CHARSFIELD PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of Meeting Held on Tuesday, 28th July 2015
Present: Councillors E Winkworth, F Moor, J Newman, G Hedger
Attendees: 10 Members of the Public, 2 Community Police Officers
| Action | ||
| 1. | Apologies for Absence | |
| Cllrs J Pedgrift and D Murray
|
||
| 2. | Declarations of Interest | |
| Cllr J. Newman declared an interest in Planning Application DC/15/2385/OUT to be discussed later.
|
||
| 3. | Points from the public – A chance for the public to raise matters of interest relevant to Charsfield
|
|
| Mr Warne spoke regarding moving the 30 mile an hour sign coming into the village from Debach asking for the sign to start sooner. These signs should be where dwellings start but are further out in many other villages which provide a buffer in order for the traffic to slow down.
The Chair pointed out the boundary of the village is ambiguous and the cost in legal fees to change this could be prohibitive. This change would need to be advertised and a notice drafted, the possible cost of this could be £1,000. There was also concern this might hold up the gates and roundels although it was possible these could be done together. The Parish Council would consult Highways again regarding the position of the 30 mph signs.
It was also pointed out a drain in the road was broken and needed attention 50-100 metres from Orchard View going towards Debach. The Parish Council would consult the Highways Department.
|
Parish Council
|
|
| 4. | Approval of Minutes of the Meeting held on 15th May and 30th June 2015 | |
| The Clerk to the Council resigned at the last meeting and, as a result, has not completed the audit and minutes of meeting. The Chair had contacted the Clerk but no minutes have been forthcoming. The post of new Clerk has been advertised.
|
||
| 5. | Matters Arising | |
| See above
|
||
| 6. | Co-option of New Councillor | |
| At the last elections only 6 people put their names forward and were therefore elected although the Charsfield Parish Council could have 7 Councillors. The Chair proposed that Sarah Owen Williams be co-opted onto the Council. There was unanimous agreement and she was duly elected. Declaration of Interest will need to be completed by Mrs Owen Williams. |
SW |
|
| 7. | Reports | |
| 7.1 | County Council | |
| No report |
|
|
| 7.2 | District Council | |
| No report
|
||
| 7.3 | Police | |
| There have been no reported crimes from 1st May to 30th June 2015.
It was pointed out there had been two traffic incidents near the garage in the past few days which was put down to speeding and the wet surfaces. The Chair would like to see more police presence in village re speeding.
The gateway and roundels project has been delayed, and the price has increased to £7,360. It was asked if anyone had been out to inspect. The police had been out a few times.
|
||
| 7.4 | Recreation Ground | |
| No report
|
||
| 8. | Speeding
|
|
| 8.1 | SAVID Update | |
| 8.2 | Roundels B1078 Update | |
| Martin Lyne gave a report. He had written to Tony Buckingham, Area Engineer for SCC Highways and Network Management, on a monthly basis, with no result to date. Mr Buckingham had been asked to provide a report to the Parish Council but this has not been produced to date. He pointed out that although 65% of the time Highways said it would take to complete the work has past they had actually achieved less than 35% of the work. The Parish Council should request a formal meeting with Mr Bellfield to discuss these issues with representation from the police and the Council. Until they have been pinned down there will continue to be a problem.
Mr Lyne has also been informed there is no project plan. He feels the roundels and gates will not be in place before Christmas and we should therefore try to escalate this. Would it be easier to split the roundels and the gates as the two together are more of a problem? Would this then mean two applications? Also if one thing is done would the Council feel this is enough? Mr Lister asked where the £7,000 for the project would come from. Chair stated that £5,000 has been allocated from Mr Bellfield’s fund and the Parish Council would have to provide the rest.
Councillor Hedger suggested Mr Lyne sent Peter Bellfield an audit trail of all the emails between Mr Lyne and the Mr Buckingham which he will do.
|
||
| 8.3 | Speedwatch | |
| No one has come out to do a site survey as yet. Mr Lyne had sent an email around inferring there would be some training. The Parish Council were keen to join a scheme.
Malcolm Gooch had come out and made a survey. From the SAVID launch Charsfield had been the best represented village. The Community Speedwatch Team had taken 14 names of people in village who would be interested in taking part. Mr Gooch had identified locations where the Speedwatch team can stand. The procedure was for Mr Gooch to undertake the survey which is submitted to the police, the police then have to visit the same locations to agree they are safe, these will be the designated Speedwatch places. There are places the police can set up but the public cannot.
