SURLINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the virtual meeting held on Tuesday 15 December 2020 at 7:30p.m

Attending: Councillors John Broom, Richard Atkins, Pat Scowen, Will Mack, Craig Neave, Dave Swinborne, Clerk Janet Rogers.

1. The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked if councillors would agree to a joint post between the Parish Council and Surlingham Volunteers on the village website to remind residents to be mindful of anyone they know who will be spending Christmas alone. Perhaps a telephone call or a socially distant chat on the doorstep. – Agreed
2. Apologies and approval of absences – Councillors Reeve and Thomson
3. Declarations of Interest – none
4. To approve as accurate the minutes of the meeting on 17 November 2020 – Agreed
5. Matters arising from those minutes Councillor Scowen asked if receipt of the letter to NCC regarding speeding had been acknowledged – Clerk confirmed it had and a response was expected in the new year. Chair confirmed Mr & Mrs Rix would like to retain the old parish mower.
6. Progress reports Councillors/Clerk – Email was sent to Mr Jarrett regarding refurbishing the village signs – He will respond in the new year. VAT refund £358 has now been received. Parish Hall – Flameskill will complete the fire extinguisher check on 21 December 2020. Planning application 2020/2354 Autumn Cottage received too late for the agenda, councillors asked to consider and respond via email to the clerk by 21 December 2020.
7. To receive reports from the County and District Councillor – To follow
8. Public Question Time not exceeding 15 minutes – No members of the public present
9. Planning – 2020/2227: 45 The Street Surlingham NR14 7AJ 
   Enclosure of existing front porch, side extension over garage, including front dormer and two storey rear extension. – Councillors agreed a neutral response with additional comments: The parish council is happy with the appearance of the proposed extension but did have a concern about the possible impact of such a large extension on the neighbour’s light. We trust the planning department will take this into consideration.
10. Speed activated Machine data – The Street – Councillors felt the results indicated most motorists were keeping within the speed limit. The SAMs will shortly be monitoring traffic travelling along the Street towards the Covey.
11. Finance – a) Authorise Precept Application. The increase of 8% was agreed in November, at this meeting councillor were asked to authorise the signing of the application for £8250p.a. – Authorised. b) Authorise Payments, R Hardingham £105, J Rogers £334.80, Household expenses £15.15 Travel £11.70, PAYE £309.60, Play Park Sign £12.00. – Authorised
12. Flooding – Councillor Atkins asked if the Council had signed up to flood alerts from the Environment Agency (EA) – No – Clerk will address this. As soon as a contact for the EA is established a request will be made for details of the Flood Alleviation Plan for Surlingham and copies of the letter requesting this information will be sent to all other relevant agencies for information. Councillor Atkins asked if there was a date for the meeting in January arranged by Coldham Hall – Clerk to email Mr Linder. (Mr Linder confirmed no date yet he will advise the PC when a date is agreed).
13. Footpath1 – Councillor Atkins reported that funding from CIL to repair the footpath had been denied on the grounds that it would be enhancing private land. This is a set-back but not the end of the matter. The Broads Authority (BA) are querying why the CIL administrators have changed their criteria, when they have allowed funding for similar projects in the past. The BA are looking at other funding streams for repairs to other parts of the Wherryman’s Way too. One aspect that would improve the chances of attracting funding for footpath1 would be to firm up the status of the path. Given how the footpath benefits the community one possibility would be an agreement between the landowner and NCC, with NCC adopting the path as a public right of way and taking responsibility for ongoing maintenance. On behalf of all councillors the Chairman thanked Councillor Atkins for his work regarding the footpath. Councillor Atkins also mentioned that the footpath around the RSPB site at the church end of the path has eroded considerably and asked for a contact for the RSPB. He will draft an email for the Clerk to send. He also asked if the Council was affiliated to the Ramblers Association – Clerk to follow this up
14. Play Park following H&S report – Councillors have now completed most of the work to address the issues raised in the report. Councillor Neave will carry out more repairs when he receives the materials; other minor issues can be dealt with in the spring.
15. Village Fete – Carried forward to January as Councillor Reeve was not present
16. Correspondence: Number of emails responded to 88 of those 51 circulated to councillors to 8 December 2020. An email had been circulated from a resident in support of the no cycling sign and a request for a further sign between Surlingham and Bramerton. This resident also referred to a ‘near miss’ witnessed on the footpath between and cyclist and a toddler – Councillors agreed to retain the email on file for reference in the future.
17. To note items for inclusion on the next council agenda: Cyclists’ use of Footpath 4; response from NCC re speeding; working party for the staithe and Village Fete. Clerk reminded councillors the Trustees of the Surlingham Charities complete their 3 year term of office on 31 March 2021. The application process should begin early in the New Year. The Chairman agreed Councillor Scowen and the Clerk should draft letter of thanks to the current Trustees and circulate to councillors to approve before for sending to the Trustees in January 2021. The positions can be advertised in February with the applicants considered at a closed meeting before the parish meeting on 16^th March 2021 when the successful applicants can be announced.
18. The date of the next meeting is on 19 January 2021 at 7:30p.m. The meeting closed at 09:15 p.m.