Parish Council Meeting Minutes -

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

Public Forum

Seven members of the public in attendance.

A request was made to enquire whether it was possible to hold a class car show on the village green fronting St Mary’s Crescent.

Complaints were noted regarding overhanging hedges and shrubs impeding the pavements for walkers, pushchairs and wheelchairs.

No requests for additional agenda items for the next Agenda.
Cllr Mellen’s monthly report was circulated. Cllr Mellen repeated his request for signatures to be added to the Suffolk Highways maintenance contract to bring this back inhouse due to Kier’s astronomical pricing structures. Cllr Mellen also highlighted that the weak bridge on the A1088 was unlikely to be attended to before 2023 and more likely it would be 2024. This could have an effect of HGVs, over 7.5 tons, trying to find alternative roads to use, possibly through our villages.
Cllr Meyer’s report was circulated in his absence – no specific points were discussed.

Apologies

Clive Hawkins (CH), Diane Donat (DD) – health reasons approved. District Councillor Meyer - leave.

Declarations of Interest and Requests for Dispensations

None
None.

Minutes

The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 14 June 2022 were approved and signed by the Chairman.
The Clerk confirmed that a response had been sent to West Suffolk Planning regarding the Jaynic site at Stanton. Cllr Meyer had requested all the surrounding villages to respond.

Clerk’s Report and Correspondence

The Clerk reported that she had received a resignation letter from Councillor Diane Donat who has chosen to retire due to ill health. Cllr Donat was thanked by the Chair for her many years’ service and the Clerk would now begin the formal procedure to fill this new vacancy. It had been a busy month with various topics being reported to the Clerk – overhanging hedges; neighbourhood watch; fly tipping; complaint re noisy cockerel; damage to roundabout on children’s playground. All matters are being attended to and were either concluded or in process.
The Chairman reported the success of the coloured Platinum Jubilee brochure and said he had received many congratulatory remarks on its production.
The Chairman reported that, due to the success of the Jubilee brochure, the Parish Council would be following the same format and new coloured design for the Broadsheet which would continue to be bi-monthly for the time being. Sponsors would be sought to defer the extra costs involved and there was a possibility of paid adverts in the future. The new Editor, also called Sarah, would be happy to receive articles, photos and contributions from all sources connected with the village. The previous editor, Sarah, was thanked for her many years’ contribution to the original Broadsheet and wished everyone well with the future production. The costs would be £98 + VAT for the new four paged coloured newsletter.
The Clerk reported that there had been two applicants for the newly vacant post of Parish Councillor. A vote was therefore necessary with each existing Parish Councillor having one vote. The Clerk conducted the voting process and Mr Will Draper of Badwell Lodges was successfully voted onto the Council.

Environment

No further update from Cllr Hawkins regarding the Jubilee tree. This will be finalised in the Autumn which is a better time of the year for planting trees. All prices and descriptions remain the same.
The Clerk reported that, with the help of Cllr Mellen, our second tranche of streetlight upgrade was at long last back on the agenda and hopefully will be undertaken before the coming Winter. The Parish Council had accepted the quote for LED replacements back in 2020 but the contractors used by SCC had made no progress. SCC have now taken this project back in-house so were hopeful of a swifter conclusion.
No change to the Village Hall project list this month.
The Chairman will again chase the contractor for a quote and timeline for the installation of the Long Thurlow ‘gates’.
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. It is hoped to have this noticeboard re-sited after the summer holidays.
Councillor Russell had walked all of the footpaths in our parish and reported that the majority were in perfectly good order – just a couple needing attention. He would report one particular footpath to the Council to chase the landowner for action. No repairs had yet been undertaken to the broken finger posts which had been reported some months ago.
Cllr Russell had pre-prepared some initial notes and findings on the Neighbourhood Plan and PIIP to all councillors prior to this meeting (attached for reference). This is a long-term project and a sub-committee was formed to deal with this going forward. The Clerk was asked to arrange a Zoom meeting with Paul Bryant of MSDC to start the ball rolling. Reports would follow at intervals when necessary to keep everyone updated.
Katy Bowman had prepared a varied list of suggestions for potential CIL spending and shared a paper with pictures and prices for the Council’s consideration. The Parish Councillors proposed asking village residents for their opinion and wishes and would revisit this topic in the Autumn.
Cllr Yates wished to see the village enhanced with wildflowers in tubs and on verges. No figures or descriptions were available but she hoped that gardening volunteers could be persuaded to undertake this. Possibly a topic for inclusion in the Broadsheet.
As the budget for dog litter bins had been well exceeded for this current year, it was proposed to re-site an existing bin that was not so well used.

Planning

Progress of recent planning applications are as follows:

DC/21/06931 Land at Warren Far, The Street, Badwell Ash (discharge of planning conditions) – APPLICATION APPROVED.

To consider a re-submission for planning consultation request letter relating to planning application DC/22/02171 – 20 St Mary’s Crescent, Badwell Ash IP31 3DN. The Councillors considered the alterations to the plans and were in agreement that this should be approved providing that current legislation relating to a ‘lettable property’ were observed.
TDC/22/0987/EIASCO – Land at Shepherds Grove Industrial Estate – As requested by Councillor Meyer to all local villages, the Parish Council submitted a letter to WSDC outlining their grave concern regarding the increase of HGV and heavy traffic on village roads should this proposed plan go ahead.

Finance, Governance and Policies

The Councillors considered the issue of the following payments:

£280.00 – June salaries
£62.40 – Chairman’s SALC training
£3588.00 – Long Thurlow defibrillator and solar powered cabinet
£473.00 – Q! income tax
£128.00 – Village Hall hire fees 9/21 to 4/22
£38.99 – Clerk’s expenses

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

The Clerk had prepared an updated copy of the Parish Council’s Standing Orders as of June 2022. This will continue to be a separate document and will also be posted on our website.
The Clerk would work through the Council’s remaining Policies and Procedures over the next few months, updating them and publicising them on our website one at a time until the complete list was available.
The Chairman reiterated his request for Parish Councillors to have a secondary role on a Sub-Committee in addition to the regular monthly Parish Council meetings. So far Cllr Russell reported on Footpaths and had taken on the Neighbourhood Plan; Cllr Hawkins was responsible for Village Hall matters and Cllr C Morris for Long Thurlow matters.

Next Meeting

Date of next Parish Council Meeting – 13 September 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
15 July 2022

Parish Council Meeting Minutes