Buxton with Lamas

DRAFT MINUTES

THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING WAS HELD IN BUXTON VILLAGE HALL
on MONDAY 18th APRIL 2005

PRESENT

COUNCILLORS: Mrs R. Roth (Chairman)
Mr G. Forster Mr G. Halliwell Mrs Y. Powell
Mrs B. Rix Mr N. Rudrum Mr C. Tomlinson
Mrs M. Wickham
District Councillor I. Evans
CLERK: Mrs R. Rose
Four members of the public.

1. APOLOGIES were received from Mr D. Folland, Mr E. Nichols. Mrs P. Goodman and County Councillor D. Turnbull.

2. The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, and introduced Janet Peachey, Field Officer with Norfolk Rural community Council, and gave her the floor.

Ms Peachey thanked the Parish Council for the opportunity to attend, and explained that Norfolk RCC was a charitable organisation, funded through central government, the County Council, District and Parish Councils. She had wanted to come and talk to Broadland Parishes about opportunities for funding projects in rural areas.

The NRCC administered some funds directly:

1) The Rural Projects Fund: Up to 50% of project funding was available, to a limit of £1.500. This was for a wide range of small projects, e.g. noticeboards, sears, play equipment, etc. Funds were available through to April 2006.

2) Sport Relief (through Comic Relief): funds available to any sporting group to encourage new members; the emphasis was on helping children who were disadvantaged, and would otherwise not have access to sporting opportunities.

3) Local Network Fund: For children and young people from 0-19 years, who otherwise had a lack of access to services; e.g. a bus to access services available in other areas.

4) The RCC also administered Village Hall grants through the County Council scheme.

The RCC also encouraged Parish Councils to engage in Parish Action plans. This involved setting up a Steering Group to formulate a questionnaire to gauge community opinion on a variety of issues, and was intended to produce an Action Plan for the following 5/10 years. to improve services where appropriate. County and District Councils, particularly the latter, were now bound to take account of community opinion in their formulation of Local development frameworks. Ms Peachey outlined the processes involved in achieving a Parish Action Plan.

Questions from the Council and public:
Vice-Chairman: What were the thresholds for the Sport relief programme, and the turnaround time?
JP: £250 - £5,000, and around 8 weeks, depending on when the panel met. There was a rolling programme of grant funding at he NRCC.

Mrs Rix: What were the criteria for giving grants to disadvantaged children; would the funding be available for individuals?
JP: Funding was usually for equipment for groups. If a severe need could be proved for individual children, the Local Network Fund might be able to assist.

Chairman: what was the appropriate fund for Village Hall projects?
JP: the Rural Projects Fund, offering up to 50%, to a limit of £1,500. Disabled toilet facilities could now be considered for this grant.

Mr Tomlinson: If Parish Plans took about 1 year to complete, how long would the Plan last?
JP: The plan could include short-, mid- and long-term goals, and it would be a good idea to refresh the Plan after about 5 or 10 years.

District Councillor Evans: what was the success rate for applications?
JP: The total funding available for community projects was £30,000, with £20,000 for assisting the over-60s. Most applications were successful, and she was available to assist with applications.

Vice-Chairman: Was there any follow-up to gauge the success of the funding.
JP: Not any ongoing monitoring, but occasionally the NRCC might seek evidence that the funding had been used for the intended purpose.

There being no further questions, Ms Peachey reiterated that she would like to see more projects established in the Broadland area. She was thanked for attending, and she left the meeting.

3. THE MINUTES of the last Parish Meeting held on 19 April 2004 had been distributed. Proposed by Mrs Powell, seconded by Mr Rudrum, these were agreed and signed by the Chairman as a true record.

4. MATTERS ARISING

Congratulations were offered to the Village Hall Management Committee on achieving the improvements to Buxton Village Hall.
The Vice-Chairman asked if there was any progress on the traffic issues; the Clerk responded that a report would be made to the next Parish Council meeting.

5. CHAIRMAN'S ANNUAL REPORT

The Chairman's report had been circulated, and a copy is attached to the signed copy of these minutes. She reiterated her thanks to District Councillor Evans, County Councillor Turnbull, the Councillors and Clerk.
She added that a report had appeared in that day's edition of the Eastern Daily Press indicating that Buxton had been chosen as a finalist in the EDP Pride in Our Village competition in the 900+ population category. Judging would take place in early June.

6. ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 2004/05

Copies of the Annual Accounts were distributed and questions answered. Total income for the year (including monies received for delegated functions) was £25,650.63, and total expenditure (including delegated functions) was £21,486.05. The balance held at the end of the financial year was £17,824.11.
The precept for 2005-06 had been set at £21,000.
Proposed by Mrs Rix, seconded by Mrs Wickham and AGREED, the Annual Accounts were adopted subject to audit.

7. OPEN FORUM

The Clerk would pursue the complete removal of the lighting column in Mill Street to ground level.
On a question from Mr Claridge, it was reported that further highways works for traffic calming in Lamas were anticipated, and the Council was pursuing the most appropriate place for a flashing speed sign.
The Clerk would pursue repair of potholes on the B1354 road to Aylsham, and would again ask the Police to investigate parking too close to the junction at Brook Street/ Bulwer Road.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 8.20 pm.