Parish Council Meeting Minutes -

Present: Councillors Richard Morris (RM) (Chairman), Clive Hawkins (CH), Clive Morris (CM), Stephen Russell (SR), Lesley Yates (LY). County Councillor Andy Mellen (AM) and District Councillor Richard Meyer (RMe).

Public Forum

Two members of the public in attendance.

Mrs Janet de Vries wished to record formal thanks to Cllr Mellen for his help regarding the ongoing problems in Back Lane with road surfaces, potholes, pavements and general parking albeit acknowledging that it is unlikely that any changes can be achieved with regards to the cars and parking in that area.

No requests for additional agenda items for the next Agenda.
Cllr Mellen highlighted his ongoing task with Anglian Water to try and establish how much effluent is being deposited in our local rivers and waterways. A motion was passed within SCC to improve the situation and to meet Government standards. He also asked for the PC’s help in signing a petition to get the County Council to consider an in-house bid for the Suffolk Highways contract. The current charges from Kier are astronomical and Cllr Mellen wants to see Suffolk taxpayers getting value for money.
Cllr Meyer announced proposal to a revitalise the Stowmarket Sports Centre if funding can be agreed by MSDC next month. He also talked about the controversial project to install new high voltage electricity pylons from Norwich down to Essex and said the MSDC had written strong objections to the National Grid.

Apologies

Diane Donat (DD) – health reasons approved.

Declarations of Interest and Requests for Dispensations

None
None.

Minutes

The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 10 May 2022 were approved and signed by the Chairman.
None.

Clerk’s Report and Correspondence

The Clerk reported receiving many emails from one resident regarding potential funding for the new cemetery. The Chairman has subsequently spoken to the Vicar about the tactics used to voice financial demands both by email and via social media and confirmed that the present format would cease. The Parish Council remain willing to try and help the Parochial Church Council with a potential CIL grant next October when the next round of funding is released. It has been confirmed by our legal advisers and the Suffolk Association of Local Councils that the Parish Council is unable to use its own general funding for financial matters connected with the church. The Clerk requested holiday dates from the Parish Councillors over the Summer/Autumn period in order to assess the viability of future parish council meetings to be quorate. The Clerk reported that there had been no applications for a grant to become a First Responder as advertised in the recent copy of the Broadsheet.
The Chairman produced a mock-up of a Jubilee Broadsheet he had had prepared and asked for agreement from the Councillors present to have 450 copies printed and delivered to all residents by the existing Village Hall voluntary team for £98 ex VAT. It is hoped that this publication containing reports and photographs of the Platinum Jubilee will serve as a memento to all residents. Approved
The Chairman described his proposals for a total revamp of the existing bi-monthly Broadsheet to try and modernise this publication. The possibility of including adverts to help with costs would be considered plus a wider inclusion of editorial matters. The Chairman agreed to contact Sarah Brown and thank her for her very valuable contribution over the last few years but stated it was time for a change to bring Badwell Ash into line with the surrounding villages. The deadline for the next Broadsheet would have been 16 July and the Chairman hoped to honour this date with the new Editorial Team. Whilst no costs were mentioned for each production of the magazine, the Councillors were willing to explore the future of a revamp.
The Clerk reported that the Badwell Ash village sign (which had blown down during the storms at the beginning of the year) had been mended, repainted and re-erected with very grateful thanks to Mr Richard Pratt for his generosity in arranging this.
The vacancy for a new Parish Councillor had been registered with MSDC and, provided there was no request for an election before 14 June, the Parish Council could commence their own co-option process for filling this vacancy.
The Clerk highlighted the need for Mrs Yates to undertake 6 modules of Councillor training and for Mr R Morris to undertake Chairman training. This training was approved within our Budget for this financial year and so the Clerk will arrange the registration of this.

