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Draft Minutes of East and West Beckham Parish Council
Meeting Held remotely by Zoom on Thursday 18th January 2021
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,
Declaration of Interest Cllr. Barrass informed the meeting that he was now the treasurer of the Felbeck Trust,
2. There were no comments or questions from members of the public.
3. The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 12th November 2020, having been previously circulated, it was proposed by Cllr. Dovey that they should be confirmed as correct. This was seconded by Cllr. Batt and carried. The chairman will sign the minutes at a later date.
4. Matters arising from the Minutes
The Brown&Co sign board at the junction of the Sheringham Road and the A148 has still not been moved. The clerk is to contact Highways again.
5. Reports from County and District Councillors.
Dist Cllr. P. Butikofer. The budget for the next financial year has been balanced and there are no cuts in services. Only 9.5% of the council tax levied is allocated to the District Council.
Face to face contact with council officers during lock-down are by appointment only.
Car parks and toilets will remain open during the lock-down.
Covid infection have raised and the rate for North Norfolk is 390/100,000. The rate for Norfolk as a whole is 529/100,000.
Work on the Vatenfall wind farm will begin in 2023.
County Councillor Sarah Butikofer is seriously ill with Covid 19 but is improving slowly.
The Beckham Parish Councillors sent their best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Cllr. Batt Allotments A meeting with Mr. Witham was held to discuss improvements to the allotment track. Water run off is eroding the surface and it was suggested that a trench should be dug at the side of the track and a water harvesting container could be put in place at the lowest point.
Cllr. Toyn. Community Shop. A grant of £750 has been secured from the Plunkett Foundation to register the project and open a bank account.
The Red Hart have opened a small shop during the present pandemic but it will cease to operate after lock down. The Post Office have been asked to open a counter in the
Community shop when it is operational and a letter of support will be sent from Beckham parish council.
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Cllr. Batt noted the run-off of water from the field containing free-range pigs, at the top of Gibbet Lane, was bringing mud and water down the hill and could be a contaminant.
6. Solar Community Fund Committee. An information board, to be placed in the village hall, giving details of the former RAF West Beckham is being designed.
A board giving local information is to be placed in the bus shelter
It was proposed by the Solar Committee that laptops should be provided for home learning.
There are thirteen pupils in East and West Beckham who either lack hardware or broadband.
During a general discussion the following points were noted:-
Money or hardware should not be given to individuals. It could be given to the school for them to decide, the computers would then be the property of the school for the benefit of children in the parish.
It was suggested that members should donate any old laptops they were no longer using.
Broadband in East Beckham was a particular problem. Cllr Barrass gave a list of the options available but there seemed to be no easy and cost effective answer.
It was proposed by Cllr. Lord that funds should be made available to the primary and secondary schools, this was seconded by Cllr. Batt.
It was then proposed by Cllr Toyn that £2000 should be available for provision of this equipment,£1500 to the Secondary school and £500 to Gresham primary school.
This was seconded by Cllr. Lord and carried by five votes with two abstentions.
It was pointed out by the chairman that the Solar Fund is finite and projects already undertaken will need funds in the future.
The Head Teachers of both schools are to be contacted to decide the best way to achieve a satisfactory distribution.
7. Playing Field The clerk reported that a decision on renewing the lease and repair of the fence was still awaited from NNDC.
8. Grass Triangle West Beckham. It was decided to enquire if the “Give Way” sign could be
moved as the triangle was becoming crowded with signs.
9. Financial matters.
Bank Balances at 14/1/2021 were, Current a/c £13668.33 Savings (SCFC) a/c £17944.91
The following outstanding invoice were approved for payment:-
J. Stibbons Salary and Expenses £599.10
HMRC PAYE £122.80
S. Thurtle Grass cutting and maintenance £781
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 decided to review the budget at the March meeting
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 14th January 2021
