held in the Parish Hall, Welney

on Tuesday 2^nd June, 2009 at 7.30 p.m.

Present

Cllr.K.Goodger (Chairman)  Cllrs E. Allen, T.Bennett, M.Brown,  S.Dobson,  C. Freer,  S.Kerr V. Pratley and the Clerk.  Two members of the public were also in attendance.

1.  Apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Dist.Cllr. V.Spikings and C.Cllr.H. Humphrey

2.  Declaration of Interest

None at this stage of the meeting.

3.  Minutes

The minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on the 5^th May, 2009, having been circulated to all councillors, were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record of the meeting following the correction in the spelling of Cllr.Freer’s name

4.  Matters Arising.

1.                Local Government Re-organisation – The Clerk confirmed that immediately following the last meeting, a letter had been sent off to the Boundary Committee for England together with copies to Dist.Cllrs and the BCKLWN.  An e-mail from Cllr.Spikings thanked the Parish Council for their continued support and congratulated them on the excellent letter.

2.   Sandgate Corner Field – Cllr.Bennett prepared an article for the Welney News together with a questionnaire requesting that those interested parties should return the questionnaire by the end of June.  So far three forms had been returned and it was hoped if there was sufficient interest, that possibly an Open Meeting could be held in the village in July.

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3.               Community Speed Watch – All councillors were circulated with a copy of the leaflet relating to this.  A telephone call had also been received from PCSO Steven Cockrell suggesting that if the Council were interested then we contact Sgt.Marsh who is leading the push in this area and is very anxious to take the matter out to all the villages.  It was agreed to contact him and ask if he would be prepared to come along to our next meeting in July, as three councillors had expressed an interest in being involved.  It was also agreed to put a notice on the Village Notice Boards asking anyone interested to contact either Cllr.Allen or the Parish Clerk.

4.   Barrier to side of the A.1101 Sandgate Corner – In view of the recent fatal accident on the Sandgate Corner, and numerous accidents over the years, it was agreed to contact Highways and ask if they would reassess the signage and reflector posts around and on the approaches to the corner.  Also to ask whether there would be any possibility of getting some sort of barrier on the high side of the corner which could possibly prevent some many vehicles ending up in the Old Croft River.

5.  Public Participation

The Chairman then adjourned the meeting for public participation.

Mr. & Mrs. Little of New Road, Welney advised the meeting of problems which they had been having with vibration to their property since the sewage works were carried out and particularly since the concrete pot was installed under the road outside their house.  Council agreed to discuss this under Item 6 of the Agenda and the Chairman re-convened the meeting.

6.  First Time Sewage for Welney

Nothing had been received regarding possible road closures or restricted traffic movements when the sewage works are carried out on the A.1101 but enquiries would be made to see when these would be taking place and what procedures will be followed.  It had been suggested that the pipes would be installed using a “mole” system but no official clarification had been received on this. 

 Council then discussed the problems raised by Mr. & Mrs. Little and as this was something that the Parish Council had no jurisdiction over, it was agreed to contact Stephen Burrows (Anglian Water) and Gary Scotcher.(Barhale) to ask what their official complaints procedure was.

 The Chairman advised the meeting that it was proposed to start filling the Lagoon over the next two weeks and that everything else appeared to be progressing well.

7.  Meeting Reports

Cllr.Brown gave a brief report on the planning meeting with he and the Chairman had attended at Downham Market.

8.  Finance.

     The following Invoices have been received for payment and on the proposal of Cllr.Allen

     seconded by Cllr.Brown and agreed, the cheques were signed:

:    Mrs.P.Copeman

           Salary     255 . 68

           Ink Cart.    11 . 65

           Postage       7 . 25

           Telephone    16 . 30

           Paper        10 . 00                             300 . 88

     Zurich Insurance Renewal   (Parish Council)              1,030 . 26

     Zurich Insurance Renewal (Parish Hall)                    627 . 54

     MHB Services Limited – Electricity maintenance

     For street lights (3 Invoices outstanding from last year)       411 . 54

9.  Parish Hall

1.                The electricity meters were emptied prior to the start of the meeting and the sum of

£3.00 was removed.

           2.   Nothing further had been heard from the Environment Agency or the Solicitors regarding the purchase of the Hall site.

