MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF WORSTEAD PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON TUESDAY

26 FEBRUARY 2008 AT THE QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL, WORSTEAD

PRESENT: Cllrs. S. Henderson (Chair), K. O’Hara , S. Cole, S. Harris, M. Carlos

APOLOGIES: Cllrs. L.Lattimer, G. Paterson (holidays), R. Barrett (family commitment), S.

West (work commitment).

ALSO PRESENT: 3 members of the public, PCSO Wibberley, District Cllr. Wilkins.

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TO CONSIDER APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE :

Cllr. O’Hara proposed to accept all apologies as above, seconded by Cllr. Harris.

CO-OPTION OF NEW MEMBER:

Ms. M. Carlos was “interviewed” before the Public Participation and invited to become a member of the Council after a brief discussion.

Ms. Carlos signed the declaration of acceptance of office and agree to abide by the Code of Conduct.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING 22 JANUARY 2008:

Cllr. Cole proposed to accept the minutes as a true record, seconded by Cllr. Harris. The minutes were duly signed by Chairman Henderson.

TO RECEIVE DECLARATION OF INTEREST IN ITEMS ON THE AGENDA: NONE

ACTION BY

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MATTERS ARISING from these minutes (for information only):

ADULT EDUCATION:

Norfolk County Council Adult Education has allocated 12 lap tops computers to Worstead. Worstead Festival Committee has agreed that their Broadband connection can be used, maybe even linked.

Villagers, who have no or little knowledge of computers, will be able to learn how to use them. Mrs. T. Alston will be invited to the meeting to look at the way forward.

WASTE COLLECTION/BURNING:

Reports in the Eastern Daily Press about wood and plastics being recycled and burned at the Waste site in Worstead made some Councillors believe this would be happening at the Surveyors Allotments. This is not the case, these plans relate to the site of Carl Bird.

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FINANCES:

STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT:

Query: an amount for grass cutting was wrongly allocated to Grounds Maintenance.

Cllr. Harris proposed to accept the statement, seconded by Cllr. O’Hara. All agreed.

Balance Business Rate Tracker Account: a breakdown will be presented where the money has come from.

FINANCES

INVOICES:

- Spanton & Bunn: Work at Village Hall £1,500.00 + VAT £262,50 (part of grant)

- Audit Commission: Audit Fees £ 135.00 + VAT £ 23.63

- Griffon Area Partnership: renewal membership £5.00 were all accepted for payment.

REQUESTS:

Worstead Parish Magazine asked for a donation towards their production costs; After a brief discussion it was resolved to donate £100.00 under subscriptions.

The transfer for £1,250.00 from Business Rate Tracker to Community Account was accepted.

RECEIVED:

£ 5.50 for 1 Worstead Woven

Clerk

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SUBCOMMITTEES:

Planning:

Planning applications to be discussed at the meeting:

Ref. 20080209: Continued siting of polytunnel, Millbeck, White Horse Lane, Briggate:

it was resolved to object to this application for the following reasons: obtrusive and damaging to beauty area, change of use should have been applied for first, disputed land ownership and an Environmental Impact study should be carried out.

Permission:

Ref.: 20071902: Erection of attached car port, South Cottage, Briggate.

Development Control Committee (East):

Ref. 20071967: Erection of dwelling land adjacent to Ivy Cottage, Honing Row

Ref. 20080029: Erection of two- storey dwelling: land rear 30-32 Honing Row.

Site visit to 30-32 Honing Row, Erection of two-storey-dwelling (Ref. 20080029); this was attended by Cllr. West, who reiterated the objections made during January’s Council meeting.

Leisure and Recreation:

Lottery Grant

The Big Lottery Fund will not grant funding for Worstead’s plans to create leisure areas for toddlers to 18 years old. Cllr. Barrett has been in touch with S. Schute, Countryside at NNDC, who will send him new information about Government grants.

Cllr. Carlos has been involved with the Big Lottery where some grants are matched by a company.

How to move forward:

Cllr. O’Hara wondered if Worstead Festival Committee would not be able to help out financially.

It was agreed to call a Leisure & Recreation meeting on 11 March 2008.

A note: The shelter was severely damaged just before the meeting tonight.

Highways:

Norfolk Minerals and Waste Development Plan Document: (not surveyors allotments).