The Framlingham Safety Watch Team are pleased we wish to undertake the training and use of the equipment. The group need to coordinate themselves as to when they start. We would have the capacity to put 3 teams out on the same day. The equipment can be shared between all the SAVID villages. A list of dates is needed to undertake the training – possible first two weeks of August – mid week early evening and Saturday sessions suggested. The course takes about an hour. The police have a full set of equipment to loan to villages for up to six months. The Community Speedwatch team have access to two speed guns, we have to get signage and fluorescent jackets, clipboards and pens/pencils.
The Police are now being very helping. If we can demonstrate as a village we are prepared to stand our corner this will give us a much better standing with the Council. It was hoped the Village Hall could be used as a base for training.
|
||
| 9. | Planning: Hawthorn Cottage, Monewden Road – Ref No: DC/15/2385/OUT (See SCDC website) | |
| Outline planning application had been received for a single dwelling next to Hawthorn Cottage. Kat Allen from Walnut Tree Cottage (also representing her neighbour Di Alexander) spoke to the meeting. They were worried about the loss of their private view and the loss of privacy. They also felt it would have an effect on property values. This site is in a 60 mile speed limit, there are no pavements and it is not considered a safe road. They did not consider it a sustainable development. The house would be exposed and spoil the view to the rest of the village. The footprint of the house is larger than any in the area. Mrs Allen would contact the planning department with her concerns.
Only four houses in the vicinity had been informed. The Chair pointed out this was normal practice and the Parish Council were sent a list of all applications eventually. There are a lot of agricultural buildings on the plot which are to be demolished if planning is granted. There was also concern about the height of the building as it would be much higher than the present agricultural buildings and would dominate the other houses already there.
As only outline planning has been submitted the Parish Council need to ascertain whether to object to a building in principle or the type of building. The Councillors need to have a site visit to take the views of the meeting into consideration and will send in their comments. The Chair suggested everyone who was concerned about this building should write to SCDC because the amount of people who object makes a difference. The Parish Council plan to visit the site on Friday, 31st August at 4:30 pm meeting at Middle Cottage. They would base their objections on the view, loss of privacy and vehicular access – the site is almost directly opposite a T junction. Whilst the Council have been pushing infilling inside the village envelope whereas this site is outside the envelope.
|
||
| 10. | Finance
No Financial report
|
|
| 10.1 | Parish Council Insurance | |
| The insurance for items owned by the village should be paid by 1st October, these include the Notice Board, the seat and the Village Sign.
|
||
| 10.2 | HMRC for £14.80 Ladywell Accountancy Services | |
| This is a quarterly fee for National Insurance for the previous Clerk to Council.
The Village Hall has been assessed for business rates, due to some forms not having been completed properly. These will be resubmitted . |
||
| 11. | Public Telephone Box | |
| The box is in disrepair but we can buy it for £1. Is not possible to adopt the box if we wished to continue to use the phone. The District Council know we would like to keep it therefore BT have not removed the kiosk. We need to write to the DC again letting them know we do wish to buy the box but not line and are happy for BT to remove the line. If purchased the Parish Council would refurbish the kiosk. It would not necessarily best place for defibrillator.
|
||
| 12. | Defibrillator | |
| The Village Hall is the best place for the defibrillator as it requires electricity. It also needs to be housed in a temperature controlled box. The cost for this with training would be circa £2,000. It would need to be tested periodically and a group of people needed to be trained in its use. Certain people in village would know the code, also the Eastern Ambulance Service would give anyone ringing 999 the number. CADS have given £100 towards this already. The Parish Council needs to raise the rest and Cllr Newman will put an article in the Parish Magazine.
|
||
| 13. | Correspondence |
|
| 13.1 | Letter from Village Hall Committee re Parking | |
| A letter has been received from the Village Hall Committee asking if the Parish Council could send a letter to all residents of St Peters Close asking them not to park in the Village Hall car park, when there is an event on as car parking is limited. Residents of St Peters Close would be able to find out when future events are on via the Village Hall Web Site.
|
||
| 13.2 | Foul Ditches | |
| One particular ditch in the village has been used inappropriately. It was hoped this was a one off but will be monitored for a while.
|
JP |
|
| 14. | School Transport | |
| Year 11 students have been informed the rules, regarding school transports is concerned, have been changed by Central Government. The designated catchment area school is Thomas Mills High School, Framlingham. Post16 education has now changed and the designated school for this age group is now Farlingaye High School, Woodbridge. Everyone affected by this is very concerned. The students can continue at Thomas Mills but would need to provide their own transport. There is a bus to Farlingaye. Some courses students may wish to follow are over-subscribed at Farlingaye. There appears to be very little difference in distance between the two schools although it is slightly nearer from the Village Hall to Thomas Mills.
|
||
| 15. | Any Other Business | |
| 16. | Date of Next Meeting | |
| Wednesday, 23rd September 7:30 pm |
HeHHhhhh