10.  Proposed New Community Centre

The Clerk presented councillors with a copy of a letter from Robin Briscoe of Peter Humphrey together with draft plans for the proposed new community centre.  Councillors took time to study the plans and there was a general discussion regarding the size of the hall and rooms required.  It was agreed to ask Mr.Briscoe to come along at 7 p.m. prior to the next meeting on 7^th July to discuss the plans and possible ideas for changes and amendements.

11.  Playing Field

The Clerk gave a brief report on the bookings and the cleaning of the pavilion.  Problems had been experienced with rubbish being left behind and dirty toilets following the Cricket Match and this would be mentioned to the Cricket club.  The boarding to the window in the shower room had been pulled away and the window to the gents toilet had been smashed.  Cllr.Kerr agreed to attend to these two matters as soon as possible.

12.  Correspondence

1.   West Norfolk Voluntary and Community Action - e-mail asking if they can come and talk to the Parish Council about the work of the VCA and the partnership they are hoping to set up.  Apparently they support local groups and parish councils and can keep then up to date on funding and other issues that might affect the parish.

It was agreed to ask if they would like to come and talk to the August meeting.

2.   Norfolk Constabulary - Western Mobile Police Office details of the timetable for July - September and October - December, 2009.

3.   Downham Market Area Local Action Group - Minutes of meeting held on 8th May, 2009.  Next meeting Friday 12th June at Downham Market Fire Station.

4.   Fenland Leisure Products - Small brochure and details of their stand at the Royal Norfolk Show - 1st and 2nd July, 2009.

5.   West Norfolk Sports Council - Annual Meeting details together with a brochure giving Sports Development Update Information.

6.   BCKLWN - Funding Opportunities - May/June for Heritage and Older

     Peoples Projects.

7.                BCKLWN - 20.5.09  Community Development Information Leaflet.

8.                The Forum, Norwich – Information leaflet regarding the premises and rooms available

9.                Fieldwork (Magazine of the CPRE)  (Handed to Cllr.Bennett)

13.  Plans and Planning Matters .

The following planning application was received:

     Ref No. 09/00418/F

Mr. Ian Little, Fishtales, New road, Welney, Wisbech, Cambs PE14 9RA.

Retention of Garden Pond in Top end of Garden at Fishtales, New Road, Welney

The application is for the retention of a pond which is now established in the garden It has come about because a complaint was received by the Borough Council by an unknown neighbour and this resulted in Mr.Little being issued with an unlawful use land notice.  However it has now been established that the pond is lawful use of the land and he has been instructed by the Borough Council to apply for planning permission for the pond as the planning officers have deemed the pond to be an engineering

     project rather than a garden pond.

After consideration and clarification on some points by Mr. & Mrs. Little, it was unanimously agreed that the application should be recommended for approval.

Before consideration of the next item, the Chairman declared an interest on certain areas of land that might be considered for inclusion.

BCKLWN - 18.5.09 - Site Specific Allocations and Policies Development Plan Document Consultation - 5 Copies of the Plan Document relating to the Local Development Framework.  Responses and completed forms should be returned to the Borough Council by 26th June.   Copies of the plan document and explanatory sheet were handed out to Councillors.  After a brief discussion it was agreed that all Councillors should put their ideas down and sent these to the Clerk so that a suitable reply could be formulated and submitted to the Borough Council before the deadline of 26^th June. It was also agreed that we should inform the Borough Council that we would be receptive to having small scale development within the village.

14.  Highway Matters.

An e-mail was received from Cllr.Dobson dated 11.5.09 regarding the A.1101 and road closures during flood conditions. Several conflicting reports had been received regarding the closing of the road and the fact that the police can issue fixed penalty notices.  It was agreed to write to Norfolk Police direct and hopefully get a reply in writing to clarify the point once and for all.

Following the last meeting, all matters raised were reported to Highways for attention, but nothing direct has been heard from them.  The Clerk confirmed that she had e-mailed Martin Edmonds regarding the spraying or cutting back of the footpath around

Sandgate Corner

15.  Environmental Issues.

None.

16.  W.A.S.H. Committee

Nothing to report at present.

17.   Parish Action Plan.

It was agreed to try and make a formal review of the Parish Action Plan at the September Parish Council Meeting.

18.  Items for next Agenda

1.                Political Concerns.

There being no further business the Chairman thanked everyone for attending, and declared the meeting closed at 9.45 p.m. 

Signed   K. Goodger (Chairman.)       

Dated     7^th July, 2009