Draft minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Boughton Parish Council, held on Friday May 7th 2010 in All Saints’ Church
Present: Councillors Reid, Wakeling, Pogmore, Cooper, Coulten, Proctor. Apologies received from Councillor Agate who was detained.
Also present:
Sue Pogmore
Tony Golds
Mike Holland
Fred Watkinson
Pam Watkinson
Angela Faherty
Andrew Faherty
Janet Savage
John Savage
Barry Ovel
Jackie Baldwin
Ann Proctor
Tim Madgwick
Lynne Agate
Kevin Fisher
Debra Fisher
Pat Bliss
Peter Youel
1. Paul Coulten took the chair. P. Wakeling proposed and M. Pogmore seconded that Frank Reid be elected Chairman. Agreed unanimous. Frank Reid accepted and took the chair.
2. Proposed Frank Reid, seconded M. Pogmore that P. Wakeling be elected vice-chairman. Agreed, unanimous. P. Wakeling accepted.
3. Minutes of the last AGM had been circulated. Proposed P. Coulten and seconded D. Cooper that they be accepted. Agreed and signed by the chairman.
4.There were no matters arising.
5. The annual accounts had been circulated ( on file). F. Reid proposed their adoption, including the Fen account, and this was agreed.
6. F. Reid proposed that the Fen Committee be appointed as previously. This was agreed by all councillors.
7. Pond Risk Assessment Review: The risk assessment had been completed by K. Fisher and published on the village web site. The council had agreed to transplant suitable flora to the northwest area of the pond, as this area allows unhampered access to the water, this is being actioned over a period of time.
There being no further business, the AGM was closed.
Draft minutes of the meeting of Boughton Parish Council held on Friday May 7th 2010 in All Saints’ Church
This meeting followed on from the AGM – see list of people present.
Chair: Frank Reid
Present: Councillors Wakeling, Pogmore, Cooper, Proctor, Coulten. Councillor Agate had been unavoidably delayed and arrived during the Chairman’s report.
4. Retiring Chairman’s Report. 2009.
In reviewing the 2009
Council year it is pleasing to report that we continue to be an active Council,
and can note a number of successes.
Pride in
In our third year of
entering this competition we won the category for villages less than 500
population. In addition we came joint first in the WI
Forward to the Future section. This brought a total of £500 into our Parish
Funds. A number of our young citizens formed a committee and provided us with a
list of ideas on how they would like us to spend the FF prize money. In
addition the Boughton Village Caravan has generously agreed to donate any costs
in excess of the £100 FF award. A bird box with a web.
Camera has been installed. The box was sited with advice from Alan Hale and is
patiently waiting for a resident. We must thank Andrew Faherty for such a
beautifully constructed Bird Box. It has in fact been awarded five star
accommodation status. The BVC has sponsored the new
brass plaques commemorating our achievements and these have been installed
above the Village notice board.
Congratulations and thanks to all involved in our success with Pride in
Community Speed Watch.
Following expressions of concern from a number of Parishioners with regard to speeding through our village. We have taken a number of actions. Police speed traps and the mobile SAM. Electronic speed indication unit have both been set up in the village. These actions were limited in providing a sustainable change in driver behaviour. We now have an active community speed watch team monitoring vehicle speeds during various times of a day for one hour per week. We hope this will result in an improvement. My thanks to Peter Agate for his work in setting up this initiative.
Fund Raising.
The Jazz Picnic, Pantomime
and Sunflower Challenge raised £1,700, well done to all involved. It is worthy
of note that the amount of money raised is almost twice our precept.
Litter.
Our group of litter heroes have been active again this year. A number of litter picking walks have been arranged, mainly at the Fen and down Stoke Rd. Fly tipping incidents still plague our countryside. However a good relationship has been established with the Borough Clean-up team, and they provide a very rapid response to reports of incidents.
War memorial.
Thanks to the generosity of Mr.B.Miller our war memorial was given a professional clean in the summer. The flagstones around the base were also re-pointed. Bill is trying hard to establish the one word that we cannot decipher on the inscription. He has written to Norfolk Chief of Police requesting forensic help. The Police have agreed to this but are not able to indicate a time at this stage.
Cricket Club.
Alan & Rosemary Wilkinson kindly offered to lease a parcel of land to the village to be used as a cricket pitch. Following discussions involving Andrew Faherty, Alan, Rosemary and I, we have established a Cricket Club, appointed officers, a management committee and have developed a written constitution. Colin Sampson our Borough Councillor is very supportive and has pointed us in the direction of officials that may assist with funding for such ventures. Our grounds men, Barry Ovel, David Cooper and Geoff proctor are working to improve the ground and bring it to the standards required. There is much to do at this stage, but we have made a start. I hope that in the not too distant future we can all enjoy watching a cricket match on our own ground.
Association of Parish Councils.
This association provides worthwhile advice and support to
Parish Councils through
In closing this report I acknowledge the work and commitment of all councillors. Their work on behalf of our community is impressive, and the support they have afforded me throughout 2009 is very much appreciated.
Council agreed to proceed with application to join the Association of Parish Councils.
Fen Report; BOUGHTON FEN REPORT TO PARISH COUNCIL MEETING - 7TH MAY 2010
We have, in many ways , had an eventful year down on the fen.
Perhaps the most noticeable occurrence was our unplanned, high speed reed clearance project. I returned from holiday to be greeted by a garbled message from our Parish Chairman saying that they had burned the fen – about twenty acres of it!
