Mr K Tipson, Home Farm, Church Hill; 3PL/2009/1205/F: Variation of condition 3 on 3PL/1999/0483 to allow use as a holiday let. Recommended for refusal for the following reasons:
  • The narrow entrance to the parking area has no visibility splay and the entrance is shortly after a sharp bend in one direction and is close to a sharp corner at a T junction in the other
  • Cllr Dormer visited the property and has great doubts that the car parking facility could hold four cars
  • In the past, residents of Home Farm have parked in the street outside, leading to a potential hazard to traffic, necessitating driving into the centre of the road just before a blind bend
  • Cllr Dormer also spoke to neighbours, who are unhappy at a) the potential noise nuisance – (at one time a party of 8 men on a stag weekend held a noisy party until 3am), and b) the lack of visibility when cars are parked in the street
  • The owner lives in Essex and is too far away to deal with noise and parking issues

Action: Clerk to inform BDC

Planning Decisions

None received.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clerk

 

11.

Accounts

a) The following accounts were confirmed and approved for payment:

  • E.ON Energy £141.90
  • MHB Services £155.70
  • MHB Services £159.08
  • R B Chassis Welding £105.75
  • Banham Wheels £94.60
  • NRCC (sub) £15.00

b) Income received

None

c) Present account balances

Current account: £928.88

Savings account: £8006.52

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12.

Highways

  • The verge outside Autumn Cottage in Kenninghall Road was badly eroded; the Clerk had informed NCC 2 weeks previously and an engineer would come out to inspect it.
  • Junction of Doe Lane and Mill Road, signpost damaged. Mrs McNerney suggested that the sign be removed to a safe place until NCC can re-erect it.

Action: Mrs Eggleton and the Chairman will organise.

Action: Clerk to inform NCC

  • Very large puddle on the corner of Doe Lane

Action: Clerk to inform NCC

  • Blackberry bushes growing into the road from the churchyard

Action: Clerk to inform contractor to clear hazard.

Footpaths

The Clerk reported that a parishioner had called her about several faults with footpaths on the Fen. His approaches to NCC had had no response. The Clerk had also contacted David Mills of NCC, to date she had had no reply.

Streetlight Faults

Part night lighting in Apple Close, Gaymer Close, Greys Manor, Orchard Way, Scrumpy Way and Wayland Way: the Clerk said there were 112 houses in these streets. Mrs Eggleton said that residents had not been consulted; some had read about the proposal in local newspapers. The decision has apparently been made already.

The Clerk had reported two street light faults in Crown Way; these were a result of vandalism.

 

 

Mrs Eggleton

Chairman

Clerk

 

Clerk

 

Clerk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13.

Correspondence

The correspondence for January was noted

 

14.

Date, Time and Place of Next Meeting.

The next Parish Council meeting will be held at 7.30pm, on 3 March 2010, at the Community Centre’s small hall.