Minutes of the Meeting of the Welney Parish Council

held in the Parish Hall, Welney

on Tuesday 8^th January, 2008 at 7.30 p.m.

Present

Cllr.K.Goodger (Chairman)  Cllrs, T.Bennett, M. Brown, S.Kerr, and the Clerk. 

Also present:were 4 members of the public.

1.  Apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs.E.Allen, C. Freer, G.Tomkins and

M. Wallington.

2.  Declaration of Interest

No declarations of interest were received at this stage of the meeting.

3.  Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on the 11^th December, 2007, having been circulated to all councillors, were approved and signed by the Chairman following amendment

to the final paragraph of Item 10, which was initialled by the Chairman.

4.  Matters Arising

There were no specific matters arising as all important items will be dealt with.

under their own headings.  The Clerk confirmed that nothing further had been heard relating to Meadow Lane.

4a.  Appointment of Trustee to Bishops Land Charity

Following the resignation of Mrs. Jenny Farrow as the Parish Council appointed representative confirmation had been received from Cllr.Tomkins that he would be willing to stand for the position, and on the proposition of Cllr.Kerr, seconded by Cllr.Brown and agreed, he was duly appointed.

5.  Public Participation

     No one had any matters to raise under public participation.

6.  First Time Sewage for Welney

The Clerk confirmed that very little had been heard relating to this matter.  The Cambridgeshire Times had been in touch with the Chairman and the Clerk to produce an article for their paper.  A planning application had been received relating to the Welney Vacuum Pumping Station, but this would be dealt with under planning matters.  The Clerk confirmed that she had advised the Tipps End residents of this planning application, if they wished to attend the meeting.

7.  Casual Vacancy

.Following the last meeting the Clerk had informed the Borough Council that Mr.M.Jones had resigned and that we had a vacancy.  The necessary forms advertising the vacancy had been displayed in the village but the time period for the Borough Council to receive requests for an election did not finish until 11^th January and it would therefore not be possible to appoint anyone at this meeting.  After a brief discussion it was agreed to include a notice relating to this Casual Vacancy in the next issue of the Welney News to let as many people as possible know the situation, and then hopefully we would be in a position to appoint a new councillor at the March meeting.

8.  Finance.

A.  The following accounts had been received for payment, and on the proposition of Cllr.Brown, seconded by Cllr.Kerr and agreed, the cheques were signed:

Parish Council

MHB Services Limited, Lighting Maintenance 13.12.07 to 12.2.08

Cheque No. 100962                                    104 . 55

Mrs.P.Copeman –Clerks Salary and Expenses

Salary                  255 . 68

Postage                4 . 08

Telephone            19 . 36                    279 . 12

Cheque No. 100962

Anglian Water 3.7.07 to 21.12.07 – Pavilion

Cheque No. 100963                                      28 . 83

The following accounts had been paid by Direct Debit

E-On Electricity supply to the Pavilion         37 . 80

E-On Electricity supply for street lights       59 . 81

Parish Hall

Fenland Fire Appliance Company – Servicing Extinguishers

Cheque No. 100388                                    136 . 91

Anglian water 3.7.07 to 21.12.07

Cheque No. 100389                                      24 . 97

The following account had been paid by Direct Debit

E-On Electricity Supply to Parish Hall     133 . 29

B.  Annual Grants

A request had been received from St.Mary’s Welney P.C.C. for a donation towards the cutting of the grass in the Churchyard, and following a brief discussion it was proposed by Cllr.Goodger, seconded by Cllr.Kerr and agreed that the sum of £200.00 should be

paid, and a cheque was drawn and signed.

C.  Parish Council Financial Regulations

It was proposed by Cllr.Brown, seconded by Cllr.Bennett and agreed that the Financial Regulations should be adopted for a further year.

D.  Precept for 2008/9

The Clerk confirmed that the Annual Precept Form had been received from the Borough Council and that it had to be returned by 31^st January.  All Councillors had been provided with an Interim Income and Expenditure Account to the 31^st December with projected expenditure to the 31^st March and a copy is included in the Minute Book.  The interim accounts were studied carefully and after consideration it was proposed by Cllr.Bennett, seconded by Cllr.Brown and agreed, that we should precept for the sum of £8,000.  This represents an increase of just over 3%, and it was further agreed that a note of explanation would be included in the Welney News.

