Draft Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 8th January 2019
Present Cllrs. Dr. S. Dawson,(chairman) M. Turville-Petre, D. Harrod. J.Stibbons(clerk)
County Cllr. S. Botikofer Dist. Cllr. D. Young and seven members of the public.
The meeting opened at 7.30pm
1.Apologies None
2. Reports.
District Councillor D. Young. - The full report can be found at the end of these minutes.
The main topics of the report were as follows.
Full Council in November agreed installing solar panels on the roof of the Cromer building at a cost of £225,000. They are to be commissioned by 31 March 2019 in order to benefit from the Feed In Tariff and should provide a rate of return around 11%.
There was a vote of no confidence in the Leader of the Council and the administration. It related to the failure to commission an independent report into the viability of the plans to spend £2m on the Egmere Business Zone. In moving the motion it was stressed that it was not the intention to prevent the investment, should it be independently assessed as viable, but it was the administration's democratic deficit that had prompted this action.
The motion was passed and a subsequent decision appointed Councillor Sarah Butikofer as the new Leader of the Council. She expressed her wish to lead a more inclusive administration with less slavish following of party politics. She has since appointed a new Cabinet comprising 4 Lib Dems, 2 Conservatives and 1 Independent. The previous Leader's response to this was to state that the Conservative Group had decided not to support a cross-party Cabinet and to ask the two Conservative members of the new Cabinet to resign from the Conservative Group, which they have refused to do
The new cross-party Cabinet met on 3rd December. It accepted the conclusions from a working party's review of beach huts and chalets. The possibility of beach huts at Weybourne will be considered once the first year's changes to the booking process and marketing have been assessed. Most fees, including parking charges, will be unchanged in 2019-20. The premium on Council Tax for properties left empty for more than two years will be increased from 50% to 100%, the maximum allowed. Cabinet also agreed to acquire an artificial grass pitch for North Walsham. 60% of the main cost will be funded by the Football Foundation, a consortium led by the FA, Most of NNDC's contribution of £374,000 will be funded by user fees and increased available hours.
Full Council in December was the first under the new arrangements, led by the Liberal Democrats and with a cross-party Cabinet. The recommendations from the previous cross-party Cabinet including those regarding fees and charges and Council Tax Discounts/Premiums were all agreed.
Despite having failed to respond to a request for information on homelessness figures, made by a Lib Dem member earlier in the year, the former Cabinet member responsible tabled an item of Opposition Business drawing attention to the problem of homelessness, and asking the Council to liaise with ex-servicemen's charities. The new Cabinet member advised that as at 19 December there were 6 rough sleepers in North Norfolk. Of these, 5 had refused offers of help to find accommodation. The other was a recent case and has been contacted. As far as is known, none of the rough sleepers and others identified as homeless had connections to the armed forces.
It was agreed, however, to appoint a member with responsibility for liaison with ex-servicemen's charities. Cllr Richard Shepherd, the Conservative member for Sheringham South was duly elected.A further motion from a Conservative member from Fakenham required the Council to install "Community Fridges" in all the towns and large parishes, since the one in Fakenham had been successful. There was no objection to the concept of providing such fridges at a cost of around £800 each. The motion was amended to require the council to seek to identify such resources and bring each case back to the Council once they had been identified and a programme to promote its use devised. The amended motion was passed.
The Government's Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for the next financial year recognises the extra costs of providing services in rural areas, North Norfolk has been granted an extra £90,000 of Rural Services delivery Grant. An anticipated reduction in the New Homes Bonus did not happen and this will have a positive impact on our budget of about £150,000. In addition, Norfolk has been selected to pilot a 75% Business Rates Retention Scheme which will result in extra business rates being retained in the District.
The County Council have approved in principle the sale to Broadland Housing of the Market Lane site.
County Councillor S. Botikofer.
The Norfolk County Council budget is out for consultation.
A proposed increase of £24 per household is being put forward for the Police budget.
3. Declarations of interest. Cllr. S. Dawson Item 7. Tree preservation order.
4. The minutes It was proposed, seconded and resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 6th November 2018 be approved. The chairman then signed the minutes.
5. Matters arising from the Minutes. There were no matters arising.
6 Victory Housing is now known as Flagship.
A meeting was held with NNDC and Flagship Housing to see if there was any way the Victory Housing property which is for sale in Bard Hill could remain as a rented propety. There could be some support with funding from NNDC and Flagship if the Parish Council wished to take over the property.
If required, Blakeney Housing Association have agreed to manage the property on behalf of Salthouse parish council in the event of a purchase.
At the moment he house has been taken off the market.
7. Planning
PF/18/1145 Erection of detached dwelling on land at Purdy Street.
This is a revised application and the parish council have no further comments.
