Cringleford Parish Council

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Newsletter 41

JUNE 2011

CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL REPORT 2011

I closed last years report with an anticipation that it would be business as usual for 2010 with the day to day tasks of caring for this lovely village coupled with the extra issues of the continuing development of Round House Park, The Community Centre, Norwich Unitary status and making arrangements for the Queens Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Well we have done all that and more and I shall endeavour to cover a busy and packed 12 months as succinctly as possible in this round up of the Parish Year.

But before I do that I would just like to explain some of the differing responsibilities held between the Parish Council, South Norfolk District Council and Norfolk County Council. This is by no means a definitive list but covers some of the issues that often get confused as being totally within the remit of the Parish Council.

I have to say that anything within the control of the District and County Council we cannot over rule, as much as we would like to sometimes but what we can do is, negotiate, lobby, discuss and generally liaise between all parties to make the views of the Parish Council and the parishioners known.

The District Council, South Norfolk, cover things like the environment, environmental health, wheelie bins and waste collection, planning, housing revenues and benefits, community charge, licensing and local elections.

The County Council are responsible for Highways, Education, Adult and Children's Social care, waste management and recycling of everything the district councils have collected, parking legislation and management (including the Park and Rides), licensing and monitoring Childcare, Libraries and street lighting.

The Parish Council do all the good bits. We look after the village and the local environment. This includes, amongst other things, grass cutting, verge maintenance, woodland management, ensuring safe and enjoyable play areas, some street lighting, providing grit bins and dog poo bins (OK maybe not one of the good bits), hedgerow maintenance, liaising between the parishioners, the Council and the County and District Councils and negotiating with third parties such as the developers.

In mentioning all of the above I haven't forgotten the recreation ground in Oakfields Road but I think this deserves a separate mention, along with the Council groundsmen Chris Meeson and Nick Clark, who do a superb job in maintaining the area and indeed the whole village to a very high standard.

Whatever the weather or whatever churning up the ground gets when sport is played it is always ready for the next session and as we come to the end of the football season and the beginning of the cricket session I am sure you will all notice the smooth transition. I know they are both looking forward to getting Parklands up and running as soon as we can. Well done Chris and Nick and thank you.

Obviously, I can't mention the staff without including Anne Barnes who, as the Parish Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer for the Parish Council, takes a supervisory and line management role in managing the staff and carrying out the wishes of the council. She is very adept at managing the budgets and generally keeping the accounts in order. She advises the councillors well and helps us to maintain our strong financial position. She has been commended by the council on numerous occasions following excellent reports from external auditors and this year was no exception. Thank you Anne – for everything you do.

Now to report on some of the other things that the Council have been involved in during the past 12 months.

Norwich City Council was granted their Unitary status in April but on existing boundaries and even then their Unitary status was subsequently rescinded in May when there was a change of government. The Council will make sure we monitor and respond should this crop up again.

Discussions and negotiations regarding the new Community Centre have taken up a lot of council time and the parish clerk's time. We are nearing a conclusion to the consultations and discussions on the layout and costs of the community centre and Councillors have visited other community centres at Costessey and Poringland and got the feedback from those Parish Councils as to what the good and bad points were, what are the “must haves” and what pitfalls to look out for.

We are now happy that we have the scope of the requirements and we are evaluating how much the Parish Council needs to raise towards the cost of this as the section 106 money of Ł875k will not cover the full building costs.

Anti-social and illegal parking in Round House Park has come up on numerous occasions as it is causing a major problem to the residents. In fact it is THE major issue for the residents and it appears to be the one constant niggle on what is a very pleasant place to live.

Some of the problem is caused by the residents having more cars than the allotted parking spaces per dwelling or parking in the road rather than the garages or allotted parking spaces but unfortunately it has also become an overflow car park for the hospital, the Science Park and commuters into the city.

