Present
- Present
- Councillors Richard Morris (Chairman), Stephen Russell (Vice Chairman), Will Draper, Roy Woodfine, Nick Harvey, Bill Woodhall.
- Also present
- Carole Rose (Clerk to the Council), 5 members of the public.
1. Welcome From The Chairman
Councillor Morris welcomed everyone to the Annual Parish Meeting.
2. Minutes Of The Annual Parish Meeting Held On 9 May 2023
The minutes had previously been circulated. It was agreed these were an accurate record of the meeting and were therefore signed by the Chairman.
Reports
- Report from Badwell Ash Parish Council - Councillor Morris read his report out at the meeting (report attached).
- Report from Richard Winch, District Councillor – due to its length, the report was not read out but would be filed with these minutes. (report attached).
- Report from Andy Mellen, Suffolk County Councillor – due to its length, the report was not read out but would be filed with these minutes. (report attached).
- Report from the PCC (Stephen Rose, Churchwarden) – The Clerk read out the report. (report attached).
- Report from the History Group – The Clerk read out a report on behalf of Ed Walsh, the Chair of the History Society (report attached).
- Report from the Village Hall - A report was read out by Clive Hawkins, Chairman of the Trustees (report attached).
- Reports from Badwell Ash Church Charity and Badwell Ash United Charities (Stephen Rose, Trustee) – the Clerk read out the report. (report attached).
- Report from Mrs Midge Hawkins, President of the WI – This report was read out by the Clerk (report attached).
- Public Forum – No matters raised.
The meeting closed at 7.30pm
Carole Rose
Parish Clerk
25 May 2024
Chairman's Report
The Parish Council has had another busy year with improvements made to both Badwell Ash and Long Thurlow villages with more facilities improved now that we are just about ‘back to normal’ after 3 very disruptive years.
With the generous contributions from the District CIL pot, we have been able to achieve the following for the village:
- The second stage of the play ground which includes a table tennis table, basketball hoop and 4 pieces of adult exercise equipment has now been installed. This has proved very popular already.
- We have installed a second solar lamppost in the village hall car park which helps lighting in the winter months without being intrusive to the neighbouring properties.
- The Parish Council has also purchased the village hall drive from a property developer and erected two telegraph poles which has enabled broadband to be installed by the VHC in the village hall. This asset alone will prove very helpful to all who use the village hall facilities.
- We have also contributed £10,000 to the VHC which they have used to install new heaters in the small hall and replace old windows with modern UPVC versions.
One of the largest projects the Parish Council is currently committed to is the Neighbourhood Plan. This project was started in the Autumn of last year and hopefully will be completed in the Summer of 2025. This will prove a very valuable document for the Parish and it has been gratifying to have so many residents help and contribute to this. A special vote of thanks must go to the NP Sub-Group who have volunteered to take this project on with a huge time commitment involved. We are very grateful to them all.
I am delighted to say that the Parish Council is at full strength at the moment – heading into a General Election as well – and we very much hope to continue our good work within the village over the next 12 months.
As you will no doubt be aware we have submitted a planning application for a Multi Use Games Area on some of the land kindly donated by Roy Le Grice. While some residents are against this proposition, many others who have recently moved into the village think it will be a brilliant asset. The Parish Council have decided to await the outcome and advice of Mid Suffolk District Council on these plans and will then arrange a public open day so all residents will have the chance to make their comments and observations in person. A final decision will be made taking everyone’s opinions into consideration as to what is best for the Parish.
Lastly I must thank my fellow Parish Councillors for their unwavering support over this last year, which is all voluntary, and the Clerk who always does far more than she should!!
RM
23 May 2024