1. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING - These were approved and signed as seen.

2. MATTERS ARISING - No Matters arising

3. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

a) Parish Council
The Treasurer explained that the accounts presented were unaudited ones. Copies of the breakdown of the income and expenditure figures for the year ending 31st March 2009 were distributed at the meeting, and are appended to these minutes.

The balances at 31st March 2009 are:

Balance

The Clerk/Treasurer confirmed that the 2007-2008 had been signed off by the Audit Commission in February 2009. The accounts distributed were un audited accounts for April 2008 - March 2009.

The treasurer reported that the Parish Council's investment in Abbey Business Time Deposit account had been spread between Abbey, Nat West and Barclays due to the banking crisis last year which hi-lighted the fact that bank consortiums only guarantee balances up to £50k and the parish council did not want to put their capital at risk, although a small amount of interest was lost by moving the money. We do have difficulty where to invest as not all banks or building societies entertain parish council investments.

An External Hard Drive had been purchased for backing up data along with a new printer.

An overview was given about the Staithe rents, also that the Community Hall had a deficit of £865, without the insurance premium of approx £3000 pa, instead of about £673 for a brick and tile building. The yearly donation allowance of £200 was given to St Mary's PCC for the news sheet publication, as it was felt this was much appreciated by all parishioners, we also donate £300 per year towards the church grass cutting costs.
The Clerk expressed her thanks to all the parish councillors especially the Chairman Viv Tallowin for their help and support over the past year, which turned out to be quite hectic at times.

b) Widows Acre

Statement of Accounts - Year ending 30.11.08

Dividends to November 30th 2008 were £289.33. This, together with £389.49 carried forward from the previous year, gave a total of £687.82 on deposit at Barclays Bank.

Christmas payments of £ 300.00 (i.e. 15 payments of £20 each) have left a balance of £387.82 to be carried forward.

Trustee: Mrs M S Longbottom

c) Wells Charity

The Trustees of the Wells Charity namely Rev'd Neville Khambatta, Kath Moody and Michael Elliott agreed to the purchase of four book tokens of £10 each, totalling £40, which was duly drawn from the account.
Tokens were presented to these pupils at the annual Leaving Ceremony.

Statement of Accounts at 30th April 2009

Mrs M Longbottom Secretary to Trustees 29th April 2009

4. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

Last year the main topic on everyone's mind was the possible flooding of our village due to the leaking of 'Natural England's draft report which included options for the Upper Thurne Basin. The one that concerned Hickling was Option 4 - the embayment of the upper Thurne which would result in the flooding of six villages including Hickling by allowing the sea to breach and eventually inundating the broads.

The upshot was that at the last Annual Parish Meeting Ken Barnes and Eric Lindo were elected to spearhead the response from Hickling to the Natural England report. This lead to Eric and Ken arranging a meeting for Hickling Parishioners on the 19th May in the Church with guest speakers namely District Councillor Clive Stockton and Dr Martin George.
The Parishioners gave Ken and Eric their full support and HEARA was formed. As you all know this stands for Hickling Environment and Residents Alliance with the object of working with the Parish Council and the Community for the protection and preservation of Hickling its people, property and environment. Ken and Eric have done a splendid job in promoting our case to the media, arranging meetings with representatives from Natural England, the Environment Agency, the Political parties to name but a few and also working with NENPCG- North East Norfolk Parish Council Group. They were consulted and had an input in the final report. This was released in March and stated that Natural England supports holding the existing line of defence along the Eccles to Winterton coastline for at least 50 years. So after about a year the specific threat to people, businesses, homes, farms have been lifted but vigilance and monitoring will be required to protect our village for future generations. We are all indebted to both Ken and Eric for the successful outcome and cannot thank them enough for all their effort and time spent on our behalf.

Thanks to both Eric and Zoe King for keeping everyone up to date with flooding issues via email.

The precept was raised from £7247 to £7612 a rise of £365 which was to help fund HEARA with out of pocket expenses i.e. paper, ink cartridges and travel etc.

In July the Parish Council having taken legal advice sold 2 boats, one was abandoned and the other one's owner was in arrears and all correspondence was returned unanswered.

July 31st was the culmination of years of work to obtain planning permission. This was granted for a pair of semi-detached cottages on the site of the existing community hall, two plots at the end of Mallard Way where the changing rooms and old tennis courts/bowling green were. This was a subject to a Section 106 agreement which says that all monies raised from this must go to the new building on the recreation ground which was also given planning permission. A big thank must go to Peter Brown for his time and expertise in drawing up the all the plans and liasing with NNDC planning Dept. All this was done on voluntary basis and saved the Parish Council a lot of money.

The Village Plan was finalised and everyone in the village should have received a copy.
Speeding has been looked at and THINK signs have been put up and SLOW markings on the road and this is still being monitored.

In January, members of the Parish Council were invited to the opening of the school's new facilities and rededication by the Bishop of Thetford. It was good to see all the children enjoying the new facilities and investment put into our village school.

We are now in the final stages of completing Health & Safety regulations for all Parish Property which includes lifebuoys at the staithe and safety boots for all the grass cutters.

Many thanks go to Rachael Laws and all the mums for raising a considerable sum of money for the children's play area. Thanks to Tony & Debbie of the Greyhound for hosting some of these events and helping in some of the fund raising. Thanks also to Neil Laws for the upkeep of the play area.