We have discovered recently that commuters are using Round House Park as a substitute for the Park and Ride ever since Norfolk County Council put the bus fares to a per person fare rather than per car. Apparently it is cheaper to park in Cringleford and get the regular bus into the city rather than pay the Park and Ride fares. I expect this congestion to worsen since the announcement that from 1st April senior bus pass holders will be charged Ł1 to use the Park and Ride Buses but other bus journeys will remain free. Not an idea that has been completely thought through by the County Council.

The chairman has taken the matter up with the police at the SNAP (safer neighbourhood action panel) meetings on numerous occasions but there is little they can do unless they are called when illegal parking is taking place. They can only act on a case by case basis. The SNAP did organise a leafleting of cars in Round House Park requesting more considerate parking.

The Council urges residents to report illegal parking to the police and do not approach people directly.

This issue of parking is also hampered by the fact that the roads are still under the ownership of the developers and have not yet been adopted by the highways authority which is the body that will consider parking restrictions as and when appropriate.

When further development for Cringleford was proposed in October, the Council made strong representation to South Norfolk planning department urging that roads layout and parking considerations be given the strongest priority in any future proposals. The Council will maintain this stance as and when we receive any formal plans for consideration and comment, as we did when the plans for Round House Park phase 2 were presented in October.

As part of all the discussions on the further expansion of the village the council were advised to review our Parish Plan to set out our thoughts and views on what was a sustainable and appropriate approach to the village expansion. This task was undertaken by one of our newest councillors, Professor Malcolm Wagstaff, who joined the Council in June and he has done an exceptional job with this, turning things around from proposal to publishing in just 5 months.

This proved invaluable following the publishing of the Joint Core Strategy Site Allocations document in October. The proposal was for a further 2000 dwellings on top of Round House Park. The council were able to make reasoned responses to all the proposed sites for consideration based on the data and research carried out by Councillor Wagstaff for the revised Parish Plan. Further development appears to be inevitable but the council will strive to see that it is based on reasonable grounds and managed in a sustainable way and not just a random number that someone has thought suitable.

One further decision that affects the village, albeit not a Parish Council issue is the County Council has agreed a 420 place school for Cringleford at the Round House Park site. Unfortunately that meant that they dropped plans to adjust the Keswick Road/Intwood Road junction on the grounds that the village school would be moving and it was no longer considered essential as part of the safer journeys to school programme.

Some of the other items from the Parish records for 2010 were:-

We had discussions on updating and modernising the Councils website for when the new community centre opens in 2013. In the meantime the clerk has set up a Facebook and a Twitter page for the Parish Council.

I mentioned earlier that grit bins were a Parish Council responsibility and we were very grateful that we had purchased 7 more bins before the snow descended in December and January. I know they were well used. Again I need to commend our grounds staff who couldn't do other jobs because of the snow so took it upon themselves to walk round the village and grit the priority junctions.

The dressing rooms were repainted by volunteers from Cringleford Lodge Cricket Club. Our thanks to them – all help is much appreciated.

In September there was damage to the grounds by vandals who were caught thanks to the clerk. The police investigated and ensured they paid for the damage caused. They were apologetic and it appeared to have been stupidity rather than maliciousness.

In May a new seat was donated to the village in memory of Paul Curtis.

The Parish received a gift of several pieces of outdoor Gym equipment which was installed near the play area in Dragonfly Lane, the only cost to the council was the installation costs. An official opening was held on 28th March. We are grateful to South Norfolk for suggesting us as a suitable site.

Recently there were was consultation and discussions over the adoption and management of Harts Lane and several Parishioners took the trouble to come to the March Parish Council meeting to make their representations. It was good to see so many parishioners at a Parish Council meeting.

The Council were saddened to learn of the death of a former councillor, Bill Smith OBE. As we had a need to purchase a new bench seat we asked Mrs Smith if we might dedicate it to Bill in memoriam.

Going forward there is lots of work to do. The community centre building programme will take up as much time this coming year as it has in the past. The discussions on the Joint Core Strategy Site Allocations document will continue. The discussions on adoption and maintenance of Hart's Lane are continuing as are other day to day discussions with the developers of Round House Park. The Jubilee committee will be formed once the new council is announced in May.