TPO\18\0950 A tree preservation order on trees at Manor House was noted.
8. Playing Field The monthly safety inspection was satisfactory. It was agreed that an inspection of the
telephone box should be included in the schedule to check that the telephone is operational.
9. Financial matters.
Bank Balances at 6/11//2018 Current a/c £7458.40 Savings a/c £4680.96
The following invoices were approved and cheques signed:-
J. Stibbons Salary and expenses £517.21
HMRC PAYE £99.97
10. Correspondence None
11. Matters for information only or for the next agenda
It was asked if a progress report from the Heath Trustees could be included in the next agenda.
There being no further business the chairman closed the meeting at 8.35pm
DC Report
Salthouse Parish Council 8 January 2019
Full Council in November was a memorable occasion. There were a number of not-so memorable items agreed, including installing solar panels on the roof of the Cromer building at a cost of £225,000. They are to be commissioned by 31 March 2019 in order to benefit from the Feed In Tariff and should provide a rate of return around 11%.
The last item on the agenda was a vote of no confidence in the Leader of the Council and the administration. This was moved by the Liberal Democrats on the grounds that the failure of the Cabinet to listen to Overview and Scrutiny's concerns and to a decision passed in the previous Full Council showed the current administration's intransigence and a failure of the democratic process. It related to the failure to commission an independent report into the viability of the plans to spend £2m on the Egmere Business Zone. In moving the motion it was stressed that it was not the intention to prevent the investment, should it be independently assessed as viable, but it was the administration's democratic deficit that had prompted this action.
The motion was passed and a subsequent decision appointed Councillor Sarah Butikofer as the new Leader of the Council. She expressed her wish to lead a more inclusive administration with less slavish following of party politics. She has since appointed a new Cabinet comprising 4 Lib Dems, 2 Conservatives and 1 Independent. The previous Leader's response to this was to state that the Conservative Group had decided not to support a cross-party Cabinet and to ask the two Conservative members of the new Cabinet to resign from the Conservative Group, which they have refused to do.
The new cross-party Cabinet met on 3rd December. It accepted the conclusions from a working party's review of beach huts and chalets. The possibility of beach huts at Weybourne will be considered once the first year's changes to the booking process and marketing have been assessed. Most fees, including parking charges, will be unchanged in 2019-20. The premium on Council Tax for properties left empty for more than two years will be increased from 50% to 100%, the maximum allowed. Cabinet also agreed to acquire an artificial grass pitch for North Walsham. 60% of the main cost will be funded by the Football Foundation, a consortium led by the FA, Most of NNDC's contribution of £374,000 will be funded by user fees and increased available hours.
Full Council in December was the first under the new arrangements, led by the Liberal Democrats and with a cross-party Cabinet. The recommendations from the previous cross-party Cabinet including those regarding fees and charges and Council Tax Discounts/Premiums were all agreed.
Despite having failed to respond to a request for information on homelessness figures, made by a Lib Dem member earlier in the year, the former Cabinet member responsible tabled an item of Opposition Business drawing attention to the problem of homelessness, and asking the Council to liaise with ex-servicemen's charities. The new Cabinet member advised that as at 19 December there were 6 rough sleepers in North Norfolk. Of these, 5 had refused offers of help to find accommodation. The other was a recent case and has been contacted. As far as is known, none of the rough sleepers and others identified as homeless had connections to the armed forces. It was agreed, however, to appoint a member with responsibility for liaison with ex-servicemen's charities. Cllr Richard Shepherd, the Conservative member for Sheringham South was duly elected.
A further motion from a Conservative member from Fakenham required the Council to install "Community Fridges" in all the towns and large parishes, since the one in Fakenham had been successful. There was no objection to the concept of providing such fridges at a cost of around £800 each. It was pointed out by the new Cabinet member, however, that before one could be installed it was necessary to find a venue, and volunteers to host and manage it, and a number of commercial businesses that would provide a regular supply of food to it. The motion was amended to require the council to seek to identify such resources and bring each case back to the Council once they had been identified and a programme to promote its use devised. The amended motion was not supported by the Conservative members but was nevertheless passed.
There was some good news for North Norfolk in the Government's Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for the next financial year. Recognising the extra costs of providing services in rural areas, North Norfolk has been granted an extra £90,000 of Rural Services delivery Grant. An anticipated reduction in the New Homes Bonus did not happen and this will have a positive impact on our budget of about £150,000. In addition, Norfolk has been selected to pilot a 75% Business Rates Retention Scheme which will result in extra business rates being retained in the District.
I'm pleased to report that my years of badgering NNDC, the County Council and Broadland Housing seem to be paying off. The County Council have approved in principle the sale to Broadland of the Market Lane site. More news awaited.
