Pakenham Parish Council : Minutes 3rd September 2015

PAKENHAM PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 3rd September, 2015 at 7.30pm
Pakenham Village Hall

Present: Cllr Dorling (Vice-Chair) Cllr Bagnell, Cllr Brookman, Cllr Davey, Cllr Palfrey and Cllr Sidebotham
No Members of the public were in attendance
Mrs S Brown (clerk) took the minutes.

1 - Record Councillors' apologies for absence:-
Apologies received and accepted from Cllr Painter

2 - Declarations of interest: No declarations were received.

3 - Police Report:-
No Officer was in attendance but a report had been received there had been no crimes of interest since the last meeting. Cllr Bagnell advised there had been a case of hare coursing in the area. Notice has been received of a Neighbourhood watch/crime reduction roadshow to be held on Wednesday, 16th September 7.30 – 9pm at Ixworth fire/police station, High Street, Ixworth if anyone wished to attend.

County Councillors report:-
Cllr Hopfensperger did not attend and no report had been received.

Borough Councillors report:-
Cllr Brown gave his report which included: Cllr Brown has had discussions with the resident who is hoping to purchase The Fox public house. He will be attending the Village Cafe on Saturday, 19th September 10 – 12noon to share thoughts and comments and asked Councillors to spread the word. Enforcement issues: Mill Road the Officer responsible has been on holiday but should update Cllr Brown when works will begin on his return. The fence on Fen Road has now been taken down. Cllr Davey asked what powers St Edmundsbury have if an area is an eyesore for the community. Cllr Brown advised it very much depended on what the material is made up of. The West Suffolk Operational Hub to be discussed at a meeting of the full council on 22nd September. There has been discussion on the charging for brown bins as no longer receiving a subsidy from SCC. The discussion to consider the proposal of a charge of £35 per annum will take place at the full Council meeting on 22nd September. There was a brief discussion with various questions being asked which would be looked at on 22nd September. All Councillors were in agreement against the charging for brown bins. Cllr Brookman stated if there were a charge for brown bins there will be an increase in fly tipping and asked that St Edmundsbury consider there will be extra costs to enforce any instances of fly tipping.

Public Forum: No members of the public attended

4 - To consider the approval of the minutes of the last meetings:-
The minutes of the meetings held on 30th July were approved and signed as a true record.

5 - Matters arising from previous meeting:-
i. Affordable Housing update: Jill Theobald has taken over the duties of Emma Hall as she is now on maternity leave. The clerk has informed the Officer about The Dell and the possible subsistence of the access road but no response has as yet been received.
ii. Highways site visit report: All Councillors and members of the public who attended the highways site visit have received a copy of the notes from the meeting. The clerk has contacted Suffolk Wildlife Trust re the signage and an email has been sent to Highways SCC asking for a date when the works will take place particularly the cutting back of verges, no response as yet has been received. Cllr Bagnell advised he had spoken to the highways surveyor re Brand Road but had not received a satisfactory response. Council discussed the highways site visit confirming the Highways Officer had been made aware of the wooden kerbs a resident had placed on his verges on Fen Road. Cllr Brookman advised there were a number of pot holes between the A143 and Thieves Lane and the crossroads at Upper Town the warning sign coming from Great Barton had fallen into the hedge and coming from Thurston the sign was covered by vegetation. Cllr Palfrey advised there was a large pot hole outside 'Bill and Ben's' on Fen Road. The clerk to report to SCC. The clerk to email Guy Smith highways officer at SCC asking for the works particularly on Fen Road to be completed by the next meeting as the Parish Council may consider going to EADT expressing their concern.

6 - Clerk's Report:-
The Roadside Nature Reserve should be cut in September. Notice has been given of a temporary road closure of Fen Road (C689) at the junction with Bull Road for 200 metres northbound on 7th September 9.30 – 3.30pm for BT cabling works. The notice has gone on the noticeboard. The clerk will be on holiday for two weeks.

7 - To consider works at the Lawn Cemetery/meadow to be carried out:-
Cllr Dorling reported he had met with Mr Spicer and they had established the boundary of the meadow. Council discussed and agreed to use 4foot concrete fencing posts to mark out the boundary, D. Thrower & Son to be asked to carry out the works for a price of £240 plus the cost of posts and cement mix. Prior to commencement of works Cllr Dorling will mark out where the posts need to be placed. Cllr Brookman thanked Cllr Dorling for his work on the matter.
Cllr Dorling advised he had inspected the trees in the lawn cemetery with one dead cherry tree needing to come down, some large cherry trees needed two limbs trimmed back as overhanging headstones and a red hawthorn needed tidying. Cllr Dorling reported Chris Hunter tree surgeon could carry out the work for £120 Council agreed for the work to go ahead. Cllr Dorling reported on the east edge of the meadow, the hedgerow was overgrown and encroaching on the meadow and there were two dead Elm trees and suggested these were taken down and the hedgerow cut back to reclaim some of the meadow. Chris Hunter tree surgeon could carry out the works for £480 Council were happy for the works to go ahead. Cllr Brookman asked if Council would consider planting some new trees within the site, to put on an agenda in the spring.

8 - Report on Pakenham Stream:-
Cllr Sidebotham advised there had been another discharge into the stream and Anglia Water had been informed. Cllr Sidebotham was still trying to contact the Botesdale group, when more information was available it would be reported to Council.

9 - Correspondence:-
Clerks and Councils Direct, CPRE and Countryside Voice were circulated to Councillors. An email received at the end of July advising of a number of footpaths being impassable, the Rights of Way Officer had been notified and responded they would try to ensure these footpaths would be cleared. The Officer advised on the old bridge across the Blackbourn, the Environment Agency have agreed that the landowner can replace this which is due to happen very shortly. There will be a new galvanised gate (sprung loaded with an easy to open handle) either side to stop the cattle wandering everywhere. It is a wider span so will site nicely either side of the bank. The landowner is also looking at improving the cattle's access to the river to avoid further erosion by the bridge. A further email had been received (Cllr Brookman declared an interest and left the meeting) this was read to Council which included advising of an obstruction on a footpath this has been forwarded to the Rights of Way Officer at SCC.

10 - Planning Applications:-
No applications had been received.
Any applications determined by planning authority:-
No applications determined by planning authority received.

11 - Bi-Annual Risk Assessment of Assets:-
Council were happy all risks had been assessed.

12 - Finance Report and to consider payments to be made:-
The deposit account has a cleared balance of £6681.86.
The current account at 6th July 2015 holds a cleared balance of £16,724.44 after the invoices on agenda have been paid an uncleared balance of £15,118.36.
A copy of the 6 month review against budget was given to all Councillors.
No further invoices had been received
Council agreed a previous bank signatory M. Sargent to be removed Cllr Davey to organise.

13 - Councillors' reports and items for future agenda:-
No items were received .

14 - Date of next meeting:-
The date of the next scheduled meeting was confirmed as Wednesday, 21st October 2015

There being no further business the meeting was closed at 9pm