Parish Council Meetings. DUE TO THE ONGOING PROBLEMS WITH THE CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY THE PARISH COUNCIL HAVE DECIDED TO AN IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION OF ALL MEETINGS UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THE SITUATION IMPROVES AND THERE IS NO LONGER A DANGER IN HAVING A MEETING. __________________ Update of proceedings. May 15 2020. The council hasn’t been able to meet formally during lockdown, and not all councillors have the computer facilities for conferencing online. But we have been emailing each other, principally to discuss planning matters. Emails about the poor design, and in fact danger, of the A47 modifications have been sent to Highways England, and parishioners have been encouraged to write to them too. It would be very much appreciated if parishioners in East Winch and West Bilney would continue to refer their concerns to the clerk, Bob Pannell, or to any councillor.We urgently need new councillors. Anyone who would like to serve the community in this way, please contact the clerk. Following is a an update of Parish Council activities
over the couple of weeks up to 14 April. Parish Council Notes to Minute file - 14 April 2020 A 47 Crossing.
The Chair has written to Highways England regarding this and a copy of her letter and the response from Highways England is as follows.
26.3.2020.
Dear Sirs, Re instalment of railings and pedestrian crossing on the A47 at East Winch,
As chairman of East Winch Parish Council, I’d like clarification about what sort of pedestrian crossing is to be installed. In the Highway Code, a pedestrian crossing is defined as a marked crossing - one with flashing lights and black and white stripes, or with pedestrian operated traffic lights.
So far, your contractor has installed Pedestrians Crossing warning triangles and, on each side of the road, a slab with bumps on it, which I believe informs the blind where they can cross. There are no lights or traffic lights, and in our opinion, it is nearly as unsafe for people crossing the road as it was before, as few people will be confident that drivers will slow down to 40mph.
We are, of course, delighted that the speed limit has been reduced, but the letter East Winch people received did suggest to everyone that there would be a proper, safe, crossing.
Since this letter was first drafted, I have received comments from drivers who find that the new railings installed make it very difficult to turn out of Gayton Road towards King’s Lynn because they block the view of oncoming traffic from Lynn. The railings are too high to see over, though all right for cyclists who are higher up than motorists, and the curve of the path makes the railings close off any view through them. It is urgent that this is looked into before there is an accident. I would estimate that the railings should be about 2 feet shorter, but please can your representative check this out and get it right.
I look forward to receiving your comments.
Yours faithfully,
Response 2 April 2020
Dear Ms Steele
Thank you for emailing our Customer Contact Centre on 26 March regarding works on the A47. Your enquiry has been passed to me as I am the correspondence executive for this scheme.
I can confirm that we have installed two pedestrian crossing points on Gayton Road and on Lynn Road. We apologise for any misunderstanding that may have occurred in regards to the communications on the scheme and your expectations.
The traffic lights that you may have seen were only used temporarily while the works were going ahead. We currently have no plans to install any permanent lights here. However, we will monitor the situation with regard to the use of the new crossing points. There will also be a safety audit of the scheme to ensure that the works meet safety standards. Unfortunately, I am unable to give a timeframe for when this is going to be carried out due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I have mentioned your concerns regarding the crossing points and the new guard railings on Gayton Road to the auditors, and they will take these into account when they audit the site.
We are unable to enforce the new speed limit as this is the responsibility of the police, therefore I can only suggest you contact Norfolk police in this instance if you feel enforcement is required.
If you require any further information, please contact myself alternatively you can contact the Highways England Customer Contact Centre. They’re available 24 hours a day by phone: 0300 123 5000 or visit the Highways England website at www.highwaysengland.co.uk.
Kind regards
Alex Watson-Wright Customer and Correspondence Executive _______________
Children Play Area Closure The Council are sorry that this has been necessary but is a result of a recommendation from Central Government and the Borough Council because of the current risk levels. _________________
Planning Council have conducted two reviews of Planning Applications which were necessary 20/00422/F – Construction of single storey dwelling - Fulwood House, Church Lane, East Winch EAST WINCH PARISH COUNCIL Have No Objections to this application,
19/01929 – Retrospective application for office/whelping room – The Old Forge, Lynn Road EAST WINCH PARISH COUNCIL Council are concerned about the number of complaints from neighbours about the noise of the dogs, attraction of vermin around the site and the smell. It is difficult to see what grounds there are to withhold permission but Council do feel that the owners have a duty to take measures to protect those who live close to the site from the noise, smell and particularly the vermin. They would like to see conditions, that go with any approval that the Planners may give, to limit the concerns expressed to an acceptable level. Failure to do so may well force the Parish Council to seek advice from the environmental officer.
Council Noted the following 20/00030/F – Variation in conditions to remove agricultural occupancy is Permitted. _____________________
Highways Dear Parish Clerk
You will recall we wrote to you recently updating you regarding the Highway Maintenance service in relation to the Covid- 19 virus. We are continuing to monitor the advice and guidance being given from Public Health England.
