WIVETON PARISH COUNCIL

Chairman:  Mr Godfrey Sayers

 

                                                                                                                                    ClerkÕs Address:                                                                                                                               Morning Flight

                                                                                                                        42 High Street

Blakeney

                                                                                                                        NR25 7AL

                                                                                                                        Tel:  01263 741576

E-mail: tricia@glavenvalleycouncils.co.uk

1st October 2008

 

The next Parish Council Meeting will be held on Tuesday 14th October 2008 in the Parish Room at 7.30pm

 

A G E N D A

 

1          Reports for information:

            Councillor Brettle (if present)

Councillor Derek Baxter (if present)

            PC Ken Durrant (if present)

 

2          Apologies

3          Declarations of interest relating to items on the agenda

 

4          Minutes of the last Meeting

 

5          Matters arising for information                     

6          Correspondence

 

7          Finance

 

8          Planning

 

9          Bus Stop

 

10        Village Green

 

11        A O B

 

12        Parishioners Question Time

 

DATE OF NEXT MEETING TUESDAY 25th NOVEMBER 2008

                                                          Tricia Temple-Crowe        

Clerk to the Parish Council

Minutes of Wiveton Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday 17th June 2008.

 

Present:                     G Sayers (Chairman), J Ramm (Vice Chairman), G Woodhouse,

S Beal, P Adcock, Councillor Brettle and Councillor Baxter

In attendance:           The Clerk

Apologies:                  M Wakelin and R Allen

 

Declarations of Interest   There were no declarations of interest.

 

1          Minutes  

 

The Minutes of the last meeting held on the 20th May 2008 having been distributed in advance were approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

 

2          Matters Arising

 

2:1       Affordable Housing  No further progress to report.

 

2:2       Signage   It was agreed that now the Ôslow you downÕ signs were ready, hard wood posts would be used to erect the signs which must be made as secure as possible. It was also agreed that Steve Beal would keep the verge strimmed around the posts to ensure the new signs were clearly visible.

 

2:3       Bus Stop Improvements  The Chairman gave a report on the N C C proposed bus stop improvements for the village.   The Chairman explained that no consultation had taken place regarding these proposals which had been due to be implemented following the introduction of the revised Disability Discrimination Act.  The N C C had in preparation for the bus stop improvements, but without permission from the Parish Council, installed a large container on the village green which would have caused considerable damage to the surface of the green.  The Chairman was pleased to inform the Councillors that after an objection to the installation of the container on the green had been raised on behalf of the Parish Council with the NCC the container has now been removed.

 

In order to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act negotiations were also taking place with the N.C.C. Highways Department to provide a bus stop to facilitate the disabled which the Parish Council felt should be much more in keeping with the village of Wiveton.

 

Councillor Derek Baxter confirmed his support of the Parish Council regarding this issue.

 

3          Correspondence

 

SAFA              Details of this organisation and the help it provides.

 

N C C             Norfolk Matters

                        The LTPO Delivery Seminar

 

NNDC                        Re the proposed removal of the BT Public Pay Phone  -  The Councillors agreed that the NNDC should be informed that due to the non existent mobile phone coverage in the village the BT pay phone should remain.     

 

KingÕ Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council – Re Local Government Review

 

NNDC            Local Development Framework Design Guide

 

 

4          Finance 

 

No finances outstanding

 

 

5      Planning

 

5:1       Marsh Lane – Erection of two-storey rear extension and front porch – The Parish Councillors

             had no objection to this application.

 

5:2       The Wiveton Bell – Erection of storage building and dog kennel – The Parish Councillors had

            no objection to this application.

 

6            A O B    

 

Bus Service   The Clerk will contact Saunders Coaches to enquire if the No 45 bus service will continue in the autumn.

 

Wiveton Downs – Dog Bins   The Chairman informed the Councillors that he has been in discussions with the NNDC who have suggested that dog bins should be installed on Wiveton Downs.   The Parish Councillors were not in agreement with the provisions of dog bins on the Downs but agreed that the provision of some funny inoffensive sign could be placed at intervals on the Downs which would hopefully remind visitors to clear up after their dogs.  The Chairman asked the Councillors to email him with some suggestions for the signs.

 

7      P Q T

 

Village Green Surface  -  Steve Beal agreed to provide some quotes for the repairs to be carried out to the surface of the village green.

