Minutes of Oulton Parish Council Meeting 4 April 2017

Minutes of Oulton Parish Council Meeting – 4 April 2017

Cllr Hunter, Chair, opened the meeting at 19.15 and welcomed Councillors and residents.

Cllr Hunter advised the meeting that agenda item 9 would be taken under the Open Forum – For Parishioners.

1 Attendance

Present:

Parish Cllrs Peter Collecott, John Grist, George Hawes, Brian Hunter – Chair, Bill Robertson, Valerie Small, Charles Swan

County Cllrs Len Jacklin, Bert Poole

District Cllr Jane Murray

Lynne Ward – Parish Clerk

Ann O’Callaghan – Chair, Oulton Neighbourhood Plan

4 members of the public

Apologies received:

Parish Cllr Lindsey Hook

Absent:

Parish Cllr David Jefferson, District Cllrs Malcolm Cherry and Ed Back

2 Declarations of Interest

Cllrs Collecott, Grist, Hunter and Murray declared an interest as members of Oulton Community Association.

3 Minutes of Last Meeting

It was proposed by Cllr Collecott and seconded by Cllr Small that the minutes of the last meeting held on 7 March 2017 be adopted as a true record.

RESOLVED 213 4 Clerk’s Report

 The Clerk wrote to Suffolk Wildlife Trust to thank them for their presentation. Matt Gooch replied that the Trust would like to update the Parish Council again in the Spring and invited Councillors for a walk around to explain things on the ground. The Clerk will collect Councillors’ availability and liaise with Matt Gooch.

 The Clerk contacted the Clerk to Kessingland Parish Council, who confirmed that they use SALC as their Internal Auditor. The Clerk also contacted Chris Punt and Andy Cook. The Clerk had not heard back from Andy Cook but Chris Punt was willing to audit the accounts for a fee of £30. Councillors were asked to consider this option. APPROVED

 The Clerk has renewed the parish council’s membership of CAS and was awaiting acknowledgement.

 The Clerk has registered the parish council for the Love East Suffolk litter picking scheme which should take place between 1 March and 31 May in order to qualify for the £20 award and entry to the prize draw. The Clerk will formally submit a litter picking date which must be evidenced with photographs of the event.

 The Lake Lothing 3rd Crossing Project Team Manager, Jon Barnard, would like to attend a parish council meeting to present during the 6-week consultation period that runs between 26 May and 7 July. The team prefer the date of 6 June and Councillors were asked to consider this. APPROVED – the Clerk was asked to confirm that a 20 minute slot would be provided for the presentation

 The Clerk has displayed on the parish council noticeboard the Notice of Election of County Councillors received from Electoral Services.

 The Clerk has the Notice of Vacancy for a councillor which should be displayed on the noticeboards until 24 April 2017. If an election is called, this should take place no later than 28 June 2017. Cllr Hunter spotted an error on the notice and agreed to contact Electoral Services for an updated notice for display on the noticeboards.

5 Matters Arising

214  Cllr Collecott raised a query about arrangements for maintenance and watering of the hanging baskets to be supplied in May. The meeting was advised that the gardener who is supplying the baskets will cover this work.

 Cllr Small followed up her previous query about the removal of a green bin in her area. Cllr Murray confirmed that this had been passed on to Cllr Cherry but that there was nothing further to report.

 Cllr Hawes enquired about the letter to Persimmon and Waveney District Council. Cllr Hunter confirmed this had been done and read the contents of the letter. It has not been possible to agree a date for the meeting around the availability of all attendees. The Clerk will progress this with Persimmon and Waveney District Council.

6 Reports

Cllr Poole

 Cllr Poole reported that he visited Mobbs Way and that there were a number of lorries there but he could see nothing that troubled him. The decibel readings were not unreasonably high and the area was quite clean, although the lorries were parked on double yellow lines which was a matter for the police.

 Cllr Poole had attended Gt Yarmouth and Waveney Health Scrutiny and reported that Bridge Road Surgery was in receipt of funding for its development plans.

 There was no further update on the work to The Street.

Cllr Jacklin

 Cllr Jacklin reported that he had delivered a presentation to the Speed Panel and his proposal has been passed. There was no reason now why the 20mph speed limit in Oulton could not proceed.

 Cllr Jacklin had contacted the engineer responsible for the road works in Oulton Broad who confirmed that the road would be reopened the next day and all equipment would be removed by Friday 7 April.

