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

ROCKLANDS PARISH COUNCIL

PRESENT:

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

J. Rogers (County Councillor)
W. Smith (District Councillor)

10 Parishioners

Apologies were received from Councillor Abel

2. MINUTES

The minutes of the Council meeting of 13 September 2004 were signed as a correct record

3. MATTERS ARISING

The Clerk reported that he had written to the Attleborough Area Partnership and Miss Rickard, as directed, regarding a cycle path from Great Ellingham to Attleborough, but had had no reply
All other maters arising would be dealt with under agenda items

Due to the large number of parishioners present the Chairman closed the meeting to enquire what particular item on the agenda was of interest to them so that that item could be dealt with earlier on the agenda. The reason for the presence was to ask the Council what action could be taken to have the bus service reinstated. The meeting was informed that there was now no bus service connecting Rocklands with Attleborough and that the cost of a taxi, for those without any other means of transport, was £15.00 which to pensioners was a considerable sum. The weekly shopping bus to Watton was still in service but as was pointed out this was of no use to parishioners wishing to attend the doctor or other services in Attleborough. Mr Rogers, County Councillor, stated that he would speak to his colleagues at County Hall to see if a service at least once weekly could be reinstated, but pointed out that although services were subsidised by County the bus operator still need a significant number of people to use the service to make it viable. He also suggested that Attleborough Area partnership be approached to see if a Dial and Ride service could be set up to assist local residents The Clerk was instructed to write to 1st Eastern Bus and Attleborough Area Partnership

4. FINANCE

Bank Balances and Reconciliation

Receipts	£6756.99
Payments	£1396.45
	£5360.54
Community Account	£1731.45
Business Premium Ac	£3629.09
	£5360.54

The Clerk pointed out that the Community Account was high at the moment due to the receipt of the second half of the precept but that there were bill of about £650 to be paid and he would then transfer some monies to the B.P.A/c

Invoices for payment

The Street Lighting direct debit had been received for the sum of £264.40, which covers street lighting for the last year
1.Hire of Village Hall £54.00
2.Grass Cutting Chapel Green £20.00
3.Web Site Setting up costs £44.65
Items 2 & 3 are refunds to Councillor Smith for monies already paid out
4.Clerks Wages £258.25
Clerks expenses £ 12.11 £270.36

All the above invoices were passed for payment

The Clerk reported the following matters
A. Audit - The Clerk informed the Council that the Audit had been received back with an error in the fixed assets box for the year 2003, a transposition error, this had been amended and signed off by the Chairman and Clerk and returned to the Audit Commission with apologies

B. Street Lighting Electricity - The Clerk stated that in conjunction with the Chairman he had accepted the E.ON Energy quote for the next two years at a cost of £69.15 plus VAT per quarter. He had made enquiries of other companies but with no success. He continued that although the last three years had been at a cost of £62.95 plus VAT looking back in the accounts he had found that in 1998 we had been paying £84.09 and 2000 £80.43 before we had with help negotiated a cost of £62.95 in 2002
A decision had had to be made before 1 November 2004 as to the acceptance of the E.ON quote and due to there being no better alternative the Chairman had authorised the acceptance of the quote. This was approved retrospectively

Street Lighting Maintenance
The Chairman stated that a quote for Street Lighting maintenance had been received from T. Cartledge Ltd who were taking over from David Webster. The Clerk had obtained two other quotes one from T.T Jones Electrical Ltd and the other from Pearce and Kemp Ltd. After discussion it was agreed to accept the quote from Peace and Kemp as being the lowest and the Clerk was instructed to take the necessary action to get the contract started.

The Budget and Precept The Chairman had already circulated a budget and forecast for the coming year and this was gone through and discussed. Councillor Smith who had been on the Chapel Green Working Party drew the attention of the meeting to the fact that the working party had now completed their work and wished to return the maintenance of the Green to the Council. This would be further discussed under a separate agenda item but pointed out that there was a need to put aside a larger amount of money for work to be done on the Green. This was noted and together with the increased cost of street lighting maintenance which has increased from £160 in 2004/5 to £600 in 2005/6 the Chairman proposed and Councillor Steel seconded that the original proposed precept of £2500.00 be increased to £3000.00 to cover this additional cost and to reduce the annual deficit this was agreed. Mr Rogers informed the meeting that Rocklands had one of the lowest precepts .

