Beckham East and West Parish Council

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Draft  Minutes of East and West Beckham Parish Council

 Meeting Held remotely by Zoom on Thursday 12^th November 2020

Present. 

Cllrs. R. McNeil Wilson, (chairman),G. Place,  D. Barrass, R. Batt, J. Dovey, K. Lord,  T. Toyn.

  Dist. Cllr. P. Butikofer,   

          J.Stibbons(clerk)

The chairman opened the meeting at 7.04pm.

1.  Apologies County Cllr. S. Butikofer,  There were no Declaration of Interest

2. There were no comments or questions from members of the public.   

3. The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 24^th September  2020, having been previously circulated, it was proposed by Cllr. Batt   they  should be confirmed as correct. This was seconded by Cllr. Toyn and carried.   The chairman will sign the minutes at a later date.

4. Matters arising from the Minutes

Cllr. Place has contacted the estate agents on two occasions to ask for the notice board at Lodge Hill Corner to be removed as it is obstructing the view from the East when entering the A148 from Sheringham Road . At present his requests have been ignored.

Cllr. Toyn has agreed to join the Community Shop committee.

The new village sign has been installed. The councillors thanked the volunteers who had carried out the installation.

The hedge at the entrance to the playing field has been cut back.

5. Reports from County and District Councillors.

Dist Cllr. P. Butikofer.  Pretty Corner is now open after the gale damage. Car parks and toilets will remain open doing the lock-down

£140000 is to be provided for housing for homeless people. Sand scape at Bacton has been a success and won an award for climate resilience. 

The District Council has bought fogging machines to be used in the car parks play areas and  conveniences.

Holt Hall is due for closure but there is an online petition to save the facility. 

Business grants of up to £3,000 per month are to be made available during the lock-down.

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6. Solar Community Fund Committee.  The track on the allotment is eroded. Councillors are to meet the installer to see what improvements can be made. Grass is growing in the track and

Cllr, Barras will spray the weeds with Round up.

The  Mulberry Tree at the church was blown over during the gales and it is proposed to replant it with a cherry tree. 

There will be no Christmas party for the over 70s this year and it was suggested that some form of present should be given such as mince pies to the over 70s in Beckenham. This suggestion was not carried forward.  

It was proposed by Cllr. Lord that the Good Neighbours scheme helpers should be given a gift at Christmas. This was seconded by Cllr. Wilson. It was agreed that they should each receive a bottle of wine.

7. Playing Field  In his inspection of the playing field Cllr. Wilson reported that there were three or four Ivy plants growing up the wire and they should be cut down to reduce the weight on the fence. He agreed to carry out this work. 

It was asked where the the boundary was with the council houses. Is it the chain link fence or the bank? This should be answered when the reply from North Norfolk district council is received concerning the renewal of the lease.

8. The Budget Proposals for 2021-2020  which had been submitted to the councillors were discussed.

It was decided that the precept for 2021-2020 should be set at £3500.  

It was proposed by Cllr. Barrass that the budget should be approved. This was

seconded by Cllr. Toyn and carried.

9. Financial matters.

The Bank Balances at 12/11/2020 were, Current a/c £13668.33  Savings (SCFC) a/c £17944.91

The f0ollowing outstanding invoice were approved  for payment:- 

Bodham Village Hall Meeting room £18

J. Stibbons Salary and Expenses £599.10

HMRC PAYE £122.80

P. Buck. Playing field maintenance £150

10. Correspondence –  All email correspondence was forwarded to councillors on receipt for immediate attention  . There was no correspondence received through the post.

11. Matters for information only or for the next agenda

It was proposed that a review of the triangle opposite Chestnut Farm should be undertaken as the increase in the number of signs being erected was getting out of proportion.

It was suggested that the village should have a flagpole to celebrate special occasions.

There being no further business the chairman closed the meeting at 8.19pm

The next meeting of Beckham parish council will be held on Thursday 14^th January 2021

  Page  192

Draft  Minutes of East and West Beckham Parish Council

 Meeting Held remotely by Zoom on Thursday 24^th September 2020

Present. 

Cllrs. R. McNeil Wilson, (chairman),G. Place,  D. Barrass, R. Batt, J. Dovey, K. Lord,  T. Toyn.

County Cllr. S. Butikofer,  Dist. Cllr. P. Butikofer,  Mr. C. Ringer (community shop)

          J.Stibbons(clerk)

The chairman opened the meeting at 7.02pm, and welcomed everyone  

1. There were no  Apologies or Declaration of Interest

2. There were no comments or questions from members of the public.   

3. The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 16^th July  2020, having been previously circulated, it was proposed by Cllr. Lord  they  should be confirmed as correct. This was seconded by

Cllr. Dovey and carried. 

The chairman will sign the minutes at a later date.

4. There were no Matters arising from the Minutes  which are not covered later in the agenda. 

5. Reports from County and District Councillors.

County Cllr, S. Butikofer. There was a disappointing meeting of the County Council recently with no cross party cooperation. There is a budget deficit of £55million Main discussions were on food poverty and the environment.