 Following a query from Cllr Collecott, Cllr Jacklin confirmed there was nothing further to report on the weight limit in Oulton but that he would follow this up. 215 Cllr Murray’s report accompanies these minutes.

Cllrs Murray and Jacklin will request a meeting to see the facilities at Mobbs Way and discuss the existing arrangement for lorry drivers.

7 Open Forum

Neighbourhood Plan

A report from Ann O’Callaghan accompanies these minutes.

Parishioners

Item 9 – Lack of Crime Data for Parishes – a proposal from parishioner Robin Small

 Robin Small commented on the lack of policing around illegal parking and proposed that a case be made for councillors to be permitted to issue parking penalties. Cllr Grist reminded the meeting that this would become the responsibility of the district council from 2019 and it is unlikely that councillors would be given this responsibility. Cllr Murray had tried to issue parking warnings in the past but this had proved ineffective.

 The issue of lack of parish crime data was raised recently with Tim Passmore and Cllr Colin Law. Tim Passmore reassured councillors that the data will be provided in future.

 A local resident reported alleged land grab on the development in Union Lane. There was concern that trees and wildlife were being affected and that there were health and safety considerations. Cllr Swan reported that the Council was aware of this history but that it was not a high priority for the county council due to current resourcing levels. Cllrs Grist and Swan agreed to find previous documentation and refer the matter to county and district councillors.

216  A resident reported concern over the speed of traffic and bikes cutting through paths between houses. Cllr Jacklin assured the meeting that the proposed 20mph speed limit will provide absolute clarity about speed limits in the area and that calming devices would have to be provided as part of the speed limit strategy.

8 Parking on Grass Verges

Cllr Swan advised the meeting that it was not an offence to park on grass verges but that, under Sections 14 and 15 of the LGA 1982, the parish council could apply for a by-law restriction to prevent this. Councillors were asked to consider this.

APPROVED – The Clerk was asked to progress this.

9 Lack of Crime Data for Parishes – dealt with under the Open Forum

10 Annual Parish Meeting – 19 May 2017

It was decided that local clubs and groups that use the Community Centre would be invited to attend the Annual Parish Meeting and provide a report. Cllr Hunter will ask Barbara Naisbitt to invite the users. Cllr Hunter will also produce a press release and send to Carolyn Gosling and produce a notice for the website and noticeboards.

11 Planning Matters

 Appeal – DC/16/1730/OUT – Cypress Cottages, Church Lane – no further comments

 DC/17/0704/VOC – 3 Hall Lane – Cllr Collecott declared an interest as the property backs on to his property, and took no further part in the discussions. The parish council will raise an objection.

 DC/17/1142/FUL – no objection, subject to applicant being advised of highway recommendations for Oulton Road North

 DC/17/1276/LDO – strongly recommend better screening

217 12 To receive Clerk’s Finance Report

1 The Clerk’s February salary was paid by BACS and tax to HMRC 2 The Clerk’s holiday pay backdated to 1 September was paid by BACS and tax to HMRC - £182.35 3 Asset Register – responsibilities confirmed with WDC as follows:

 dog bins – WDC

 grit bins – OPC Approval requested to remove the dog bins from the Asset Register APPROVED 4 Clerk presented Quarterly Financial Report: 1 Jan to 31 March 2017 To consider and approve APPROVED 5 Notice of Annual Review of Accounts for Year Ending 31.3.17 – received from BDO.

Key dates:

o Annual Return and supporting documents to be at BDO – 15 May 2017

o Approval of Accounts – 2 July 2017

o Publication of Annual Return, inc External Auditor’s Report – 30 September 2017

Other Steps:

o Section 1 – Approval of Annual Governance Statement – 6 June 2017

o Section 2 – Approval of the Accounting Statements – 6 June 2017

o Provide electors with opportunity to inspect accounts for period of 30 working days to include the first 10 working days of July – our dates are 5 June to 14 July 2017 (either selected dates or inserted by BDO) o Internal Audit Report – completed by Internal Auditor

o Section 3 – completed by the External Auditor

218 Publish on Website:

o Copy of Accounting Statements with declaration signed by RFO they are unaudited

o Copy of Annual Governance Statement

o Statement detailing the exercise of public rights

6 To consider and approve the following payments:

Item Date Payment Method Amount Power Clerk’s Expenses 1.9.16-31.3.17 Cheque No 100837 £438.32 S137 Kevin Howe (The 4.4.17 Cheque No 100838 £383.00 S111 Gardener)

APPROVED

13 Closure of Meeting

Cllr Hunter declared the meeting closed at 21.48.