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Present:Mike Oldfield (Chairman)
Roy Payne (Vice Chair)
Mark Sheard
Claire Lawrence
Trevor Carter
Chris Mitchell
John Relph (Clerk)
WPC Beard and Community Police Support Officer Sarah Loveday
Two members of the public.
Before the meeting: WPC Andi Beard and her Support Officer discussed with the Council several local Policing issues including the recent anti-social behaviour problem in Church St. Some progress is being made on this issue, but the Police Support Officer explained it will take some time to get to know the people involved. The Chairman then asked for the latest news on the amalgamation of Norfolk Constabulary with other police forces. At present the plan is to amalgamate with Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Both Officers assured us that at a local level we should notice very little if any difference, but in the event of a major incident it will be easier to draw resources from adjoining counties. There then followed a general discussion about traffic problems which we were informed were best addressed to County Hall.
Susan Falch-Lovesey, a Governor of Litcham Primary School then lead a discussion concerning the installation of a BT microwave mast at the Primary School. Like the Parish Council the Governors were very wary of this proposal at first. She explained that to have a secure connection with enough bandwidth both in and out of the school a special type of connection is needed and this requires either the installation of a special cable or a microwave link. The government allowance for the installation of Broadband into a primary school is £15,000 and this will not cover laying a cable in from the nearest exchange, which would cost £34,000, whereas a microwave mast will only cost £13,000. The 10 metre mast will be situated amongst a group of tall trees at edge of the playing field pointing away from the school toward a mast at North Pickenham, the beam will be relatively narrow compared to say a radio mast. All the parents of children at the school have been contacted by letter and invited to comment on the proposals but no objections have been received. The Governors therefore are now in the process of applying for planning permission.

The Council Meeting opened at 8.10pm
1) Apologies and reasons for absence. Les Raven was unable to attend due to work commitments. A apology was also received from Christopher Lloyd-Owen.
2) Declarations of Interest by Councilors: None were received.
3) Minutes of the Previous Meeting held on 16th January 2006 were agreed and signed.
4) Reports:
Long Meadow: David Lucas has agreed to the terms proposed at the last Parish Council meeting. A more up to date contract is being drawn up.
Village Appraisal: A grant of £786 has been applied for to fund the printing of the now finished document.
Village Fete: The Village Fete committee have informed the Parish Council that unfortunately they will not be able to organise a Village Fete this year. They have decided to concentrate their efforts on organising a Fete or possibly Street Party in 2007. It has been suggested that it be replaced this year by an 'Open Gardens' day
McAlpine rebate: Last years overpayment to McAlpine Ltd continues to be outstanding. The Clerk is now dealing directly with McAlpine Head Office at Manchester and has been promised the funds soon.
Dog Fouling: The Clerk has chased Breckland about putting dog fouling signs on the posts the Council erected in November. They are apparently very busy at the moment with enforcement work but I was assured that we were top of their list for notices, but couldn't tell me when they will get a little spare time to complete the job.
Use of School Tennis Courts: Simon Berry will act as secretary for the 'Parish Tennis Club'. He intends to run this as a 'Club' and not run a booking scheme. He will place a advert for the club in the next issue of Church and Village. Parishioners will be invited to turn up and he will attend, allocate courts and collect fees every Tuesday night.
An Internal Audit check up was completed on 25th January. The Internal Auditor's fee of £100 has been donated to the Primary school who will use the money to enable children who otherwise couldn't afford it to have music lessons.
Annual Parish Meeting: The Clerk has noticed that at present the Annual Parish Meeing is Scheduled for Easter Monday and it was agreed to move this on a week to the 24th of April. The Clerk then produced a draft invite which was approved, they will sent out before the next meeting. It was then decided to make light refreshments available at the APM.
5) Regulatory Documents: Standing Orders, Financial Regulations, Code of Conduct and Publishing Scheme put forward by the Processes Workgroup were adopted by resolution of the Council.
6) Appointment. Roy Payne and Claire Lawrence were appointed to the Planning Committee and Trevor Carter was appointed to the Processes workgroup.
7) Norfolk Rural Community Council: The council resolved to join the Norfolk Rural Community Council at their current half price subscription offer of £13.50.
8) Hedges: the Council considered how best to deal with the occasional overgrown hedge that fouls the footway (pavement). The Clerk explained that the Council had no powers to take direct action against this problem, it's only recourse is to report the matter to Norfolk County Council Highways Department who did actually have the power to cut away vegetation if it fouled a footway. It was suggested that a 'Health and Safety Survey' be carried out at least once a year, all potential hazards would then be reported to the Council for consideration. In the case of hedges or other plants that foul the footway a initial 'polite' letter will be sent followed twenty eight days later by a letter informing the owner of the obstruction that the matter was being reported to N.C.C. Highways.
9) Graveyard Maintenance: The Council resolved to renew their contract with Norfolk County Services for maintenance of graveyard in 2006 at a cost of £1094.36+VAT per annum, an increase of 3.8%.
10) Gate at Rear of Graveyard: the Council has had several requests for a pedestrian gate to be installed at the rear of the graveyard. There was some discussion as to the type of gate that would be appropriate but the Council agreed to the idea in principal and the Clerk will seek the views of the P.C.C.
11) Carpet Bowls Equipment: Chairman informed that council that he and the Clerk had inspected the equipment and it was in reasonable condition. New it had a value of around £400 but it had been bought with a grant and had only cost the Council around £40. The Council agreed that it was no longer of use to the Parish and agreed to it's disposal. The Clerk will contact the Norfolk Carpet Bowls Association to see if they know of anywhere local that are looking for such equipment.
12) Financial Business:
i) The financial reconciliation for the year to date was received, checked against current Bank Statements and signed.
The following payments were noted:
ii) E-on Electricity, 1 payments of £51.69p paid by Direct Debit for February.
Payments were made:
iii) To Mark Sheard was paid travel expenses of £6.66.
It was also agreed that Cllr. Sheard could claim out of pocket expenses to cover the cost of child care necessary to attend Council Meetings, this would be paid directly to the Child Carer.
iv) A donation of £135 was made to "Groovy Movers" to pay for a PlayStation.
v) A cheque for £210 to James Henderson for the installation of the post for dog fouling signs
13) The following Correspondence was noted:
i) Fire Service Safety Plan
ii) Breckland: House Numbering Manor Drive & Comers Garage.
iii) Breckland, Development Control re:Land adjacent to Manor.
iv) Breckland Standards Committee: Agenda & Minutes.
v) NCAPTC: Newsletter
vi) Norfolk Gypsy & Traveler Liaison Group.
14) Items for the next agenda.
i) Road Safety Back Lane - (Christopher Lloyd-Owen)
ii) Health and Safety - general principals & appointment of Committee.
13) The next meeting was confirmed as Monday 20th February 2006 at 7.30p.m. in the Jubilee Hall.
Meeting closed at 22.15pm