BARNBY PARISH COUNCIL web: http://barnby.onesuffolk.net email: [email protected] phone: 01502 475287 (Draft) Minutes of the Annual General meeting held at Highfields House (as Barnby & North Cove School closed due to misunderstanding) On Tuesday 10th May 2016 (started at 8.05pm) Attendance: Cllrs Ian Hinton, Ivan Rumsby, Ian Bond, Robert Wright, Charles Fortt, Paul Berry and one member of the public, clerk Maggy Chatterley. Apologies for Absence: Cllr Derek Monument 1. Election of Chairman for 2016-7: Ian Hinton was re-elected as chairman for the year. 2. Election of Officers: Broads Authority Liaison – Robert Wright Planning Applications - Ian Hinton Emergency Plan – Paul Berry Grants – Ian Bond Surveillance – Derek Monument Vice chairman – Ivan Rumsby 3. Declaration of Interests: Councillors declared no interests in any of the Agenda items. 4. Annual Accounts 2015/6: The Annual Governance Statement (Section 1 of the Annual return for year ended 31 March 2016) was read out by the chairman and statements 1 to 8 agreed in turn unanimously (statement 9 Trust Funds was not applicable) and it was signed by the chairman and clerk/RFO (minute 4.1-10.5.16). Councillors discussed the laid-round 2015-6 accounts and unanimously approved Section 2 – Accounting statements 2015/6. The chairman and clerk/RFO signed to certify that for the year ended 31 March 2016 the accounting statements present fairly the financial position of this smaller authority and its income and expenditure (minute 4.2-10.5.16). A copy of these papers will be uploaded to the council’s website in due course, the original to be sent to external auditors BDO LLP by 31.5.16. 5. Report of the Year: The Chairman presented a summary of the activities of the council during the past twelve months. A copy of this document will be put on to the council’s website and a hard copy on notice boards. 6. Any other Annual General Meeting business: No other business and end of AGM 8.30pm. 7. Minutes of the previous Parish Council meeting: The minutes of the meeting held on 1st March 2016 and circulated immediately after that meeting were approved as accurate. 8. Matters arising: IH sent a report on planning applications for equine tourism to other parish councils nearby but has had no response, apart from North Cove. The website use will be listed in section 16. North Cove Parish Council has agreed to fund 50% of the printing costs of the Village Book reprint to match funding from Barnby Parish Council (approx. £350 each). The offer of payment for a phone mast in another Suffolk parish applied only to Sports Fields. It may be possible to have masts on the church towers but it is not certain that they are tall enough. There is a planning application for a mast on the Ellough Industrial Estate which may help phone coverage in the surrounding area. Offer of a tree from WI – this offer has been withdrawn. There is a possibility that an old tree stump near the nursery and village sign will be replaced with a new tree by the District Council. Damage by vehicles to grass verges – see section 13. 9. Police Report: Suffolk Constabulary have an internet site for crime statistics. www.police.uk However it was not possible to see anything after February 2016 so does not include thefts of heating oil and diesel in North Cove since then. Crime Prevention recommends putting heating oil tanks in locations visible from your house, regularly checking levels so you can tell if and when any oil is stolen and fitting a lock (although IB said he has been told not to do this as thieves then made holes in the tank to steal fuel) 10. County and District Council Report: No Councillors present. Action point: IH to contact SCC Chris Punt for update about potential bus stop site on A146 near War Memorial. 11. Planning Applications: WDC has given planning permission for a new feed shed on Orchard Farm, New Road. The planning application for houses at The Hill on The Street has still not been decided nor has the appeal by Badger Building against the refusal for permission for 12/14 houses on land off Mill Lane. A consultation event in Lowestoft about the new Waveney Local Plan was attended by IR, RW and CF. Local councils felt that infrastructure was needed before houses were built. Action point: RW to circulate email received from Julie Fox, principal planner for Waveney. Each councillor to consider the necessity of a Neighbourhood Plan for Barnby and who would do what. The council needs to respond officially to the consultation on Waveney Local Plan by 17th June 2016 unless they can get the date extended. 