MINUTES OF THE 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 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 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 staggered cross roads is due to commence by the end of 2019 and initial planning applications have been submitted for the long awaited 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 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 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 . 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.

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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. He noted that, in general, only minor changes had been adopted across the different parishes covered by the review.

GREATER NORWICH LOCAL PLAN (GNLP) David Ledsham noted that he had distributed an email in January 2018 summarising the purpose and goals of the GNLP which was being produced by the Broadland and South Norfolk District Councils together Norwich City Council. The plan covered proposals to upgrade the local infrastructure in line with the current needs of the local communities and of the needs of future generations with a primary focus on the need for new housing due to growing populations and changing population patterns. In this email he had stated that he did not intend to submit any response to the consultation prior to the deadline as none of the proposals, for new housing at least, would directly impact the village. He continued that the previous plan, which covered through until 2026, had identified a requirement for approximately 36,000 new homes within the region. The new plan, running through 2036, had now identified the need for a further 7,000 homes. A key part of the plan is the assessment of potential sites for new housing to meet this level of demand and for this purpose developers, landowners and others had been asked to identify possible sites across the region where new homes, subject to full planning permission, might be constructed. The GNLP consultation closed on 22 March 2018 and the potential sites identified were now available to view in a detailed ‘Site Consultation’ document (www.gnlp.org.uk).

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MINUTES OF THE HEDENHAM PARISH MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 6th APRIL 2017

As he had mentioned in his January email, he stressed that no sites had been proposed for Hedenham. This was principally due to the village’s poor infrastructure including a lack of mains drainage, no local shop or school etc.. Proposed sites are, however, listed for neighbouring villages including Brooke, , , Broome and Ditchingham. Many of these sites are on the edge of the villages such as the recent development at the northern end of Brooke on the B1332. Rather than summarise the intentions of the GNLP and the results of the consultation himself and distribute this to all, he again encouraged parishioners to view the details through the GNLP website. He suggested that there was clearly a demand for new housing in the area both due to a lack of affordable accommodation and additional housing needs in the future to support population growth. He added that he would support a modest and sympathetic development within Hedenham if this would help to re- invigorate the village. He added that if, despite the end of the consultation period, anyone had any significant concerns about the GNLP in relation to the parish, then please let him know.

SPEEDWATCH UPDATE Jenny Cook reported that we currently have 12 trained Speedwatch volunteers in the Hedenham team though she was still seeking additional volunteers. Between them these volunteers had conducted a total of 42 sessions in the past year at sites on the Road, the B1332 outside the Mermaid and on Church Road. A total of 98 drivers had been identified as driving over the target limits being 35 mph in the 30 mph zones on the Earsham and Church Roads and 46 mph in the 40 mph zone on the B1332. Each of these drivers had received a letter from the police warning them that should they be caught a second time they could expect to be prosecuted. The police remained very supportive of this initiative, More recently the average number of speeding drivers identified during each session had fallen and she considered this to be evidence that the sessions, together with the VAS and SAM2 signs, were having a beneficial impact. The aim of the initiative was to impress on drivers the need to slow down and be aware of their speed. An ‘impact’ day is to be held on 5th May when, between 10am and noon, as many Speedwatch teams as possible in the county would be out in force at the roadside. In addition to collecting data from the SAM2 unit, it was also possible to purchase a data collection facility for the VAS. This should provide data to strengthen the case to the police and council for more speed prevention measures. David Ledsham commented that to access the SAM2 data it was necessary to download the data from the SAM2 unit onto a laptop at the roadside. He suggested that this would be somewhat dangerous at the VAS location on the B1332. The meeting agreed that the analyses of the data from the SAM2 unit, distributed by David Ledsham, should be acted upon by the relevant authorities, particularly in relation to the Earsham Road where the average speed of vehicles was well over the 30 mph limit and speeds of 50mph or more were not uncommon. It was noted that whilst drivers were not being penalised, local residents were being disadvantaged due to their not feeling safe walking up and down the Earsham Road. Chris Tyacke noted the time and effort that Jenny Cook had put into coordinating the parish’s Speedwatch initiative and asked the meeting to recognise this and thank her for her work which all those attending the meeting duly did. David Ledsham stated that the solar powered VAS sign required limited, if any, attention. He asked, however, that if anyone noticed any problems with the sign then would they contact him and he would contact the supplier with whom we have a maintenance contract. On the other hand, the SAM2 unit needed to be moved from one location to another every 4 weeks and the battery needed to be switched every (say) 10 days and the removed battery recharged ready for the next switch. Since the unit was first installed several months ago, all this and the data download and analysis had been done by Chris Tyacke and himself. He was now looking for others to assist here so that responsibility for the unit was shared by more persons. Steve Dell reminded the meeting that he was prepared to help here and Ian MacKenzie also offered his assistance. 4

MINUTES OF THE HEDENHAM PARISH MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 6th APRIL 2017

On the subject of speeding traffic, Sheena Thompson noted a particular problem with motorbikes, notably at weekends. Others also acknowledged this issue.

