Geldeston Parish Council

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting

held on Wednesday 21^st February 2007

At 8.00pm in the Village Hall

COUNCILLORS PRESENT: P Cracknell; S Rolt; M Fenwick; D Witham; A Norman;

J Crowfoot;

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC PRESENT: Canon W Bestelink; Mr J & Miss Tuttle;

Councillor A Burrell; Mr T Scorer; Mr R Whittwell

Minutes taken by Colin Barrett

1. Apologies for absence: K Loffstadt

2. Declarations of Interest: J Rolt re invoice for digger hire (see Finance)

3. Crime Report: No police presence. The clerk reported that, although there had been various crimes reported in neighbouring parishes there had not been any made known within Geldeston.

4. Minutes:

Parish Council meeting minutes of 17^th January 2007

Acceptance proposed by; MF Seconded by: DW All agreed.

	ACTION
5. Action Plan Progress Target 1: The Environment; wildlife & footpaths
5.1. Land Management MF is pursuing this matter and will respond to the recent e-mail sent to the clerk on this. 5.2. War Memorial. Nothing to report 5.3. Composting. Very little activity this month; expected to become busier from about Easter time. MF had not received the query from NCC due to a change of e-mail address. The clerk to re-send to the new address.	MF
5.4. Snakes Lane The clerk had completed all the tasks required from the parish council and it is now for NCC to consult with other authorities before concluding on the matter.
5.5. Footpath Group Nothing to report this month
Target 2: The Memorial Hall
5.6. Nothing to report this month Target 3: Road Maintenance and Cleanliness 5.7. Playground repairs Mr Tuttle had offered to take responsibility for inspection, routine maintenance and major repairs to the playground equipment and grounds. He was asked to inform the meeting of the risk assessment he had carried out and to outline his proposals; which he did. Photographs were produced illustrating the damage, much of it due to recent vandalism. It was agreed that a special account for materials would need to be opened at a local suppliers and it was proposed that Mr Tuttle would need to be given authority to draw materials against that account to an agreed limit and for approved expenditure. It was also proposed that the playground be sealed off with warning tape and a notice to that effect be put up until the playground can be assessed as safe to use. DW agreed to obtain the tape and PC to obtain a suitable notice. Proposed by AN that the clerk open the account, that an account limit of £200.00 be agreed, that the playground be sealed off and a notice be erected; seconded by PC and agreed. Mr Tuttle to bill for labour on a regular basis and to record findings and improvements on a regular basis. The clerk to e-mail a copy of the existing inspection report form.
5.8. Road improvements None aware of this month
Target 4: Road Safety 5.9 Speed limits. PC confirmed that NCC had finally agreed to the reduced speed limit along Station Road, with an implementation date of 7th March 2007. He had discussed road signage with Ms Sadd of NCC and informed council that the parish would need to pay for any specialised “Welcome to Geldeston” style sign at an estimated cost of £300. After discussion it was agreed to leave consideration of such a sign until the speed limit had been extended and the normal speed signing is in place. PC agreed to discuss further with Ms Sadd the type and extend of signage to be provided. The clerk had also written to the police to determine what speed checks had been conducted of late within the village and to request additional checks to coincide with the new extended Station Road speed limit. 5.10 Road signs. The clerk had written to NCC and spoken with Mr Edwards to determine when the Station Road pedestrian refuges and the Yarmouth Road pedestrian signage would be done and had received confirmation that it had been placed on the next schedule of work to be done, hopefully within the next 3 weeks. Target 5: Plan Documents 5.11 Flood Management. BESL had confirmed that improvements to the Barsham river wall would have some impact on the Geldeston side. The papers were tabled (some councillors had their own copies) and it was agreed that, although it is better that as many people as possible send in their own comments. it was important for the parish council so send in a composite return. All councillors to send their comments to the clerk who is to compile a council response. PC to assist the clerk with this compilation. The BESL consultation document identifies that the work will mean soil being brought in necessitating nearly 400 x 20 ton lorry deliveries.	PC All/CB
5.12 Emergency Plan: DW mentioned that he had started work on this and would report progress to the next council meeting.	DW

6. Correspondence

Correspondence received and sent was read out.

Received:

Sent to:	Details
Journals & NCAPTC	Parish Clerk advert details
Clerk post Applicants	Details and forms
Audit Commission	Significant differences information
NCC Mr Edwards NCC Ms Brooks	Confirmation of work to be done
	Re submission of Snakes Lane application and additional details
SNC	Newlands Planning application comments
Mr Jenkins Mr Burrows	Parish clerk post regrets letter
	Parish clerk post regrets letter
SNC Mr Evans	Re playground grass cutting schedule
Received from:	Details:	Agreed Action:
NCC	Re composting site: Report & request for information	Sent to M Fenwick to action
	Re local government review unitary status deadline extension	No response as none raised from previous request
	Highway Matters – response to the latest request	Work now scheduled
SNC South Norfolk Alliance	Green Sheet No 42: including articles on recycling & composting
	Notice of Parish & Town Council Conference -22 June 2007 @ SNC	Attendance?
	Benefits entitlement poster	For display