Luckily no-one was hurt, and no noticeable damage has been done to anything but the reed, although I think Frank and Allan were shaken, not stirred.
We have had discussions with our experts at Natural England and Norfolk Wildlife Trust about the fire. For what appeared to us on that Sunday morning as a possible disaster, the feedback from these people, and other experts, is that this will not have harmed the fen, and will, in fact, improve the reed beds. A number of people have visited the site and are confident that we have caused no permanent damage. Indeed, the old method of reed clearance was burning. They have, however, suggested that we don’t make a habit of this.
Middle Fen is now greening up, and will, I think , look a picture in two or three months time. Perhaps we should rename it Phoenix Fen.
And now to the slightly less noticeable achievements.
A large amount of scrub clearance has been carried out during the year by our specialist contractor, Lee Roberts, and an area of reed was cut last autumn on Middle Fen. With the efforts of local folk, we were able to clear and dispose of about 60% of it. The remaining 40% of the reed has been cleared by the Community Payback Scheme – that is, people who have been given community service by the courts. This is the first time that we have tried working with this organisation, and are hoping to continue this in the future, as they always have people ‘doing their time’ and we have suitable work for them. Both parties felt this had been a successful venture, and the cost to Boughton is minimal – less than £30 per week for the hire of a toilet.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust has helped with some further scrub
clearance, to the value of £500 on Lower Fen, which is a County Wildlife Site,
and not part of the SSSI. We thank them
for their help. They would like to see
Lower Fen grazed, as
well as the proposed area on Highland
Fen, and will possibly assist us with this item. In fact, they have given us a great deal of
help with the technicalities of our fencing application, which is now being
revised to take in both
We have continued with working parties on Highland Fen to clear up debris and finish a walk through a wooded area. As well as the village regulars, we were assisted by the Wereham Wildlife Woodland Group, who are hoping to have their own woodland, but have no land at present but have lots of pent-up energy that they have used to help us.
Financially, we have used money available to us to carry out work on the fen, but have retained enough to launch into next year’s work.
It has been nice to see people sitting on the seat near
The effort to improve the fen has been constantly ongoing this year, and I believe that we are really beginning to see a difference. I am not going to attempt to thank people individually for their help, as so many people have been involved, in many different ways.
They have been people from Boughton, Wereham, agencies such as Norfolk Wildlife Trust and Natural England, and last but not least, the other members of the Boughton Fen Committee. Without all this willing assistance we would get nowhere, and I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has participated in some way.
Mark Pogmore 07.05.2010
Dykes and ditches
The dykes at the side of
Highways: A number of potholes have been repaired.
The improvement on
Signs and Speed watch: P. Agate apologised for lateness, due to the birth of a grandchild and traffic problems. Speedwatch is being carried out by a team of volunteers after training. The aim is to produce a change in motorists’ behaviour, not prosecution. Signs are placed at each end of the village when the team is in action. It was agreed by the council and by the members of the public present that the Speedwatch scheme should continue. Councillor Agate was thanked for his work in putting signs up in and around the village to publicise events.
5.Treasurer’s Report (file attached): The precept is set at £1300 but fundraising events still needed to ensure the needs of the village are met. The balance also includes money dedicated for maintenance of the play area. The fire on the fen did not result in any claims on the insurance, but the Council decided to inform the insurers of activities likely to be carried out on the fen.
The annual audit is now due and Tim Madgwick was proposed and accepted as auditor. The accounts were accepted.
6. Correspondence: The parish could put forward
someone as a representative to the
Request for donation to Tapping House – deferred
Letter from Mark Pogmore asking for formal approval for controlling vermin on the Fen ( mink). This was agreed and the Clerk would send a formal letter to Mark Pogmore.
7. Planning: No current applications.
8. Fishing: David Cooper expressed concern re fishing in the pond by non-residents. It was decided to seek advice re the powers of the PC in this matter and to monitor the situation.
9. Questions from the floor:
Ann Proctor complained that weedkiller had been spread on her garden and the verge in front of the bungalow. The council expressed regret at the vandalism, and suggested that this is a matter for the Police, and should be reported immediately.
Tony Golds asked if the highways department would also mend
the potholes in
Fred Watkinson asked for information re the adjudication over ownership of parish land. The adjudicator had ruled in favour of the applicant. Costs decision is still awaited and until then the effect on the parish budget could not be calculated. The Parish Clerk explained that the process was still ongoing and that costs would be involved, and that this would be dealt with in due course. A request for a parish meeting would be considered. The Council had acted to protect parish assets after taking legal advice.
Angela Faherty; the Homewatch bank account contains £18.01 and it was suggested that the account be closed as one of the signatories was now deceased, transferring the money to the parish account and reimbursing the Fahertys for the cost of a new Homewatch sign. This was agreed.
The date of the next meeting was fixed for Wednesday 4th August 2010 at 7pm in the church.
Post Meeting Note.
Councillors Reid and Pogmore visited the garden of the Parishioner that had complained about the weed killer incident. The councillors were invited into the garden to survey the damage. The Parishioner stated that this had been happening for three years now. Councillor Reid emphasised the importance of contacting the Police, and that he would guarantee Councils full support for the Parishioner should they report it to the Police. The Parishioner stated they did not wish to make a report. The verge along side the road normally cut by the Parishioners has not been cut for some time due to the affects of whatever had killed the grass. Councillor Reid offered to cut the verge when he was cutting the village green. This offer was declined.