The possible closure of Holt Hall was announced. The Project Manager is to enquire what consultation should be undertaken.

A new system of Track and Trace has been implemented. The focus must be on how to control Covid and help for businesses.

Dist. Cllr. Butikofer,  

Electric vehicle charge points have successfully been launched in two car parks Albert street in Holt and Morris street in Sheringham. This is part of on-going works to get electric vehicle charge points in six locations across the district.

They use a web-based system called “genie-point” to operate charging and payment.

Two different charging tariff – standard 08:00 to 18:00 0.30p/KWh +50p connection fee plus 

normal parking fee. Resident tariff  18:00 to08:00 30p/Kw h ( no connection fee) plus parking is free between these hours.

Successful prosecution of a man in Stalham pleaded guilty to three noise offenses including a noise abatement notice. He was playing amplified music over the Christmas period. He was fined £68, victims surcharge of £32 and costs of 31325, totaling £1425 with  forfeiture order

New sea-side car park opens giving easy access to Bacton’s beautiful sandy beaches which has been brought about by the recent landscaping project. 

The car park will be operating on a pay and display basis.

Council awarded funding to regenerate historic North Walsham town center. Secured a double funding boost from Historic England and government throughout the New Anglia Local enterprise Partnership (LEP). Received £975K from Historic England’s High Streets Heritage action zone and the LEP gave £1.17M, part of the Getting Building fund. Key features – town center “re-stitching” 

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improved connectivity and access through the town center via likes and gateways. To support improvements to current buildings and business premises and support new businesses or uses of vacant space, making Market Place more accessible and attractive for users and repair and restoration of the Cedars (old council offices)

There is an understanding that another branch of funding is coming down from government. NNDC has already given over £52M

The new splash is progressing well and is currently on target to be completed next year

6. Community Shop (Report given by Mr. C. Ringer). A short presentation of the history of shops in Bodham was given.

The results of the survey conducted in Bodham and Beckham received 166 replies, 103 from Bodham which was 40% of the households.  83% of the people who replied would use the shop at least once a week. 

A preliminary meeting was held at the Red Hart on 10th of September. No chairman or committee was selected at this meeting which was attended by the district and county councillors. Unfortunately no Parish Council members attended from either parishes.

The parishes have a high population of young people and many of them are willing to get

involved.

A volunteer Steering Committee is to be formed in October and if possible this should include a representative from Beckham. This committee will be independent from both parish councils. 

Initially the idea is to take on a an area of land, possibly the car park with a modular building or on land opposite the Red Hart. Another alternative is to use the village hall which would be multi-purpose.

All these ideas are to be explored further by the steering committee.  

The chairman thanked Mr. Ringer for his presentation. Mr. Ringer left the meeting 7.56pm

The proposal of a community shop was then discussed further by the members. All wished the project well but agreed that it must be run on business lines and have the commitment of the community.

An item will be placed in the Beckham news letter asking if anyone from the parish would like to join the committee. 

7. Solar Community Fund Committee.  The Felbeck Trust have cut and cleared the docks and weeds on parts

of the West Beckham Old Allotment to boost the restoration process. Some areas of longer vegetation will be

left to encourage bio-diversity. A circular path has been created around the property.

A visit from the Operation Turtle Dove project manager confirmed that the area already has many of the

required conditions for  breeding Turtle Doves.

There have been complementary comments on the bench at the bus stop, it makes the village look very

welcoming.

With the present Covid restrictions there will be no chance to celebrate the installation of the new village

sign.

8. Playing Field

The following  quotations were submitted  for the replacement of the fence.

Simon’s Landscaping £6500     Prestige fencing £4835     Dodd & co £3171 

It was agreed to circulate these quotations and enquire if NNDC will extend the lease before any final

decision was made.

The trees near the gate need cutting back. Cllr. Lord will obtain quotations for the trimming of the whole hedge.

9. Extension of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

It was proposed  by Cllr. Barrass that the parish council should press for both East and West Beckham to

come within the AONB  This was seconded by Cllr. Lord.

On a show of hands the proposal was approved by a majority of five in favour with two against. 

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10. Financial matters.

Bank Balances at 16/9/2020   Current a/c £12883.23  Savings a/c £6495.54

Outstanding invoice to be approved:- 

K. Lord Paint £12.34

Chevertons Printing £100

 

11. Correspondence there was no correspondence.

12. Matters for information only or for the next agenda.

An advertising board has been placed at the Lodge corner junction by a local estate agent advertising business premises for lease. This board is restricting the view towards Cromer. Cllr. Place will arrange to have the board relocated.

Dog walkers are not keeping to the footpaths and an article is to be put in the next news letter. Visitors in holiday accommodation are also the be informed.

Cars are speeding through the village. It was asked it 30mph signs could be put near the village gates.

The hedge at allotment lane has become overgrown as have various garden hedges with a road frontage.

Highways are to be contacted.

There being no further business the chairman closed the meeting at 8.59pm

The next meeting of E&W Beckham parish council will be held on Thursday 12^th November 2020