Environment

Cllr Hawkins described the Village Hall’s proposals for a Jubilee tree to be bought and planted in recognition of the Platinum Jubilee. He suggested a Prunus (flowering cherry) would be an appropriate size costing around £90. The metal fence guard for this tree would be £300 and a plaque with the appropriate wording attached would be approx. £30. Approved
The Clerk reported that the final order, to meet ROSPA’s guidelines and specifications for children’s playgrounds, had been placed and the work would be taking place during the first week of August. Funds for this expense had been previously agreed at a Parish Council meeting. Following the successful provision of this fencing, the Clerk reported that a children’s play equipment specialist had intimated that there was potentially room for two further pieces of children’s play equipment suitable for the 2-12 age group. Once Stage 1 of the PC’s plans for the playground had been completed, it was envisaged that we could move on to Stage II for older children using a tranche of our CIL money. Approved
The Clerk confirmed that the order for a Defibrillator and a solar powered cabinet had been ordered for Long Thurlow but it was likely to be September before it was delivered. The Clerk recorded grateful thanks to Cllr Mellen for transferring £1400 of his Locality budget for this project.
The progress on the village gates for Long Thurlow was very slow with only one fairly expensive quote being received. The Chairman and Mr Roy Woodfine agreed to contact another source to establish whether they could undertake this project on our behalf. To be followed up at the July meeting.
The Chairman reported that he had now fully restored the Long Thurlow noticeboard which would in future be located in the bus shelter in Long Thurlow. Mr Woodfine very kindly agreed to install this on our behalf and would liaise with the Chairman over collection at their convenience. The Chairman anticipated that his expenses for materials in this connection would be approximately £80. It is hoped that with regular treatment and maintenance the noticeboard would never deteriorate to the same extent again.
Mr E Walsh, whilst no longer being a Parish Councillor, has very generously agreed to continue to record the figures from the two SIDs within the village for which the Parish Council was very grateful. The speeding figures would be displayed in the village noticeboards for all residents to see and hopefully also in the new style Broadsheet.
Cllr Hawkins gave an update on the new windows and front doors to the Village Hall which had proved to be a great success and visually pleasing. There was still a list of items needing attention and repair and Cllr Hawkins would be working with the contractors to provide quotations for the individual elements as soon as possible so funding could be sought from the various channels.
Cllr Russell had very kindly agreed to tackle the two weighty topics of a new Neighbourhood Plan and a Parish Investment Plan. Both were large pieces of work and it is hoped to establish a sub-committee to help along with employing external consultants to drive the plans. Cllr Meyer agreed to forward the best contact within MSDC in order to help Cllr Russell begin the process. The PIIP plan identifies the infrastructure and investment needs of the community and can assist the PC in its spending decision making for infrastructure projects and CIL funding. Infrastructure is under three broad headings Physical, such as Highways, Social such as Community Halls (Not maintenance) and Green, such as Play areas. Other Parish Councils have adopted a standard business approach by firstly drawing up the Neighbourhood Plans, which remains the overarching planning document then the PIIP underpins the NHP at a working level, examples of other published PIIPs, show that this plan shows how the PC manages the infrastructure projects and what it spends through the precept and CIL funding.
The purpose of a Neighbourhood Plan (NHP) is to provide a vision for the future of Badwell Ash & Long Thurlow which should set out clear planning policies to realise this vision. The NHP should guide development within the Parish and provide guidance for anyone wishing to submit a planning application for development within the Parish. The process for the NHP will involve consultation with the community as widely as possible and may identify some actions which are not specifically related to land use matters, these will continue to be addressed by the PC. The first stage is an application to MSDC to define the boundary of the Neighbourhood Plan under the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, which includes an OS map of the Neighbourhood boundaries which can be viewed on their website. Other similar sized Parishes to Badwell Ash such as Walsham le Willows have gone through the NHP community consultation stage of the process from which the initiatives used Badwell Ash can usefully adapt to fit the Community needs. Each of the published NHP plans have made use of a NHP Steering group which would include PC members and Community representatives. Cllr Meyer advised that NHP plans should be updated every two years to remain current and outlined that MSDC would advise and help Badwell Ash start the NHP process which could also include access to some funding for the community consultation. Cllr Meyer agreed to provide the MSDC point of contact details.
The Parish Council had only received one suggestion for viable projects for our recently acquired CIL monies. The list of suggestions was mostly nature and animal related and the lady would be asked to attend the July PC meeting to further discuss, price and implement her suggestions. Cllr Yates requested that we improve the look of our village by making it ‘pretty’ by installing wildflowers and tubs/bins within the parish. She was asked to investigate the viability of this with suggestions, options and prices and bring it back to the PC meeting in July for further discussion.
Cllr Yates had requested a new dog bin on the border of Langham Parish. The Parish Council had, over the last year, more than exceeded its budget on buying new dog and litter bins so it was suggested that we could possibly re-site one of our existing bins to accommodate the dog walkers.

