Kessingland Parish Council Meeting 9th - December 2003

The Chairman, Councillor Martin, opened the Meeting by giving the apologies of the representatives of Suffolk Council who were going to give an update on the new proposed Village Library. The meeting has been put off until January 2004.

After detailing other apologies for absence, the Chairman welcomed Mrs Susan Morgan to the Council; she will remain a co-opted member until the next Council elections. Mrs Morgan is currently a member of the Village Appraisal Steering Group, dealing with the Village Plan.

The minutes of the meetings on the 12th November (Parish Council), the 26th November  (Planning Committee and the Finance and Policy Meeting) were read approved and signed.

The Chairman presented the Police report in the absence of Wpc Deal and Ps Bennett. There were a total of            17 crimes for the month of November of which there was 1 of Violence, 2 Burglaries of House's, 3 Burglaries at other premises, 7 Thefts and 4 offences of Criminal Damage. 5 people had been arrested which gave a clear up rate of 29.41%.

In the absence of Councillor ANDREWS, the Chairman gave the Parish Council an update of the Library project. There had been a meeting at Kessingland School on the 28th November where a draft plan had been presented to those present. There was a discussion about the scheme and that any suggestions of the site could be reviewed and costed. With regards to the Parish Council they were to be consulted on the potential usage and funding for the community rooms. The Parish Council have decided to wait until the outcome of the presentation to the Full Council before making further comment.

There was no report from the District Council, Councillor Hodges who has moved from the district as reported last month has not been replaced, although Councillor BREACH was a Councillor for Kessingland he has never attended a Parish Council Meeting, The Clerk was asked to write to the Chief Executive to get Kessingland some representation.

Because of the absence of Councillor Smith, who is taking a short break from her Council duties, there was no update with regards the Community Centre and Playing Field Amalgamation. It was decided by the Council that Councillor Lawson should be the Council?s representative on the Community Centre Council and that the Secretary of the joint Community Centre /Playing Field would be informed by the Clerk in writing.

 The Chairman gave an update of the Parish Plan. He announced that 50% of the questionnaires had been returned and were to be sent away for data processing. Everybody present agreed that 50% return was good but a little disappointing looking at the whole picture.  There would be an update at the February meeting of the Parish council.

Under the Chairman?s report there were a number of items starting first with the progress of the Church Road Play Area and Car Park. Because of the sum now agreed to purchase the land- £15,000 it was agreed on resolution that the Parish Councils contribution would be increased to £5000, making the overall cost a 3 way split between the County Council, District Council and the Parish Council. On the vote those present with the exception of one abstainer agreed to the resolution.

There are still two vacancies for Parish Councillors. The Chairman went through the rules of eligibility. The person must be a Commonwealth citizen or Euro national, over 21, and an elector. In addition the person must be a resident of Kessingland for at least 12 months or is employed in Kessingland but lives within 3 miles of the village. Must be of good character and not a person subject to the rules of disqualification.

The next item on the agenda, presented by the Chairman were the new Standing Orders and Financial Standing Orders. All Council members had been send copies to read in advance and it was therefore just a case of them being adopted under resolution. Recent changes in legislation and the need for the current Orders to be updated are the reasons for the change. All those present agreed and the new Standing Orders and Financial Standing Orders were adopted.

All the sub Committees of the Parish Council were reviewed with their terms of reference in some cases being changed. That particularly applied to Planning. In future planning applications will not be dealt by the whole Council but by a small committee and only contentious applications will be put to the entire Council.

Other than to mention the Forum Meeting on the 10th December and the Council?s meal on the 17th December, the Chairman handed over to the Vice Chairman, Councillor Purkis for her update.  There were two matters one was the Tourism Seminar that she attended at The Victoria Hotel. As a result of her meetings and consultations with Waveney District Council Kessingland is now featured in the promotional holiday brochure ? Sunshine Coast? for the year 2004.

With regards to a Rapid Response Team being set up in Kessingland, the latest on that is a meeting/presentation is to be arranged for the Patients Participation Group and that Parish councillors will be invited to attend. A date has been provisionally fixed for the 8th march 2004.

A letter had been received from the Planning Dept with regards to the matter raised at the last meeting concerning ? objectors housing proposals?. It is right to say the on this issue the whole of the Community got behind the Parish Council to block any proposals land owners or building contractors may have in looking to have building schemes included in Waveney District Councils overall Local Plan. Both the Chairman and Councillor McGee lobbied the Planning Dept. to ensure that Kessingland receives no further large-scale building development. The Council had raised its objections in writing and so had a number of residents. The end result is that Waveney District Council will not be allowing the building proposals to go ahead.

A further letter from Waveney District Council was dealt with, that enclosed a Consultation Draft on the Housing Strategy Statement for 2004 and beyond. The Parish Council were asked to give their comments on what was in fact a Housing Dept., wish list to be included in a future Waveney Local Plan. Having discussed this with Waveney District Planning, in the light of the previous agenda item, the Chairman stated that this was only a draft requirement, the Parish Council have decided to set up its own Sub-Committee to investigate the situation in Kessingland with regard to Housing requirement. An interim reply will be sent to WDC in the meantime explaining what is taking place.

Apart from dealing with financial matters and two planning applications the Meeting closed.

The next Parish Council Meeting is Wednesday 14th January 2004