Pakenham Parish Council : Draft Minutes Annual Meeting 24th May'17

PAKENHAM PARISH COUNCIL
DRAFT MINUTES OF PAKENHAM PARISH ANNUAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY 24th MAY 2017 VILLAGE HALL, PAKENHAM

Present: Cllr H Painter (Chairman), Cllrs: M Bagnell, N. Davey, D Dorling, C Palfrey and B. Sidebotham. Three members of the public also attended
Mrs S Brown parish clerk took the minutes

Councillor H Painter Chairman of the Parish Council welcomed everyone to the meeting.

1. Apologies: Received from Cllr Brookman

2. To sign the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 25th May, 2016:-
All present agreed that the minutes should be signed as a true record.

3. County Councillor's Report:-
Councillor R Hopfensperger attended, the annual report is attached. Cllr Hopfensperger also advised having spoken to Highways about the many outstanding highway issues within the village it would be useful for a site visit to take place with the highways officer, Cllr Hopfensperger and members of the Parish Council. Cllr Hopfensperger and Highways to liaise with the clerk to arrange a suitable date.

4. Borough Councillor Report:-
Cllr S Brown attended and gave a report which included:-

• Devolution was the main focus last year with the merging of services between Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury to happen this year

• The town centre Masterplan is ongoing with public consultations and Cllr Brown asked everyone to put in their views on highways and infrastructure

• West Suffolk Operational Hub

• Suffolk Business Park

• Strategic Planning within the Borough Council

• Brown bins

• Kebab Van had been ongoing

• A143 road repairs – thanks to Cllr Hopfensperger and to Cllr Davey for all their help pushing this forward

• It was a shame the affordable housing wasn't able to go ahead.

5. Police Report:-
No Officer from Suffolk Constabulary attended and no report had been received.

6. Annual reports:-

• Allotments – No report had been received.

• Monday Club – No report had been received.

• Pakenham Charities – Pakenham Charities sent their report which was read to the meeting a copy of which is attached as well as a copy of the accounts.

• Pakenham Social Club – A report had been received and was read to the meeting: Only one event was held last year which was the beer/music festival at the playing field. This was enjoyed by many people from the village and surrounding villages. We donated to East Anglian Children's hospice and various other charities including Pakenham toddler group and the Xmas meal for the older village folk. We also bought two benches which are outside the Pakenham Fox for all to enjoy.

• Pakenham Village Hall and Playing Field Association – No report had been received.

• Parent and Toddler Group – A report had been received and was read to the meeting: At the start of September the numbers were down a little so we introduced a soft play session once a month to see if that would encourage new mums to come along. We used some funds to buy new equipment for this such as a bouncy castle, bouncy hoppers, hoops and ball pools. The first one we did was in November and was a great success. We decided to use some of the money donated by the charity commission to pay for more craft supplies which have also been enjoyed by the children.
Our Christmas party was another success with the children really enjoying Santa arriving on a tractor! When the pantomime was on at the hall we took the children bowling at Planet Laser which we all enjoyed. We have a trip to Hollow Tree Farm coming up and the Summer party to look forward to as well.
After two years of Chairing the toddler group Kirstie Brown is leaving as her daughter is starting school. I will continue to run it with some help from other mums when they can. Michelle Roberts

• PCC : Churchwardens Report – St Marys continues to cater for the spiritual needs of the village with a service each Sunday and pastural care by Rev. Katherine Valentine and the lay elders. Over the last year there have been 6 funerals, 1 wedding and an internment of ashes. Special services are also held for the Ixworth Deanery including: confirmation and the commissioning of churchwardens and a tour of the village by tractor and trailer last Sunday. Outreach with the village café every third Saturday of the month and tea and chat on one Monday afternoon a month. We continue to work to keep the building in good repair. The latest project being the repairs in the bell tower and the installation of a plastic screen to improve the tone of the bells.
Several fundraising events have been held to fund our activities. A concert, a jumble sale, a Christmas bazaar and the summer highlight of our outdoor theatre production in the church meadow attended by some 350 people. We have also contributed to various charities including E.A.C.H., Women's Refuge, Tear Fund, Christian Aid, Gatehouse, The Children's Society, Farming Network. We couldn't do this without the help and generosity of all the village so thank you all very much. The accounts are posted in the church porch for anyone who wishes to view them. The PCC have applied to have an aerial on the church roof for wi-fi/mobile phone coverage. Churchwarden

• Threads – Has had a busy year. Getting to know fabric & yarn supplier's in and around the area. Sharing knowledge and materials within the group. The main event of 2016 was a day trip to Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in October. With our Annual Christmas lunch held at The Pykerrill, Ixworth. Threads is getting known and numbers have increased to some 16 with space for more. Held in Pakenham hall on a Wednesday afternoon, people choose their own projects and work in a friendly and happy environment. There is always a lovely plate of cake or biscuits to have with hot drinks at no extra charge. Grateful thanks to Barbara – keeper of the key! And to Pakenham Village Hall committee for providing users with a well-equipped venue. And finally, a huge thank you to all who arrive each week and support Threads. Something for the future: Many people come to Threads use mobiles – those who get a signal! Ipads also. If there was 'wi-fi' installed the Hall and Users would benefit! Beryl Sidebotham

