Pakenham Parish Council Minutes - Annual - 15th May 2000

Meeting of

PAKENHAM PARISH COUNCIL – ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

HELD ON 15th MAY 2000 AT PAKENHAM VILLAGE HALL AT 7.30p.m.

PRESENT: Cllr. D. Dorling (Chairman); Cllr. B. Chester; Cllr. H Painter; Cllr. A. Cox; Cllr. P. Smith; Cllr. L. Couper; Mr. M. Youngs, Secretary of Pakenham Charities; Mrs. V. White, Borough Councillor; Mr. J. Burrows, Hon. Sec., Bowls Club; Mr. A. Murton, representing the Buggy Club; P.C. J. Kidd; Mrs. P. Griffiths, Parish Clerk.

APOLOGIES: Apologies were received from Mrs. J. Mangnall, parish councillor.

MINUTES: The minutes of the meeting held on 26th April 1999 were signed as a true record.

MATTERS ARISING: There were no matters arising from the minutes.

POLICE REPORT: In order not to detain P.C. Kidd, the Chairman invited him to give his report early in the meeting. P.C. Kidd said that a Neighbourhood Watch meeting had recently been held with the new co-ordinator, Mr. M. Bacon, who was very keen to get things organised. Special constables were now being trained to use speed detection guns and they would be available for use in the villages. He would, however, still be campaigning for full-time officers to be trained in the use of the equipment. A police forum was being held on the following day, at which members of the public were invited to air their views.

PRESENTATION OF CHARITIES ACCOUNTS: Mr. M. Youngs gave a comprehensive report of the meeting of the Trustees of the Pakenham Charities held on November 25th 1999, detailing the charitable allocations that had been made throughout the year. The financial accounts for the year ended 31st December 1999 were also presented and are held on file. The Chairman thanked Mr. Youngs for his report and asked whether there were any questions. A village resident queried whether bank charges should be made against a charity account and Mr. Young said he would look into this.

PARISH COUNCIL ACCOUNTS: The Income and Expenditure account for the year ended 31st March 2000 was presented by the Clerk and accepted by the parish council.

BOROUGH COUNCILLOR’S REPORT: Mrs. White said that she had had an interesting year and thanked the parish council for their support and encouragement. She had attended meetings with residents, the police and local councils and various issues had been satisfactorily resolved. The Fen Road signs had been erected and the uprooted village sign was due to be reinstated. Suffolk County Council had set aside funding in the current financial year for improvements to the Thurston Road crossroads. She was hopeful that Pakenham would be included in the brown bin scheme later in the year when 9000 new bins were received by the borough council. She was now on the Transport and Works and Leisure committees and would later be on the newly-formed Best Value Committee. She emphasised her willingness to help in any way she could. The Chairman thanked Mrs. White for her valued support and lobbying on behalf of the village.

ANNUAL REPORTS:

a) SALC. Councillor P. Smith said that he had attended two SALC meetings during the past year, at which various constitutional amendments and resolutions had been discussed, including the lobbying of government to allow district councils to waive the 50% reduction in council tax for second homes, thus increasing their income. In addition to formal matters, he found that the meetings served as a useful forum for discussions with councillors from other parishes.

b) Conservation and Footpath Management Group. Councillor A. Cox said that he had elected to take on responsibility for looking after the footpaths. He had had an enjoyable year and with the aid of his wife he had creosoted all the posts and cleared nettles, particularly around footpath number 6. Suffolk County Council had made improvements to a stile and new signs were being put up. Mr. Smith, a village resident, proposed that a vote of thanks to Mr. Cox and his wife be recorded in the minutes. This was seconded by the Chairman, Mr. D. Dorling.

c) Pakenham Village Community Council. They had had a successful year of fund-raising, including a produce show, open gardens, quiz night and treasure hunt. The children’s play area had been restored with the aid of a borough council grant. Following consultation with various bodies about the new village hall project, it had been decided to give up the ambitious plan that had been envisaged and explore other avenues. Four local architects had therefore been invited to submit ideas for (a) demolishing the present hall and building an improved hall on the same site and (b) building a modest hall on the playing field. An open meeting would later be held to discuss the new plans with village residents.

d) Women’s Institute. The National Chairman, Mrs. Helen Carey, had said that the W.I. is more than just a friendship club. It is about training in citizenship. Both of these aspects were valued by Pakenham W.I., who were pleased to report an increase in membership again this year. A full and varied program of events had been held, including learning about the management of the Abbey Gardens, the St. Louis Family Service, birds in Australia and women in Arabia. A particular study had been made of a square kilometre of village countryside and it was hoped that the resulting map and photos would go on show in the village sometime this year.

e) Children’s Wildlife Watch Group. Councillor Dorling said that he had seen Cilla Mobley and she had expressed her appreciation for the use of the land at Church Green in furthering the work of the Wildlife Group.

f) Bowls Club. The Bowls Club had had an unsettled year but were still in existence! The lack of facilities meant that membership had to be limited. Now that the new village hall plans had changed, a lot of work which had been held over would need to be carried out to repair the green and surrounds. No satisfactory conclusion had been reached in negotiating a lease on the green. Mr. Burrows answered questions from councillors who were concerned about the apparent difficulty of non-players being allowed to learn the game and play socially. He said that one of the problems was that the green could only be used in one direction and therefore would not take heavy wear.

g) Buggy Club. The Club had recently restarted its activities for the year and would be hosting a national event over the Bank Holiday weekend. A work party would be tidying up the area and repairing fences which unfortunately had been vandalised. A mower had also been stolen. Mr. Murton thanked Mrs. White for her help in negotiations with the district Valuer to bring the rates down to a level which the club could afford to pay. The parish council expressed their satisfaction at having the club in the village.

h) Treewarden’s Report. Councillor Dorling said that he had recently looked at the hedge at Church Green and the boundary was basically still there. The hornbeams had succumbed to the elements, but the hawthorns had done well and they hoped to plant more next winter.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: The Chairman expressed his thanks to Mr. Youngs for his report; to Mrs. Valerie White for her support as borough councillor; to Mrs. Joan Mangnall for her work in the village; to the Clerk; to all the councillors for their efforts; and to all who had helped in any way in the past year.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING: It was agreed that the date be set later in the year.