Thanks to David and Amanda Skinner for looking after the village pond and arranging clear up days.
This is now a popular part of the village for everyone to visit with the seats and picnic table.

Many thanks to the Hickling W.I. for maintaining the planter at the village sign during the year.
This has just been replanted and really does look lovely.

Thanks once again to all the volunteer grass cutters for the splendid job they all do in keeping our grass cut and saving the Parish Council a considerable sum of money.

Thanks to Brian Sainsbury for giving his time and effort to keep the web site going. This has had 38,202 hits (800 a week) which shows this is well used.

Thanks for all the help and advice that our District Councillors namely Simon Partridge and Clive Stockton have given us over the last year. Thanks also to Chris How our County Councillor who is standing down in May and not seeking re-election.

Many thanks to all Parish Councillors for all their help and support over the past year , which is very much appreciated.
It is not just coming to the meeting but also giving up their time to help with Parish Council matters.

Thanks once again to the Clerk Shirley Sainsbury (she went to America on holiday and came back married and hence has changed her name from Chapman to Sainsbury having married Brian). Shirley spends a lot of her time on Parish Council work much of which is voluntary far beyond her remit.

She is always seems to be busy with phone calls, emails, letter, computing etc. This year has been particularly busy with flood issues, finalising the village plan, obtaining planning permission, looking for grants/funding, the questionnaire to name but a few. Thanks for all your time and effort you put in to help with all the parish affairs, we could not manage without you.

5. DISTRICT COUNCILLORS' REPORT

Both District Councillors had sent their apologies along with County Councillor C How.

6. REPORTS FROM VILLAGE ORGANISATIONS

Reports were received from Hickling WI and Ladies Group and the Old Village Hall Trustees

Mr Ivor Kemp gave a brief update on the Hickling Local History Group's activities over the past year, but unfortunately they are short of volunteers for the committee for this coming year. The Chairman Viv Tallowin said it would be very sad to see it close after so much time and effort had gone into the success of the group.

Mr Peter Wallis, head of Hickling Infants gave a talk on the how the school children have benefited from the renovation works over the past year. The school now has a library and staff room plus new technology for the children.

HEARA, consisting of Ken Barnes & Eric Lindo, who were both elected last year to take on the task of getting 'our' voice heard to influence Natural England's final report on protecting our coastline and Hickling from coastal flooding. Neither claim full responsibility as it had been a team effort in giving a united front, from the support of parishioners, i.e. petition signing and attending meetings to our MP Norman Lamb for 'opening' doors for Ken & Eric to get to the heart of government to highlight the importance of Hickling and surrounding areas in terms of its flora and fauna and also its international reputation.

There had been no mention of social justice in previous reports but now it has been recognised they believe whatever the North Sea throws at us in the future social justice will be given i.e. compensation for any loss from coastal flooding.

HEARA will now take a back seat but with an eye on any future reports i.e. Shoreline Management Plan to ensure Hickling is kept safe for many years.

Everyone applauded and thanked Ken & Eric for their many voluntary hours and effort they both put into this task on behalf of Hickling.

7. PARISH PLAN REPORT

The Clerk explained that the Village Plan was now completed and everyone should have now received the final published copy as it was delivered throughout the village last July, later than anticipated unfortunately. Even though it was late being completed the Parish Council began work on the issues hi-lighted from the very beginning.

The Chapel Pit has been landscaped and is being looked after very well by our Conservation Group, well couple really, Amanda & David Skinner.

The Children's Play Area initial plan has been completed but we now realise it is an ongoing exercise to obtain more equipment for the children, the last three pieces cost over £10k, (made up of £5k from the Parish Council, £300 from the Old Village Hall and fund raising and funding)

Footpaths are in the process of being mapped out and we hope to have some maps and information boards in the near future.

Speeding in the village is a difficult one but it is being monitored in conjunction with our PCSO, Highways and the local Traffic Police unit. The opinion is that anything static i.e. flashing signs only work for a limited time then people stop noticing them, also a lot of speeding in rural areas is done by the locals apparently.

One issue still outstanding is the emergency/disaster planning, this is due to lack of volunteers but I will endeavour to complete this task over the next year.
It is an action plan documented with everyone with equipment, skills or just willing to help in any kind of crisis in the village, from a house fire to a full scale flood alert.

Last and most complex issue is of course the Community Hall and its future, which you are all aware of where we are at this moment in time.

An Action Plan with updates was available on the table.

8. QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

The Chairman Viv Tallowin read out the results of our recent questionnaire on the Community Hall issue of whether to build a new community/sports building on the recreation ground, using monies from the sale of the plots at the end of Mallard Way and the sale of the existing Community Hall plot.

There were 767 delivered, with 554 collected plus 43 blank or undecided, this was a 72% return with 55% in favour,
37% against and 8% blank or undecided.

It was noted that the 43 blank/undecided forms were not included in either the For or against figures.

We also had several volunteers to run clubs/events etc and many people offering their skills.

The Chairman Viv Tallowin assured everyone that the Parish Council will be looking at all the issues raised to ensure the
best possible outcome is obtained for Hickling.

9. ANY OTHER BUSINESS - none

It was noted that all the proposed plans for the Community Centre and building plots were on show

There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 8.45pm

After the meeting closed the Chairman Viv Tallowin invited everyone for an informal social gathering with refreshments to celebrate HEARA's success on the coastal flooding issue. Ken & Eric were personally thanked on behalf of the Parish Council and many thanks were given from others who attended, and everyone enjoyed the occasion.