Draft minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Boughton Parish Council held on 14th May 2007 in the church (amended)

 

Present:

Chair: Frank Reid

Councillors: Paul Coulten (Parish Clerk and Treasurer), Peter Agate, Mark Pogmore, Geoff Proctor, Steve Saunders and Pam Wakeling  being the newly elected council for the next four years.

 

Sixteen members of the public were also present.

 

1.     Election of Officers:

Chairman: Frank Reid proposed by P. Agate, seconded M. Pogmore.  No other nominations were received, and F. Reid was duly elected. 

Vice Chairman: Mark Pogmore proposed by Frank Reid, seconded Peter Agate.  Carried.

Treasurer/ Parish Clerk: Paul Coulten agreed to carry on both jobs, tribute having been paid to his work over the initial four years of the Council’s existence.  Proposed Mark Pogmore, seconded Geoff Proctor.  Carried.

Frank Reid paid tribute to the work done by the retiring chairman, Steve Saunders, both in the four years of the existing council, and as Village Chairman for three years previously.

2.     Apologies:

Apologies for absence were received from Sue Pogmore.

3.     2006 AGM:
Minutes of the AGM of 2006 were read and agreed as a true record.  Proposed P. Wakeling, seconded S. Saunders.

4.     Matters arising:

a.       Register of parish land. Kevin Fisher had investigated at the Norfolk Records Office, and it was generally agreed that the chalk pit was on Tam Payne’s land off  Oxborough Road, and the gravel pit was on land just past Netherhall belonging to Ralph Proctor, and farmed by Geoff Proctor.  Both farmers had been asked to pay £50 p.a. as rent.  At this point a member of the village challenged the arrangement. A letter sent to the Council had not been received by the Clerk, and it was agreed to discuss the matter at a later date.

5.       Meeting of 23rd April 2007:
Minutes of the Meeting of the last Council on 23rd April 2007 were read and agreed: proposed P. Coulten, seconded S. Saunders.

6.     Matters arising :

a.       Stoke Road – a meeting had taken place with Ian Boon of Anglian Water  ( Councillors Reid and Coulten, together with Andrew Faherty and Jackie Ovel ??) to discuss the fear that the discharge of water was linked to a perceived drop in the level of the pond. Evaporation records for the past 2/3 years showed an evaporation rate of 16 mm per week.  Clay stanks had been put in to prevent water seepage along the drainage pipes, and for the moment we had to accept this as adequate.  Andrew Faherty has installed a measuring device in the pond and the level appears stable.  No real answer to the problem of water seeping in Stoke Road, but Councillor Agate suspects that it is a problem with a suspect interface where drainage was installed.  The council will continue to monitor the situation and seek a solution.

b.       Boughton Fen – the poplars were now down, and wood was available.  It was reported that the centres of the felled trees showed signs of rot having already started.  Ian Levitt had been informed re the felling of the trees, and a date pencilled in for the week beginning 22nd October for him to come down and mark areas where a village working party could clear. He had suggested that a chipper by the roadside was the best way to dispose of waste.

7.       Old Parish records:
These have been taken to Norfolk Records Office by Paul Coulten together with a copy of the CD produced by Kevin Fisher and Peter Agate.  So far about £180 had been raised by the sale of CDs within the village.

8.       Retiring Chairman’s Report:
Steve Saunders reminded those present that he had originally been deputy chairman of the village under Andy Beeston in 2000, taking over in July of that year.  Since then he had served as chairman of the Parish Meeting and later as Chairman of the first Parish Council.  During that time he was proud of the following achievements:  the replacement of the old village sign with a unique wooden one carved by Denzil Davies; a home watch scheme; the refurbishment of the village war memorial; the establishment of the new play area for village children after a fundraising campaign together with Karen Short; the introduction of a 30mph speed limit throughout the village; the establishment of Boughton’s first elected Parish Council; defeating plans to merge the village with Barton Bendish and Wereham under one council; the establishment of a good working relationship with the Highways Dept and the erection of signs warning of the ducks around the village roads; work to improve the SSSI on Boughton Fen, and a new drainage system for the pond; the decision to take over responsibility for the cutting of the churchyard grass; Jubilee celebrations which included the distribution of commemorative mugs to all village children under 16. He thanked the village for their support during his tenure of office.

9.       Treasurer’s Report:
The precept had been increased for the current year.  Responsibility had been accepted for the churchyard mowing.  The current account now stood at £1669.57, and the reserve account held £1677,15.  In addition to this, Steve Saunders reported that the play area account held £1240.91 (plus interest to be calculated) and this would be sufficient to pay for insurance on the area for at least five years on current figures.  The report was adopted prop S. Saunders, seconded P. Wakeling The treasurer deferred the presentation of a full statement until the next meeting.  This was agreed.

10.    Planning:
The Green – reverting to original plans and applying for full planning permission ( already have outline permission)
The Cottage – three applications (porch on front, garden room at back, double garage/garden room at side)  The council had no observations on either application.

11.     Pride in Norfolk Awards:
Kevin Fisher had received notice from the EDP that Boughton had reached the final five in the category for population under 500.  A team from the organisers would visit the village before the end of June for informal assessment – hoping to meet councillors, clergy, etc.  Thanks were given to KF for his efforts in this matter.

12.    Bank Signatures:
Paul Coulten and Steve Saunders are the current signatories for the bank accounts, and it was agreed to add Frank Reid, making any two of the three sufficient to sign council cheques on behalf of the village.

13.    Jazz picnic:
Paul Coulten asked for help in arranging this, and received offers from Pauline Lee-Evans, Geoff Proctor, Peter Agate and Frank Reid.

14. Questions from the floor:

 

§         tree felling – the original plan had been to sell the wood, but this had not proved feasible.  It was available to anyone in the village with the facilities to remove it.  Rot had been noted in the felled trunks.  The present untidy appearance of the site would improve

§         Hog Roast -14th July.  Permission was granted for an application to close part of The Green on that date

§         Smell from ditch outside church; comments had been made by visitors during the recent flower festival and there had been a problem for some time.  Barley House also affected.  Agreed to monitor the situation for 3-6 months as the recent change to mains sewerage would take some time to have an effect.  If not resolved, the Environment Agency would be contacted.

§         Tom Roberts had been asked to raise the question of a tree causing problems behind Jay’s Cottage and its neighbour.  The council has no powers in this matter, and it should be referred to the District Council by the complainant.

§         Barking dogs – the council has no powers.

 

The meeting closed at 6.45pm.  Frank Reid asked for future meetings to be held at a later time, and 6.30pm was agreed.  There should be four meetings a year as a minimum.  Frank Reid also thanked the members of the village who had attended.

 

The following addendum was added at a subsequent meeting to clarify the position.

Parish Common Land – The locations of the The’Old Gravel Pit’ and ‘Gravel Pit’ have been confirmed from information contained in the 1842 Tithe Map and Apportionment for Boughton, held at the Norfolk Records Office.  The’Old Gravel Pit’ was on Mr Payne’s land, off Oxborough Road, and the ‘Gravel Pit’ on land belonging to Mr Proctor, to the north of Netherhall.  Both Tam Payne and Geoff Proctor have kindly offered to pay £50 per annum’ rent’ to the Parish.  At this point a member of the village challenged this arrangement.  A letter sent to the Council had not been received by the Clerk, and it was agreed to discuss the matter at a later date.

 

Post Meeting Note: These parcels of land have not been registered under the Commons Registration Act 1965 and it is thought highly unlikely that any common rights previously enjoyed would continue to exist.  However, the Parish Council are grateful to both Tam and Geoff for their generous contribution in recognition of the historical context of the gravel pits