Pakenham Parish Council : Minutes 23rd April 2014

PAKENHAM PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 23rd April, 2014 at 7.30pm
Pakenham Village Hall

Present: Cllr H Painter (Chairman), Cllr M Sargent (Vice-Chairman), Cllr C Palfrey, Cllr M Bagnell, Cllr I Brookman and Cllr R Griffin. Ten Members of the public attended. Mrs S Brown (clerk) took the minutes

1 - Apologies for absence: Apologies were received from Cllr Dorling

2 - Declarations of interest:-
Cllr Bagnell declared an interest in item 11a Oak Farm

3 - County Councillor's Report:-
Cllr Hopfensperger advised she was chasing up the highway issues and the resurfacing schedule will be confirmed in the next few days. Cllr Spicer asked if the pot hole going up to the Pavilion could be added to the list. The clerk to confirm with Jonathan Chown attendance at the June meeting to talk about faster broadband.

4 - Borough Councillor's Report:-
Cllr. Spicer commented on possible planning at Grimestone End he felt it would be a good area for houses to be built. The proposed closure of the tourist information centre in Bury. He advised the amount of trade had hugely diminished and would be closing. They will be opening some small information centres around the town i.e. in the Abbey gardens and Apex centre with leaflets etc for tourists. It was noted there were still a number of street lights that needed attention. The clerk to pass the information to Cllr Hopfensperger who will assist in getting the works completed.
Cllr Spicer advised he now had a locality budget of £2500 with a minimum payment of £100 to non profit organisations. Cllr Brookman asked how many parishes will the locality monies cover. Cllr Spicer advised there were 5 parishes.

5 - Police report:-
Rebecca introduced herself as a new PCSO at Ixworth and maybe taking over from Jade Morton. It was reported there have been 5 crimes of interest in the Parish since the last meeting which included two burglaries. There had been an increase in burglaries not just in Pakenham but the whole area was experiencing an increase. Shed burglaries had been going on for some time and shed alarms were available commercially but the rise in house burglaries was new particularly as they were often being carried out in the daytime. The public were asked to be vigilant and if they
saw anything out of the ordinary to contact the police.
Speeding data: since the last meeting there had been 21 speed checks conducted resulting in 6 fixed penalties, 19 letters being sent, 1 course, 26 verbal warnings, 3 Notices of impending prosecution and 1 report for summons. The speed board was deployed on 8 occasions. Community Speedwatch teams had conducted 7 speed checks resulting in 32 letters being sent out.

6 - Helen Lindfield:-
It was explained how she was able to support the Parish Council as part of the Families and Communities team at West Suffolk. The approach is a preventative one where the focus is on working with communities and help address the issues they raise. She will be taking the lead from Borough Councillor Spicer with the emphasis on signposting the Parish Council to the right officers within the Council, in external agencies and to help them access external funding and resources to help the community. To help the community achieve what it wants and looking to help make it sustainable. Cllr Brookman advised deeds had been found showing a piece of land was owned by the Borough could she help with signposting him to the right officer to contact. She advised him to contact her.

7 - Public Forum:-
It was asked if there was any update on the pub. The Chairman advised the Parish Council could do very little until the owner made a planning application. As soon as the Parish Council is advised of a planning application they will let the village know and will call a village meeting to discuss it. The Chairman advised the Parish Council could try to purchase the meadow should this become available as the land is not within the village settlement boundary of Pakenham.


8 - To Consider the approval of the minutes of the last meeting:-
The minutes of the meeting held on 19th March were approved and signed as a true record.

9 - Reports from previous meeting:-
No reports were made.

10 – Clerk's Report:-
EFMS had received a key for the gate to the playing field to enable them to cut the grass. M & TJ's had rung and expressed their disappointment that a local firm wasn't chosen for the grass and hedge cutting. The broken footpath no:10 on Bull Road had now been replaced. The overgrown hedge on Pakenham road was still not cut back and the clerk was still chasing. The 'barn' at the boat yard was allowed to be used to work on boats until occupation of any dwellings then the 'barn' must be demolished. The clerk to confirm if any time constraints were in place. The enforcement officer had given an update on enforcement issues relating to Bardwell Hall and Mill Road which the clerk read to Council. Council asked if the clerk could ask for a report specifically on the re-instatement of land and hedge at Mill Road. The clerk reported the light was now working in the adopted BT kiosk at Grimestone End. Pakenham parish council's pension staging date is 1 June 2016.
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11 – Planning:-
DC/14/0260/FUL : Oak Farm, Pakenham Road, Great Barton
Erection of stable ancillary to residence.
Council discussed the application Cllr Brookman proposed and Cllr Palfrey seconded no objection to the planning with the comment that it is for private use only.

DC/14/0225/VAR : Plot 2 Broadway Shetland Boats
Variation of condition 12 of planning permission SE/11/1174
Granted (Delegation Panel)

No further applications had been received

12 – Correspondence:-
All correspondence was circulated.

13 - Vision 2031:-
Cllr Hopfensperger advised the main amendments were urban and rural areas had not changed significantly. Cllr Painter to read and report back.

14 - Land Ownership (deeds):-
Cllr Brookman will pick up copies of the deeds including a copy for the PVH & PFA.

15 - Tree Work Quotes to be considered:-
The clerk read out the quotes received. The Council discussed the quotes and chose W.Jarvis Tree Services to carry out the works. Clerk to contact

16 - Finance Report & precept – to consider payments to be made:-
The clerk advised the minutes and accounts had gone to the internal auditor for checking and will be returned for the annual meeting of the Council.
Cleared balance of the deposit account 31/3/14 £6656.12
Cleared balance of the current account 31/3/14 £2682.82 uncleared balance £2568.02 this included an unpresented cheque of £114.80.
£200 had been received for a burial, £65 had been banked of allotment rents. £20 had been paid in the last financial year direct to current account. VAT repayment had been received of £395.86
The Chairman addressed the meeting explaining how the precept was arrived at and the percentage change. The precept and grant amounts were read out for the last 5 years.
a. Suffolk Association of Local Council subscription – the invoice had been incorrect awaiting a new invoice
b. Community Action Suffolk subscription £30 – Council discussed and decided not to renew the subscription
c. No further invoices had been received.

17 - Councillors' reports and items for future agenda:-
Cllr Palfrey advised a member of the public had asked if the hut at Millers Meadow was being used as a dwelling. The clerk to contact the Borough Council enforcement officer.

18 - Date of next meeting:-
Wednesday, 28th May following the Annual Parish Meeting at 7pm. The Chairman advised he would find it difficult to attend the next 3 meetings on a Wednesday and asked if they could be changed to the following days – Thursday 29th May, Thursday, 26th June and Thursday, 31st July. Council agreed the clerk to inform the PVH booking secretary.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.50pm.