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Draft Minutes of East and West Beckham Parish Council
Meeting Held on Thursday 8th May 2025
Present. Cllrs. R. McNeil Wilson, (chairman), R. Batt, J. Dovey, G. Place. T. Toyn
Mr.&Mrs.P. Spurgeon, (Village Hall Committee) Dist. Cllr. Callum Ringer. J. Stibbons (clerk)
The meeting opened at 7.10pm.
1. Apologies for absence. Cllr.D. Barrass, P.C. Hayton
2. Election of Chairman and Vice-chairman for the coming year.
It was proposed by Cllr. Batt that Cllr. McNeil Wilson should be asked to continue. This was seconded by Cllr. Dovey. There being no other nominations this proposal was approved.
It was proposed by Cllr. Toyn that Cllr. D. Barriss should continue as Vice-chairman. This was seconded by Cllr. Place and approved.
3. There were no Declarations of Interest.
4. The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 13th March 2025. having been previously circulated, it was proposed by Cllr.Toyn that they be approved as correct. This was seconded by Cllr. Place and carried.
5. Matters arising from the Minutes. Land registry. Enquiries were made to ascertain the cost of registering the Nature Area, the West Beckham Old Allotments, and the East Beckham common. The registration would need to be undertaken by a solicitor, could be involved, and costly.
It was decided not to progress registration at present.
The large pothole near the Village Green has been filled in.
6 There were no Comments and Questions on the agenda from members of the public and former committee members of the Solar Community Fund.
7. Reports District Councillor C. Ringer
A date is to be confirmed and invitations sent to Parish Councillors for the official opening of the Broadland Housing development.
See full report at the end of these minutes for complete report – including .
The Reorganisation of Local Government.
Funding to support North Norfolk businesses and communities.
Consultation on Dog control measures.
Norfolk Marathon and Little Lift run.
8 Horsey 3 Community Fund. A further meeting is to be held soon.
9. Planning. There was no planning applications received after the publication of the agenda.
10. Bulletin. There was a request from the editor of the Bodham monthly newsletter to amalgamate with Beckham in future issues. The cost would be £10 per month for seventy-five copies.
As the Beckham Bulletin was a popular publication it was decided to keep publication of the bulletin and join with Bodham for the newsletter.
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11. Playing Field Safety Inspection by Playsafety is scheduled for June.
The shed needs to be removed and will be investigated by the Chairman.
Cllr. Place was asked to purchase three combination locks for the new gates.
12. Allotments This is to be included in the July agenda
13. Notice Boards. To be discussed at the next meeting.
14. Financial matters.
Bank Balances at 8/5/2025: —
Current a/c £3633.17 Savings a/c £1793.27 Investment a/c £47557.93
The Certificate of Exemption from full audit, The Accounting Statement and The Annual Governance Statement were approved by the meeting and signed by the chairman and clerk.
Outstanding invoice to be approved and cheques signed.
J. Stibbons Salary and expenses £664.60
HMRC PAYE £140
15. Donations A donation of £100 to the Air Ambulance was approved.
16. Correspondence The following correspondence was sent to members by email: –
NNDC – Devolution information.
17. Matters for information only or for the next agenda.
The Chairman of the Bodham and Beckham village hall asked the meeting why a bicycle rack was
being installed in the village hall car park. This will further restricted parking places and the village hall
committee was not consulted. It was understood that the rack is being provided by the Affordable
Housing project on Sheringham Road, West Beckham. The rack is thought to be in place of a waste bin
store at the Sheringham Road site.
The councillors felt that if this was the case it was unfair on the future residents of the new
development. The clerk. was instructed to arrange a site meeting between the Parish Council, a
representative of Broadland Housing and a representative from the NNDC planning department.
There being no further business the chairman closed the meeting at 8.37pm
The next meeting of Beckham Parish Council will be held on Thursday 10th July 2025
Dist. Cllr. C. Ringer Councillor Report May 2025
Reorganisation of Local Government
There have been some important developments recently around the way local councils in Norfolk are set to change.
District Council Response: North Norfolk District Council has now voted to object to the government’s plans for Local Government Reorganisation. If the changes are forced through, our preferred option is for three new unitary councils in Norfolk to retain some local accountability. Norfolk County Council favour a single county authority.
It was slightly ridiculous that NNDC Conservative councillors abstained from this important vote.
From Three Tiers to… Three Tiers?
