Pakenham Parish Council : Minutes 18th May 2022

PAKENHAM PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held on
Wednesday 18th May 2022 at 7.30pm in Pakenham Village Hall

Present: Cllr Painter, Cllr Dorling, Cllr Bagnell, Cllr Davey, Cllr Palfrey, Cllr Sargent and Cllr Sidebotham
Eight Members of the public were in attendance. Mrs S Brown (clerk) took the minutes.

1 - Election of Chairman:-
Cllr Dorling proposed Cllr Painter seconded by Cllr Bagnell all in agreement. Cllr Painter was dually elected Chairman.
i. Sign the Declaration of Acceptance of Office: Cllr Painter signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

2 - Record Councillors' apologies for absence: All in attendance.

3 - Declarations of interest: No declarations of interest received.
i. To Review Register of Members Interests: No members register of interests required updating.

4 :-
County Councillors Report: Cllr Hopfensperger attended the annual report had been received and would be circulated to Councillors. The local report to Pakenham had been received and included: The Kebab Van in Bury Road has continued to cause some issues. The most recent email from a resident elicited the following response: The issues with the Kebab van trading in this location, would fall under the remit of West Suffolk Council regarding street-trading permits/licences etc. As far as Cllr Hopfensperger is aware, they do have the required permission from WSDC to trade here. She has referred this again to SCC Enforcement Team to comment on in case they have any additional information. We are still awaiting the street permit review at West Suffolk to look at this. Broken/damaged street name sign: Suffolk highways do not maintain street name signs. These also fall under the responsibility of WSDC to maintain and replace. Suffolk highways would only remove damaged signs from site if they posed a hazard to the highway or its users. Cllr Hopfensperger has reported this to WSDC. Parking issues: SCC only maintain the width of the carriageway and footway here. The adjacent land to both sides of Bury Road is privately owned. Because of this SCC sadly cannot prevent vehicles parking on the field edges here - although there are investigations in progress regarding overnight parking from HGV's. There is unfortunately no action SCC could take against vehicles parked on the carriageway here – such as those using the kebab van, as there are no specific parking restriction in place and it is highly unlikely this site would qualify for any – such as double yellow lines etc. Displaced kerb stones: these are under the remit of Suffolk highways to maintain, however, we only replace/repair damaged sections of kerbing in line with our highways maintenance operational plan. Cllr Hopfensperger has asked the highways assessment officer to visit site to survey the damaged kerbing to see if a reactive repair can be ordered. Any movement of less than 25mm in the kerb stones is not recorded. Only movement of 25mm or greater will potentially be repaired – but each site will be assessed individually. SCC would only repair/replace kerbs in response to a hazard, rather than for any aesthetic improvements. Impact of Thurston developments and Mill Road this is a huge piece of work which covers a lot of different issues, where there is no easy fix and any solutions will not come cheaply. Cycle paths were briefly discussed; some monies could possibly be available from Cllr Hopfensperger. It was asked if a working group was put together would it be possible to have a meeting with a cycle expert from SCC to explain what assistance and advice is available, Cllr Hopfensperger advised this would be possible. Lorry plan review received 149 responses and SCC is currently pulling these together and will come back to parishes individually. It was asked if they could be collated for neighbouring parishes which Cllr Hopfensperger was happy to do. It was advised some parishes have grouped together as collectives which have been quite successful for example on rights of way issues. The Bunbury Arms junction was briefly discussed as well as crossing the A143. Speeding traffic was briefly discussed and it was confirmed the ANPR is going ahead but it is on a rotational basis. It was also asked if there was any progress on the footpath in front of the Church; the Clerk to send Cllr Hopfensperger dates of availability of Councillors to set up a site visit.
Borough Councillors Report: Cllr Brown attended the meeting later and reported Shetland Boatyard planning had been approved: a 2-bay garage with office above. A brief discussion took place, the Clerk to circulate the report.
Public Forum: A wooden template design of the new war memorial for the Lawn Cemetery was displayed. Clarkes of Walsham and members of the public had sponsored this, there had been no costs involved for the Parish. It was hoped there would be a paved/cobbled area around the memorial. The Councillors felt it was an excellent design and thanked Cllr Bagnell for all his hard work. Cllr Bagnell will inform the vicar of the progress and write an article for the Newsletter. To arrange a site visit with Cllr Dorling to confirm where it will be installed.

5 - To consider the approval of the minutes of the last meetings:-
The minutes of the meeting held on 20th April 2022 were approved to be signed as a true record.

