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Draft Minutes of East and West Beckham Parish Council
Meeting Held on Thursday 9th July 2026
Present. Cllrs. R. McNeil Wilson, (chairman), D. Barrass, R. Batt, J. Dovey. G. Place, T. Toyn,
J. Stibbons (clerk)
The chairman opened the meeting at 7.00pm.
1. Apologies for absence. Dist. Cllr. Callum Ringer
2. There were no declarations of interest
3. The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 14th May 2026. having been previously circulated, it was proposed by Cllr. Toyn that they be approved as correct. This was seconded by Cllr. Dovey and carried.
4. Matters arising from the Minutes.
The damaged seat has been removed from the Playing field and repaired. It is now placed near the notice board on the Sheringham. The committee thanked Geoff Place and Stuart Thurtle for carrying out the repairs and re-siting.
The Felbeck Trust have taken one and a half plots on the allotments for a tree nursery. It was agreed to grant a five year tenancy to allow fencing to be put in place to protect the young trees from vermin.
5. There were no comment or questions on the agenda from members of the pubic.
6. Reports from Councillors
Written reports from Councillor Ringer for June and July have been sent to members.
There is an invitation from the Felbeck Trust to an Annual Review to be held at the Old Allotments, West Beckham on Wednesday 22nd July at 2pm. Any council member is welcome to attend on what should be a very interesting afternoon.
7. Grant Applications Update, It was noted that the District Councillor has funds available, up to £4000 for projects within his Ward. As this fund was for the whole Ward it may be thinly spread. It was suggested that one piece of play equipment could be costed and part of the cost could come from these funds.
The Grants Committee will review what has been learned from the Grantscape application so far and discuss ways to make an amended application more attractive for submission in November.
Also, grants from the Lottery and other charitable funding groups will be examined.
8. Planning. There were no Planning applications to be considered at this meeting.
9. Playing Field. The report showed several remedial tasks were needed. The Kick Board needs replacing, the base of the Rocker van is rusty and needs attention.
It was agreed to find someone who could carry out these improvements. A member of the council could accompany them to point out the necessary projects. Treatment of rusted areas could be coated with black Hammerite.
A secondary support on the swings was required to prevent collapse in the event of supporting component failure
Cllr. Batt had someone in mind who may be able to carry out the work. Further enquiries will be made.
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10. Notice Boards. As there are now two new notice boards are they to be used solely for parish council notices or are more “commercial” adverts for local businesses to be allowed.
The notice boards are locked and key holders are, G. Place, D. Barrass, J.McNeil Wilson and the clerk.
It was agreed that an information notice should be placed in each board asking anyone who wishes to advertise a parish event should email the council beckhampc734@gmail.com
11. Risk Assessment. The Parish Council risk assessment was due for review and update. Copies had been sent to all members. It was agreed that the points covered were still relevant and the current risk assessment was approved for a further two years.
12. Financial matters.
Bank Balances at 9/7/2026.
Current a/c £3575.07 Savings a/c £538.20 Invest a/c £45036.07 (+£360.28 interest)
The following outstanding invoice were approved for payment:-
Village Hall Hire (Jan26) £18
Playsafety Inspection £99.60
J. Stibbons Salary May – July £818.39
HMRC PAYE £166.14
NALC £86.88
Payment by Bank Transfer is almost complete. We are waiting for a second payment card to be sent from the bank. This should be completed in the next week.
13. Investment returns. Insignia is a Funding Platform where funds are deposited. Checks which have been made appear to show that Insignia is safe and is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
.Cost of a professional for the set-up would be £500 to £1000. Further discussion would be needed to see if the Parish Council was a suitable applicant.
Funds would be spread between Banks, Building Societies and other less known investors. The planning of the investments is to be decided by the depositor. The Parish Council would chose safe High Street Banks and Building Societies.
Possible earnings are up to 4%. The deposits can be split between providers with either instant access or a 30 day agreement.
Further investigation will be carried out and the way forward will be discussed at the next meeting. There must be unanimous approval before any final decision is taken.
14 Parish Council laptop. Some of the keys on the Parish Council laptop do not work and repair costs will be high. A re-furbished Dell laptop is available from Valucomputers of Aylsham at a cost of £249.98 including VAT. Which is recoverable.
This purchase was approved by the meeting with the suggestion that Norton anti-virus should also be included at £19.50 per year.
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15. Matters for information only or the next agenda.
The notice boards are included in the Insurance.
A question was raised concerning the parking on Sheringham Road by dog walkers using the Sheringham Park, thus avoiding the £8 car parking fee.
The problem was not serious at present but the situation will be monitored.
Suggestions for the Bulletin:-
An update on the grant situation.
New notice boards are now in place. If anyone has a notice relevant to the parish that they wish to place they should email the clerk.
It was agreed that the date for the next meeting of Beckham parish council should be moved to Thursday 17th September 2026
There being no further business the chairman closed the meeting at 8.14 pm