BUXTON WITH LAMAS PARISH COUNCIL

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT OF COUNCIL’S WORK IN THE YEAR 2008-09

This year the Council has met on 10 occasions and considered 21 planning applications. Average Councillor attendance at meetings was 80%.

Barbara Rix and I were again elected as Vice Chairman and Chairman respectively in May of last year. Councillor Halliwell resigned in September 2008, and Councillor White was co-opted. Unfortunately he also was forced to resign due to personal circumstances, and the Parish Council is currently carrying a vacancy which we hope to fill with co-option very soon. Congratulations are due to the Vice Chairman who was elected to Broadland District Council to fill the vacant seat for Buxton ward following the resignation of Councillor Davis-Claydon.

At last year’s Annual Parish Meeting there were two major issues affecting the former RAF station Coltishall – the planning application for a prison, and the possibility of government backing for its development as an eco-town. The former was granted, with support from the Parish Council who saw it as a much-needed source of local employment. We hope members of the public will give their views on the proposal for it to be named HMP Bure.

The eco-town proposal faded in favour of a site at Rackheath, which was more in keeping with the overall development proposals of the East of England Regional Assembly. The future use of the remaining extensive non-prison part of the site is still uncertain, but the County Council Coltishall Task Group has recommenced its meetings in the hopes of liaising with the Ministry of Justice over the sale and use of the land.

Consultation on unitary status for councils in Norfolk is still ongoing, but the choice is now between a whole Norfolk option and a Greater Norwich / Norfolk split. This Council has maintained its support for the whole Norfolk option, believing that it offers the best value for money for all Norfolk residents and will deliver uniformity of service.

The BALAY charity was finally dissolved in May 2008 and the Council is now running the BALAY Park facilities. Regrettably Buxton no longer has youth football team of its own, but the pitches have been in constant use all through the winter season by youth teams from Aylsham and Spixworth for their home games, and the training area has been hired to Aylsham teams during the week. The newly-formed Buxton Cricket Club is establishing a cricket square so that the land can be used during the summer months. Hopefully the village will be able to produce enough youngsters to have our own team again soon.

Funding was achieved from the Big Lottery through Broadland District Council, and from the District Council itself, for recreational equipment for the teen age group. A youth shelter was installed just before Christmas, and it is hoped that the remainder can be installed before the summer holidays. The preferred equipment has been selected in close consultation with the young people themselves. Legal arrangements are in progress for the lease of the northern end of the Park to the local Scout group so that it can have its own meeting hall and open space. The Park is intended for the use of young people, and should become a major and long-awaited amenity in the parish.

The Council also owns Lamas Village Hall, and has been fortunate that the Village Hall Management Committee is very active in its running of the Hall. It secured its own funding for recent major improvements, and the Council only had to guarantee a bridging loan. The hard work, including the decorating, was done by the Committee themselves. Following the refurbishment the Hall was reopened by the actor Robert Hardy.

The Council is still pursuing possible sites for affordable housing, along with the Housing Project Officer from Broadland District Council. We have hopes of securing a site in the near future.

The Council agreed that the payphone unit next to the Post Office in Brook Street should stay as a telephone point for public use. It costs £500 a year to retain it as such, but the Council feels that it is a necessary public service, particularly as the mobile telephone coverage in the area is not always good.

An excellent relationship has been maintained with the local Police Safer Neighbourhood Team in the shape of PCSO Frost. Tracey attends as many Council meetings as her duties allow and gives her report on crime in the area and village, which is reassuringly low. It is now much easier to contact our local officers and either ask them investigate a problem or to pass on information. The Safer Neighbourhood Action Panel meets quarterly to consider the policing priorities for the next three months, based on problems raised by members of the public, and reviews the previous quarters’ results of action taken.

There is now a group of six people from Buxton – Parish Councillors, Clerk and public – who have been training with the Coltishall and Horstead Speedwatch group. A final test is coming up, after which it will be able to run speed checks in this parish. The registration number, make and model of speeding vehicles is noted, and a letter is sent to the registered owner. Further action can be taken against persistent offenders.

The major issues facing the parish in the coming year are still those for which the decisions will not be ours - namely, the shape of local government in the county and the future of the RAF site. The Council is involved in all consultations and tries to represent the best interests of its parishioners in doing so. The village is large enough to sustain a primary school, a Post Office, a village shop, and several local businesses, and in that we are more fortunate than some rural parishes. The Council would wish to see only moderate expansion in order to retain these facilities and the well-being of the residents.

I would like to remind parishioners that Councillors give of their time voluntarily and are expected to make decisions on behalf of the whole parish, which is a responsibility for which they are not paid. The commitment involved is more than the two hours spent every few weeks at a Council meeting – it is an ongoing concern for the parish and its welfare. I would like to thank all the Councillors - at parish, district and county level - for this commitment, and the Clerk for her continued help and support through the year.

Christopher Tomlinson

Chairman

Buxton with Lamas Parish Council

27 April 2009