Rocklands Parish Council
(RPC)
Minutes of Parish Council
Meeting held in Rocklands Village Hall
7.00pm on Monday 7th July 2014
Present : David Howie Chair
David
Witt
Shirley Colenutt
Kim Austin Clerk
Bill Smith District Councillor
Cliff Jordan County Councillor
Also
present: 2 members of the public.
1. To consider accepting apologies for absence
RESOLVED to accept apologies from
Cllr. Jones who was away and Cllr. Steel.
2. To record declarations of interest from members in any items
on the agenda
There
were no declarations of interest.
3.
To approve the minutes of the
last council meeting on Monday 12th May 2014
RESOLVED to approve, the minutes
that had been circulated prior to the meeting as a true and accurate record of
the meeting. The minutes were duly
signed by the Chair, Cllr. David Howie.
4.
To discuss any matters
arising from the minutes, not on the agenda
Defibrillator. Cllr. Colenutt expressed
a concern over obtaining the pin number to access the unit. All will become
clear once unit and instructions received. Cost of asbestos surveys for the
village hall were discussed and the possibility of the Co-op donating the unit
to RPC, who could then install the unit themselves without the need for an
expensive survey that wasn’t deemed necessary.
ACTION Clerk to progress
defibrillator with the Co-op.
Sport England – Deed of Dedication.
Fields in Trust didn’t call back although they had promised to by 12th
May 2104. The Clerk has now spoken to them and found out that they are now speaking to Sports England direct. They confirmed
they were changing some wording so that the two Deeds 'worked better together'.
RPC solicitor, Jackie Raggett has been informed and she is
pleased to at least know why they hadn’t heard anything from them.
5.
To
adjourn the meeting for public participation
Meeting adjourned at 7.31pm.
There were no comments from the public.
The meeting re-opened at 7.32pm.
6. To
report on Finance
6.1
Financial position
The bank account balances as at Monday 7th July
2014
Barclays Community Account £ 2732.09
Barclays Saver (Reserve) Account £ 702.01
TOTAL as per bank £ 3,434.10
6.2
Money in since last
meeting
2/6 Interest on Business Saver Account £ 0.09
TOTAL
IN £ 0.09
6.3
Cheques out (to sign)
M C Business Services Audit accounts Year 2103/2014 £ 25.00
TOTAL OUT £ 25.00
6.4 Standing
Orders
Kim Austin Clerk’s
wages
Pearce and Kemp Street
lighting
e.On Electricity
End of year accounts & Mazars external audit.
Accounts audited
by Michaela Canham. Invoice to pay for £25
Waiting for
signed off accounts back from Mazars, the external auditors. Deadline was 4th
July.
Neither RPC
signatories were at the meeting to sign Michaela Canham’s cheque.
7
To consider planning
applications.
7.1 Planning outcomes since last meeting
3PL/2014/0302/F SOUTHGATE/Rocklands Pk Fm/Agri Manager
House (47) APPROVAL
3PL/2014/0332/F PARTNR IN CARE/Anchor Corner/2 bed
dwelling (48) PERMISSION
3PL/2014/0281/F CHAPMAN/The Old Rectory/2 storey ext
(46) SUPERCEDED See (50)
7.2 Planning applications pending outcome
3PL/2012/0654/CU BRECKLAND
STORAGE/Swangey/Retail caravans - (15)
7.3 New planning applications since last meeting
3PL/2014/0489/F ALGER/
20 Rectory Road/Single storey dwelling (49) REFUSED
NOTE: A new
application since the last meeting but permission already refused.
3PL/2014/0564/F CHAPMAN/The
Old Rectory/2 storey ext, pool and staff acc (50)
RESOLVED
No objection to this application. A variation in previous application.
7.4 New planning applications since agenda was issued
None
Glebe Cottage - Concerns over demolition. Application to demolish
and rebuild had been turned down. Out of
character with the grade 1 listed church. Chris Curtis in planning department
had been emailed about the unauthorised demolition of the cottage. Mr. Leslie
was now discussing options with the council and a retrospective application
being put forward. It was noted that
work on the house had been problematic and underpinning had caused the dwelling
to collapse. Thought to be constructed of clay lump on slates and had stood
empty for 30-40 years. The RPC agreed that if work was done and village houses
were improved – then that had to be good.
Tuppins Farm – Planning enforcement now looking at this
problem.
