Parish Council Report

Report of Nocton Parish Council Meeting held on 14 July 2015

The Parish Council had two important items to discuss on this month’s Agenda along with the more general reports.

Highways Issues

Alan Brown, Divisional Highways Engineer, was present to give a brief presentation and to answer a list of questions regarding various issues that had been discussed (many times) previously but as yet were not resolved.

Mr Brown opened by stating that like many other Council Departments, Highways was going through a radical restructuring and facing heavy budget cuts.

The impact on Nocton is that none of the proposed improvements to our roads (especially the B1202 Potterhanworth Road), the faded white lines at the junction of the B1188/ B1202, new/replacement village signs and the hazardous corner at the crossing on the corner of Potterhanworth Road are seen as priorities and therefore for the foreseeable future nothing will be able to be done.

However, as a Parish Council we are urging all our residents to please be aware of other road users and the access areas outside of people’s houses.  We ask that everyone parks with consideration and those whose property boundary is alongside a footpath keeps it free from hazards, overhanging hedges, piles of wet leaves etc.  Parking is available at the Village Hall for village-related activities and for any dropping off and picking up.  For the able-bodied, it is only a short walk from the car park to the Post Office, School or Church and parking here would help to alleviate congestion in these areas at busy times.

Proposed Wind Farm at Nocton Fen

It was noted that Vattenfall’s statutory consultation period ends on 20 July.  The Government has made a number of announcements in the media and elsewhere that it is intending to change the planning regime as it currently applies to on-shore wind farms so that local people can have a much greater say in the determination of such applications.  Members of the Parish Council welcomed this new approach and very much hoped that it would be implemented in time to deal with this particular application should, of course, it come to fruition.  To this end, Stephen Phillips, our MP, would like to know what action local councils are taking to find out the views of those residents who would be affected by the wind farm.

As such, a lively and constructive discussion took place between Councillors and those members of the public who were in attendance about how best to find out what people think.  Various options for consulting parishioners were considered, including a public meeting and exit poll.  However, since it was understood that Vattenfall would not be willing to attend such a meeting it was felt a balanced debate could not take place.

In the event, it was agreed to carry out a simple ballot of all residents in the village.  Although the detail is yet to be worked out, in essence it will involve sending a “ballot paper” to everyone included on the current Electoral Register inviting a “In favour/Not in Favour/Don’t Know” response.  A number of actions will be taken to encourage people to return their “papers” to ensure the highest response rate possible.  It is intended that the ballot will be conducted in October with the results being considered by the Parish Council at its meeting on 10th November.  This will enable the Parish Council to be in a position to reflect fully the views of residents to any formal planning application which, it is understood, the developer intends submitting early in 2016.

If, however, the Parish Council felt that the outcome of this ballot did not give sufficient clarity as to the views of residents then it would consider holding a formal Parish Poll (run by NKDC).  This would be conducted in a similar way to all other elections with a set day and time and specified polling station in the Village Hall.  The cost of such a Poll would need to be met by the Parish Council so it is hoped that all residents would participate in the more informal ballot!

There have already been a number of consultation/information sessions held by Vattenfall; an action group PNF (Protect Nocton Fen) have been (and are) very active, and of course there is a mass of information available for those who are as yet undecided.  As a Parish Council we would urge you to respond to the local poll, so that we, your local District and County Councillors and your MP can have a clear idea of what we, as residents, think about the wind farm.

Other Matters

Nocton and Potterhanworth Neighbourhood Plan  Work on this Plan is now moving on apace and a Community Group set up in each parish to make sure that the plan fully identifies the items of importance to residents..  It is hoped to complete this document as early as possible in 2016, as without a Local Plan in place Nocton and the surrounding areas are currently very vulnerable to aggressive development.  The Parish Council web site will show where we are to date with this and comments are always welcome.

Nocton Village Hall Refurbishment

Mr Paul Clarke who owns the land to the rear and side of the Village Hall has been asked if the old tennis courts can be made available to the builders for the period of construction so that access to the garages will not be compromised.  The request has been passed to the Trustees and we await their decision before we are able to move this project into the planning stage.

Commemorative Plaques

The wording and style of the plaques for the recently erected bench kindly donated by Mr and Mrs Timms and the WW1 commemorative tree(s) was agreed.  Although it would have been nice to have had plaques in brass or other metal, it was decided that in view of the potential for the theft of such material and for ease of maintenance, it would be more cost-effective to have signs in good quality black plastic with white lettering.

Superfast Broadband

The Chair and Mike Middleton from Manor Court have done some investigation on the village’s behalf and it is hoped that superfast (or faster!) broadband might be in place by March 2016.  Fingers crossed!

Date of next meeting

Tuesday, 8 September (there will be no meeting in August).

“Done is better than perfect.”

Councillor MaryAnn Williams