BEACH ROAD PARKING: Norfolk County Council has yet to sign off on year round parking restrictions on the north side of Beach Road despite repeated prompts.
The push for the double yellow lines to be enforced in winter as well as summer came after scenes of chaos last Christmas when cars blocked the route to the beach rather than use the car park. Some drivers even mounted the kerb on the south side of the road and crossed the pavement to park on the dune.
Parish councillors, county councillor Ron Hanton and people in the village have all attempted to pursue the issue with officials, but the parish council heard the approval process for parking restrictions had been changed.
At the full meeting on 28th November Cllr Emma Punchard asked: “How long do we have to wait because people were expecting them to be in place by now?”
Parish clerk Stacey Kent said the application had reached the final stage and a decision was still awaited, but it had been chased up three times.
NOT SO FAST: Drivers caught by police in recent speed checks in the village were all local, parish councillors were told.
The offenders were given words of advice.
NIGHT EXERCISE: Marines cadets will be braving the cold on 30th November when they stage a night exercise.
But should the weather turn nasty or anything go wrong the troop has been given permission to use the village hall as an emergency base.
Troop commander 2nd Lt Rachel Took told the parish council the youngsters would be sleeping out under basha tents in woods but needed somewhere to be taken if the conditions proved too foul or if one of them suffered an accident.
Cllr Mark Bobby, who was chairman for the meeting, said he had no objections but the hall should be left as it was found. The troop was also asked to bear in mind if the cadets did need to use it they should remember many in the village would be asleep.
ALL CHANGE: The parish council still has three councillor vacancies and no chairman.
John Smithson re-joined the authority when he was co-opted at the full meeting on 28th November. But at the same meeting Linda Cook’s resignation was announced.
Parish clerk Catherine Moore resigned last month and Stacey Kent was appointed to replace her.
Anyone interested in taking on a councillor role can email the parish clerk at clerkwinterton@gmail.com for information.
OH CHRISTMAS TREE: The private donor who paid for the Christmas tree on the green and the neighbour who has allowed the lights to be plugged in to their supply have been thanked by the parish council.
SOCIAL MEDIA: The parish council is to have its own Facebook page. But it has been stressed it will be for information rather than debate.
Cllr Emma Punchard told the meeting on 28th November there had been one for a short time set up by the previous clerk.
She believed the council should have a page that was information driven, without opinion, to inform the village about what the council was doing. She added she was happy to be the admin.
Clerk Stacey Kent said she believed the council had a social media policy and the page would have to be in line with that.
The council agreed to start a page.
SAVE THE DATES: Parish council meetings are set to change to the last Wednesday of the month from the start of 2020.
There is no council in December and the next full council is on 29th January.
VILLAGE SOCIAL LIFE: Concerns about isolation for some villagers has prompted a move to improve social inclusion by increasing the number of activities available.
Cllr John Smithson said there had been talk about a bridge club and a ‘man cave’ where people could do woodwork projects. Walking football and a table tennis club could also be set up.
But he stressed parish councillors could not do things on their own and other volunteers were needed to help out.
An informal session for anyone interested in helping to organise different activities would be held before the start of the next parish council meeting on 29th January.
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Village News Archive
News from the Winterton-on-Sea Parish Council & the village November 2019