REPORT FROM THE VILLAGE HALL COMMITTEE Chris Tyacke gave the report from the village hall committee in the absence of John Connor. He noted that the hall was still very much underutilised, hosting just two events in the past year. The Committee would be planning another summer event after the successful event held in 2017 and a Christmas party would almost certainly again be held. Brendon Bernard reminded the meeting that hall functions and the availability of the hall for functions could be advertised in the local Parishioner magazine free of charge. He presented the village hall accounts for the 12 months ending 31st March 2018 and commented that there were no particular issues to discuss, noting that the primary expenditure was electricity. £160 had been spent during the year on framed photographs and pictures from the past of the hall and village life and he thanked Mick Drury for the research that he had undertaken to uncover these photographs. He asked that minutes of the meeting should record the village’s thanks for all the work undertaken by members of the Committee particularly in relation to redecorating the hall.

REPORT FROM THE TOWNLANDS CHARITY TRUST Chris Tyacke reminded the meeting that there are two trusts in the village – the Townlands Charity Trust and the Parish Room Trust. He reported that during the past financial year the Townlands Trust had generated investment income of £8,180 of which 50% went towards repairs and maintenance of the church. The Townlands Trust had also contributed 50% of the cost of the VAS and SAM2 units, a total amount of approximately £4,700. In addition, the Trust had paid for renovating and moving the village sign from its previous location outside the village hall to a newly constructed plinth on the green near the church and had also funded the costs of redecorating the village hall. At the current time this Trust had investments totalling £270,000 and cash in the bank amounting to approximately £2,500. In turn, the Parish Room Trust had approximately £45,000 of investments and approximately £4,000 in cash. Chris Tyacke noted that the village hall had never been included as an asset of the Parish Room Trust and he intended to work with the land registry to transfer the hall to the Trust during the forthcoming year. Returning to the subject of the Parish Partnership scheme, discussed earlier in the meeting, under which the county council paid 50% of the costs of approved qualifying projects, David Ledsham noted that following the funding obtained in 2016/17 for the VAS and SAM2 signs, the parish had not put forward any projects for funding under the scheme in 2017/18. He stressed that if the parish was to seek funds under the scheme for 2018/109 then the earlier the funding request is submitted the better. He noted that the steps by the church leading up to the designated footpath across the Estate, that were currently in a dangerously dilapidated state, were to be replaced by the Council in the summer and he thanked Rosie Sethia for her help in securing this commitment from the Council.

David Ledsham noted that at the previous meeting the issue of repairing or replacing the bus shelter had been discussed including the option of replacing the seat and the roof. He understood that a local thatcher had been approached but had turned down the project on the basis that the shelter was too close to the main road and in any case the job was too small. He had looked at options to replace the shelter but at present the project was on hold. Brendan Bernard promised to forward details of the new bus shelter recently constructed in Ditchingham though it was noted that the costs of disposing of the existing shelter might be quite considerable.

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MINUTES OF THE HEDENHAM PARISH MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 6th APRIL 2017

CHURCH UPDATE Steve Dell reported that an APCM meeting was to be held at Ditchingham School on 24th April 2018 commencing at 19.30 and he hoped to see Hedenham parishioners at this meeting. In addition, the May day event was once again taking place at Hedenham Hall on 7th May, kindly hosted by Hannah Morris, when the grounds would be open between noon and 15.00 for picnics and other activities. Finally, the open churches event would be taking place again in 2018 and he would be grateful for any volunteers for this event.

BROADBAND SERVICE David Ledsham reported, based on information received from John Connor, that the new broadband cabinet (“Woodton 5”) recently installed outside the village hall would become operational at some time over the summer. At present he, and the rest of the village, remained connected to the Woodton 3 cabinet at the end of Low Road. He stressed that even though the new cabinet was fibre optic enabled, the connections from the cabinet to the properties in the village would remain via copper wire. As a result, there would continue to be a severe degradation of broadband speed as the distance of a property from the cabinet increased. He suggested that in all respects, it was very much a case of ‘watch this space’

