MINUTES of the HEDENHAM PARISH MEETING HELD on THURSDAY 5Th APRIL 2018 at HEDENHAM VILLAGE HALL
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MINUTES OF THE HEDENHAM PARISH MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 5th APRIL 2018 AT HEDENHAM VILLAGE HALL Present: David Ledsham (Chairman) Rosie Sethia (Clerk) Carol Chamberlin Jenny Cook Steve Dell Suki Dell Polly Gainsbury Sara Johnson Elizabeth Ledsham Deirdre Luff Glyn Luff Ian MacKenzie Jo Norton Barbara Smith Sheena Thompson Chris Tyacke Pat Tyacke Guests: Margaret Stone (County Councillor) Brendan Bernard (District Councillor) INTRODUCTION David Ledsham welcomed all to the meeting and introduced Margaret Stone our County Councillor and Brendan Bernard our District Councillor. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE David Ledsham reported that apologies had been received from John and Sally Connor, Mick and Mary Drury, Peter and Mary Stebbings and Penny Wilden. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the last parish meeting held on 6th April 2017 were approved and there were no matters arising from these minutes. COUNTY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT Margaret Stone reported that with effect from 8th May 2018 she would be taking up the role of Chairperson of Norfolk County Council. This was a non-political position and she would be continuing in her county councillor role. Her theme for the year would be “the Norfolk Community Spirit” something very much in evidence during the recent snowy weather with people helping their neighbours and farmers using their tractors to rescue stranded motorists. This spirit was something that all should celebrate. A number of major infrastructure projects in the district were well underway or soon due to commence. The new roundabout on the A146 at the Hales staggered crossing, the site of several recent accidents, was nearing completion despite delays due to the weather whilst work on the new roundabout on the same road at Loddon, complicated by a gas main that is lying near to the surface, should start before the end of 2018. Work on the sections of the Northern Distributor Route (NDR), now renamed Broadland Northway, currently underway would be completed within a few weeks with work on additional sections to start soon in order to complete the full ring road around Norwich. Funding and planning permission for the new roundabout at the Hempnall staggered cross roads is due to commence by the end of 2019 and initial planning applications have been submitted for the long awaited Long Stratton by-pass though work here remains dependent on developer funding. As a result of the bad weather, the pothole problem had deteriorated significantly and Norfolk County Council was working hard to remedy this situation. Parishioners were encouraged to report potholes via the NCC website and Margaret commented that any problems in this respect should be reported to her. MINUTES OF THE HEDENHAM PARISH MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 6th APRIL 2017 Margaret reminded the meeting that under the Parish Partnership scheme the county council would fund 50% of the cost of certain qualifying projects. The new footpath at Ditchingham was an example of such a project and a number of parishes were seeking funding this year for SAM2 speed awareness signs. Jenny Cook reminded all that Hedenham’s VAS and SAM2 signs had been funded using this scheme. Margaret noted that funding applications for 2019 should be submitted as early as possible and she reminded the meeting that she also held separate funding for small highways projects. With respect to council tax, Margaret noted that there had been a 5.9% increase for 2018/19. Of this, 3% was specifically allocated for adult social care where spend had been overdrawn in recent years largely due to an aging population, and the remaining 2.9% was to cover increases in general expenditure, in line with the increases implemented by other councils. The Police and Crime Commissioner was reviewing opportunities for the police and the fire services to work closer together. This was not simply a money saving initiative but also a genuine effort to improve services and response times. Speeding traffic is a of major concern in the district. There exist national guidelines covering almost every situation on a road which meant that speed limits could not simply be reduced without reference to these guidelines though these guidelines were under ongoing review. In this respect it was noted that Suffolk did tend to challenge the national guidelines and take measures that they felt were appropriate to their particular circumstances. An all-party review involving the public health authority, the police, the fire service and relevant others is underway with a planned response by the end of 2018. Sara Johnson enquired as to why there seemed to be so much more litter on the roadsides at the current time and asked who was responsible for resolving this. Margaret agreed that this did appear to be a problem at present and stated that it was a district