It promises to be another busy year for the new council.

I say new Council as there are Parish Council elections in May. I know many of the existing councillors have put their names forward for election and I hope there are new candidates who will stand as well. This council has been fortunate over the years to fill its available places albeit sometimes on a rolling basis.

This year we had resignations from Iain Ames in April and Graham Barber in June both for personal reasons and we thank them both for their many contributions.

Following these resignations we were fortunate to replace them fairly quickly with Malcolm Wagstaff joining in June and Maxxhew Tay joining in September both of whom have proved to be valuable assets to the Council and I would like to thank them and all the councillors for their continued hard work and support that I have received as Chairman over this past year.

No-one can be certain what next year will bring or indeed who will be the councillors to deal with it but I am sure whoever is elected will have an interesting and rewarding year.

Susan Mackinnon
Chairman
Cringleford Parish Council
14 April 2011

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COMMUNITY CENTRE

The Parish Council has obtained detailed costs for the Community Centre prior to applying for planning permission. We have met with Kier Homes (Twigden) and Bovis Homes to discuss the next stage of the project.
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FINANCIAL STATEMENT

YEAR TO 31 MARCH 2011
INCOME
*Precept 90,365.00
General Administration
Miscellaneous/Grants 1,495.26
*Agency Services reimbursed 3,209.67
*Loan/Capital Receipts
(Section 106) 2,500.00
*Interest on Investments 1,345.41
Pavilion Hirings 10,160.00
Cricket 2,616.00
Football 3,204.00
Tennis 2,000.00
*TOTAL INCOME 116,895.34

EXPENDITURE
Salaries 59,356.01
Insurance 7,630.39
Audit Fee 995.00
Petty Cash/Stationery 4,576.45
Play-Area 447.23
Contributions/Subscriptions 935.12
Asset Purchase – Tractor 16,370.00
Pavilion Maintenance 3,247.88
Heat & Light 2,411.35
Water Rates 492.13
Cleaning & Materials 1,642.65
Equipment/Repairs 5,588.28
Fuel 1,257.82
Cricket 704.23
Football 3,519.91
Tennis 347.45
Street Lighting Energy 3,181.92
Repairs & Replacements 4,760.80
Loan Repayment 1,848.46
*Interest on Long Term Debts 1,045.06
*TOTAL EXPENDITURE 120,358.14
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
General Fund
Balance at 1st April 2010 196,370.54
Add Total Income 116,895.34
313,265.88
Deduct Total Expenditure 120,358.14
192,907.74
Transfers from Reserves 2,500.00
Transfers to Reserves 7,500.00
Balance at 31st March 11 187,907.74

For a full paper copy of the accounts please contact the Clerk or see the website.
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HARTS LANE FOOTPATH

The Parish Council has been asked to adopt Harts Lane from the developers of Round House Park and have agreed provided the County Council adopts the footpath and street lighting. Once the adoption has gone ahead the Parish Council will be responsible for the grass verges either side of the Lane and the bollard lighting.
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CARS PARKING ON FOOTPATHS

The Parish Council has received a number of complaints from local residents concerning cars constantly parked on the footpath. This causes great distress for pedestrians, especially mums with buggies and a toddler or disabled people in wheelchairs who cannot get through and are forced to go into the road. If you cannot get your car off the road and onto your property then please leave your car sensibly on the road and ask your tradesmen to do the same.
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COUNCIL CONSIDERING TURNING OFF STREET LIGHTS AT NIGHT

The Parish Council is very keen to reduce its carbon footprint in order to help the environment and with this in mind is considering turning off the Parish owned street lights between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. We are interested to hear your views so please tell us what you think. Please phone, email, write or tweet to let us know your views.
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DOG FOULING

We respectfully remind all parishioners not to allow their dogs to foul the footpath or any open space without clearing up after the dog. There are dog bins around the village for you to use or please take it home with you and dispose of it.
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SPEEDWATCH