 

Report from Councillor Derek Baxter

 

Campaign for early duelling of A11
The leaders of Suffolk and Norfolk County Councils have joined forces with senior business leaders to press the case for the last stretch of the single carriageway A11 to be dualled as soon as possible, ahead of a crucial regional planning meeting on July 8.

Norfolk County Council leader Daniel Cox has made achieving a start on duelling the A11 by March 2011 a key priority and has been heartened by a recent positive meeting involving interested MPs and local authority representatives with Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly which has raised hopes the scheme could be brought forward. But any hopes of speeding up the duelling process could be dashed if a meeting of the East of England Regional Planning Panel - made up of 30 politicians, business leaders and community representatives from across the East - fail to support the call to bring the scheme forward to 2010.

Mr Cox has therefore joined forces with Suffolk County Council leader, Jeremy Pembroke on behalf of Norfolk and Suffolk residents to contact members of the Panel, ahead of the meeting, urging them strongly to back a prompt start on  the scheme.

In addition, Shaping Norfolk's Future, the county's economic development partnership, and the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce are also sending a joint letter on behalf of the county's business community to the members of the Planning Panel and writing to the leaders of both EERA and EEDA.


The letters set out the overwhelming business case for duelling the A11 and will be signed by up to 25 leading figures from the business community of Norfolk. Signatories include Norwich Union, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society and the regional director of the CBI.  If the Planning Panel does agree to Norfolk and Suffolk's request, the focus will then shift to Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly who will be asked to consider bringing the scheme forward as a matter of urgency.

Authorities face action over too-high council taxes
Eight authorities are facing action after setting what Local Government Minister, John Healey, has judged to be excessive council tax rises. One, Lincolnshire Police Authority, will have to set a new lower tax rate this year and will have to re-bill local residents.

In a Commons statement John Healey said "The Government is sending a clear message to all authorities. If you set an excessive increase in council tax, you can expect tough action from us to protect taxpayers".

For Cheshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire Police Authorities this year's tax levels will stay unchanged but the Government intends to limit their maximum council tax increases to three per cent in each of the next two years. The authorities will have the chance to make representations before final decisions are reached on that limit.

Four other authorities - Bedfordshire, Norfolk and Surrey Police Authorities and Portsmouth City Council - will have their scope for council tax increases restricted in future years. Notional budgets have been against which their budgets and tax levels will be measured in any future comparisons. The authorities have 21 days to challenge these before a final decision is taken.

New voluntary car service offers greater community benefits
A new community transport scheme for Norfolk named Transport Plus starts rolling on Monday 30 June.

Run as a partnership between Norfolk County Council, Voluntary Norfolk, the East of England Ambulance Trust and NHS Norfolk, the new Transport
Plus service means that more volunteer drivers will be available to offer more essential journeys to the people who really need them.

Combining the services that the existing schemes provide to their clients will bring tangible benefits to individuals and communities, but the service that clients receive will be much the same as it has always been. The only real change for clients who currently use the CarLink service is a new phone number for Transport Plus - 01603 422807.

Currently each service has its own pool of volunteer drivers, but the Transport Plus partnership will see these pools merged so that volunteers may drive for all the services if they wish.

The different organisations within the partnership will lead on different aspects of the service; Voluntary Norfolk will recruit and administer drivers whilst Norfolk County Council and the Ambulance Trust will take on journey planning in their integrated transport team.......................

But....petition to PM in support of community car scheme volunteer drivers.
From a volunteer driver.

With almost non-existent Hospital Patient Transport, many elderly and vulnerable people rely on volunteer drivers with local charities and organisations to take them to hospital appointments.

Newspapers and television reports say that volunteer drivers across the country are quitting, putting a vital service to OAPs and disabled under serious threat.

At the moment charities and organisations are limited by Inland Revenue tax laws in the maximum amount (40p per mile before tax) they are permitted to reimburse volunteers. Some volunteers are now quitting because they believe this sum does not cover fuel, insurance, road tax, maintenance and depreciation. They are asking for a change to Inland Revenue rules increasing the maximum rate before tax to 50p per mile.

FUTURE MEETING DATES FOR 2008

 

Tuesday 25th November

No Meeting in December