The current system of Parish/Town, District, and County Councils would be replaced by:
- Parish/Town Councils (unchanged),
- New Unitary Councils combining district and county responsibilities,
- A Combined County Authority with an elected Mayor for Norfolk and Suffolk.
Although this keeps the same number of layers, in reality it centralises power, making local decision-making more distant.
Cancelled Elections
Norfolk County Council elections, which were due to take place last week, were cancelled—requested by the Conservative-run County Council and approved by the Labour government. Liberal Democrats strongly opposed this move. It undermines democratic accountability at a time when major structural changes are underway.
North Norfolk District Council’s current term runs for another two years.
Parishes and the Future
Parish and Town Councils will remain, and some are already considering sharing clerks or collaborating to save costs and manage staffing challenges. This is something for parishes to explore locally.
What’s Next?
NNDC and Norfolk County Council are expected to cease to exist later this decade, replaced by the new unitary authorities. Boundaries are still under discussion, and draft 1/2/3 tier models still under discussion.
I remain concerned that these changes are being designed without enough understanding of rural communities. In particular there are concerns that there is no reference to tourism and coastal protection from government, both key issues here in North Norfolk. This issue won’t go away, and I’ll continue to update you.
New Funding Secured to Support North Norfolk Businesses and Communities
North Norfolk has been awarded an additional £842,354 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), to be used by March 2026. This follows the successful delivery of business and community support programmes funded through UKSPF and the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) between 2023 and 2025.
Achievements from Previous Funding Round (2023–2025):
- 1500 local businesses received direct support.
- £2.7 million in government funding was used.
- £5.5 million in total investment was generated through match funding.
- Projects supported jobs, skills training, climate resilience, and rural community development.
The delivery was led by the Council’s Economic Growth Team, who previously won awards for their pandemic-era business grant work. Their effective, partnership-led approach has been praised for more than doubling the original investment value and creating long-lasting benefits for residents.
Plans for the 2025/26 UKSPF programme will be released soon. Updates and case studies can be found on the Invest North Norfolk website, where parish councils and residents can also register for news on upcoming support initiatives.
Rural Services Network – Monthly grantfinder digest
The RSN publishes a monthly list of grants that are available to rural parishes and towns. Not all of these will be relevant but there are some that may well be to you or to village halls, playing fields and churches within your village, so do share. This link is for April, and the May list is due imminently: Rural Funding Digest – April 2025 – Rural Services Network https://rsnonline.org.uk/rural-funding-digest-April-2025
Public Space Protection Orders for dogs:
North Norfolk District Council is currently carrying out a public consultation about our dog control orders, which are currently in place across our non-coastal public areas. The Council is legally required to review our dog orders every three years. In 2022, the orders were reintroduced to restrict dogs from being present or to be on leads within certain public areas.
The orders below expire on 11 June 2025. The Council is considering extending them for a further three years. Under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act (2014), the Council must carry out a public consultation and consider the views of the public and other associated bodies before implementing its decision.
The consultation is open from Wednesday 30 April 2025 and closes on Tuesday 13 May 2025 at 11.59pm. Any comments after this time will not be considered.
You may respond to the consultation as an individual, public body, or organisation.
The consultation webpage with the link to the consultation web form is now live on the website here: Home | PSPOs on dog restrictions for non-coastal public areas. The webpage has also been added to the consultation page: Home | Council consultations
Norfolk Marathon & Little Lifts 10k run
At the start of April, I completed my first ever marathon — the Norfolk Marathon — in a time of 4 hours, 28 minutes and 9 seconds. It was a tough course (turns out Norfolk isn’t as flat as people say!), and by the end I could barely move. But I’m proud to have got round it, and even prouder to have raised £1,185 for Bodham Playing Field Charity. With Gift Aid, that total should be closer to £1,400 — a really welcome boost for the upkeep and improvement of this valued village space.
Then, 13 days later, I took part in the Little Lifts 10K run, which started and finished at Barningham Hall. It was a fantastic event — really well organised, with a great atmosphere — and it felt brilliant to support a locally organised run taking place entirely within the Gresham Ward. Huge credit to everyone involved in putting it together.
Thank you again to everyone who supported my fundraising efforts and cheered me on — whether from the roadside or from afar. It’s been (mostly) a pleasure to do something active that also benefits the community.
Litter Picking equipment:
Don’t forget, NNDC have signs, pickers, hoops, and sacks for community litter picks. These can be borrowed from NNDC by emailing clearing-house-norfolk.gov.uk – Please agree with them a location where you will leave any collected waste and SERCO will collect this.