council as opposed to a county council issue. Sheena Thompson stated that she had reported a fly tipper to the police but no action had been taken even though she had photographs of the culprit and their vehicle. Deirdre Luff added that the parish meeting was the opportunity for parishioners to pass on their thoughts and views to councillors and she asked Margaret for her help with this issue. David Ledsham commented that as a result of depleted police resources it was becoming increasingly up to the general public to identify and report criminal activity and anti-social behaviour to the police. The frustration, he suggested, comes when these reports are not seen to be acted upon and the public rightly feel let down. Margaret says she fully understood the concerns and would report them back to the police commissioner Lorne Green. She encouraged parishioners to contact Lorne Green directly about such matters and even to seek to arrange a meeting with him. David Ledsham expressed his thanks to Margaret Stone for her report and at this point Margaret Stone departed to attend another parish meeting. REPORT FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLOR Brendan Bernard reported that South Norfolk and Broadlands district councils were working ever closer together to save costs whilst maintaining services. Notably, in respect of planning activities they were now sharing offices and management and savings of £35,000 had already been achieved. This initiative seemed to be working well. The district council were also installing electrical car charging points, with 4 points at each of sites in Diss, Harlesdon, Loddon and Wymondham. This initiative was partly subsidised by the Government. In terms of improvements to the poor broadband performance across the district, a series of masts is being constructed with the objective of achieving a minimum download speed of 10MB for all users. With respect to the district council element of the council tax charge, an increase of £5 has been levied. Brendon reminded the meeting that there had been a 40% reduction in recent years in funds received by local government from central Government and this was at a time of rapidly increasing social care costs. 2 MINUTES OF THE HEDENHAM PARISH MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 6th APRIL 2017 With respect to the litter issue raised earlier, Brendon read out an email from Simon Hawkin, operations manager at South Norfolk Council, addressed to all councillors. The Council apologised that litter picking on the main roads had not been undertaken for a few weeks and usual standards had not been maintained. This was due to the recent bad weather but the problem was now being remedied and teams were out focusing first on the main roads. It would take perhaps 3-4 weeks to catch up. Jenny Cook enquired about plans to improve the chicken roundabout outside Bungay. Brendon responded that a proposal had been received from an artist to have 4-5 chicken statues placed on the roundabout though the momentum for this initiative appeared to have subsided. He himself would refer a single, larger structure and he was pushing forward this solution. The project was being encouraged by the Black Dog Arts Society and grants were available. Deirdre Luff noted that the gutters required clearing on the Stockton bypass (A146). Brendon responded that this issue was being regularly raised with the Highways department and the Broads Authority but nothing seemed to get done. He understood that a team of volunteers was supposed to be sorting out the issue though nothing had happened yet. David Ledsham expressed his own frustration with the Highways department, noting that the Highway Rangers team were regularly emailing him about their impending visits and asking for tasks that needed to be undertaken. Even though he had sent back lists of suitable tasks for them to undertake, the proposed tasks did not appear to have been addressed and he received no feedback from the team even though he had directly requested this. 2017/18 COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE REVIEW David Ledsham reminded the meeting that this issue had been much discussed at the prior year’s parish meeting and that the meeting had voted unanimously for a retention of the existing Hedenham parish governance arrangements in terms of the parish boundaries and governance through the parish meeting. Notably, parishioners did not wish to see Hedenham parish amalgamated with one or more adjacent parishes. Following the 2017 parish meeting, with the notable support of Glyn Luff, he had sent a response on behalf of the parish to the review consultation committee, pressing the case for the retention of the status quo. He had subsequently written to parishioners in January 2018 noting that following the end of the consultation period, the review committee had supported the status quo solution. He was now pleased to be able to confirm that this had been ratified by the District Council and thus no changes to the current governance arrangements for Hedenham would be applied.