The Parish Council needs volunteers to help with the Speedwatch project. The volunteers are trained to use a Police speedgun and can then go out in the parish to use the speedgun and act as a deterrent to stop speeding traffic. If you feel you could give a few hours two or three times a year please contact the Clerk.
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COLD CALLING

If you and your neighbours are bothered by salesmen calling at your door uninvited you can designate your road as a Cold Calling Zone. You will need someone to act as a co-ordinator and this person will be the liason between yourselves and the Trading Standards Office (TSO) at Norfolk County Council. The TSO will give you all you need to get started; a sign to put at each end of your road, information packs for each household, stickers for your front door and numbers to ring if this fails to stop the Cold Calling. If you need any further information to get you started please contact the Clerk.
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PLANNING PERMISSION

Most building and fencing work that you undertake in the South Norfolk are requires planning permission now. This includes new windows, conservatories, brick wall and fences, as well as extensions to your property or new builds. If you are in any doubt as to whether permission is required please ring South Norfolk Council before you start work.
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COUNCIL MEETING DATES 2011

13 October
14 July 10 November
8 September 9 December

All parishioners are most welcome at any of the Parish Council meetings. Meetings will be held at Cringleford Pavilion. See Notice Boards for details.

IMPORTANT

Please spare a few minutes to read the letter accompanying this Newsletter.
Community Emergency Plan for Cringleford
Cringleford is working in partnership with South Norfolk Council

The Parish Council is in the process of establishing an Emergency Plan so that there is the ability to act swiftly in the event of a disaster in the village. It is assumed that such an arrangement would be temporary until such time as the Emergency Services and South Norfolk Council could deploy their resources to the situation.

The loss of water, electricity and the possibility of flooding or a major incident on the A11/A47 are all potential risks to the immediate area, whether caused by severe weather or a man-made disaster. The best way for any village to survive and recover is good, old fashioned community spirit, with local people helping neighbours and other local people.

Len Stroud is the volunteer Community Emergency Planning Co-ordinator for the Parish. With the support of South Norfolk Council and the Parish Council a Community Emergency Plan was prepared in 2009 which needs to be updated with details of any equipment, services or special personal skills that could be quickly called upon in the event of an incident within the village.

Do you have any equipment or services that you could make available, in an emergency, to help people in this Parish? Do you have any special personal skills (e.g. medical training) or specialist knowledge, or are able to offer general assistance (e.g. visiting an elderly or infirm person), in an emergency, to help people in this Parish? Alternatively, will you require assistance in an emergency? If yes, please complete the reverse of the accompanying letter.

If you are ever called upon to use your equipment by the Emergency Planning Team of South Norfolk Council, in an emergency, you will be covered by SNC’s insurance although you will not be reimbursed for any expenses.

Any information that you supply will be treated as confidential – it will be kept secure and it will only be used in an emergency by me, the Parish Clerk and the Emergency Planning Department of SNC and Norfolk Constabulary.

Len Stroud – Community Emergency Planning Co-ordinator – 01603 455214
len_stroud@yahoo.co.uk

COUNCIL MEETING DATES 2011

14 April 8 September
12 May 13 October
9 June 10 November
14 July 9 December
All parishioners are most welcome at any of the Parish Council meetings. Meetings will be held 7.00pm at Cringleford Pavilion.

Your Councillors

Mrs Sue Mackinnon – Chairman, Mr Tony Chater – Vice-Chairman, Mr Ian Bartlett, Mr Geoff Champion, Mr Roy Christian, Mr Maswood Jalil, Mr George James, Mr Len Stroud, Mr Maxxhew Tay, Professor Malcolm Wagstaff, Mrs Ann Williamson
All councillors may be contacted via the Clerk. If you require a confidential meeting please let the Clerk know.

Cringleford Parish Council

Clerk to the Council - Mrs Anne Barnes
16a Newmarket Road, Cringleford, Norfolk, NR4 6UE
Tel: 01603 250198 email: cringleford.pc@tiscali.co.uk
www.cringlefordpc.co.uk

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