New Year greetings were exchanged at the beginning of the meeting at which Bill Borrett, County and District Councillor was in attendance together with one parishioner. Mrs. Caroline Payne was in the Chair. There was no pre- meeting business.
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK:
The Chairman asked councillors how they wished to respond to the boundary areas document which seemed to indicate some changes. The contentious areas on the rather small scale map were pointed out to Mr. Borrett. He said it was his expectation was that the boundary will go into the consultation as originally planned but he would endeavour to get a document listing all the minor changes. It was agreed that this new document should be viewed before any signing took place. Mr. Borrett was asked to clarify the rules governing infill buildings on garden plots and restoration projects on farm buildings, as planning permission seemed to be very arbitrary.
SAFE ROUTE TO SCHOOL:
A response had been received from Norfolk Property Services following the Parish Council's enquiries about the possible purchase of the Village Green. Of the many questions asked by NPS, several related to a proposed parking area which would be linked to the safe route to school path which crosses the Green. Councillors agreed that as well as responding to the listed questions, a map of the whole site should be included, pinpointing the specific areas in question. Mr. Borrett said that the proposals would have to go through several committees at County Hall and he would certainly lend his support wherever possible. Asked if he had any thoughts on how the County Council would value the land, he said that it would no doubt seek to make money from the transaction, but that it would be of help if a definite community benefit could be demonstrated.
LAND MANAGEMENT MATTERS:
Regarding the new lease for the Village Green, the latest response from NPS is that they do not accept the Parish Council amendments and have come up with a new set of proposals. These in turn are not acceptable to the Parish Council and the Clerk wondered if legal advice would again be necessary. Mr. Borrett said if the Council was willing for him to take away all the correspondence on the matter, he would see what he could do to sort things out. This was gratefully accepted.
English Heritage has now responded to the request for a change in wording on the brown tourist signs. As from April this year, they will now read "North Elmham Chapel" or possibly "N. Elmham Chapel" and it is hoped that this will lead to less confusion for visitors who come seeking North Elmham Cathedral.
It had been noted that there are now many branches overhanging the hedges of Millennium Wood as a result of flailing from the field sides. A personal approach would be made to the farmer concerned to see if this can be remedied.
STREET LIGHTS and TRAFFIC PROBLEMS:
There were many comments from Councillors about remarks made in the Editorial section of Elmham News concerning both street lighting and speeding traffic in the village. They felt that it should be emphasised that, far from being absent from the thoughts of councillors, traffic problems have been a constant concern of the Parish Council over many years, and ways of solving the problems are continually being sought. Parishioners should find out the facts by attending Parish Council meetings. Councillors were also of the opinion that such comments and remarks should not form part of the editorial section of Elmham News and it was requested that a letter be sent to the Editor expressing these views.
HIGHWAY MATTERS:
Community Speed Watch details have now been obtained. The new PCSO for this area, Charlotte Stone, will be attending the February council meeting to discuss speeding problems, and hopes to visit the village beforehand to observe the relevant "hot spots".
Parishioners are asking why, despite it being a bus route and part of the safe route to school, Eastgate Street does not get salted. This had again been requested. Bill Borrett said that he would look at the official list of gritting areas and hopefully get the Street added to it.
Thanks were again expressed to Mr. Keith Woodhouse who had been salting the Orchard Close hill. Unfortunately it seems that there has been some misuse of this facility and it might again be necessary to lock the container.
PAVILION AND PLAYING FIELD MATTERS:
The retractable post on the car park again needs attention as does the light on the end of the Pavilion building. These matters would be attended to..
VILLAGE SIGN COMPETITION:
There had been one further entry from a parishioner and this, together with all those received from school pupils would be on display in the Pavilion from 7pm onwards prior to the council meeting, when hopefully a winner could be decided upon. Mrs. Payne sincerely thanked all those who had contributed.
MIRRORS AT ALLOTMENTS' ENTRANCES:
Enquiries had revealed that such mirrors were in fact illegal, because of concerns that they give a false impression of distance. It was suggested that consideration should be given to cutting back hedges and constructing a splayed entrance. It was also suggested that the 30mph sign could be sited earlier on the approach to the village, as the speed of vehicles along the road as well as bad visibility contributed to problems for allotment users. The Highways Department will be consulted about this.
Webmasters Note: Minerals and Waste LDF - The statement in last months report that MIN21 and MIN97 had been classed as unacceptable was not entirely correct - MIN97 as we have previously stated at some length was the subject of a late submission by the Forestry Commission and has been included in the current consultation phase that finised at the back end of last month. MIN21 has also been put for any further comment so technically is not yet safe.