Proposed plans for Worstead: Biomass power plant burning a mixture of wood/plastics and generating approx 2MW of electricity; the plant to be located within a building with a ridge height of 15m above ground level, cooling tower between 18 to 21m. above ground level. The site is within a pit, therefore the plant building would be 3m below ground level.

The site presently is a waste transfer station and inert waste recycling facility. Concerns were raised about the burning of plastics.

The consultation period is until 28.03.08, Chairman Henderson has the CD, other information from Clerk.

Bench at Woodview: a request from the residents of Woodview was read out: they would like to see the Memorial bench opposite no.26 removed or relocated, because of anti social behaviour by youths (not all local) directed at all the residents young and old: verbal abuse, physical threats, vandalism, plainly unacceptable behaviour. Intimidation and foul language makes the residents feel very uneasy. The residents have had enough and with the longer evening approaching, things may get worse. They would like to see the bench removed or relocated.

To support the residents Cllr. Cole proposed to remove the bench temporarily, seconded by Cllr. O’Hara. It was resolved to ask volunteers from Woodview asked to remove the bench and the panels, to be stored for a time.

Queen Elizabeth Hall (report)

Cllr. Harris was present at the last meeting. Invoices were presented for electrical works and the building works: requests were made to the Parish Council and the Worstead Festival Committee for grants.

The equestrian car boot sales was a great success, with cars parked all over the village, because the field was considered too wet. New parking facilities were discussed again, but costs will be very high.

Spraying of the field: Mr. Lowe has said he will carry this out, but would like to meet with the Hall Committee and the Parish Council to discuss this.

Kicking wall: could the PC consider relocate this, the present spot is very wet.

It was agreed to put a team forward for the Hall’s Quiz Night.

Clerk

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PROBATION SERVICE: (progress report)

Communication is still ongoing..

FORMER SALT DUMP: (progress report)

Norfolk County Council requested that Worstead Parish Council confirms the acceptance of the surrender of the lease of the site. The Clerk will draft a letter for perusal by Mr. Clark at Keys for the correct words before submitting the final letter.

BRIGGATE MILL: (progress report)

Norman Lamb’s office did not receive any information apart for acknowledgements.

HEALTH & SAFETY PLAYING FIELD:

Permanent lining is not recommended by the FA. After a brief discussion it was agreed that rules for the use of the playing field would be set up and issued before the new season.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING:

Cllr. Paterson had asked for the Cllrs opinions. As he was not present, it was postponed until the next meeting.

DRAINAGE AT WITHERGATE:

It was resolved to honour the request from Withergate residents to be connected to the mains drainage. A letter to this extend will be send to Anglian Water

PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENTS LICENCE FOR THE VILLAGE:

A public entertainment licence for the village was granted to the village (including Meeting Hill) in 2005, ran out in 2006. Chairman Henderson was under the impression that the licence was for a life time, supported by District Cllr. Wilkins. She promised to chase this up with Mr. T. Gent at NNDC.

Clerk

District Cllr. Wilkins

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MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION: (for information only)

The Councillors had nothing to discuss.

The Clerk asked whether Mr. Ashcroft could be invited to the Annual Parish Meeting in an attempt to breathe new life into the Parish Plan. This was agreed to.

ITEMS FOR NEXT AGENDA:

- Kicking wall and Shelter

- Allotments

- Affordable Housing

- Briggate Mill

- Salt Dump

Clerk

CORRESPONDENCE:

- North Norfolk District Council: change of date of refuse collection; LDF newsletter

winter 07/08.

- Information Open Spaces Society.

- Norfolk Rural Community Council: Field Days 20 and 27 March 2.00 – 5.00pm.

- Norfolk County Association of Parish & Town Councils: Norfolk Link, retirement

Stuart Chaplin.

- Bittern Line: Retirement Peter Twiss.

- North Norfolk Housing Trust: change of name to Victory Housing Trust.

- Griffon Area Partnership: Minutes meeting 09.01.08; agenda meeting 14.02.08

(representatives): agenda meeting 27.02.08 (Safer Neighbourhoods);

Draft Action plan.

- Whitehouses Enterprises: Urban and Rural outdoor furniture.

- Audit Commission: appointment of external auditor.

- HM Revenue & Customs: Employer Pack 2008.

- Boilerjuice: free telephone no for price comparisons for heating oil.

- Norfolk Waste Partnership: Your rubbish, your choice.

- Enjoy England: celebrate St. Georges Day

- Real Sport & Leisure: playground information.

Meeting closed at 21.53