Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held at the Village Hall on Monday, 1st July 2024 at 7.30pm.
- Present
- Cllr D Turner (Chair), Cllr K Wilkinson, Cllr M Mann, Cllr S Budd
- In Attendance
- Mrs J Blackburn – Clerk, Cllr N Hardingham – District Council
ES32/24/25 – To Receive Apologies of Absence
Apologies had been received from Cllr Gillett and Cllr Stanford.
ES33/24/25 – To Receive Declarations of Interest
None had been received.
ES34/24/25 – To Receive Applications for Dispensation
None had been received.
ES35/24/25 – To Approve the Minutes of the Meeting Held on 7th May 2024
It was AGREED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 7th May 2024 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
ES36/24/25 – Public Forum
No members of the public were present.
ES37/24/25 – To Receive the County Councillor’s Report – Cllr Hicks
Cllr Hicks was not present at the meeting and a report had not been received.
ES38/24/25 – To Receive the District Councillor’s Report – Cllr Hardingham
Cllr Hardingham’s report had been circulated prior to the meeting and would be published on the village website.
Cllr Hardingham had nothing further to report.
Cllr Turner showed Cllr Hardingham an aerial photograph of The Range building on Gateway 14, which showed that the solar panels on the roof did not total 25% which had been previously reported.
In relation to item 11 on the Agenda, Cllr Hardingham was aware of the concerns in relation to the Shepherd and Dog public house, with people staying overnight in the building, the storage of a large amount of equipment and the red bus which was permanently parked in the car park. He stated that he would look into the raised concerns and also would confirm whether the pub was listed as an Asset of Community Value, which was believed to be the case.
In relation to item 10 on the Agenda – Cllr Turner informed Cllr Hardingham and members that Cllr Gillett had stated that his plan was to have a first draft of the Parish Council’s response on the website by the end of the week in advance of the next public meeting, which was due to be held on 10th July 2024. He was also hoping to use photoshop’s AI to show a 50m pylon on a photo of the Village Green that Tony Turner had taken.
ES39/24/25 – To Receive the Clerk’s Report and Financial Matters
a) Clerk’s Report
The Clerk reported that Cindy Stiff had given notice of her intent to discontinue her tenancy of her garden allotment from October 2024. The Clerk confirmed that another resident had agreed to take over the allotment and the relevant Tenancy Agreement would be sent nearer the time.
The Clerk also reported that Mrs Arnold had also given notice of her intent to discontinue her tenancy with her field allotment from October 2024. Currently, there had been no interest in the allotment with no waiting list. Members felt that the best way forward would be to advertise the allotment in the Recorder and via the Village Email List.
It was AGREED: That the Clerk send Cllr Turner the details of the allotment for a note to be circulated advertising the allotment.
The Clerk reported that Cllr Stanford, on behalf of the Parochial Church Council, had wished her to ask the Parish Council if they could contribute towards the cost of a replacement Church Noticeboard for the Village Green following the removal of the previous board during the ditch works at the Green.
Members were happy to contribute 50% of the costs for a new board.
Cllr Turner stated that Tony Turner had offered to make a new board with the costs of materials being reimbursed. She would liaise with Cllr Stanford to see if the Church would be happy for this option.
It was AGREED: That the Parish Council pay 50% of the cost towards the new noticeboard with the funds being taken from the CiL pot. Clerk to action.
The Clerk reported that a resident of The Green had reported parts of the Green not being cut by Vertas. Members asked the Clerk to liaise with Vertas and ask that they resume cutting all of the Green as had been done in the past. Clerk to action.
b) To Receive the Clerk’s Financial Report
The Clerk reported on the Council’s current financial position and movements since the last meeting. It was reported that the balance in the accounts on 24th June 2024 was £9,653.12.
c) To Authorise Payments and Note Receipts
The Clerk reported the following payments be authorised:
- Jennie Blackburn - Clerk's Pay (May) - £254.45
- Jennie Blackburn - Clerk's Pay (Jun) - £254.45
- Jennie Blackburn - Clerk's Office Allowance/Exp (Jun) - £26.00
- Jennie Blackburn - Clerk's Pay (Jul) - £254.45
- Jennie Blackburn - Clerk's Office Allowance/Exp (Jul) - £39.85
- Tony Turner - Paper reimbursement for Public Meeting - £29.88
- Suffolk Cloud - Hosting - website & email boxes x 2 - £170.00
- MSDC - Bin Emptying - £468.14
- Vertas Group Ltd - Grass Cutting – Jul-Sept 24 - £415.56
- D Turner - Recorder Expenses 2023/24 - £35.00
It was AGREED: That payments totaling £1,947.78 be approved.
It was noted that no receipts had been received.
d) Bank Reconciliation
Cllr Mann confirmed that he had checked the relevant documents in relation to the bank reconciliation.
It was AGREED: That the Bank Reconciliation be approved.
e) Budget Monitoring Report
It was AGREED: That the Budget Monitoring report be noted.
f) Financial Regulations
The Clerk reported that following the new Financial Regulations received from the National Association of Local Councils, many changes had taken place and she was working through those changes. Some parts of the Financial Regulations would need the input of the Parish Council before they were formally adopted, which would be completed via email.
The Regulations would then be brought to a future meeting of the Parish Council for formal adoption.
ES40/24/25 – Planning Applications
Ref: DC/24/02766 - Full Planning Application - Conversion of stable/storage building to form 1No dwelling (revised proposal to DC/23/04394) Location: Alvor Cottage Stables, Stearns Lane, Earl Stonham
It was AGREED: That the Parish Council had no objections to the application. Clerk to action.
ES41/24/25 - Planning Decisions
No decisions had been received.
ES42/24/25 – Greening of the Great Grid
This item had been discussed earlier in the meeting.
ES43/24/25 – Shepherd and Dog
This item had been discussed earlier in the meeting.
ES44/24/25 – Speeding
Cllr Gillett had notified Cllr Turner prior to the meeting an update from the Community Speedwatch Team which stated that during June and to date, it was clear that when the electronic speed sign was in place at either end of the village, a considerable reduction of some 50% in those speeding had been recorded.
The Parish Council were therefore asked by the Community Speedwatch team to consider obtaining quotations for permanent Speed Indicator Devices (SID) at one or both ends of the village to increase awareness as currently the SID was shared with other parishes and was in situ on occasions.
It was AGREED: That the Clerk obtain quotations for SIDs and report back to the next meeting.
ES45/24/25 - Footpaths
Members noted that many of the footpaths were overgrown and complaints had been received from various residents, which had been reported to the Highways Rights of Way Team.
Cllr Turner reported that the next Footpath Walk would be the Red Route and would be held at 2pm on 22nd September 2024.
ES46/24/25 – Update on the Village Hall
Cllr Turner reported that more planings had been laid to the car park as had signage that the car park was only to be used by people using the hall.
She added that the maintenance week had been a success and wishes to thank all those involved.
Cllr Wilkinson reported that the Wildflower area was doing very well this year.
ES47/24/25 - Matters to be Brought to the Attention of the Council
- Rev Philip Payne was due to retire on 10th August with his last service being on 28th July at 4pm at Stonham Aspal.
- Hedgerow on School Lane very overgrown – resident needs to be contacted.
- Tuddenham Press, who print the Recorder, have merged with another company. They had notified Cllr Turner that whilst costs would remain the same a delivery charge would be payable of £8 per delivery.
ES48/24/25 – Date of Next Meeting
Monday, 2nd September 2024 at 7.30pm
The meeting finished at 8.55pm.
Chairman: …………………………………………… Dated: …………………………………………