8 To update on
White Hart (DH) and Rocklands Village Shop (SC)
White Hart. Cllr. Howie reported that
the pub is open, he had had a good meal there and was welcomed.
Village Shop
and Post Office (SC).
Cllr. Colenutt reported that with the Hingham PO now closed, more business was
being directed to Rocklands. People in
Hingham were organising car shares to Rocklands to collect pensions etc. Local produce was selling well including fish
from Bunnings. Heading in the right direction but can always do with more
business.
9 To receive update
on Trees.
There was nothing to report on trees in the
village.
10 To update on Playing Fields. (DH)
A village fete was held but the weather
unfortunately was horrendous on the day.
Cllr. Howie reported that they were looking to
update the playground equipment and were applying for grants up to £20,000. If
grants successful, may find that the money would have to go through the PC
accounts as with previous grants !
11
To receive update on Highways
Trod. The trod is better than it was. Paul Sellick from the council said that the materials
used had let the quality of the finished product down. Remedial work will be done free of charge and
the council had agreed to skim/surface W/C 21st July 2014.
Ridgeons fencing. Paul Sellick was asked
about the problem with Ridgeons fencing whilst he was there. He commented that
it may be difficult to change the fence line.
Although it was a chain link fence, at certain angles, the fencing
appeared solid and blocked view onto the road when pulling out onto the main
road. He agrees there is a problem.
Speed Limits. The
‘ladies’ from school had been out with their cameras, monitoring speeding
motorists up at the junction. They are able to provide details of those
speeding and 3 warnings would equal a police conviction.
12 To update on
flooding
Jetting in
Bell Lane. District Cllr. Bill Smith reported that the
drains had been cleared and due to Bill’s efforts, the drains were now also
scheduled to be jetted. Thanks to Bill for progressing.
No issues
with flooding in the past months.
Ponds. Cllr.
Colenutt concerned about the ponds being overgrown and the impact on the where
the water would go when it rains, Shame to compromise the situation, now we are
on top of the flooding issue.
13 To discuss any
correspondence
23/5/14 Mr Gibbins. Rocklands resident called about hedges and footpaths needing trimming
around Mill Lane. Cllr. Colenutt
reported that the village in general was looking a bit overgrown and
untidy. Cllr. Howie confirmed that the
various councils do not have the money now to cut hedges. Used to be every 6 weeks, now every 6
months. ‘A’ roads should be maintained
by the Highways Agency and ‘B’ roads by Norfolk County Council. We still have visits from the Highway Rangers
but they come round less often. County
Cllr. Cliff Jordan confirmed the lack of money and the cutbacks. The problem at
County Hall is horrendous. Government
has given money to the councils but it can’t be used for anything other than
repairing potholes.
9/6/14 Sonya Cooper: Moving to the village.
Has been reading PC minutes on the website and emailed to ask where the parcels
of council owned land were. The
Clerk replied with details of the 5 parcels recently identified.
10/6/14 Pat Robinson: Chapel Green and pond. A
letter had been received from Pat Robinson of Chapel Green Cottage to bring the
state of the pond and the surrounding area to the attention of RPC. It was agreed the area needed a tidy but on
this rare occasion where there were 3 councillors absent, it was decided to
discuss in detail at the next meeting.
An idea that upkeep of the pond/area could be treated as a school
project was raised. Cllr. Howie would
take this idea to Dave Jones, school governor for his thoughts. Otherwise
perhaps a working party of volunteers.
ACTION Clerk to reply to Pat’s
letter.
14 AOB (Agenda items
for next meeting)
A couple of items were discussed at this point.
Phone Boxes. Confirmed Sue Steel would do the phone box.
Electoral Rolls. Had been requested but
had not been received and were now long overdue. Should be the full copy and
not the restricted version. Clerk had already asked again for rolls but would
do so again.
ACTION Clerk to try and obtain
electoral rolls.
Watton
Medical Practice. A
situation had arisen in Watton where 1500 patients had been deregistered. This
action may be taken as unlawful. Cllr. Howie thanked Bill Smith for keeping us
informed.
UK Power. There had been a power cut in the night and a
transformer had caught fire ! The situation had been quickly and efficiently
dealt with by UK Power and the electricity supply restored quickly. Cllr. Howie had written a letter of thanks to
UK Power who were very happy to receive it.
15 Date of next Meeting - Monday 8th September 2014,
7pm, Rocklands Village Hall.
The meeting
closed at 8.39 pm.