Present Cllrs. Dr. S. Dawson,(chairman) M. Turville-Petre, D. Harrod. J.Stibbons(clerk)
County Cllr. S. Botikofer Dist. Cllr. D. Young and seven members of the public.
The meeting opened at 7.30pm
1.Apologies None
2. Reports.
District Councillor D. Young. - The full report can be found at the end of these minutes.
The main topics of the report were as follows.
Full Council in November agreed installing solar panels on the roof of the Cromer building at a cost of £225,000. They are to be commissioned by 31 March 2019 in order to benefit from the Feed In Tariff and should provide a rate of return around 11%.
There was a vote of no confidence in the Leader of the Council and the administration. It related to the failure to commission an independent report into the viability of the plans to spend £2m on the Egmere Business Zone. In moving the motion it was stressed that it was not the intention to prevent the investment, should it be independently assessed as viable, but it was the administration's democratic deficit that had prompted this action.
The motion was passed and a subsequent decision appointed Councillor Sarah Butikofer as the new Leader of the Council. She expressed her wish to lead a more inclusive administration with less slavish following of party politics. She has since appointed a new Cabinet comprising 4 Lib Dems, 2 Conservatives and 1 Independent. The previous Leader's response to this was to state that the Conservative Group had decided not to support a cross-party Cabinet and to ask the two Conservative members of the new Cabinet to resign from the Conservative Group, which they have refused to do
The new cross-party Cabinet met on 3rd December. It accepted the conclusions from a working party's review of beach huts and chalets. The possibility of beach huts at Weybourne will be considered once the first year's changes to the booking process and marketing have been assessed. Most fees, including parking charges, will be unchanged in 2019-20. The premium on Council Tax for properties left empty for more than two years will be increased from 50% to 100%, the maximum allowed. Cabinet also agreed to acquire an artificial grass pitch for North Walsham. 60% of the main cost will be funded by the Football Foundation, a consortium led by the FA, Most of NNDC's contribution of £374,000 will be funded by user fees and increased available hours.
Full Council in December was the first under the new arrangements, led by the Liberal Democrats and with a cross-party Cabinet. The recommendations from the previous cross-party Cabinet including those regarding fees and charges and Council Tax Discounts/Premiums were all agreed.
Despite having failed to respond to a request for information on homelessness figures, made by a Lib Dem member earlier in the year, the former Cabinet member responsible tabled an item of Opposition Business drawing attention to the problem of homelessness, and asking the Council to liaise with ex-servicemen's charities. The new Cabinet member advised that as at 19 December there were 6 rough sleepers in North Norfolk. Of these, 5 had refused offers of help to find accommodation. The other was a recent case and has been contacted. As far as is known, none of the rough sleepers and others identified as homeless had connections to the armed forces.
It was agreed, however, to appoint a member with responsibility for liaison with ex-servicemen's charities. Cllr Richard Shepherd, the Conservative member for Sheringham South was duly elected.A further motion from a Conservative member from Fakenham required the Council to install "Community Fridges" in all the towns and large parishes, since the one in Fakenham had been successful. There was no objection to the concept of providing such fridges at a cost of around £800 each. The motion was amended to require the council to seek to identify such resources and bring each case back to the Council once they had been identified and a programme to promote its use devised. The amended motion was passed.
The Government's Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for the next financial year recognises the extra costs of providing services in rural areas, North Norfolk has been granted an extra £90,000 of Rural Services delivery Grant. An anticipated reduction in the New Homes Bonus did not happen and this will have a positive impact on our budget of about £150,000. In addition, Norfolk has been selected to pilot a 75% Business Rates Retention Scheme which will result in extra business rates being retained in the District.
The County Council have approved in principle the sale to Broadland Housing of the Market Lane site.
County Councillor S. Botikofer.
The Norfolk County Council budget is out for consultation.
A proposed increase of £24 per household is being put forward for the Police budget.
3. Declarations of interest. Cllr. S. Dawson Item 7. Tree preservation order.
4. The minutes It was proposed, seconded and resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 6th November 2018 be approved. The chairman then signed the minutes.
5. Matters arising from the Minutes. There were no matters arising.
6 Victory Housing is now known as Flagship.
A meeting was held with NNDC and Flagship Housing to see if there was any way the Victory Housing property which is for sale in Bard Hill could remain as a rented propety. There could be some support with funding from NNDC and Flagship if the Parish Council wished to take over the property.
If required, Blakeney Housing Association have agreed to manage the property on behalf of Salthouse parish council in the event of a purchase.
At the moment he house has been taken off the market.
7. Planning
PF/18/1145 Erection of detached dwelling on land at Purdy Street.
This is a revised application and the parish council have no further comments.