9.  Parish Hall

1.  The electricity meters were checked and a total of £76.00 had been removed since the last meeting..

2.            The Clerk reported that she had been informed that two events which took place in the Parish Hall had experienced problems with the lights tripping out.  After consideration it was concluded that a Chiller which was used at these events (having been left in the Hall by the Lamb and Flag) was the cause of the problems, as when this was not used, there were no problems with the lights.

3. The main entrance door now appears to be working correctly and it was felt that the problems previously experienced were to do with adverse weather..

4.            It was reported to the meeting that the three heaters at the back of the Hall are no longer working.  It was agreed to contact an electrician and ask him to test them out to see if he can find the problem.

5.  The bottom step approaching the main entrance from the car park is badly broken and whilst it has been barricaded off, it was agreed to ask a builder to repair this as soon as possible. 

6.  There is also a slight leak on the stop tap in the gents toilet and Cllr.Tomkins had already had a look and this and said he would repair it as soon as possible.  The water heater in the kitchen is also causing problems and this will also be attended to.

10.  Elgoods & Proposed New Community Centre

The Clerk confirmed that following  the last meeting she had e-mailed all the information to Cllr.Wallington.

A copy of the application form from Norfolk Pro Help had been obtained, and it was agreed that this should be completed and sent off.

An e-mail had been received from .Janice Howell with details of funding news.  Wren the landfill tax people have increased their main funding stream to a maximum of £50K per application provided that the project lies within 10 miles of a landfill site. They have also reintroduced their Wren Challenge which is a competition with prize money ranging from £75K to £250K but applications for this have to be in by the end of May.  It was felt that this time scale was a bit too tight for us, but it was agreed to contact WREN to find out what exactly we might be entitled to under the main funding scheme.  The Clerk confirmed that she had downloaded the application forms for both of these schemes if they are required.

The Clerk had written to the Borough Council regarding the strip of land off Hurn Drove, opposite the Playing Field.  A letter was received from them dated 24^th December confirming that the land in this area had either been sold off under the Right to Buy scheme, or transferred to Freebridge Housing with the housing stock. 

The Chairman confirmed that he had visited Outwell Hall and gave a description of the construction and layout.  He was also intending to visit the Owl Sanctuary building at Sculthorpe as soon as possible.

The Clerk confirmed that she had received an e-mail dated 20^th December from Mr.Shelton at the Environment Agency confirming that he had received a letter from the District Valuer confirming the value of the Parish Hall Site at £70,000.  She had acknowledged his e-mail and said we would confirm following this meeting.  The Clerk also confirmed that she had spoken to Mrs.Belinda Sutton at Elgoods and given her the information, and Mrs..Sutton had confirmed that they were happy to proceed at the figure of £70,000  Following a short discussion it was proposed by Cllr.Kerr, seconded by Cllr.Bennett and agreed that we should proceed with the purchase of the Hall site from the Environment Agency at this figure, as soon as possible.

It was agreed that a further meeting of the Working Party is required and this was arranged for Tuesday 15^th January at the Chairman’s office and all parties would be advised of the date and time.

11.  Playing Field

Cllr. Kerr confirmed that he had attended the Pavilion and carried out repairs to the entrance door which is now working satisfactorily.  The Clerk confirmed that she had attended the Pavilion and found it very clean and tidy and had removed the sum of £28.00 from the electricity meters.

With regard to the Hurn Drove approach to the Pavilion, the Chairman confirmed that he would try and attend to fill in some of the potholes as soon as possible, and it was also agreed that we should ask Freebridge Housing if they would be prepared to make a donation towards the materials required.

12.   Correspondence

1.  Downham Market Area Local Action Group – Minutes of the meeting held on 14^th December.

2.  Norfolk Matters – Copy circulated to all councillors.

3.  Government Office for the East midlands 19.12.07 Publication of the draft East Midlands Plan Panel Report – Available on their website – www.goem.gov.uk/geom/planning/regional-planning/rsspanel/report

4.  E-mail from Ian Buridge – West Norfolk Council regarding Local Government Review – Norfolk and possible unitary local government.  Documents available for inspection at : http://www/west-norfolk.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=24008

5.  Brochure from Glasdon – Products for Local Councils.

6.  Norfolk NHS Primary Care Trust – Copy of Consultation Document for 2008-2011 Meeting at Swaffham Echo Tech Centre, Turbine Way on 29^th January, 2008

7.  Copy of Fieldwork – Magazine of the C.P.R.E.

8.  Copy of LeAP Ahead – Leader+ in Cambridgeshire and West Norfolk Fenlands, December 2007

9.  E-mail from the Police regarding a Robbery in Downham Market.  It was agreed to put the information into the next edition of the Welney News.

