Balderton Parish Council
Minutes of the Council meeting held in the Balderton
Village Centre on Wednesday January 23rd 2008 at 6.30pm.
PRESENT Councillors Mrs Jarvis (Vice Chairman in the chair),
Allsopp, Fletcher, Hind, Mrs Hurst, Hurst, Mutter, Radley, Mrs Walker and White.
with Mr Ian Harrison from the District Council, County Councillors Mrs
Saddington and Walker, twenty four parishioners, a representative of the local
press, the Deputy Clerk and Clerk.
3042 Apologies
Apologies were accepted from Councillors Colman, Gosling, Gould, Mortimore,
Sheppard and Miss Watson.
3043 Declarations of Interest
No declarations of interest were made at the onset of the meeting. Cllr Mrs
Newstead later declared a personal interest to minute reference 3052 - Lowfield
Lane pavements.
The meeting was closed to meet with Mr Harrison, District Council Strategic
Director for Risk and Resilience, to discuss post flooding options. The
authority is trying to secure a co-ordinated initial local response to flooding
situations before other organisations and councils become involved with
emergency strategies. This will involve the distribution of locally held
sandbags, warning signs, etc. Cllr Allsopp undertook to be the contact for any
operation and Mr Harrison will liaise with him directly to discuss progressing
the initiative which it is hoped can be in place by summer of this year.
Mr Harrison was thanked for his information and attendance. He left the meeting
at approximately 6.55pm. Councillors Gibson and Mrs Newstead joined the meeting.
Parishioners present raised their objections to the naming of the Council as a
Town, claiming that they could see little benefit and stating it was against the
wishes of the majority. The meeting was re-opened at approximately 7.10pm. .
3044 Town Council Status
Lengthy discussion was given to the Council’s decision, taken in September 2007
to name the Council a Town Council. It had been agreed at the previous Council
meeting in accordance with Standing Order 26a that this issue be discussed again
within 6 months. Several petitions had been submitted to the Council which had
allowed the public the opportunity of stating their preference for town or
parish – 480 signatures voted for parish, no votes for town. After much debate
it was,
AGREED by a vote of 11 for and 1 against that a village paper referendum be held
to ask parishioners their preference. If an election is called in May 2008 (yet
to be confirmed), the referendum could be held at the same time.
The meeting was closed again to take further public comments. A parishioner
asked if a professional opinion had been sought regarding the need to employ a
third groundsman? Cllr White advised that no such expense had been incurred, the
number of staff had reduced from four to two in the past two years, and it is
anticipated that a third member of the team may be able to help more with
maintaining/staffing the Centre in the winter months when grass cutting work is
less busy.
Several parishioners left and the meeting re-opened at approximately 7.35pm.
3045 Minutes
The minutes of the Council meeting held on Wednesday December 19th 2007, having
been circulated previously were confirmed as a true record and signed.
3046 Clerk/Chairman’s Update
An update of ongoing matters from the minutes of the previous Council meeting
and subsequent committee meetings was circulated and noted. Updates circulated
prior to each committee meeting had been included with the minutes. The
following issues were discussed:-
a) Council
b) Amenities
1. Re Minute 1437 Cemetery Extension Members noted the requirement for deeper
test bore holes than originally anticipated to be dug on the land, which cannot
be dug by hand. A local contractor has been asked to dig the holes with a JCB –
these will then be photographed and filled in immediately.
2. Re Minute 1441 Press Reports Members expressed their appreciation to Cllr
White for the letter sent to the Newark Advertiser which had been published the
previous week.
c) Finance & General Purposes
1. Re Minute 3469 Turks Head A letter will be sent to the District Council
expressing concern about the potential loss of the car park and development of
the site.
2. Re Minute 3466 Project money Cllr Radley advised that he hopes to attend the
Student Council meeting at the Grove School on February 28th 2008.
3047 Committees
The minutes of the following committees were then confirmed as a true record and
signed:
Amenities
Finance and General Purposes
Village Centre Management
3048 Planning Applications
The following applications were considered and approved subject to any comments
detailed below:
1081 Business development (revised) Fernwood Business Park
0021 New dwelling 203 London Road
0023 Single storey extension 19 Kingsway
0036 Illuminated sign Subway, Lakeside Shop.Centre
3049 Financial Statements
The details as published and circulated were correct, there being a cheque
requirement of £3977.07 for December 2007.
3050 Reports from Representatives
1. County Councillor Mrs Saddington advised that problems had been encountered
recently
when the household waste recycling site and tip at Cotham had been closed for
four days.
2. County Councillor Walker reported that surveying/inspecting work would
shortly
commence on planned work on the route between Fernwood and the Turks Head on
London Road. He also advised that drains on Catkin Way and Christopher Crescent
had been cleared this week – they had been blocked by a football/leaves/fat, and
nappies
respectively. It would help the situation if people were more careful of what
they dispose of down toilets and sinks -the Newark Advertiser was asked to
publish this in the local paper.
3. Cllr Mrs Newstead reported from the Newark Citizens Advice Bureau that the
organisation had handled more than 1000 extra cases this last year. Alterations
and
improvements are being carried out to their building on Bargate, Newark.
3051 Clerk’s Additional Information
The following items of correspondence/information have been received:
1. A request that the dog waste bin on the public footpath between Pinfold Lane
and Church Lane be moved further towards the Pinfold Lane pavement. The
groundstaff will be asked to inspect the area to see if this feasible.
2. A further request for a ‘No Ball Games’ sign to be installed on the grassed
area at Broome Close. Members felt that this would not necessarily ease problems
being encountered with footballs in gardens, and the situation should be
monitored.
3. A letter asking the Council to allow a gate through from the Cemetery into
the back of
the Health Centre. This request has been made before and members considered that
it
did not warrant being discussed again on this occasion.
4. Draft Guidance on the Validation of Planning Applications from the County
Council
seeking views of what information should be submitted to the County for valid
planning applications. The consultation period ends on February 19th 2008.
5. A consultation paper from the government regarding the Orders and Regulations
relating
to the conduct of local authority members in England. Copies of the papers were
circulated to members – responses are required by February 15th 2008.
6. Notice of a District Council Standards Committee meeting on January 24th 2008
convened to discuss the above consultation paper.
3052 Councillors Questions
1. Cllr Gibson asked the Council to look into the possibility of widening the
pavement along London Road between Main Street and Sibcy Lane. This will be
included on the next Amenities agenda.
2. Cllr Mrs Newstead asked County Councillor Walker to expedite repairs to the
Lowfield Lane pavements.
3. Cllr Hind asked that minor repairs be carried out to the Wolfit Avenue dog
waste bin.
4. Cllr White asked members to join him in thanking the County Councillors for
their
attendance and information at meetings.
The meeting closed at approximately 8.15pm.