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North Lopham Annual Open Meeting – May 10th 2006

Notes of some of the main points arising from the meeting, pending publication of full minutes at a later date.

All Parish Councillors, the Clerk and 13 members of the public were in attendance

Mains Drainage:

Brian Frith (Chair of the Parish Council) read an e-mail from the Asset Development Manager at Anglian Water:

‘I can confirm that that the North Lopham sewerage project has been included in the proposed programme for completion by 31 March 2010.  Detailed design will begin this financial year with a start on site expected by April 2009, subject to planning and environmental considerations’.

In a follow-up e-mail, a few more details were given:

‘We normally allow a two-year period for detailed design, planning applications, environmental surveys and landowner consultations before construction can commence. The construction of the project will take between six and nine months, depending upon the traffic requirements.

Anglian Water's policy regarding connection to the sewer is that if a property owner agrees to connect to the new sewer at the time of construction, we will provide a pipe to the boundary of the property and waive construction costs and also the infrastructure connection charge (currently £260 + VAT). The only cost to the property owner will be the cost of laying pipes in private garden to connect to the pipe we provide and filling of the existing septic tank or cesspool - we advise that people seek quotations from local builders nearer the time, but budgeting on £40/m will give a ball-park figure. Private drainage should be in an adequate state of repair before connecting to the public sewer and not include any surface water i.e. from roofs or yards.

If connection to the sewer is not made at the time of construction, the future costs would be that as above plus the infrastructure charge and the cost of connecting to the public sewer in the road, including highway notices and reinstatement costs - normally several thousand pounds.

If a householder decides not to connect and his or her existing non-main drainage system is contributing, or likely to contribute, to an environmental or amenity problem, the Environment Agency or the local authority may take action to remedy the problem. The local authority could request connection to a public sewer if it is available within 30 metres of the premises.

I hope that is sufficient information in the meantime - if necessary we can attend a future parish meeting to fully explain in more detail.’

Gary Parsons, Asset Development Manager, Anglian Water.                         May 2006

The Pond (Letchmere):

Brian Frith detailed the investigations and enquiries which had been made to date, and said that the considered conclusions were as follows:

 

Other issues:

 

The Parish Council agreed to take up these matters with the appropriate authorities.