East and West Runton

RUNTON PARISH COUNCIL

Parish Council Information      

The villages of East and West Runton are combined for local government purposes into two electoral wards, each represented by six Parish Councillors; the current Members names are listed below. Meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of each month with the exception of December, which is on the third Tuesday, and in August there is no meeting. The venues alternate between the Village Hall at East Runton and the Church Hall at West Runton . The Annual Parish Meeting also alternates between the villages.

The Parish Council office and information centre is to be found at:

The Reading Room, Felbrigg Road, East Runton, Cromer,

Norfolk NR27 9PE.  Tel: 01263 512214

LATEST NEWS - Scroll down to bottom of page

The current Members of the Parish Council are:

East Ward

Vice Chairman. Mr. B. Cushion, Meadowsett, Top Common East Runton.

Mr K S Jonas. Tiddlers Cottage Mill Lane East Runton.
Mr S A Bacon. Albert House, High Street, East Runton.
Mrs J Hodson. Fernie House, High Street, East Runton.
Mr R G Spinks. Norfolk Cottage, Felbrigg Road, East Runton.
Mr. C. Hawkins, Shoemakers Cottage East Runton.

West Ward

Chairman - Mr J A Simpson. Woodrising, Sandy Lane, West Runton.

Mr. M. Brandish
Mr. R. Annis. Dawley Cottage Boulevard Road West Runton.
Mr J Creasey. Bransbury, Rosebery Road, West Runton.
Mr D Bakewell. Woodlands Renwick Park West Runton.

Mr. Bruce Bedwell.  The Dreys, Longacre Shawcross Road, West Runton.

Parish Clerk: Mrs Barbara Emery is the Parish Clerk.

Contact details.

Telephone: Office 01263 512214  Email: runtonpc@aol.com

Office hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am-1pm and 2pm-4pm

The Meetings scheduled for 2018 are as follows:

Each meeting commences at 7.15 pm unless otherwise notified and the agenda is displayed on the Parish Notice Boards and on this website. Members of the public are most welcome, there is an open session at the start of the meeting when any member of the parish can address the meeting. Some Councillors are available from 7pm for any individual questions or comments on a one to one basis. (Councillor Surgery)

District / County Councillors and Member of Parliament.

The District Councillor for Runton is Ms. S. Butikofer;
Our Norfolk County Councillor is Ms. S. Butikofer as above.
The local Member of Parliament is Mr Norman Lamb whose constituent office is at 15 Market Place, North Walsham, Norfolk. NR28 8BP. Tel No: 01692 403752

Representative Councillors on Village Committees are:

Playing Field Management:: Mr R G Spinks.
Village Hall Committee: Mrs J Hodson
The Ploughlet Charity: Mrs J Hodson.and Mr. J. Simpson
Runton Parish History Society: Mr J Creasey, Mr R Spinks. The Clerk Mrs. B. Emery

Allotments Advisory committee - Mr. D. Bakewell,  Mr. C. Hawkins, Mr. R. Spinks, Mr. R. Annis.

SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE PARISH COUNCIL
Footway lighting - provided and  maintained by contract. Dog waste bins, grit bins and rubbish bins - provided and maintained. Memorial benches - maintained.  Notice boards - provided and maintained.  Bus shelters at Wyndham Park, East Runton and West Runton - provided and maintained. Local footpaths and commons - maintained by grass and vegetation cutting.   Allotments - provided and maintained.

Defibrilators

There is a defibrillator situated at the Spar shop on Cromer road in West Runton. There are a number of people who have trained how to use it. Including the Clerk to the Parish Council.

There is also one situated at East Runton Newsagents in the High Street.

The above is now housed in a purpose built box on the wall outside the Newsagents.  There has been a training session to show people how to use this box and the defibrillator.

LATEST NEWS

CLERK TO RUNTON PARISH COUNCIL

Barbara Emery, the Clerk to the above Parish Council has undertaken training and obtained a pass for another module; an addition to the CiLCA qualification.  "The Power of Competence" which will allow the Parish Council wider powers in spending. 

METHODIST CHURCHES - both East and West Runton Methodist Churches are now closed permanently.  At East Runton Church there are two boards depicting the names of soldiers who served in both wars.  These boards will be re-housed at The Reading Room to preserve them if and when the building is no longer in use.  The East Runton Methodist church building is now being used by Cromer Baptist Church as their building in Cromer is in a poor condition and now unfit for use.

Highways:

The build-out crossing area has  been renewed after damage last November by a vehicle.

