Draft minutes of the meeting of Boughton Parish Council held on Wednesday 17^th November 2010 in Boughton Church.

Present: Councillors F. Reid ( chair), M. Pogmore, G. Proctor, P. Coulten, D. Cooper, P. Wakeling

Also present: Rev. Barbara Burton ( priest-in-charge), Sgt Marcus Rowe and PCSO Michael Scales and 17 parishioners.

Apologies were received from Councillor P. Agate.
The minutes of the meeting on August 4^th 2010 were agreed and signed by the chairman.
Matters arising: the clerk had written to Victim Support as requested and also received the necessary information from the insurers re operations on the Fen.
Chairman’s Report

Former Parish Land. Off Crab Lane.

Following a suggestion from a Parishioner at a Parish Council meeting the Parish Council started to collect a very modest annual rent from the farmers that were cultivating two parcels of land, one off Crab Lane, the other off Oxborough Road, identified on a tithe map and which in the past had clearly belonged to the Parish of Boughton.

Both farmers commenced paying rent, but the Landlord of one objected to the payment being made, claiming the Parish Council had not consulted the “owner”, and stated that the Parish Council would be receiving a solicitor’s letter.

Subsequent Sequence of events.

1. Parish Council applied to formally register both parcels of land. The Land Registry would not support this application, as they mistakenly believed that we were applying for adverse possession. They asserted that these parcels originally allocated to the Surveyors would have passed first to the Rural District Council, then finally to the County Council as responsible for Highways. We could not refute this immediately, and our applications were cancelled.

2. The owners of the surrounding farm off Crab Lane then applied to register this land in their name.

3. The Parish Council objected believing that the Parish owned the land.

4. Parish Council then received notification from the farm owner’s solicitor that this matter will be taken further.

5. Council informed that the issue will be submitted for adjudication hearing.

6. Parish Clerk continued trying to establish proof of transfer from surveyor of

Highways to County Council.

7 During this period Council did seek to negotiate through mediation, this offer

was not taken up.

The matter went before an Adjudicator in Jan. 2010.
The Parish Council lost this adjudication decision and the parcel ownership passed to the applicant in March 2010.
After a very long period of consideration by the Adjudicator some costs were awarded to the Applicant. These have been dealt with privately, and have had no effect on Parish Council funds or annual precept.
In conclusion, we feel as a Council that we acted with proper and honest intent throughout this issue. However we do realise in retrospect that we could have acted differently. We were poorly guided and naive. However some years ago when a piece of Parish land down at the Fen was taken from us, the Parish Meeting Chairman at the time was accused of just rolling over, and we were very conscious of that when this issue began. Parish Council has a clear duty to do whatever it can to protect the assets of the Parish.

We do however now wish to close this issue. We wish to draw a line under it, move on and put the whole matter behind us.

War Memorial

The inscription has now been reinstated. It has been set on a granite inlay and should last a very long time. The memorial was rededicated by Rev. Burton during the remembrance service.

A letter of gratitude has been sent to Bill Miller on behalf of all villagers.

The Inscription wordings are now recorded in Council records.

Boughton Challenge.

The challenge for 2011 will be the bucket challenge : We provide you with a bucket and you grow something in it. We hope that the buckets will be on display for all in the village to enjoy throughout the summer. We have issued a challenge to Barton Bendish to grow better buckets than Boughton. We are very pleased to report that this challenge has been accepted.

Judging will be early to mid August depending on how the season goes.

Pantomime. 2011.

The Pantomime in the New Year will be Aladdin. By request we are giving two performances in Beachamwell . Totalling six performances over the first three weekends of February. Further information will be in G4 news and the usual posters will be on display.

As in previous years the profit will be equally devided among the four villages. Boughton, Barton Bendish, Wereham and Beachamwell.

Boughton’s share this year will be donated to Boughton Cricket Club.

Ash Tree. Playground.

We have now received permission from Borough Tree officer to cut back the overhanging branches. The work will be organised in the near future.

