Badwell Ash Parish Council Meeting Minutes

Meeting Date:

Summary
This summary is generated by AI and may contain errors. It does not form part of the official minutes.
Exciting changes are coming to our highways services as M Group Services takes over this autumn, promising better quality and value. We're also thrilled to announce a council tax freeze for the coming year. Plus, a new street cleaner will be trialed in Badwell Ash to keep our village tidy.
Present
Councillors Richard Morris, Chair (RM), Stephen Russell, Vice Chair (SR), Will Draper (WD), Maciej Siarkowski (MS), Roy Woodfine (RW), County Councillor Andy Mellen (AM) and District Councillor Rick Meyer (RMe).

Public Forum

  1. Nick Harvey – prospective Parish Councillor.
  2. No requests for additional agenda items for the next Agenda.
  3. Cllr Mellen’s monthly report was circulated to Councillors. Cllr Mellen confirmed that Kier (the contracted highways services firm) finish in the Autumn. They will be replaced by M Group Services who hopefully will provide a superior and more reasonably priced highway services contract.
  4. Cllr Meyer’s report was circulated. Cllr Meyer confirmed the District Council’s council tax freeze for the coming year. Cllr Meyer is stepping down at the Local Elections on 4 May 2023 and the Parish Councillors recorded their thanks for all Cllr Meyer has done over the past 4 years.

Apologies

None.

Declarations of Interest and Requests for Dispensations

  1. None
  2. None

Minutes

  1. The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 14 February were approved and signed by the Chairman.
  2. None.

Clerk’s Report and Correspondence

The Clerk gave a verbal summary of the tasks dealt with this month which are not separate agenda items viz; update on village hall drive purchase; concrete blocks on verge in Langham Road; moles in children’s playground plus damaged yellow entrance gate; new CPR session on 28 March run by SARS; new grit bin adjacent to White Horse following damage to existing; update from VHC re permission to commence Stage 2 of playground.

  1. Completion of Parish Councillor nomination forms by all to be completed at the end of this meeting.
  2. It was agreed to employ the new street cleaner for a trial 3 months (2 hours per week) in Badwell Ash as a starting point. This will be reviewed in due course in relation to adding Long Thurlow plus further hours dependent on available finance.
  3. Winter Warm Fridays will cease on 31 March 2023 at the completion of the project run by the Parish Council. Cllr Russell would be submitting a piece for this month’s Broadsheet on the Winter Warm project.
  4. The Councillors agreed to a request from the Parish Council in Walsham le Willows for a £25 donation towards the cost of legal advice in relation to the planning objection submitted to West Suffolk District Council re the Jaynic/Stanton planning proposals. All surrounding Parish Councils had also been asked to donate. Approval was given to the Clerk to expedite.
  5. The draft Social Media and Communications policy was deferred until the May meeting.
  6. The Stage 2 playground project was deferred until June for further discussion. The Chairman would arrange for a drone flight over the playing field to assess the land.
  7. The Councillors discussed the need for a new .org domain name plus individual email accounts for each Parish Councillor. They decided not to proceed with this suggestion but to continue with all correspondence being through the main email address to the Clerk. This was preferable for ease of monitoring and safety of each Parish Councillor’s own liabilities.
  8. In addition to Cllr Russell’s piece above, the Clerk would submit a small piece on the upcoming election in May plus an update on the bird boxes and 3 Parish Councillor vacancies due to our increased allocation from MSDC.

Environment

  1. Cllr Russell gave an update on the NP which will include a Zoom call next week with a Planning Consultant re next steps. There was a choice as to whether to continue with the original lengthy NP or to go for a shorter and lighter version of a NP which did not carry the same benefits as the full plan. A decision will be made following the Zoom meeting which would be attended by the Chairman and Vice Chairman.
  2. The PC needs to re-site and level the flower troughs asap and fill with compost in readiness for planting up in the coming weeks. The dog litter bin from the wood yard to be re-sited on the finger post adjacent to Durham House also.
  3. Cllr Draper described his findings and thoughts re putting on a Badwell Ash Festival in 2024. This would involve a lot of work and many volunteers. It was decided that this project would be operated by Cllr Draper with a sub-group reporting back to the PC as and when. It was suggested that Tony Turp be approached for his advice and possible help. Cllr Woodfine offered to help Cllr Draper.
  4. The new life ring, post and rope had been delivered to the Gun Club in Back Lane and would be erected as soon as the weather permitted.
  5. The Clerk had delivered the House Martin boxes to the residents who had requested one last year. The bat boxes were due for delivery this week and lastly the owl boxes were in the process of construction. It is hoped to fully conclude this project by June 2023.
  6. It was agreed to arrange another Great British Spring Clean Litter Pick again this year. This would take place on Saturday 15 April from 10.00 – 12.00. Meeting points would be at the Village Hall in Badwell Ash and at the Bus Shelter in Long Thurlow. Cllr Woodfine would handle the LT operation as he had separate equipment in the village.
  7. The purchase of the Village Hall drive had not progressed as yet due to the unavailability of a land registry plan from the solicitors. The Clerk continues to chase for a successful outcome.

Planning

Progress of recent planning applications are as follows:

EN/23/00027 – Land West of Richer Road, Badwell Ash – No further action to be taken.

Finance, Governance and Policies

  1. The Councillors considered the issue of the following payments:
    • £630.88 - February salaries
    • £64.59 - New life ring and rope for lake at the Gun Club
    • £116.00 – Village Hall hire from December to March 2023.
    • £4590.00 – Prolectric solar lighting at the village hall
    • £888.00 – C&L Construction, concrete pads for playground and LT defib
    • £49.99 – Norton Anti Virus software for PC computer.
    • £300.45 – Clerk’s expenses for March (including bird and bat boxes)
    • £5.00 – HSBC monthly charge
    It was resolved that these payments could be made. The Chairman signed an approval for these to be paid by BACS. The Clerk also requested permission to deal with any outstanding invoices received before 31 March 2023 in liaison with the Chairman and Vice Chairman to ensure a satisfactory end of year bank balance. Approval given.
  2. The Precept submission had been adjusted to an increased figure for the Parish Council whilst producing a 0% council tax increase to each and every household in the parish. The Councillors were very satisfied with this outcome.
  3. The Clerk shared the final CIL annual expenditure calculations with the Councillors. This was unanimously approved and then signed by the Chairman. A copy would be sent to MSDC CIL department and a copy posted on the Badwell Ash website. It was acknowledged that the improvements made possible to the facilities and equipment within the villages had been greatly appreciated by use of these funds.

Next Meeting

Date of next Parish Council Meeting – 11 April 2023

Carole Rose, Parish Clerk
16 March 2023

Dates of Meetings in 2023 - 10 January, Tuesday 14 February, Tuesday 14 March, Tuesday 11 April, Tuesday 9 May (AGM and Annual Parish Meeting), Tuesday 13 June, Tuesday 11 July, Tuesday 8 August (if needed), Tuesday 12 September, Tuesday 10 October, Tuesday 14 November, Tuesday 12 December.

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