WIVETON PARISH COUNCIL

Chairman:  Mr Godfrey Sayers

 

                                                                                                                                    ClerkÕs Address:                                                                                                                                 Morning Flight

                                                                                                                        42 High Street

Blakeney

                                                                                                                        NR25 7AL

                                                                                                                        Tel:  01263 741576

E-mail: wiveton@glavenvalleycouncils.co.uk

12th February 2008

 

The next Parish Council Meeting will be held on TUESDAY 19th FBRUARY 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

           

            8:1       Wiveton Hall Farm, Marsh Lane – Erection of single-storey extension

to Cafˇ and Shop

 

9          Village Green Surface Repairs – Progress Report

 

10        Flood Warning Consultation Report

 

11        Parish Land 

 

12        A O B

 

13        Parishioners Question Time

 

            The next meeting will be held on TUESDAY 18th MARCH 2008 AT 7.30PM 

 

                                                          Tricia Temple-Crowe         

Clerk to the Parish Council

Minutes of Wiveton Parish Council Meeting held on Thursday 15th January 2008 at 7.30pm

 

Present:                      G Sayers (Chairman), G Woodhouse, P Adcock, S Beal and J Ramm

In attendance:           Councillor Derek Baxter and the Clerk

Apologies:                  R Allen, M Wakelin and Councillor Brettle

 

Declarations of Interest   The Chairman and Steve Beal declared an interest in item 11 Parish Land.

 

1            Minutes  

 

The Minutes of the last meeting held on the 22nd November 2007 having been distributed in advance were approved as a true record after the following amendments had been made:

 

2:4       Flood Warning Report   The Chairman gave a detailed report on the recent severe storm and surge tide and emphasised the need to ensure that although the risk was perhaps minimal in Wiveton a flood warning plan and the procedures to be followed was in place.   Due to the possibility that the Blakeney Bank might be breached due to the recent surge tide and storm, the Chairman with assistance from John Ramm had felt that it was necessary to warn parishioners who lived/slept on the ground level of the possible danger.  Those parishioners who were advised of the possible danger were grateful to Godfrey and John for warning them and it gave them comfort to know that the situation was being monitored on their behalf.  Godfrey felt that it had provided an excellent opportunity to test the flood warning procedures in place for Wiveton and the parishioners would now be consulted to consider any revised procedures.  

 

Another area of concern was that of fluvial flooding emphasised by the heavy rains of the summer was the operation of the Cley road sluice gate.  The Environment Agency needs to be encouraged to allow these gates to be operated locally as in the past, as their response to flooding due to heavy and sometimes sudden rain fall is just not quick enough.


2          Matters Arising

 

2:1       Affordable Housing  No further progress to report.

 

2:2       Purchase of Village Signs  The Chairman informed the Councillors that the manufacturer of the signs has requested clarification regarding the size of the letters for the new signs.  The price of the signs is dependent on the size of the lettering.  It is anticipated that the cost of the signs will be approximately £550 in total.  The Councillors felt the letter for ŌSlow You DownÕ should be slightly smaller than the lettering for the Wiveton signage to enable the wording to fit above the sign for Wiveton.  The Chairman will work out the letter size and report back to the Councillors if it would not fit as suggested.

 

2:3       Flood Warning / Consultation  Report   The Chairman informed the Councillors that  he is due to attend a meeting with Ace Dann to which Brian Farrell, Jim Crossley and the Environment Agency have been invited to discuss the issues relating to the sluice gates.  The Chairman hoped that it will be possible to pursued the Environment Agency to allow Mr Barry Slegg, who lives very near to the sluice gates and works for the National Trust to be given permission to operate the gates.  Once this issue has been resolved the Flood Warning Consultation Review will be progressed.   

 

2:4       Village Green Damage to Surface  John Ramm informed the Councillors that any proposed work on the village green should not be considered until the weather improves.   The owners of the Wiveton Bell have indicated that they are willing to make a considerable contribution to the costs of the surface repairs to the green as it is acknowledged that the majority of the damage is due to visitors to Wiveton Bell parking on the green. 

 

2:4       Village Green Damage to Surface – continued

 

It was agreed that a site meeting should be held to measure the area and produce a wish list of repairs that need to be carried out which will take place on Monday 21st January at 1.00pm.   It was suggested that perhaps repairs to sections or half of the green could be carried out at one time to enable reduced parking to still be available.  In addition John Ramm suggested that an informal meeting with the owners of Wiveton Bell should also be arranged, he felt that the costs incurred to repair the green should not be financed by the Parish Council who have very limited funds.  The Chairman offered to contact the Norfolk Coast Partnership and the NNDC to enquire if it is possible to obtain any grants towards the village green repairs.    