Councillors’ reports:

Roads ( David Cooper) There are ongoing problems with the junction of Wretton Road and Mill Hill Road and with Wretton Road itself. Gibbet Lane is suffering damage from the increase in beet lorry traffic and is beginning to break up. Officers from the Highways Dept. have been asked for an inspection. Geoff Proctor had cleaned part of Mill Hill Road after excess mud had been deposited by beet tractors and Paul Osler had contacted the council re the state of the footpath after the same incident. A meeting has been arranged with Council officers. Our new contact at County Highways is

Jon Barnard as Martin Edmonds had been redeployed to another area. A

meeting has been arranged for 24^th November regarding the potholes in

village roads and it is also hoped to seek his guidance regarding access to

the cricket ground.

Dykes and Ditches ( Geoff Proctor) All ditches seem clear at the moment. Opposite the cricket field a ditch has been cleared and at Bell Corner the owner has cleared the ditch in front of his house. However the recurring problem of the ditch which runs along the edge of the churchyard is still unsolved. Visitors to the church have commented on the unpleasant smell which emanates from it. Councillors have twice cleaned the ditch and would welcome suggestions from parishioners as to what can be done to solve the problem. There will be a village Christmas tree again. It will come from the Sandringham estate and will be collected in early December.
Signs and Speedwatch ( Peter Agate)

· Signs: Nothing to report this month for signs. However one matter slightly related are the ‘slow’ signs in the road on the approaches to The Green. These are now very faded and were not repainted when other road markings were repainted earlier in the year. Bearing in mind the number of times cars have been witnessed travelling fast along the road by the pond Councillor Agate asked that Highways be contacted to have these reinstated as soon as possible.

Speedwatch: - following the successful introduction of Speedwatch at the behest of parishioners, the Speedwatch team received complaints from some parishioners who were recorded as speeding. In order to gauge ongoing support for the initiative a village wide survey was carried out in September and some 98 homes canvassed. Just 17 returned the survey, a very poor response. Of those returned the majority (14) considered that there is a speeding problem but only six were prepared to be part of a Speedwatch team. In light of this lack of support in the village the Parish Council does not feel it appropriate to continue this initiative and the Chairman is asked for a formal vote to discontinue it. ( This was tabled and the motion was passed unanimously.) Police: PCSO Michael Scales reported that the police had received only five calls from Boughton in the last five months. Crime was low, but Marcus Rowe reminded people to be vigilant as the level of crime in rural areas was high. Excessive mud on the road would warrant a call to the police using the non-emergency number. There was some concern from a member of the public regarding plastic tape found stretched across the highway causing a danger to road users. A parishioner had removed the tape.

5.Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer outlined the procedure for grants to rural communities from WREN. The Chairman proposed that the Parish Council should be the third party sponsor in the application for a grant of £30000 from WREN towards the BCCDC project. This meant a commitment of £3000 from Parish Council if the application were to be successful, with a commitment from the PCC to reimburse Parish Council with £1500 from 2011 fundraising projects. There was a view that a joint application from PCC and PC might be more favourably looked upon. Written agreement from the PCC would be obtained at their next meeting, but verbal agreement has been given. The Parish Council unanimously ratified the proposal.

7. Correspondence:

· Requests from Norfolk Accident Service and Vitalize for donations. It was agreed to send £10 to each.

· Councillor Nick Daubney from BCWNKL re the possible closure of RAF Marham.

· Census 2011

· planning applications can now be made by email

· ‘Norfolk Matters’ to be discontinued but would be available electronically

· From NCC re the proposed incinerator at Saddlebow

· Local development changes: Boughton classified as a hamlet, designated

not suitable for development . Planning applications would only be looked on favourably if an identified need can be established

· Elizabeth Truss MP has made contact.

· Parish councils now to pay cost of elections, (app. £600) reduced if sharing facilities. Such as a Polling Station.

· West Norfolk Older Persons Forum to meet in KL

8. Planning: pruning of tree between playground and Mrs Savage’s house approved. Lazy Acres application had been approved. The application for demolition and rebuilding at The Bungalow, Mill Hill Road had met with opposition from the immediate neighbour and the council also expressed concern over the proposed siting of a garage close to the common boundary. Having seen the plans, the council could not support the proximity of the Garage. But does not object to the application in general.

9. The date of the next meeting was fixed for Friday 14^th January at 7 pm. The annual precept would be fixed at this meeting and the Treasurer was asked to split the proposed budget into discretionary and non-discretionary items.

10. The meeting closed at 8 pm

11. Questions from the floor: dog fouling was a concern, particularly in Wretton Road, and the council agreed to erect ‘No fouling ‘ signs.