PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council held at Church Rooms, Hapton On 18th April 2018 at 7.30pm.

In Attendance: Mr Nick Potter (Chairman) Mr Alan Arber (clerk) Mr Victor Blake Mr David Gunton Mr Graham Bleach Mrs Jenna Goodall Browne

2 members of the public in attendance

Public Participation.

Standing Orders were suspended to allow the public to speak. County Councillor Alison Thomas sent her apologies and sent a short report to the clerk with the following items on Alison’s report. NDR now fully open and work progressing on western link. roundabout consultation complete. Main issues raised why can’t it link with LS Bypass (because things have moved on and planning policy is for Bypass to Church Lane St Michaels) Lighting CPRE want it dark but A140 lit from Newton F to Crossroads at present. Clearly can’t go from lit road to dark roundabout. Too dangerous! Should be a meeting with parishes re Bypass application notified soon. They are just getting a date sorted. Close eye being kept on DIY recycling no evidence to suggest rise in fly tipping. If anyone sees the person who is constantly littering the A140 with newspaper, please take their number plate! One individual doing it maliciously. District Councillor Des Fulcher then gave his report on the following g items. There will shortly be an email coming out inviting Parish Councils and Parish Councillors to a briefing regarding the Planning Application. The makeup of the session is unknown, but Parish Clerks will be sent the email with the Agenda soon he felt. Long Stratton Parish Council are holding an exhibition on their Neighbourhood Plan and it will take place over the weekend of the 27th/28th/29th April at Long Stratton Junior School for all to go along and see their plans. The clerk advised the meeting he will put the details on the website Des also made comment that he has set up a meeting with Steve Goddard head of leisure for South Council regarding the issues of a lack of sports space in the town for the local football clubs and to see what Council can do to help. Finally, a parishioner reported that the dog bin on Greenaway’s lane is overflowing Clerk to contact highways on this asap.

Standing orders resumed

1. Apologies

Apologies received from Paul Worley. All agreed to accept

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2. Minutes

Chairman Nick Potter signed the minutes and it was agreed they were a true record of the meeting of the 28th March 2018. Proposed Nick Potter Seconded David Gunton All Agreed.

3. Declarations of interests.

None Reported

4. Planning Applications.

No Planning applications to discuss

5. Finance

• To approve payment to Parish Clerk Alan Arber for March salary and expenses £388.24 • To approve payment to Norfolk Parish Training and Support for yearly subscription £167.40 Proposed Nick Potter Seconded David Gunton all agreed. • The clerk took the meeting through the Monthly Financial Report and reported the parish council finances are very good. The clerk also informed the meeting that the new Annual Governance Accounting Review (AGAR) had been received and he will undertake to get this done asap. Proposed Nick Potter Seconded David Gunton All Agreed.

6. Highways.

• Highways

The clerk and a parishioner had reported 1 item to Highways regarding issues in the parish and the enquiry number is as follows ENQ 900131973

7. To receive an update on Current Issues and to consider any necessary action. Tree Warden’s Report No Report. Footpath Wardens Report A parishioner had reported that FPO18 had been ploughed but the footpath had not been re-instated yet. He was still awaiting the full report from the parishioner and Councillor Paul Worley for his attention. He would report the issues raised by Jenna on her walk round.

8. To receive an update on the Long Stratton neighbourhood plan.

It was reported that the minutes of the Neighbourhood plan meetings were now available on the Long Stratton Parish Council Neighbourhood Plan website for all to see.

9. To discuss the Parish councillor vacancy

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This had been advertised for some while now, but no-one had come forward yet. It was agreed that the clerk would put an advert in the newsletter and specifically requesting a parishioner from Tharston to join the council if possible.

10. To discuss Parish Project

• Benches These have been delivered and are being erected by GLS over the next month. • Newsletter The newsletter goes from strength to strength and the clerk reported that 4 new advertisers had come forward and that he may need to increase the numbers we have printed due to the increased houses on Tharston Meadows. It was also asked if the children of the school could be more involved to bring more items to the newsletter. The clerk to contact the school on this. • SAM Machines The chairman commented that the Hapton Sam machine Battery Charger was the issue and the clerk was tasked with contacting Wescotec and to order a new one. • Phone Box A discussion ensued on this issue and Councillor Graham Bleach would contact the farmer where the Phone Box was stored informing him that the council are looking at other sites and if the Phone box could continue to be stored for a short while • Awards for All The clerk and would re-apply in the summer. • Surveyors Land The chairman would hand deliver the letter to Mr Brighton over the weekend. • Defibrillator Training Councillor Paul Worley had yet to provide the dates for the training to the clerk and as this was a matter of urgency the clerk would contact Paul to hurry this along • Parish Councillors and Clerk training. No training needed at present and clerk is still studying his CILCA qualification • Tharston Bus Shelter The clerk had obtained quotes from B & C Shelters and from Highways on this and it was agreed that the process will be started by the clerk with him writing to the owner of the property to ask if they have any issues with the bus shelter being sited by her property. Once this was done he would report back to the council. • Village Hall Nothing to report on this subject

11. To receive an update on faster Broadband for rural areas

David Gunton gave a short resume of the fact that the new box will be sited near the school and that that is the perfect location. He also made comment that the box would be installed at times as to not affect the school in anyway. A parishioner asked a question regarding the speed that residents would receive, and David provided the following response. The Installation of the Fibre cabinet will have NO effect on broadband download speeds. The only people who will see a speed increase, will be those that speak to their existing broadband supplier and upgrade (at a cost) their existing broadband connection to Fibre Broadband.

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12. To receive an update on the Hapton St Margaret’s Community Project

The chairman commented that the process needs to be started with a walk round the village to form the Friends of Hapton Church group and to ascertain the level of support for the project.

13. To discuss arranging a date for the developers of the Long Stratton plan to speak to the council

It was agreed that the Clerk would contact the developers and Mr Haslam to arrange for them to attend the June Parish Council meeting

14. Public Participation (10 Minutes)

A parishioner thanked the Parish Council for their work on the broadband issues

15. To receive items for the next agenda

Hapton Church Grant Tharston Church Grant Material and Wording of Hapton Meadow Rules. Hapton Meadow Grass Cutting issues

Next Parish Meeting Wednesday 18th April 2018 at 7.30pm.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.25 pm.

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