• Tree Wardens Report – This last year has been preoccupied with complaints about overgrown roadside hedges causing annoyance to motorists. This is an annual problem which does not seem to have an obvious solution, with some landowners totally unwilling to accept that their hedges are causing a serious problem on our narrow roads. Surprisingly SCC Highways seem content for Warning Signs to disappear into overgrowing hedges even on main routes.
Following on from the overdue maintenance work at the Parish Burial Ground where encroaching trees and hedges were removed last year, we are concentrating efforts on frequent mowing of persistent Blackthorn regrowth. It is still hoped to interplant along the concrete boundary posts with a mixed hedge in the autumn, when the young hedge plants I am rearing are big enough to survive.
Safety work is shortly to be carried out on the notable Veteran Oak Tree in the boundary fence of the playing field car park. This work will reduce the crown, and enhance this beautiful old tree which has seen many generations of Pakenham residents pass under its canopy.
The last few wet summers have resulted in strong tree growth, which is particularly noticeable on the Diamond Jubilee Oak Tree near the Watermill. I plan to remove some of the side branches in the next few weeks, as this is apparently the best time of year to prune Oak trees.
We continue to watch with interest the reinstated hedge planted at the Mill Road site. Derek Dorling Tree Warden
It was asked about the spiky growth around the edge of the cemetery meadow. Cllr Dorling advised this was Blackthorn growth and the hope was if kept mown it will disappear but will be monitored. Cllr Dorling was congratulated on getting the whole area of the cemetery meadow tidied up and it was advised the hay will be taken off before the theatre production.

• Village Newsletter – A report had been received and was read to the meeting: The Village & Church News continues to trundle along each month. The magazine covers the enlarged benefice of six villages: Pakenham, Norton, Tostock, Great Ashfield, Stowlangtoft and Hunston. It is delivered free to all households in Pakenham and copies are made available to church goers in the other 5 villages of the benefice. The magazine is also available to read online at www.vcnews.org.uk
I am pleased to say that it is never a problem to fill the pages of the magazine. There are generally enough submissions from residents of the six villages to keep the volume up – even though most of the submissions are notices or adverts regarding events that need to be publicised. This is an important function of the village magazine, but it would be nice if I had a little more general editorial material to include. I always endeavour to include all the material I am given each month but occasionally there is not quite enough space for everything. When this happens, I give priority to time-sensitive, community-based articles. Also, I need to apologies for the occasional article that slips through the net because I have inadvertently overlooked it.
The level of advertising in the magazine is healthy, in fact I need to be careful that the advertising content doesn't outweigh the editorial material in the magazine. Though having said that, many people do find the advertisements useful for finding local and trustworthy services and tradespeople.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people that regularly contribute to the Village & Church News, whether that be by submitting notices or articles for inclusion, for advertising with us or by helping with the collection and deliveries or managing the financial side of the magazine. The Village and Church News would not be possible without the efforts of all those volunteers.
I do hope that villagers and church-goers find the Village & Church News to be of some use and interest. Chris Carroll-Davis, Editor, Village & Church News

• Women's Institute – The Women's Institute sent a report which was read to the meeting and is attached.

7. Parish Council Report:–
The Chairman's report included: Thanked the public for their continued attendance and to Cllr Hopfensperger and Cllr Brown who had been an incredible help to the village over the last year including help with the drains at the village hall and highways. All parish councillors were thanked for their contribution over the year with many Councillors taking an interest in specialist areas.
The Women's Institute was thanked for carrying out the street cleaning in the village and the editor for the continued running of the village and church news. The clerk was thanked for all her work for the parish council. The Fox public house had re-opened last year which had been brilliant for the village. No major planning application had been received last year. It had been a very good year topped by the pub re-opening.

8. Open Forum:–
Speeding in the village was a problem particularly on Bury Road coming off the A143 the member of the public would like 30mph/SLOW painted on the road. The clerk advised it was hoped to have a pole installed on Bury Road for temporary vehicle activated signage, details had been sent to the SCC contractor for installation. It was suggested to add this area to the highways site visit to be arranged. The Chair to inform the member of the public when this would be taking place. Cllr Hopfensperger to ask Highways for a speed survey to take place on Bury Road.
It was asked whether the sewage system was currently working for a resident, the Chair advised it appeared to be working in the main.
A resident stated they were sad the social housing was not now taking place on parish council land. Cllr Brown advised neither SCC or the Borough wished to go ahead with this development at the present time.

9. Date of the next meeting: The date of the next meeting to be confirmed.

There being no further matters the meeting closed at 8pm.



Signed:

Date:

(Ref 20-23)