Rocklands, Norfolk The Villages of Rockland All Saints and Rockland St Peter

PRESENT:

P. Cotes (Chairman)
P. Leigh (Vice Chairman)
P. Smith
R. Steel
Mrs N. Southgate

4 Parishioners

1. TO ELECT AN CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN

Councillor Cotes was proposed as Chairman by Councillor Smith and seconded by Councillor Southgate and was unanimously elected
Councillor Leigh was proposed as Vice Chairman by Councillor Smith and seconded by Councillor Steel and unanimously elected
The Chairman and Vice Chairman signed the necessary statutory documents

Apologies were received from Councillor Able, Mrs M. Gibbon and W. Smith (District Councillor)

Due to the recent elections it had not been possible to contact the new County Councillor in time for him to attend the meeting

3. MINUTES

The minutes of the Council meeting of 4 April 2005 were signed as a correct record

The minutes of the Annual Assembly held on 4 April 2005 were initialled by the Chairman as a correct record subject to approval at the next Annual Assembly

4. MATTERS ARISING

The Clerk reported that as a result of the letter he had received from Inspector Peacock, Thetford Police he had, as advised, written to Chief Superintendent Hayes in charge of the Western Area. He had received a reply stating that he would, operational circumstance permitting, visit the Council at the July meeting

Receipts	£5630.24
Payments	.£660.62
Balance	£4969.62
RECONCILIATION
Community Account	£1307.82
Business Premium A/c	£3661.80
Total	£4969.62

Invoice for payment

Allianz Cornhill Insurance Plc
Council Insurance........£ 466.80

This was approved for payment

AUDIT
The statement of assurance for the Audit Commission Annual return for the year ended 31 March 2005 was discussed and approved by the Council and was signed by the Chairman and R. F. O

CLERK'S PAY
The Clerk's pay was reviewed in accordance with the Clerk's contract and it was agreed that he should now be paid at pay point SCP 17 of the N.J.C pay scale, which is £ 7.99 per hour for 140 hours per year, which equals £ 1118.60 per annum, £279.65 per quarter

6. PLANNING

Planning applications have been received from

Mrs A Firmin - Rocklands - Ex The Old Fish House, The Street - 3PL/2005/0359/O - Residential development
The Council objected - objections attached to the application

Mr & Mrs A Annison - Rocklands - Moorfield, Mount Pleasant - 3PL/2005/0470/F - Erection of new dwelling to replace existing
The Council had no objections but comment was made regarding the height of the building

Mr P Ruter - Rocklands - Yeoman's Cottage, 1, Low Lane - 3PL/5005/0503/LB - Erection of replacement garage and timber frame conservatory
The Council had no objections but concerns were expressed regarding the extra water draining into the overloaded sewer and possible noise

Planning permission has been granted for

Ridgeons Ltd - Rocklands - Ridgeons Ltd, Attleborough Road - 3PL/2005/0214/F - Siting of two portakabins and new concrete area
A covering letter from planning regarding this decision is attached

Butcher and Cooke - Rocklands- Magpie Cottage, Magpie Lane - 3PL/205/0330/F - Erection of pole barn for use a dry storage

Planning permission was refused for

Mr Garrod - Rocklands - The Willows, Sandy Lane - 3PL/2004/1979/F - Siting of a static caravan

Brown - Rocklands - Land at Watton Road - 3PL/2005/0246/F - Tractor and machinery shed

Mr Upstone - Rocklands- Foxhill, Fen Street - 3PL/2005/0259/F - Standing of a caravan

With respect to applications 1979/F and 0259/F listed above enforcement orders against both properties have been issued by Breckland Council

Councillors Smith and Steel reported that they had attended a workshop on the Development Framework at Great Ellingham on 20 April with Andrea Long, Environmental Planning Manager leading the meeting and made the following comments.
The main changes in the planning system were:
1. Regional Planning (rather than County Planning)
2.A Local Development Framework rather than a Local Plan
The Local Development Framework will not just be about land use, but will address environmental, social and economic matters.
The Regional Plan requires 15,200 house to be built between 2001 and 2021. Half of this total has already been allocated and the majority of the remainder is expected to go to the main towns in this area. There will be some village growth (Great Ellingham has already been identified)
Rocklands has the basic features (Shop, school, pub) to be considered for some development
There could be advantages to some development:
- helping to maintain services
- providing affordable housing - there seems to be a growing number of young people in the village (38 now attend Attleborough High School)
It could be worthwhile for the Parish Council to look at the present plan and make suggestions for drawing up a Local Development Framework. This might include identifying areas for development and areas for protection. By doing this we could ensure that we have a significant input from the beginning and don't just let the Planning Department foist a plan upon us.

The subject was discussed at length and it was decided that the Council should be proactive, even if it was decided that no further development of the village was either viable or possible due to the amount of agricultural land surrounding the village. That a suitable letter should be produced, including facts from the Village Appraisal, and sent to the Planning department. That the Councillors should take the village plans received from Planning Department and a “survey” of the village be made to see if there were any suitable sites for development

A letter had been received from Great Ellingham Council regarding the Local Development Plan and suggesting a possible twice-yearly meeting between Rockland, Scoulton, Little Ellingham and Great Ellingham to discus local issues. The matter was discussed and it was agreed that there was merit in the proposal and that the Council should be involved in inter Parish talks. Clerk to write

8. HIGHWAYS

There was nothing to report on this item

9. BUS SERVICE

The Clerk had written to First bus and received a negative reply to his request for the X3 bus to be rerouted. He had also received a letter from Norfolk County Council Transportation stating that heir efforts on the Councils behalf had met with little success (letter filed in File R27/1)

Protracted discussion ensued with the floor of the meeting being involved, and it was concluded that only a small number of villagers required the bus service (at the Village Appraisal 80% of those who answered stated that they did not use public transport). The Taxi service was being used but it was thought that it did not really fill a need because of the limited time allowed in Attleborough, and also the absurdity of a taxi coming from Attleborough to Rocklands to take people to Ellingham then driving back to Attleborough. The two ladies who had used the taxi/bus were reported to be happy with the service. The Chairman thought the matter had been exhausted and that the matter was closed.

The Chairman reported that the Attleborough Area Partnership Transport Sub Committee had obtained funding for a survey to test the viability of a Dial and ride service which could alleviate the problems of village transport and this could be a way forward

10. ATTLEBOROUGH AREA PARTNERSHIP

There was nothing to report on this matter

11. COMMUNITY EMERGENCY PLAN

It was decided that this mater should be discussed by a sub committee to meet in June at Councillor Southgate’s home

12. CORRESPONDENCE

Items of immediate interest were brought to the attention of councillors and were then circulated with the rest of the correspondence

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.15 p.m.

The next Council meeting will be on Monday 25 July 2005 at 7.0 p.m. in the Village Hall