 

2:5       Finger Post  Following a report at the last meeting that the new finger post which was put in place only a few weeks ago had already been vandalised, Gail Woodhouse reported that she felt it was the severe winds during a recent storm that had been responsible for the damage to the finger post not vandalism and suggested that it may be possible for it be repaired. 

 

3          Correspondence

 

N N D C – Flood Sirens Consultation Process – The Next Step -  Meeting taking place on Tuesday 15th January at Cley Village Hall

 

N N D C   -  Update on Planning Matters

 

N C C   Norfolk Matters

 

Norfolk NHS Primary Care Trust   Proposed vision and priorities for 2008 – 2011

 

North Norfolk Community Partnership Stakeholders Conference 2007 – 2008 

 

4          Parish Land   

 

John Ramm informed the meeting that the 5 bard gate has been broken and is in need of attention.

 

5            A O B     

 

Pumping Station The Clerk will write to the A W A to request a site meeting to be held to discuss the problems incurred when the pumping station regularly backs up which affects a number of properties.

 

Report on the meeting with Brendan Joyce, Director of the NWT at Cley Parish Council

 

Following the recent surge tide and storms Cley and Wiveton Parish Council, parishioners and visitors had conveyed their concerns to the NWT regarding the following:

 

 

Car Park   The NWT acknowledged the value of the Beach Car Park which was considerably reduced by the encroaching shingle and intended to restore it to something like its original size by moving the southern boundary fence. 

 

However in order to accomplish this the NWT will be required to obtain permission from Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Planning Department which all takes time.  

 

A meeting with the Environment Agency is scheduled to be held later in January.

 

The realignment of the car park makes more sense than trying to shovel the shingle back on the north side which would again require the permission of the Environment Agency.  Visitors will continue to be charged to park their cars, although as in the past, residents will be able to park free of charge.

 

Cafˇ and Shelter   The NWT informed the meeting that the building had been occupied up until 12 days ago when the tenancy came to an end.  In the meantime an inspection has been carried out and the cafˇ building seems to have no further use and will shortly be demolished.  However if anyone could come up with a sensible, sustainable low cost alternative use for the cafˇ the NWT would welcome ideas.   

 

The Contractor will also be removing the worst of the World War 2 debris on the beach as the NNDC and the Environment Agency have both insisted that the clearance of this debris is not their responsibility.   Brendan Joyce informed the meeting that it would be far too dangerous to allow the sea to demolish the Cafˇ naturally. However before any demolition work can be started permission has to be obtained from Natural England and although formal permission has been requested, no response has been received.   

 

The NWT had no plans to reinstate the toilets which were destroyed by the storm.  It was however agreed that the Memorial Shelter which although it had incurred damage to the roof on the north side, will remain for the time being, however volunteers may be needed to help remove the build up of shingle.  In the medium to long term it is anticipated that the Memorial Shelter will perhaps only withstand one or two more major storms.

 

The NWT in answer to a query raised in the Parish CouncilÕs recent letter confirmed with the provision of legal documentation that the ownership of the Memorial Shelter had been handed to the NWT by Cley Parish Council in 1986.

 

East Bank Car Park   Brendan Joyce informed the meeting that the NWT had no alternative but to close the East Bank Car Park due to health and safety issues as they wished to avoid litigation by someone incurring an accident.  The NWT initially felt that due to considerable costs the East Bank Car Park was now beyond repair and this should remain closed.

 

However the NWT were reminded that the last time any extensive repairs were carried out was in 1945 and no major maintenance work has been carried since that time and therefore the anticipated repair costs of approximately £6,000 was not excessive.  The Cley Bird Club had also indicated that they would be willing to assist with some of the repair work.   The NWT agreed to obtain estimates for the work required to reinstate this facility to an acceptable standard with a view to the work being completed by Easter.

 

Financial Contribution Cley Parish Council felt very strongly that the East Bank Car Park must be reinstated as soon as possible and agreed to make a financial contribution towards the cost of the work. 

 

It was also suggested that it may be appropriate to launch an appeal to help towards the cost of reinstating the East Bank Car Park and possibly the Memorial Shelter.     

 

Brendan Joyce confirmed he would be happy to come to another meeting to discuss progress and the way forward for the future.