MERMAID INN David Ledsham reported there was some confusion as to who had inherited ownership of the Mermaid following the death of the previous owner Roger Watkins. He had been informed that Alam Shah, the person who claimed to have inherited the building, was on record as saying that he did not intend to spend any money on the building and had no plans to re-open it as a restaurant or pub. It appeared that he might be attempting to get the site de-licenced and seek residential planning permission. It was noted that Mr Shah had submitted the application in May 2017 to convert the barn adjacent to the Mermaid into holiday lets, an application which the parish, and other parties, had opposed and which had subsequently been rejected by the planning authorities. It was proving difficult to find out a definitive version of the situation and different stories were circulating including a version that suggested the site had been left in the will to more than one person. In this respect, applying for a copy of Roger Watkins’ might be a useful step. A discussion ensued as to whether parishioners should try to buy the site with a view to running it as a commercial enterprise. It was noted that the building was in poor condition and would require significant renovation and it would likely prove to be very challenging to create a profitable business as the location was far from ideal. In terms of the parish potentially buying the site, Chris Tyacke mentioned that there existed a ‘community right to buy’ process under which the parish could log an interest in purchasing the site should it ever be put up for sale and it was agreed that this should be investigated. It was also suggested that the parish should try to get the building listed and that this might then require the owner to renovate it. Others suggested, however, that listing the building would not put pressure on the owner to renovate it but rather might make it more difficult and/or expensive to renovate in the future as any renovations would have to meet the requirements imposed by the planning authorities for a listed building. In concluding these discussions, David Ledsham agreed to write to Alam Shah, subject to obtaining a communication address, expressing parishioners’ concerns about the state of the building and the site and requesting confirmation of the ownership situation and Mr Shah’s intentions with regards to the site. Deirdre Luff agreed to try to find an address for Mr Shah.

UPDATE ON POLICE MATTERS David Ledsham reported that he had met with David Reeve, our local police beat manager, in November 2017 and discussed two problems within the village concerning issues with certain local residents speeding in their vehicles through the village and the general disruption that they caused to village life and also the incident where a tractor trailer had become unhitched and crashed into the tree outside the church.

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MINUTES OF THE HEDENHAM PARISH MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 6th APRIL 2017

He noted that PC Reeve had informed him that he had spoken with the Smiths Knoll residents involved with the speeding incidents but PC Reeve could not share the results of the discussions due to ‘data protection’ reasons. He had advised that should any other matters of concern arise with regards to these residents then contact should be made with Saffron Housing who administered the Smiths Knoll property concerned rather than with the police. Further to this, PC Reeve had confirmed that he had spoken to the owner of the tractor that had been towing the trailer that had crashed into the tree but again he did not share the details or results of this conversation. The meeting expressed disappointment in not receiving feedback from the police with regards to either of these issues and the Chairman was requested to seek compensation from the tractor owner for both the cost of a new church service sign and the costs of the tree surgeon in inspecting and treating the tree. The Chairman confirmed that he had approached the tractor owner twice seeking an explanation of events and compensation but had received no response from them. He was aware that one of the village residents had repaired the sign and was seeking recovery of his costs. He suggested that the PCC should refund the costs and then seek recovery from the tractor owner and he was happy to help facilitate this.

PARISH PRECEPT 2019/20 David Ledsham reminded the meeting that the parish precept for the financial year 2018/19, being the local parish element of the council tax charge, had been set at £0 following a decision taken at the meeting held on 5th April 2017. He noted that since the next meeting would probably not be held until after the start of the next financial year then a decision on the precept for 2019/20 should be taken at the current meeting. David Ledsham proposed that the precept for 2019/20 should again be set at £0 on the basis that the parish had access to the funds within the two Trusts. This proposal was unanimously endorsed by all those present.

RE-ELECTION OF PARISH CHAIRMAN AND PARISH CLERK David Ledsham and Rosie Sethia both indicated their willingness to stand for a further one year term through at least to the next annual parish meeting. No other parishioners present put themselves forward for election for either position. Chris Tyacke proposed, and Steve Dell seconded, the re-election of David Ledsham as Parish Chairman and the re-election of Rosie Sethia as Parish Clerk. Both David Ledsham and Rosie Sethia were unanimously elected by those present at the meeting.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS Litter pick – 14th April 2018 David Ledsham reminded the meeting of the litter pick scheduled for Saturday 14th April and thanked all those volunteers who had already agreed to take part and also Chris Tyacke for organising the event. Chris Tyacke asked all taking part to congregate at the village hall at 10.30 am on the morning and in the meantime he would be collecting the necessary equipment from the Council and allocating routes for those taking part. He asked all volunteers to bring tough gloves with them as these would not be provided. Dog poo bin David Ledsham reminded the meeting that the issue of installing a dog poo bin in the village had been discussed at the previous meeting in April 2017. Following his consultation with parishioners the outcome was that no bin would be installed, both because it was considered unnecessary by a majority of respondents and also because there was a general reluctance to have the bin situated outside one’s property. He therefore confirmed that at present there were no plans to install a dog poo bin.

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MINUTES OF THE HEDENHAM PARISH MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 6th APRIL 2017

Village notice board David Ledsham suggested that a new village notice board should be erected at an appropriate central location in the village, most probably near the church. It was noted that there was already a notice board on the barn by the side of the Mermaid, another small board by Smiths Knoll and a church notice board located just inside the church gates. Due to its location and current uncertainties over the Mermaid site, Chris Tyacke volunteered to move the notice board on the side of the Mermaid barn to a more central village location. Others suggested that the church notice board could double up as the general notice board for the village. The general preference from the meeting appeared to be to re-site the Mermaid barn notice board though the new location had still to be determined through consultation.

There being no other business, David Ledsham thanked all for attending and the meeting closed at 9.45 pm.

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