10.         B.C.K.L.W.N. – West Norfolk Directory of Sport

11.         B.C.K.L.W.N. 2.1.08 Norfolk Structure Plan information.

12.         N.C.C. Dec 2007 – Norfolk Gritting Routes Leaflet

13.         Downham Market Local Area Action Group – Next meeting 11.1.08

14.         Norfolk Police authority – January 2008.  NPA Open meeting to discuss the budget for 2008/9

13.  Plans and Planning Matters

     The following planning application had been received for consideration:

Dated 8^th January, 2008    Ref No. 07/02655/F

Anglian water Services

Construction of Vacuum Pumping Station and ancillary development on land adjacent to Chestnut Avenue, Welney.

Following careful consideration and study of the plans provided, it was proposed by Cllr.Bennett, seconded by Cllr.Kerr and agreed that we should recommend the application for approval.

14  Village Development Area Plans

Nothing further to report at present.  This will be revisited at a later date

15.  Highway Matters

1.   The problem of the railings in the hedge at the Rutland Arms Corner at Tipps End  had been reported to Highways and confirmation had been received that the fence had been inspected and repairs had been ordered.

2.  The reply had been forwarded to Norfolk Constabulary following the letter supplied by Cllr.Tomkins but no reply had been received to date.

3.   With regard to the Willow Tree which was left behind following the work carried out at the end of last year, an e-mail had been received from Norfolk County Council confirming that they had requested Highways to deal with the tree as a matter of urgency.  It was understood that the tree had been taken down as requested but it had been left on site.

4.  The question of the path outside the Old Nursery on Wisbech Road was raised again and it was agreed to contact Highways in an effort to alleviate the problem of the water standing at this point.

5.  The Give Way Sign at the top of New Road has been hit and it was agreed to ask Highways to repair this.

6.  Cllr.Bennett reported that problems were experienced with ice on the Wash Road during the last flood session because the road was not gritted.  He also reported that the flood signs are regularly being tampered with – barriers removed when the road was flooded, and signs opened up or left open when the road was not flooded.  It was agreed to try and arrange another meeting with Highways and the Environment Agency to see if these problems can be ironed out.

15a Meeting Reports

     Cllr.Bennett gave a report on the Road Safety Meeting which he had recently attended. He explained that certain persons were being trained to use the mobile speed cameras and as well as monitoring traffic speed, they would also be able to detect drivers using mobile telephones and those not wearing seatbelts.  It was also mentioned that there

     may well be an advisory speed limit of 20mph outside Schools.  Thanks were

     extended to Cllr.Bennett for his report.

16.  Environmental Issues.

1.  Ouse Washes –  Nothing further to report at present.

.    2.   Mereham Development – Nothing further to report at present.

17.  W.A.S.H. Committee

A meeting of the Committee will be held on Friday 18th January when arrangements will be made for the Open Day on Saturday 16^th February.  The Chairman confirmed that he was having a meeting the next day with members of the James Family who possibly had further photographs for the Archive.

.18.   Parish Action Plan.

The Clerk confirmed that all the typescript had now been received and had been collated into a magazine format.  A copy was provided for information.  However photographs were awaited for inclusion, and whilst some photographs are available from the W.A.S.H. archive, more modern photos of the village are required.  Cllr.Bennett confirmed that there was a meeting of the Action Plan Group on Thursday evening, when they would go through the copy provided, and make any alterations or amendments necessary. Oonce the photographs are received and inserted and the copy meets approval, it can be sent off for printing..

19.  Items for next Agenda

1.  Consider a request from the Youth Club to find a suitable position in the Parish Hall for an Air Hockey Table.

     .

There being no further business the Chairman thanked everyone for attending, and declared the meeting closed at 9.05 p.m. 

Signed… …K.Goodger ………………………………… (Chairman.)         

Dated …… 5^th February, 2008………………………………….