FUTURE MEETING DATES FOR 2008

Tuesday 18th March

Tuesday 15th April

Tuesday 20th May

Tuesday 17th June

No meetings in July and August

Tuesday 23rd September

Tuesday 21st October

Tuesday 25th November

No Meeting in December

 

Report from Councillor Brettle

 

Councillor Brettle had very little to report to them meeting other than to inform the| Council that discussion are taking pale regarding the unitary boundaries and that recently a meetings had taken place following the recent flood and the continued provision of flood sirens.

 

Report from Councillor Derek Baxter


New initiatives unveiled as 3.75% council tax increase is proposed
Norfolk County Council Leader, Daniel Cox, recommended a budget which will deliver further investment in front-line council services and set the second lowest council tax increase for 10 years when the Authority's Cabinet met on January 28.

A number of new initiatives were outlined, designed to help improve educational attainment of Norfolk children, improve care for older residents and maintain the road network.

His report stated that although this year's financial settlement was better than expected, the council still has to make savings of more than £14.6 million for the year ahead.

However, he stressed the Authority had listened carefully to residents' views on the need to keep council tax increases as low as possible while focusing on the need to concentrate resources on frontline services.

Key features of the 2008/9 budget include:

A new Home Support Re-ablement service to be launched by Adult Social Services to give six weeks' intensive help to people so they can stay at home longer, come out of hospital quickly and be less dependent on long term care.

Two new libraries to open the year ahead at Wymondham and Poringland.

15 new children's centres to open and 3 additional advisory heads recruited to work with primary schools, with more support channelled to schools which need to improve. A new primary school will open in West Costessey with spaces for 315 children.

Work will begin on the £3 million new Carrow fire station and a water rescue service for Norfolk developed to strengthen the response in the event of flooding. investment in routine road maintenance will be increased and work in developing the Northern Distributor Road will continue, with a planning application expected in the summer.

A new recycling centre will open in King's Lynn and the Mile Cross site in Norwich will be redeveloped and a further 5000 home composters distributed.

Rural road safety boost for Norfolk
Norfolk's rural roads are to benefit from an injection of over £1.5 million in Government funding, thanks to Norfolk County Council's status as a "Beacon Authority" on road safety.

The extra funding is coming from the Department of Transport to support a three-year "Rural Demonstration project" and will allow the County Council to gather information and develop innovative strategies to improve safety on rural roads. These will include a range of education, enforcement and engineering measures.

Three quarters of all accidents that leave people killed or seriously injured now happen on Norfolk's rural network. Another striking figure is that 40% of the people killed on Norfolk's roads do so on county "A" roads.

The extra funding will enable the county to find out whether there are common factors that contribute to these figures, and to try new measures to reduce accidents and casualties.

County Council helps businesses cash in on commercial waste
Businesses in Norfolk are turning commercial waste into cash supported by county-wide initiatives to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible.

The commercial waste recycling sector in Norfolk has flourished in recent years, driven by increasing demand for recycled materials and the pressure to reduce landfill waste.

There are now a growing number of companies making products from waste, which include:

* Fuel briquettes made from sawdust
* Designer furniture made from electrical cable reels and redundant wood
* Animal bedding made from waste paper
* Picnic benches made from recycled plastic

The County Council is committed to taking an active role in encouraging businesses - which generate around 70% of Norfolk's waste - to reduce, reuse and recycle, where possible.

With landfill tax set to double by 2010 to £48 per tonne, more and more businesses are realising that signing up to greener waste disposal could not only help protect the environment, it could protect their profit margin too.

Hazardous Waste Amnesty 2008
Previously the amnesty has been held during late Spring and early Summer to tie in with a Spring cleaning theme. Although this may prove to be a good time of year to have a clear-out, it is also a very busy time of year at the recycling centres, which has meant the event has not been as well advertised as the county would have liked.

This year the county plan to hold the amnesty during September. This gives a long lead-in period during the Summer to arrange appropriate communications and advertise successfully. The county aim to make much more use of local advertising, as well as the web and council publications, so that local people can find out about the amnesty more easily.

Yellow School Bus Commission
The Yellow School Bus Commission, which is investigating home to school transport and the potential for greater use of American-style operation of school buses, visited Norfolk on January 21st.
The commission was set up last Summer following independent research of around 1500 parents produced the following key findings:

38.7% of primary school children go to school by car - almost 4 times more than their parents' generation.

21% of secondary school children get to school by car.

86% of parents would be willing to send their children to school on a dedicated school bus.
 
51% see the main advantage of such a service as being the environmental benefits of reducing the school run, with 34% placing more importance on peace of mind knowing children are safe.

60.8% of parents think such services should be funded through a mixture of parental contribution, local and national government spending.