Planning

Progress of recent planning applications are as follows:

DC/21/05933 Highbanks, Back Lane, Badwell Ash, IP31 3DW – APPLICATION REFUSED

To consider a planning application request letter relating to planning application DC/22/02370 Broadway Bungalow, The Broadway, Badwell Ash, IP31 3DR. The Councillors recorded no objections to this planning application.
To consider a re-submission for planning consultation request letter relating to planning application DC/22/02601 – 5 The Paddocks, Badwell Ash, IP31 3LW. The Councillors recorded the same objections to the third-floor roof extension as for the previous application, which was withdrawn by the applicants, for the following reasons: invasion of privacy; overdevelopment; not in keeping with the surrounding area; loss of enjoyment in adjacent private gardens.
To consider a planning consultation request letter relating to planning application DC/22/02171 – 20 St Mary’s Crescent, Badwell Ash, IP31 3DN. The Councillors had no objections to this planning application provided that it adhered to the current legislation regarding ‘holiday lets’.
To consider a re-consultation for planning application DC/21/06564 – Cadogan House, The Street, Long Thurlow. The Parish Councillors recorded no objections to this planning application and their views are unchanged from the initial consultation in January 2022. Furthermore a precedent already exists with the neighbouring properties both having sheds/garages at the bottom of their gardens; therefore this application conforms.

Finance, Governance and Policies

The Councillors considered the issue of the following payments:

£279.80 – May salaries
£45.10 – Broadsheet June/July
£120.00 – Suffolk Cloud website hosting
£115.00 – M Saunders Internal Auditor
£270.00 - M&TJs grass cutting
£744.66 – MSDC Litter and dog bin emptying
£41.99 – Clerk’s expenses
£2844.00 – Village Hall part-funding for double doors and 2 windows

Resolved: It was resolved that these payments could be made. The Chairman signed an approval for these to be paid by BACS.

The Clerk reported that the accounts for 2021/2022 had been approved and signed off by our Internal Auditor. They have now been sent to the External Auditor and we await their decision.
The Clerk had submitted the annual VAT reclaim form and we have recently received the full amount of £3346.
The Clerk had updated our Policies and Procedures document to include the recently approved Councillors’ Code of Conduct. The Chairman signed the master copy.
The Chairman described his vision for the future of the Parish Council in so much as he wished for Councillors to have a secondary role or become a member of a sub-committee going forward. It is hoped that this would be more streamline and save all Councillors having to comment on all subjects individually, thereby making our Parish Council meeting more pertinent both in terms of time and efficiency.
The Chairman described his views on the introduction of new topics to include actions/project plans, the future of communication and governance and the possible re-writing or modernisation of our Policies and Procedures manual.

Next Meeting

Date of next Parish Council Meeting – Tuesday 12 July 2022.

Dates for Parish Council Meetings 2022 – 2nd Tuesday of the month 9 Aug (if needed), 13 Sept, 11 Oct, 8 Nov, 13 Dec

Carole Rose, Parish Clerk
20 June 2022

Parish Council Meeting Minutes