Parish Council Meeting of 20th October 2016

Written by Anne Rayner.

The Parish Council meeting on 20th October 2016 was attended by Councillors Brian Frith, Beverley Humphreys, Andrew Coleman, Graham Gale, Gilly Barnes, Dawn Welsby and Sarah Allen. Also present were County Councillor Bev Spratt and nine members of the public.

Some of the main items discussed at the meeting are mentioned here. Full minutes of the meeting are available here in draft form until agreed by the Council at the next meeting (17th November 2016).

The following planning applications were discussed:

a) 2016 / 2271 – Bridge Farm, Station Road - Conversion and remodelling of existing garage to provide 2 storey separate annexe – Following discussion, Councillors agreed they had no objections to this application.

b) 2016 / 2281 – Nivelle Farm, Station Road – two storey extension & alteration to existing build – Councillors discussed the application and agreed they had no objections.

c) 2016 / 2368 – Merlecroft, Long Stratton Rd – single storey extension – Councillors discussed this application and agreed they had no objections.

It was noted that the Appeal Hearing for the Hope Valley development (a public meeting) would be held on October 25th at South Norfolk Council Offices.

Present at the meeting were two representatives from the Tacolneston & Forncett Recreation Association (TAFRA). You will be able to read more about the play area project in the November 2016 Flyer. The Parish Council would like to hear from residents on this subject. Please do get in touch with the clerk (contact details and the bottom of this report). Would residents support the Parish Council helping this project, even if it resulted in an increase to the precept? What level of funding is reasonable to commit to?

British Telecom are shortly to begin a project of removal of telephone boxes which have hardly any outgoing calls made from them, over a period of twelve months. The Parish Council has registered an interest in retaining the telephone box at Forncett St Mary and are currently considering possible uses for it.

The finances of the Parish Council have recently been checked by both an internal and an external auditor, as legislation requires. There were no areas of concern raised and the full report can be found on the website: http://forncettparishcouncil.norfolkparishes.gov.uk/category/financial-reports-2016/

Thank you enormously to our volunteer footpath warden, John Wilde, who, together with Cllr Gale, has mowed an impressive 16825 metres of footpath since the Parish Council purchased a mower in the Spring. The improvement in the condition and access of the footpaths has certainly been noticed. County Councillor Spratt confirmed that Norfolk County Council will soon be addressing the maintenance of footpaths, with varying options being considered. It was agreed that, whatever the decision, parish councils need to know which paths in their parishes will be cut and how many times. 

The next meeting will be on Thursday 17th November, commencing at 7.30pm. The agenda will be published about a week before the meeting, but if you have any matters to bring to the attention of the Parish Council in the meantime, please contact the clerk, Anne Rayner, on 01508 570700 or by email  .