|
Minutes of the Meeting of Kessingland Parish Council held on Wednesday 23rd January 2008 at the Methodist Church Hall at 7.30pm. Members present; Cllr Martin (Chairman), Cllr Baisden, Cllr B Brown, Cllr R Brown, Cllr Burden, Cllr Crossland, Cllr Lawson, Cllr Morgan, Cllr Purkis, Cllr Woodhead. Others Present; Mr J Powell Mrs L Beevor (Clerk), Mr M Burnside - WCF Agenda 1a) Apologies for absence Cllr Sinfield, b) Declarations of Interest Nil. But see below. 2) Chairman's Report a) Co-option of councillor Mr John Powell left the room. Councillors discussed the co-option of Mr Powell. It was resolved by all to co-opt Mr Powell with immediate effect. Mr Powell signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Councillor. b) Market Towns and Kessingland The Chairman advised the meeting that following the withdrawal of WDC from Devolution discussions at the present time, informal contact had been made with the 4 Towns to see if they would be interested in continuing discussions at a local level. Southwold and Halesworth had both expressed an interest in continuing. Beccles wish to be advised of meeting dates but will not commit to attending at this stage. No response has been received from Bungay. Date and venue of meeting to be arranged with possibly Chairs, Vice-Chairs and clerks attending the initial meeting. Further details to be advised. 3) Vice-Chairman's Report a) Footpaths i) SCC has confirmed that if required, they would take back the main footpaths that Mr West has cut previously They would provide 2 cuts per season and have asked whether the Parish Council would wish to fund a further cut. Council has asked for a price and this is awaited. ii) Area by 56 Lloyds Ave - the vice-chair explained the issues around the area of 56 Lloyds Ave with regard to grass cutting. It was suggested that the Vice chair could meet with the WDC grass maintenance team to see whether this could be resolved. Clerk to arrange. iii) Local footpaths - A quote had been requested from Mow and Grow, and RG Maintenance, for the cutting of the local footpaths and the land at Marsh Lane. RG Maintenance has advised that they will not be quoting for this work. Mow and Grow have provided a quote for the cutting of the footpaths 5 times per season and the cutting of the Marsh Lane land twice per year of £490 per annum. Discussion took place about whether a further quote should be obtained. It was resolved by a majority of 9 - 1 that no further quote was required and that Mow and Grow's quote would be accepted subject to confirmation that VAT is included in this price. b) MUGA lighting/usage The Vice chairman advised that Boggis seemed to have completed the wiring of the lights at the MUGA but that confirmation was awaited from Boggis that the job is formally completed. No instruction has been received to date with regard to the use of the card meter and no cards have been provided to the parish council. It was suggested that a booking system would be required for the usage of the lights, together with a set of terms/rules for the use of the lighting. Cllr B Brown volunteered to look after the bookings of the lighting. Cllr B Brown to meet with the Vice-Chair, the Clerk and Boggis to discuss a set of procedures which will be brought back to Council in due course. Discussion took place regarding the electricity supply to the lights, and the cost of operating the lighting system. At present, there is no separate mains meter for the lights, with the installed meter relating to the card system as in the original quote for works. After full discussion it was suggested that a quote should be requested from Boggis for a separate mains meter for the lights. All agreed. Meeting adjourned for public participation. Martyn Burnside of Waveney Community Forum provided details of the work of the WCF and the opportunities that would be available to the Parish Council if they wished to invest in the Forum. (The original letter from WCF requested a commitment of £1000 per annum for an initial 3 year period and this had been considered within the precept discussions and has been included within the parish council precept for 2008/09). Mr Burnside explained the history/background to WCF and advised that a Lottery bid of £250,000 has been granted to allow the Forum to continue/expand. By investing in the Forum the Council would be provided with promotion under the Rural Partnership website, and access to information/advice about funding opportunities through a designated Rural Community Officer. Council were advised of the funding events that the Forum holds, and the support that could be provided to the council and community organisations. Examples of funding assistance already provided to the 4 Towns were detailed - such as the applications for skate board parks in Halesworth and Bungay, and the pavilion at Southwold. Mr Burnside confirmed that for our annual investment the Parish Council would receive access to the expertise of the WCF, and that for WCF the investment would allow them to access more matched funding. Councillors mentioned the 4 Towns Bus in relation to the youth, and how this was a resource that was wanted in Kessingland but that had not been provided to date. Mr Burnside confirmed that the restrictions relating to where the bus could operate were easing, and that he would facilitate a meeting for the matter to be discussed again. Mr Burnside will update clerk once he had met with the steering group of the Bus. Council confirmed that they would discuss the provision of the £1000 per annum funding request at their meeting in April, once the new budget was in effect. Decision to then be advised to Mr Burnside. Mr Burnside left at 8.45pm No other members of the public were present. Meeting closed to public participation. 4) Clerks Report a) QPS - Information for the Portfolio has been gathered and the portfolio will be looked at by SALC before submission, to ensure that all information likely to be required by the assessors is included. It is hoped that the QPS portfolio will be considered by the assessing panel in the first quarter of 2008. b) Correspondence; Sunrise Coast Event Guide - requests for listings within the guide to be provided to all councillors for individual submission. Local Forums - Letter from WDC received inviting councillors to a workshop on 5.02.08 at 6.30pm to discuss the way forward for the Local Forums in this area. Community Speed Watch - Further guide had been received relating to the scheme. Councillors felt that the expense of the scheme was not comparable to any gain that may be received from the venture. It was felt that such a role should remain that of the police. Clerk to advise accordingly. Open Space Review - Clerk received e mail response to letter sent to WDC querying the open space's allocated to Kessingland. E mail advises that the open space review document will not be altered despite the fact that some other parishes open space are detailed as being within the ‘Kessingland Ward.' Concern was voiced that this could cause confusion, as there are some parishes and open spaces within the ‘Kessingland Ward' which are not within Kessingland. The clerk was asked to obtain an up to date list of the open spaces within Kessingland to ensure that the WDC records are correct. Code of Conduct Consultation - Consultation paper received. Clerk to ask for a copy for each councillor. c) Training requirements - Councillors were asked to consider whether there were any specific matters on which training may be required. 