Clerk to take necessary action

The Clerks Contract
Councillor Steel reported that together with the Clerk they had been through the model contract for Clerks and had deleted such items as were not relevant. The Job description had also been checked and was found not to vary from that in the model and therefore did not need to be altered The Clerk produced the new contract which was signed by the Chairman and Clerk It was noted that the new contract is now on computer and could be recreated in he event of the Clerk’s retirement

Planning applications and approval had been received for the following application

Mr & Mrs Pope - Rocklands - The Cottage, Anchor Corner - 3PL/2004/1556/F -Alteration ad extensions to dwelling
The Council had no objections

Planning applications had been received from

Rocklands Parish Council - Rocklands - Rocklands Playing Field, Green Lane - 3PL/2004/1524/F - To provide amenity lighting to new playing area/playing field
The Council had no objection but were concerned regarding light pollution

James Harrold - Rocklands - Junction of The Street & B1077 - 3PL/2004/1463/A - Errection of non-illuminated pole sign
The Council objected on the grounds of ownership of the land and obstruction of viewing for motorists using the junction
The matter was heard by the Development Control Committee on 18 October 2004 and the application was granted

Mr & Mrs Rider - Rocklands - Attleborough Road - 3PL/2004/1446/F - Creation of new access and close existing one
The Council had objected on the grounds that here appeared no good reason for the change, the removal of a section of hedge and the proximity of the entrance to the 40 m.p.h. sign
The application has been granted

R. Thacker - Rocklands -Land adjacent to Mon Arch, The Street - 3PL/2004/1486/O - Erection of a dwelling
The matter was considered by the Development Control Committee on 18 October 2004 and the Outline planning permission was refused

Mrs Firmin - Rocklands - The Old Fish Shop, The Street - 3PL/2004/1570/O - Residential development
The Council objected. Full details of the objection are attached to the application papers held by the Clerk
The matter is to be discussed by the Development Control Committee on 8 November 2004

Councillor Leigh reported that during the recent very wet October there had been no trouble with the drains The only matter now outstanding was the placing of a sump and grid in the corner of the field at the end of Mill Lane, which was in hand. It was therefore decided that this item was now closed

7. HIGHWAYS

There was nothing to report on this item

8. CHAPEL GREEN -MAINTENANCE

Councillor Smith stated that there was little to ad to what had already been reported under Finance. The Working Party had completed their brief and were wanting to return the Green to the Council to continue its upkeep. The Clerk had received several letters offering the services of maintenance contractors and these were passed to Councillor Smith for action as it was felt that he knew what work was required. Contacts for reed clearance were also offered to Councillor Smith

Councillor Smith reported that he had bought web space for the next to years at a reasonable cost. He stated that the site was now up and running on www.rocklands.org.uk and invited comments or suggestions as to fine tuning. The site was to be advertised in the Rocklander and a notice placed on the notice board

10. POLICE AUTHORITY CONSULTATION FORUM

Councillor Southgate reported that she had attended the meting on 28 September and there had been about 25 persons present. There had been a presentation by the Sector Inspector Tim Peacock who had given statistics of the cost and scale of the operation of police in this area. Much discussion as to problems of parking in Attleborough were raised but the general feeling of the meeting was the lack of visible police presence. This was apparently going to be improved by the employment of a Civilian Police Support Officer

11. MEETING DATES 2005

The Clerk reported that he had provisional booked the following dates for Council meetings for 2005
Monday 10 January, 28 February, 4 April (Annual Assembly) 9 May (A.G.M), 25 July, 12 September, & 7 November
These dates have been checked with the booking Secretary and do not clash with the Flower Club
These dates were considered acceptable and the Clerk was told to confirm the dates. He stated that he would e-mail dates to the Councillors

The Clerk brought the attention of the Councillors to any time sensitive correspondence and the rest was circulated

OTHER MATTERS

Councillor Gibbons stated that she was willing be the Council's representative on the Attleborough Area Partnership; this offer was accepted

There being no further business the meeting was closed at 8.45 p.m.

The next meeting will be on Monday 10 January 2005 at 7.00 p.m. in the Village Hall