Held on Wednesday 20 July 2016 in Claxton Village Hall at 7.32pm
In attendance: Councillor Pat Clare (Chair, presiding), Councillor Mary Button, Councillor David Hamblin and Councillor Jason Cantrill and Mr Mike Balmer (Clerk). Absent: Councillor Richard White. Also attending: 9 Parishioners/ members of the public. No County or District Councillor present.
16.50 Approved absences – Councillor Richard White.
16.51 Declarations of Interest
There were none.
16.52 Minutes of the meeting held on 18 May 2016
The minutes of the above meeting, which had been circulated beforehand and placed on the notice board and website, were approved and signed.
16.53 Parishioners’ Questions
The deteriorating state of Church Lane and large number of potholes was raised. It had been reported several times to the Highways department without any action being taken. The Clerk was asked to raise this formally, copying in the County Councillor.
16.54 Review of Standing Orders
The Clerk had circulated the revised version after the previous meeting. There being no comments the new version was approved for publication.
16.55 Tree growing in Hellington Beck
This alder was now becoming a hazard for traffic crossing the small bridge near Claxton Corner and the Parish Council accepted the kind offer of the representative of Claxton Manor to remove it.
16.56 Blocking of Slade Lane at Staines Barns
There followed a heated discussion of this issue with the site owner/developer insisting he could park vehicles on his land, even though some of it was a single track public highway. There being no other obvious way forward it was agreed that the Clerk would contact the appropriate County authorities to see if a site visit, including some Parish Councillors, could be arranged, so that a formal ruling could be arrived at.
16.57 Revised Bus services – 85, 85A and 86
The original revised schedule had not been amended further but there will now be a new operator from 28 August. Service 85A will take passengers from Claxton to Loddon to connect with the X22 into Norwich, with the journey reversed for the return. There was scepticism that connections would be simple as there were between 6-10 minutes gap between the buses, though as passengers simply needed to cross the road at Church Plain (the Swan) this ought to be sufficient. It was agreed to revisit this issue once the service had bedded in, possibly at the November meeting. The Clerk was asked to provide copies of the timetables for parishioners without access to the internet.
16.58 Uncut verges and roadsides
The poor state of the roadsides in Claxton, particularly up Church Lane but also along The Street was discussed. There was the additional issue of large quantities of sand which had spilled from the roadside banks during bad weather. The Clerk was asked to investigate and request a visit from the appropriate department at County to attend to these issues.
16.59 Planning Matters
There had been no new applications since the previous meeting.
16.60 Finance
A detailed financial statement had been made available to Councillors and parishioners alike, and Councillors had seen the complete list of proposed payments well in advance, so there were no surprises.
a) The bank balance at 20 July was £3,748.50. The latest Financial Report had been circulated separately in advance.
b) Receipts – £20 from South Norfolk Council for the village’s participation in the 2016 litter pick.
c) Grants – none.
d) Payments
| Cheque | Payee | Amount | Description |
| 100330 | M A Balmer | 406.14 | Salary (£260.49) Jun-Jul 2016 & Admin (£145.65) May-Jul 2016 |
| 100331 | M A Balmer | 789.93 | Refund for purchase of projector and screen |
On a proposal from Pat Clare, seconded by David Hamblin, the schedule was approved for payment, and cheques signed.
16.61 Report from Clerk
The Clerk reported that he had circulated the latest version of the Standing Orders, chased SNC about the £20 award for participating in the South Norfolk Litter Pick (now received), despatched the accounts to Mazars, the external auditors, finalised the latest village newsletter and delivered it through the village, acquired new litter-picking equipment and ordered (and now received) a new projector and screen to be cost-shared with the Village Hall.
16.62 Correspondence
The Clerk tabled a short list of correspondence which had been circulated to Councillors or received prior to the meeting. Items included:
- New Police and Crime Commissioner’s first communication
- NDR updates
- Norfolk ALC Newsletters
- Community Action Norfolk “Signpost” magazine for Spring 2016
- Clerks and Councils Direct June and July 2016
16.63 Items for next Agenda
There were none.
Date of next meeting – Wednesday 14 September 2016 at 7.30pm.
Dates of remaining meeting in 2016
Wednesday 16 November – Regular Parish Council Meeting
The meeting closed at 2025.