12. New dog-waste bin in Mill Lane: This has recently been installed but not invoiced yet. It is being used but some people are still not picking up waste or not leaving bags in the bin. 13. Damage to grass verges outside the school - update: Chris Groves' complaint was more about damage to verges near the school rather than in Mill Lane. If parents are asked to park on the road it may restrict width and hinder buses. Damage will be less in the drier weather. 14. Accounts – details since the last meeting: Income received - £400 rental for grazing horses on land off Mill Lane and £682.50 from WDC being half the annual Precept. The Chairman and Vice Chairman signed a cheque for £236.55 being the Subscription fee for 2016/7 for Suffolk Association of Local Councils. 15. Correspondence received since the last meeting: The vast majority of correspondence is now via email, most of which are forwarded to councillors including LAIS1388 from SALC on 21.3.16 info about proposed major changes to the planning system. The full list of correspondence was circulated prior to the meeting. The tenant said that hedges were overgrown on the parish land used for grazing from April to October. It was too late in the year to use machinery so the blackthorn hedge was trimmed by hand. Action point: RW will inspect later in the year. Clerk to forward suitable news items to Grapevine. The actions taken by the Clerk and Chair were approved. 16. Parish Council website: Barnby Parish Council website can be found at http://barnby.onesuffolk.net In the last month the website has been visited 66 times (18 from UK, 17 from USA, 5 from China, 2 from Tunisian and 24 non-locational). 61 visits were for less than 10 seconds. The Gallery page had 5 views, Minutes page 1view, Agenda page 1 view. Action Point: Clerk to amend or get amended Suffolk Infolink page to add website address as a link (it links to our local district councillor in the spot which should have our website address) 17. Any other Parish Council business: The second edition of the Village Book is now available. Action point - Clerk to contact school about closure tonight (erroneous notice on door said the meeting on Friday 13th May 2016). Councillors to walk round and inspect Fixed Assets (bus shelters, notice boards etc) at July meeting. 18. Dates and location of future meetings: The next meetings in 2016 are on Tuesday 5th July, Tuesday 6th September, Tuesday 1st November and in 2017 3rd January and 7th March. The chairman thanked Cllr PB for hosting the meeting as an emergency measure and the meeting closed at 9.25pm Review of Barnby Parish Council activities 2015-16. The year started with a non-contested election, with 5 members being nominated and elected. In addition, Ivan Rumsby and Charles Fortt were co-opted, to bring the Council to its full complement of 7 members. The Parish Council has undertaken several improvements in the village during the year: The names of the village residents who lost their lives in the Second World War have been inscribed on a new plaque at the foot of the War Memorial. A 20-mph speed limit for Mill Lane was investigated, but was found not to fit the Suffolk County Council’s (SCC) required criteria, but a number of measures to reduce speed, especially near the narrow blind bend, were taken. Remedies were sought for the reduced bus service through the village, and in conjunction with Peter Aldous MP, some services were reinstated. Pressure is continuing for improvements. A new layby outside the school has been built by SCC at the Parish Council’s request, with the aim of reducing possible problems caused to bus services by parents’ parking. Further damage to the grass verges is being investigated. An additional bus-stop and layby is being investigated on the main road, adjacent to the garden centre in the Lowestoft direction, and the SCC’s results are awaited. An alternative site at the end of the footpath from Boundary Lane was not considered suitable by SCC Traffic Officers. No site could be found in North Cove. There is an ongoing consultation into the possibility of closing the Swan Lane/Beccles Road junction. The current turning restrictions are regularly ignored on a daily basis and several near misses/minor accidents have resulted. It is feared that a serious accident will happen here. A further dog-waste bin has recently been installed at the top of the footpath on Mill Lane to make it easier for dog-owners to dispose of the waste responsibly, making a total of 4 around the village. The special reflective cats-eyes have been restored to the Barnby Bends after the contractor replaced them with less effective ones during resurfacing last year, after pressure from the Parish Council and SCC Councillor Chris Punt.