TPO\18\0950 A tree preservation order on trees at Manor House was noted.
8. Playing Field The monthly safety inspection was satisfactory. It was agreed that an inspection of the
telephone box should be included in the schedule to check that the telephone is operational.
9. Financial matters.
Bank Balances at 6/11//2018 Current a/c £7458.40 Savings a/c £4680.96
The following invoices were approved and cheques signed:-
J. Stibbons Salary and expenses £517.21
HMRC PAYE £99.97
10. Correspondence None
11. Matters for information only or for the next agenda
It was asked if a progress report from the Heath Trustees could be included in the next agenda.
There being no further business the chairman closed the meeting at 8.35pm
DC Report
Salthouse Parish Council 8 January 2019
Full Council in November was a memorable occasion. There were a number of not-so memorable items agreed, including installing solar panels on the roof of the Cromer building at a cost of £225,000. They are to be commissioned by 31 March 2019 in order to benefit from the Feed In Tariff and should provide a rate of return around 11%.
The last item on the agenda was a vote of no confidence in the Leader of the Council and the administration. This was moved by the Liberal Democrats on the grounds that the failure of the Cabinet to listen to Overview and Scrutiny's concerns and to a decision passed in the previous Full Council showed the current administration's intransigence and a failure of the democratic process. It related to the failure to commission an independent report into the viability of the plans to spend £2m on the Egmere Business Zone. In moving the motion it was stressed that it was not the intention to prevent the investment, should it be independently assessed as viable, but it was the administration's democratic deficit that had prompted this action.
The motion was passed and a subsequent decision appointed Councillor Sarah Butikofer as the new Leader of the Council. She expressed her wish to lead a more inclusive administration with less slavish following of party politics. She has since appointed a new Cabinet comprising 4 Lib Dems, 2 Conservatives and 1 Independent. The previous Leader's response to this was to state that the Conservative Group had decided not to support a cross-party Cabinet and to ask the two Conservative members of the new Cabinet to resign from the Conservative Group, which they have refused to do.
The new cross-party Cabinet met on 3rd December. It accepted the conclusions from a working party's review of beach huts and chalets. The possibility of beach huts at Weybourne will be considered once the first year's changes to the booking process and marketing have been assessed. Most fees, including parking charges, will be unchanged in 2019-20. The premium on Council Tax for properties left empty for more than two years will be increased from 50% to 100%, the maximum allowed. Cabinet also agreed to acquire an artificial grass pitch for North Walsham. 60% of the main cost will be funded by the Football Foundation, a consortium led by the FA, Most of NNDC's contribution of £374,000 will be funded by user fees and increased available hours.
Full Council in December was the first under the new arrangements, led by the Liberal Democrats and with a cross-party Cabinet. The recommendations from the previous cross-party Cabinet including those regarding fees and charges and Council Tax Discounts/Premiums were all agreed.
Despite having failed to respond to a request for information on homelessness figures, made by a Lib Dem member earlier in the year, the former Cabinet member responsible tabled an item of Opposition Business drawing attention to the problem of homelessness, and asking the Council to liaise with ex-servicemen's charities. The new Cabinet member advised that as at 19 December there were 6 rough sleepers in North Norfolk. Of these, 5 had refused offers of help to find accommodation. The other was a recent case and has been contacted. As far as is known, none of the rough sleepers and others identified as homeless had connections to the armed forces. It was agreed, however, to appoint a member with responsibility for liaison with ex-servicemen's charities. Cllr Richard Shepherd, the Conservative member for Sheringham South was duly elected.
A further motion from a Conservative member from Fakenham required the Council to install "Community Fridges" in all the towns and large parishes, since the one in Fakenham had been successful. There was no objection to the concept of providing such fridges at a cost of around £800 each. It was pointed out by the new Cabinet member, however, that before one could be installed it was necessary to find a venue, and volunteers to host and manage it, and a number of commercial businesses that would provide a regular supply of food to it. The motion was amended to require the council to seek to identify such resources and bring each case back to the Council once they had been identified and a programme to promote its use devised. The amended motion was not supported by the Conservative members but was nevertheless passed.
There was some good news for North Norfolk in the Government's Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for the next financial year. Recognising the extra costs of providing services in rural areas, North Norfolk has been granted an extra £90,000 of Rural Services delivery Grant. An anticipated reduction in the New Homes Bonus did not happen and this will have a positive impact on our budget of about £150,000. In addition, Norfolk has been selected to pilot a 75% Business Rates Retention Scheme which will result in extra business rates being retained in the District.
I'm pleased to report that my years of badgering NNDC, the County Council and Broadland Housing seem to be paying off. The County Council have approved in principle the sale to Broadland of the Market Lane site. More news awaited.
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