VILLAGE LIAISON MINUTES
January 2006
The minutes of the December Liaison Committee
Agriculture Division
Stoke Ferry Feed Mill
VILLAGE LIAISON MINUTES
Wednesday 14th December 2005
Present: Ms Jacqueline Murfitt (Environmental Protection Officer, King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council)
Mr Matthew Ferrie (Parish Council representative)
Mrs Pat Holton (Village representative)
Ms Rachel Jones (Environment Agency)
Ms Trudy Mann (Parish Council)
Mrs Vicki-Maree Igglesden (GCFG)
Ms Helen McCaffery (Environment Agency)
Mr Mike Smith (GCFG)
Mr Ray Thompson (Editor, Village Pump)
1. Apologies
Apologies have been received from Mr Manley, Mr Moore, Mr Murphy and Mr Inskip.
2. Minutes of the previous meeting (7th September) and matters arising
The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.
Mr Thompson asked if page numbers could be added to the minutes.
3. Complaints received since the last meeting
Four complaints had been received by the Company since the last meeting. In summary these were as follows:
1 Hygiene Complaint
1 Pest Control Complaint
1 Transport Complaint
1 Noise Complaint
Two complaints had been received by the Borough Council.
1 Noise
1 Dust
Diary sheets had been sent out to the noise complainant but have not been returned thus the Borough Council assumes that the noise issues have been resolved and are no longer causing nuisance. The other complaint was for information only and no further action was necessary.
4. Noise
No further comments on noise.
5. Transport
Dealt with under general complaints.
6. Odour, dust & particulates
Mrs Holton raised the issue of red dust and commented that she had informally spoken to Mr Inskip regarding the re-appearance of red dust on the roofs.
Mrs Murfitt commented that the previous analysis of the roof deposits had found the presence of iron oxide (Rust) particles. When she inspected the clean air units at the stack monitoring exercise she found that one unit appeared rusty inside and had asked Favor Parker for a copy of their maintenance schedules in relation to the clean air units.
Mr Smith commented that capex had been submitted for approval to renew line 2 clean air unit. The approval process normally takes 6 months.
7. A.O.B.
Ms Mann asked if FV would comment on the rumours that are currently circulating the village as regards closure of the mill.
Mr Smith confirmed that there were no plans in the immediate future to close the mill, however, unfortunately due to both the loss of a major Customer and the difficult trading conditions brought on by higher feed, fuel and utilities costs, Stoke Ferry regrettably would be making 11 redundancies in the New Year. These will be 9 in Transport, 1 in Operations and 1 in Customer Services. It is estimated that the mill will be producing approx. 6000 tonnes per week starting in the New Year, a reduction of 20% of its capacity. It is estimated that 3 shifts per week will be utilised for maintenance and hygiene tasks. The Company is currently reviewing when these shifts will be. Mr Smith also confirmed that one of the roles to be made redundant is the Health & Safety Manager and local Management with the support of the area Health & Safety Team would deal with that all site Health & Safety/Environment issues in the future.
Mrs Holton on behalf of the committee would like to thank Mr Inskip for all his help and support.
Mr Ferrie asked what the Company's intentions were regarding the Dukes Head, is it to be sold to Contractors? Mr Smith acknowledged that a local Estate Agent had viewed the property but was not aware of any further progress.
Mr Ferrie enquired about Christmas/New Year working arrangements, Mr Smith replied the intention is for the mill to close as early as possible on the Christmas Eve and to re-open the day after Boxing Day, however this is subject to customer requirements and co-operation. The mill will close on New Years Eve and re-open 6pm New Years Day
Ms Mann asked what the plans were regarding the plot of land next to the playing fields, Mr Smith replied that there were no immediate plans for the land as it was low priority, however if the playing field had a proposal they contact him.
Mr Thompson asked who is going to chair future meetings, Ms McCaffery commented that the Environment Agency did not see the role of chairing the meeting as being part of their relationship with the Company.
There was a discussion as to whether the Parish Council or the Borough Council EPO was the most suitable alternative. To be discussed at the next meeting.
Mr Thompson reported that he had received no nominations for the position of village representative advertised in the Village pump. There was then a discussion on the desired level of representation and the most suitable size of the committee. The following points were agreed:
At present there are five representatives resident in the village (Mrs Holton, Mr Thompson, Mr Ferrie, Ms Mann and Mr White);
Public bodies represented in the meeting are the Parish Council, the Borough Council, the Borough Council Environmental Protection Office and the Environment Agency;
The Parish Council attends the meeting to represent the interests of the community as a whole, it was agreed that to avoid the meeting becoming a committee of committees other groups within the village would not be approached for representatives. Any comments for the meeting may be addressed through the existing representatives or to directly to the chairperson;
Private bodies represented in the meeting are Favor Parker Ltd and the Village Pump (as publishers of the minutes);
It was felt that the present size of the meeting was appropriate;
As no nominations were received for village representative the meetings would continue with the current attendees, this will be reviewed again in 6 months time.
8. Date of Next Meeting
The following dates were agreed for meetings in 2006
Wednesday 1st March at 2.30 pm
Wednesday 7th June time to be agreed
Wednesday 6th September time to be agreed
Wednesday 6th December time to be agreed
All meetings will be held at The Hall.
Alastair Inskip