Speed Awareness Mobile Signs (SAMS0

One of these signs will be used in East and West Runton.  They are moved to a different location each month and are designed to slow down the traffic in high volume areas.  They record data to show how effective they are.  There are locations at either end of West and East Runton and one on Sandy Lane at the junction of Shawcross Rd. West Runton.

Street Lighting

It has been decided to replace all the street lamps with led lanterns over a period of five years with six per year being fitted.  The first six have been replaced and are in the Top Common area with one at the top end of Broomhill.  This is at a cost of £1650.00 initially.  The next six four of which are in East Runton as they are obsolete and two are in West Runton.  These have now been fitted at a cost of £1850.00.  Twelve lamps have now been replaced.

Seating in the Parish and Village Signs

There are a number of seats in the parish which are maintained by the Parish Council.  In 2015 they have been inspected and repaired when necessary and re-stained or painted if required.  One or two are oak and therefore are not stained but left natural.

The village sign at East Runton has a seat which is in need of repair.  This will be renewed in due course.  The village sign at West Runton is to be taken down and refurbished/painted.

Reading Room

This building owned by the Parish Council has been re-furbished and an office included for the Parish Council.  The former Billiard Room now has tea and coffee making facilities and meetings for East Runton ward are now held there.  See calendar for dates.  Also coffee mornings on the first Thursday of each month, by Runton History Group.

Commons

Work is continuing with the commons conservation work.  The borehole At West Runton is still being monitored and there is a slight trickle to the pond since it has been switched off.  However it is not enough to sustain levels during dry periods.

There are plans to manage the Lower Common pond as a "seasonal pond" as there is no water feed to it anymore.  The Clerk is in negotiation with the Norfolk Coast Partnership with this. the pond has been surveyed and is found that the clay substrate is quite thin which leaks water.  The intention is to improve the substrate to help sustain water levels for longer periods.

Also Top Common pond is to have some restoration work.  Some of the sedge and reed with roots will be removed to clear the outlet pipes.  This cannot be done until after the wildlife and growing season.

People are understandably concerned about the Lower Common pond.  Originally the pond was fed by an open ditch.  This can be seen in some of our old photographs.  This ditch was eventually covered over and the pond was fed by an overflow from the Top Common pond.

Sometime in the eighties this piped feed was diverted into the main surface water drainage system and since then the pond has been drying up.  2018 is an exceptionally dry season.

Both ponds have been surveyed by conservationists and the Top Common pond found to be dead, meaning that it has no wildlife and is simply a duck pond as it now receives the run-off diverted into it from the roads with all the detritus that comes with it and pollution from the geese.  If the feed were to be re-instated to the lower pond, then that would become dead also.  It is unlikely that Anglian Water would agree to this work as it isn’t a conservation area.

The Lower Common pond however has been full of wildlife.  Plants, a bees nest, tadpoles and frogs in spring before the drought have been seen along with various insects.

There are plans to manage it as a seasonal pond and maintain this wildlife.

The Lower Common Pond has a clay substrate which holds the water.  If this is damaged then water would drain more quickly.  Conservationist survey confirmed that it is only one inch thick and therefore would need improving.  When this is done the pond will hold water for longer.

The Parish Council is intending to get this done.  Of course this can only be done when the pond is dry and at the end or before the beginning of seasons and is dependent on the weather.

Environmental issues must be conformed with also.  The landowner is in agreement with the Parish Council work proposed.

POLICE SURGERIES

Owing partly to poor response and cuts the surgeries will not be taking place for the foreseeable future.  We no longer have a representative attending Parish Council meetings.

Playing Field

Allotments

Monitoring is continuing and for untidy plots, tenancies will be considered for termination.  

A field near the Moyes Close allotment site has been sold.  This will not affect the plots which are used on this site as it has been separated from the allotments.  The field was previously unused and had laid fallow being only a drain on the finances of the Parish Council.  . 

Planning considered at recent meetings.

Planning can be found on the minutes page in detail for the last meeting.
Finance at recent meetings.

Income and invoices with bank balance can be found in detail in the minutes for meetings.  See minute page.

RUNTON PARISH HISTORY SOCIETY:    There is now a much larger display of our photographs and "The Runtonian" (a magazine produced by the school in 1924) at The parish office The Reading Room East Runton.

The book "The Runtons Past and Present" is available and features old photographs alongside the new ones of the same views as near as possible with narration on each picture.  Priced £6.99 it is available at good book shops and in our local shops at East and West Runton.  Also from the Clerk during opening hours at the Reading Room office.