In attendance: Mrs Pat Clare (Chair, presiding), Mr Paul Wright, Mrs Mary Button and Mr David Hamblin (Councillors) and Mr Mike Balmer (Clerk). Apologies: Mr Adrian Gunson (County Councillor). Absent: Mr Derek Blake (District Councillor). Also attending: 8 Parishioners.

14.55 Approved absences – None.

14.56 Declarations of interest – None.

14.57 The minutes of the previous meeting on 14 May 2014 were approved and signed.

14.58 County Councillor’s Report
In Adrian Gunson’s absence the Clerk reported as follows:

• Resurfacing of The Street in Rockland St Mary is complete.
• The surface dressing of the A146 between Highways Nurseries and The Slad, and between Thurton Hill and Chedgrave, together with the new double white lines at the Chedgrave junction, are all complete.
• Apparently Rockland Parish Council has had complaints about difficulties on the footpath from Low Common to Church Lane, Claxton. The Highways Engineer has been involved.       [Clerk’s note: this was apparently the result of two trees falling over and blocking the path, which has now been cleared.]

14.59 District Councillor’s Report
Derek Blake was again absent so there was no report from Long Stratton.

14.60  Parishioner Questions
There were none.

14.61  Request to add David Hamblin to the list of cheque signatories
The request was agreed, and the mandate forms signed. These will now be passed to David Hamblin to take into a Barclays branch with appropriate ID.

14.62 Review and signing of the draft agreement on access to the allotments
This will be done at the next meeting.

14.63  Poor Broadband service in Claxton
The Clerk reported that he had handed out cards at the Fair on the Yare and delivered others to houses in the village and was steadily receiving returns from villagers on download speeds.  The first 22 replies had shown a surprising range of speeds being experienced, with a noticeably much poorer service in Church Lane. Robin Sword spoke of his experience with BT and the County Council, with his evidence suggesting the service was being manipulated in favour of those taking BT’s Sports package. He had recently moved his service to a new provider and was enjoying a faster and cheaper service as a result.

Various options were discussed, including linking Church Lane direct to Ashby and Thurton rather than through Claxton, acquiring our own fibre-optic cable service and microwave links. The Wispire project on Ashby Church did not reach most parts of Claxton, and the offer was in any case relatively expensive. In the interim, the Council approved the drawing up of a draft letter to Richard Bacon MP, and agreed that the Clerk should continue to collect data at least to the end of the month, before Councillors considered his draft.

14.64 Bottlebanks and broken glass
The Chair described how much broken glass is dropped or left around the bottlebanks, among the gravel, making it both dangerous and unpleasant. She wondered whether constructing a proper hard-standing would help, at least in clearing any glass remains. The Council agreed that she should explore options and report back to a future meeting, notwithstanding the expectation that South Norfolk Council were on the point of allowing glass into weekly domestic recycling collections.

14.65 Planning Matters
The Clerk reported that there had been no new applications since the last meeting.

14.66 Finance
a) The bank balance at 16 July is £2,672.11. Budget and bank statements had been circulated separately.
b) Receipts – none.
c) Grants – none.
d) Payments

Cheque No	Payee	Description	Amount
100272	Norfolk Playing Fields Association	Membership 2014-15	£ 20.00
100273	M A Balmer	Salary (Jun-Jul) and Admin (May-Jul)	£ 287.59

Paul Wright proposed that the above schedule should be approved for payment, with Pat Clare seconding.

14.67 Update on the Parish Plan
The Clerk confirmed that there had been no changes to the Parish Plan since the last meeting, a copy of which was available for perusal.

14.68 Update on Playground Facilities
Pat Clare confirmed that there had been no progress since the last meeting.

14.69 Clerk’s Report
He had attended South Norfolk Council’s latest Consultation meeting for Town and Parish Clerks, on 5 June. He was compiling data on broadband speeds in the village. He was also seeking alternative audit arrangements for 2014-15.

14.70 Correspondence
The Clerk tabled a list of correspondence which had been e-mailed/circulated to Councillors or received prior to the meeting.

14.71 Items for next Agenda
Allotments access agreement and audit arrangements.

14.72 Date of next meeting
The next meeting will be on Wednesday 17 September at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

The meeting closed at 2025.