Present: Mike Oldfield (Chairman)
Roy Payne (Vice Chair)
Trevor Carter
Les Raven
Mark Sheard
Claire Lawrence
John Relph (Clerk)
Christopher Lloyd-Owen - District Councillor
Thirteen members of the public
The ANNUAL PARISH MEETING was convened at 7.36 p.m.
1) Welcome by Parish Council Chairman
The Parish Council Chairman, Mr. Mike Oldfield
chaired the meeting. He began by welcoming the Council, representatives
of Village Organisatons and members of the public to the meeting.
2) To consider apologies for absence. Apologies were received from Richard Vogt and Hermione Birkbeck.
3) Minutes of Previous Meeting were agreed and signed as a true record of meeting held on 16th May 2005.
4) To Receive Reports from Village Organisations
Reports from the following Village Organisations were received.
1. Litcham Primary School Mrs. Christine Watts
2. Litcham Bell-ringers Tim Angell
3. Litcham Common Conservation Group Tim Angell
4. Litcham Common Management Committee Tim Angell
5. British Legion John Jones
6. Litcham Relief in Need Charity Mike Oldfield
7. Litcham Entertainment Group Stephen Lynn
8. Methodist Chapel Stephen Lynn
9. Litcham Youth Project Judith Bentley
10. Play 2000 Judith Bentley
11. Litcham High School Jeremy Nicholls
12. Litcham Historical Society Arthur Clarke
13. Litcham Homewatch John Relph
14. Jubilee Hall Committee Mrs. Diana Collen
15. Litcham and District Ladies Group Joyce Green
16. Parochial Church Council Richard Vogt (presented by Roy Payne)
17. Litcham Primary School Sadie Bailey
18. Litcham Youth Club Richard Bailey
19. Litcham and District Red Cross Hermione Birkbeck (presented by Mike Oldfield)
Several questions were raised by the reports. Discussions about various topics followed, among them were:
i) Parking in Church Street
and Transport arrangements for the High Schools (Travel Plan) and plans
to alter access for the coaches such that they no longer park in Druids
Lane when dropping off and picking up pupils.
ii) Installation of a microwave mast at the Primary School.
iii) The fencing of part of
Litcham Common to facilitate the introduction of grazing. Why this was
considered necessary by the Common Management Committee and the type of
stock likely to be used.
iv) Progress on the setting up of the Jubilee Hall Trust.
v) The installation of a kissing gate to allow access to the new graveyard extension from Druid Lane.
The Council would like to thank all those who
presented a report to the meeting and wish their organisation every
success in the year ahead.
5) Annual Report of the
Parish Council . After a short break for refreshments The Chairman of
the Parish Council, Mr. Mike Oldfield presented the Annual Report of
the Council. In it he listed the achievements of the council over the
last twelve months and the donations they had made to various clubs
organisations.
He talked about the visits by various
organisations and mentioned the well attended presentation by Breckland
Planning Officers on the new Local Development Framework.
Both Breckland Anti-Social Behaviour Officer and
two member of the Police Force had attended meeting at the Councils
request in an effort to solve the problem of Anti-social
behaviour in the village. This matter is ongoing.
Donations totaling £1,788 have been made to various charities and organisations.
6) Parish Council Accounts.
The Clerk then made a brief presentation of the Account for the year
2005-6. The Council had spent within it’s budget for the year and
the end-of-year balance was £269 up on last year. The Council
spent £8,645, just under a half of the Council expenditure went
on administration and a third Village maintenance such as
street-lighting and grass-cutting. The Council has reserves of around
£14,000, £7000 of this being the balance due on the new
graveyard extension. The Council has not increased this year’s
precept and it remains at just under £16 per elector.
7) Matters Arising: Any matters arising had been dealt with during the presentation of the reports.
8) Next Meeting: The date and
time of next meeting was confirmed as Monday 16th April 2007 at 7.30 in
the Jubilee Hall, Church Street, Litcham.
Meeting Closed at 10.42 p.m.
Agreed by resolution of Litcham Parish Council on 16th April 2007 to be a true record of the meeting held on 24th April 2006