As part of the preventative measures for Coronavirus (Covid19) the County Council is minimising face to face meetings for the next few weeks until we receive advice that we can recommence. This includes your local Highways teams.
We are intending to proceed with grass cutting arrangements with your support
We are able to respond to enquiries regarding Highway Maintenance and we would encourage you to continue to report defects to us using the on-line reporting system (www.norfolk.gov.uk/highwaysproblem), telephone calls or via emails.
Yours sincerely Jason Moorse, Area Manager West (Highways) Community and Environmental Services Mobile Number 07770660218 Tel: 01553 778002 | Dept: 0344 800 8020 West Area Office, Poplar Avenue, King's Lynn, PE34 3AQ ____________________ First Bus I would like to update you on what we
are doing to keep as many services as possible
operating for key workers and other essential
travellers, and how we are working to keep you our
customers, and our colleagues, safe.
EAST WINCH PARISH COUNCIL Council Meetings. DUE TO THE ONGOING PROBLEMS WITH THE CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY THE PARISH COUNCIL HAVE DECIDED TO AN IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION OF ALL MEETINGS UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THE SITUATION IMPROVES AND THERE IS NO LONGER A DANGER IN HAVING A MEETING. The Council will continue to conduct urgent business using e-mails and telephone communications and where necessary limited personal contact. Where possible a report will be put on the web page highlighting any issues which may be of interest to parishioners. Should there be any urgent emergency issues then PLEASE TELEPHONE ONE OF YOUR COUNCILLORS OR THE PARISH CLERK. Contact details for Councillors and the Parish Clerk are here Please only use this service when the matter is of a serious nature. A list of telephone numbers is on the village web site. LET US ALL HOPE THAT THIS SITUATION IMPROVES IN THE NEAR FUTURE
Bob Pannell (Clerk) 01553 775724 EAST WINCH AND WEST BILNEY PARISH COUNCIL FOUR PARISH COUNCILLOR VACANCIES THE PARISH COUNCIL ARE SEEKING CANDIDATES TO FILL THE VACANT POSITIONS ON THE COUNCIL. COUNCIL MEET ON A BI MONTHLY SCHEDULE ALTHOUGH THERE ARE OCCASIONS WHEN IT BECOMES NECESSARY TO MEET MORE FREQUENTLY. IN RECENT YEARS THERE HAVE BEEN 6 REGULAR MEETINGS (LASTING APPROXIMATELY 2 HOURS) AND A FURTHER 6 SHORT MEETINGS (LASTING APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES) IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR VILLAGE, AND WOULD LIKE T0 BECOME INVOLVED IN DAY TO DAY ISSUES AND ITS FUTURE PLANS, COUNCIL WOULD BE VERY PLEASED TO DISCUSS WITH YOU HOW YOU COULD HELP. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT THE CLERK MR BOB PANNELL 21 BALDWIN ROAD KING’S LYNN NORFOLK PE30 4AL TELEPHONE 01553 775724 E-mail bob.pannell1@btopenworld.com See also 'Becoming a Councillor' _____________________________ BOROUGH COUNCIL ELECTIONS - 2nd May 2019 Elections were held on 2nd. May 2019. Following the recent election the current Parish Council members are listed here Note that the recent election was 'uncontested' and those nominated were therefore elected - see more information here _____________________ Letter from Highways England to Parish Council in response to pressures to replace the railings;- I’m happy to report back that we’re planning a scheme to include the replacement of the railings. The whole scheme will seek to improve facilities for pedestrians crossing the A47 to access the bus stops at East Winch. A new facility across Gayton Road will also be provided. The pedestrian rails will be replaced with a different type and signing will be updated to improve visibility and awareness of the junction and the crossing to motorists on the A47. This is important because the main purpose of guardrails is to improve safety by trying to prevent pedestrians from crossing the road at an inappropriate place or from straying into the road inadvertently. They are not intended to provide sufficient protection in the case of a direct collision with motorised vehicles. The scheme is due to be designed in the financial year 2019-20, starting next month. Then the construction is due to take place in 2020-21. I realise that this may not be as soon as you would hope. Due to the way that we are funding the project and fitting the work in to our programme, this is the earliest that we are able to deliver this project. As the improvements to the footway will require the railings to be removed, all of the work needs to be done at the same time and it is not possible to replace the railings in isolation before the rest of the project. But we would like to reassure you that we’ll continue to monitor the railings’ condition. If they deteriorate to an extent where they’re likely to pose a safety risk, we will take interim measures to make them safe. Thank you again for your enquiry and providing photographs, it’s always useful to receive information about the state of our network. Kind regards Dawn Dawn
Bostock, Asset Development Administrator Highways
England | Woodlands | Manton Lane | Bedford | MK41 7LW |
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