PRESENT:- Mr K Uglow (Chairman)
Mrs L Gray (Vice Chairman)
Mr R Charman Mr W Nash
Mr J Parker
Mrs K Wilkins
APOLOGISES:- Mr G Paterson Mrs C Rance
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. He was pleased to see so many people attending but earlier in the year he had been disappointed by one member of the public saying to him that “the council didn’t do anything”. Mr Uglow pointed out that the council now has to meet monthly instead of bi-monthly as in the past and that it is highly unlikely ever to revert to bi-monthly meetings. Mr Uglow then mentioned some of the many matters that had been discussed by the Parish Council over the last year. The list consisted of 41 items and these were only the major concerns. He stated that the council had again acted prudently and managed to stay within budget. Issues that will remain high on the agenda for the coming year are Transport and Road Safety, Youth Facilities and Waste & recycling and public meeting will be called where necessary for these items. Mr Uglow finished by thanking everyone for his or her help & support over the last year.
MINUTES OF THE
MEETING HELD 28TH MARCH 2000
Summaries of the Community Account, Business Premium Account, Surveyors Allotment Account
& Charities were circulated. These were proposed by Mrs Gray and seconded by Mrs Wilkins. Approved.
This account is used as a means of funding any project within the Parish. It is the intention to use this account for the new football storage facilities and we are looking into the possibility of incorporating public toilets into this building. The accounts were submitted for inspection.
PC Jim Windley, our new community constable, introduced himself. He said he was well aware of the traffic problems in the area. The police would try to monitor the situation regarding buses in the Square. He pointed out that for any, especially recurring, problems if members of the public were willing to make a statement to the police giving dates, times, names and/or registration numbers that the police will act on this information.
Following the public meeting last year the situation with HGV’s through the village has vastly improved. Thanks were due to Mrs Cullingham and to the management at the Heinz factory for their help and co-operation in this matter.
Mrs Cullingham has managed to get two or three items put into the Highways programme that is quite an achievement for a small area like ours. A traffic investigation team is coming to Worstead to trial a 20 mph limit through the village centre with 30 &40 mph limits further out. They will need information about what has happened in the past & will liase with the Parish Council. Areas such as Lyngate, Briggate & Withergate will be included. The investigation covers the whole parish but a settlement must be big enough to be viable.
The route hierarchy signing will be changed towards the winter. Once this has settled we can then look at imposing weight restrictions in problem areas. A member of the public asked why the road under the railway bridge at North Walsham couldn’t be lowered. Mr Longhurst said he would look into this.
The use of large coaches on bus routes is still causing a problem. The Flexibus is part of the solution but it will take time to solve the problem completely. Mr Henning said that the passenger transport unit is trying to work with the bus operators to get a connection system in place. The new Passenger Transport Act gives councils greater powers but will not happen overnight. The passenger transport unit will try in its next round of contract negotiations to change from a minimum number of seats stated to a maximum number to try to stop large coaches running through small villages and country lanes.
Meeting closed 9.45