5) Reports from committees and working parties. a) Beach warden - Report from Paul Turrell read to meeting. Within the report mention is made of marram grass that has been set on fire. The police have been contacted but advise that this is not a police matter. Clerk to contact Environment Agency. Copy of report to be sent to Steven Clouting at WDC to deal with outstanding WDC matters. b) Allotments - no matters requiring attention. c) Amenities - No committee meeting held. It was reported that the work on the High Street Play Area does not appear to have been completed. Councillors will advise clerk whether there are matters outstanding. d) Crime and Disorder - Meeting has been held at which the police and 3 parish councillors attended. Teen shelters are presently being discussed. In the absence of open space devolution, the only possible location would be at the playing field. Crime and Disorder team to contact the playing field committee with any request. Re Rider Haggard area - it is understood from past comments made by WDC that there are restrictive covenants on this piece of land. Clerk to ask WDC for details. Re BT land on High Street - no response from address and contact that had been provided by the police. Clerk to contact BT direct. Re Land at Fisherman's Way - There is a piece of land at Fisherman's Way which has ‘no ball games' stated on it. Clerk to contact WDC for clarification of ownership and for details of the restrictive covenant. Skate Board Park - this is still being considered. e) KSSC - Clerk read letter from Chairman inviting all councillors to the KSSC public meeting. Chairman advised that if councillors speak at the public meeting they should ensure that they speak as a parishioner and not as a parish councillor. f) Emergency Committee - Verbal updating report provided by the Chairman. g) Footpaths - see Vice Chairman's report. h) Library Groups - Council was advised that the section 106 agreement has been made - this will provide £25k towards the upgrade of the play area and £25k has been allocated towards the purchase of a new piece of open space. Discussion took place regarding the terms of the 106 agreement and concern was expressed about the monies allocated to the purchase of new land given the lack of available land in the village. Copy of the agreement is to be requested from Lorraine Heale at WDC who is the Section 106 officer. Work at the library should commence March/April 2008. With regard to the community groups - it has been requested by the project team that those who are likely to use the new community offices be asked to confirm their intention -letters will be sent to such community groups. The community offices will need to be furnished and once the community groups have responded, a business plan will be drawn up. Funding applications need to be submitted to SCC in April 2008 for this part of the project. Newsletter is being sent out with the Kessingland Times. A resident has written regarding the proposed play area and requests more details - the clerk was asked to respond advising the resident that until funds are received no plans will be drawn up and that more information will be available later in the year. i) Parish Plan - The plan needs updating - Cllrs Martin, Crossland and Burden offered to form a working party to consider the matter further. Suffolk Acre has been contacted and will provide information on what action needs to be carried out. j) Village Directory - This will be available for the next meeting. k) Events 2008 - It was suggested that a beach party would be an ideal village event - Cllr Powell offered to consider the matter initially as he had had previous experience in organising such events. 6) Questions to the Chairman for future agendas. a) Dropped Kerbs - It was noted that there had been drop kerbs provided but that motorists still park by them. It was noted that this had been mentioned to SCC at a previous meeting and SCC advise that it is not possible to place white H lines by all drop kerbs. 7) Planning applications and correspondence DC/08/0028/FUL - Erection of carport at 8 Smiths Crescent, by Mr and Mrs Free. It was resolved by all to approve the application DC/08/0020/FUL - Provision of multi use games area with 3m high enclosure at Kessingland Beach Holiday Village, Beach Road, Kessingland by Park Resorts Group Limited. It was resolved by all to approve the application Planning correspondence Re proposed wind turbine on land at Africa Alive - Cllr Purkis advised the meeting of her previous request that this application be referred to the Scrutiny Committee, and the subsequent response from Cllr Starling. The request stems from the fact that the original scoping report seems to suggest that the proposed site was suggested by WDC. In a subsequent e mail SLP refute that this is the case. Cllr Purkis advised therefore that SLP seemed to have contradicted themselves. A full discussion took place as to what should happen next in view of the fact that by requesting many further reports, WDC are ‘wasting' public money. It was resolved by all that Cllr Purkis should ask that the matter be referred to Scrutiny. Clerk to liase with clerk over letter that is to be sent. WDC Decisions DC/07/1971/FUL - Approved DC/07/1932/FUL - Approved DC/07/1913/FUL - Approved Planning application for 39 High Street forwarded to Cllr Burden, to consider the works that had been detailed in the application. 8) Finance a) Donation requests Cllr Woodhead declared a personal interest. Cllr Morgan declared a prejudicial interest and left the room. Cllr Lawson declared a prejudicial interest and left the room. The KSSC have requested the sum of £250 that they believe had been allocated in the precept for 2007/08. Full discussion took place as to whether the funds should be paid. It was resolved that with a public meeting being held this week, any donation of funds should be delayed until after the public meeting. Clerk to advise the KSSC that a decision has been deferred but ask what project would it be used for and would it be match funded if it is approved at any future date. 9) Date of next meeting Wednesday 13th February 2008 at 7.30pm. There being no further business the meeting closed at 10.30pm. Chairman ..................................... Dated.........................
|