6 - Appointment of Vice-Chair & confirm representatives:-
All in agreement for the following appointments:-
i. Vice-Chair: Cllr Sidebotham proposed Cllr Dorling seconded by Cllr Davey all in agreement. Cllr Dorling was dually elected as Vice-Chair.
ii. PVH & PFA: Cllr Palfrey to continue as the representative of the Parish Council.
iii. Pakenham Charities: Cllr Dorling and Cllr Palfrey to continue as the representatives of the Parish Council.
iv. Tree Officer: Cllr Dorling to continue as the Council's Tree Officer
v. Ixworth Patients Association: Cllr Sidebotham to continue as the representative of the Parish Council.
vi. Weekly Inspections: G. Cranmer to continue the weekly inspections of Council property in the village.

7 - Annual Reviews:-
i. Standing Orders: The Clerk advised NALC had updated procurement within standing orders. Council all in agreement to adopt the amended Standing Orders
ii. Financial Regulations: The Clerk advised the footnotes covering procurement thresholds had been updated all in agreement no further changes were required.
iii. Financial Risk Assessment: All in agreement no changes required.
iv. Asset Register: All in agreement the asset register was up to date with assets of £33,021.84
v. Council Policies including GDPR: All in agreement no changes required.
vi. Clerk Salary: All in agreement to move from SCP16 to SCP17 as per clerk's employment contract.
vii. To consider adoption of the revised Code of Conduct: The LGA Code of Conduct had been circulated to Councillors all in agreement to adopt the updated Code of Conduct.
viii. To consider adoption of a Reserves Policy: All in agreement to adopt the Reserves Policy

8 - Reports arising from the previous meeting:-
i. Queens Jubilee and confirm design for jubilee mugs: The 3 different proof mug designs had been circulated to Councillors with agreement to use proof design 3 for the porcelain mug and a revised proof 2 for the duraglaze mugs. The Clerk had therefore placed the order for x50 porcelain mugs and x150 duraglaze mugs at a cost of£725 + £13 delivery total cost £738. The mugs had been delivered and the porcelain mugs were now on display in the post office for a donation of £4. The duraglaze mugs for the children attending the jubilee event on June 5th had been delivered to the group organising the event.
ii. Clerks Report: Giant hogweed opposite Manor Garth had been reported to Suffolk County Council. It was reported that there was possibly some giant hogweed on Nether Hall land, the Clerk to inform Cllr Hopfensperger and report to SCC.
The Clerk had inspected all defibrillators: Watermill battery is operational however both pads are now out of date – Village Hall one pad still in date (2023) one pad out of date & the battery is in need of replacing – Pavilion battery and pads still in date (2024) In consultation with the Chair the Clerk had ordered a new battery and two pads for the defibrillators as a matter of urgency. Unfortunately, due to supply issues the pads are out of stock as soon as they have been received, they will be sent out for delivery. The battery in the Village Hall defibrillator will be replaced as soon as the new one is received. The Clerk had contacted the resident suggested at the last meeting of Council to be Pakenham's Torchbearer for the Suffolk Festival, unfortunately they were unable to take part but thanked the Parish Council for the opportunity and were very sorry due to an exam they were unable to take part.
As part of the weekly inspections it had been noted two slates on the bus shelter had moved. Council agreed Cllr Sargent to ask the village contractor Mr. Johnson to take a look.

9 - To consider donations in regards Queens Jubilee:-
Council discussed and Cllr Palfrey proposed the following donations seconded by Cllr Dorling all in agreement:-
i. PVH & PFA jubilee afternoon 5 June: a donation of £200
ii. Costs towards lighting the church tower: The Clerk had sought advice and confirmed the Council could donate money to the lighting of the church tower in celebration of the jubilee (LGA1972 s144), a donation of £100
iii. W.I. jubilee tea 4 June: a donation of £200.

10 - To consider request to install a memorial bench within the Lawn Cemetery:-
Council discussed Cllr Dorling proposed no to the request seconded by Cllr Sidebotham a majority in agreement not to allow another memorial bench within the Lawn Cemetery, the Clerk to inform the resident.

11 - Correspondence circulated:-
• SALC ebulletins/West Suffolk Council/Suffolk County Council/Sizewell C – noted.
• Donation request Citizens Advice: Cllr Sidebotham proposed a £50 donation seconded by Cllr Sargent all in agreement.
• Walsham le Willows PC Shepherds Grove Development to consider response: Council discussed and agreed until the Council receive further details they felt they were unable to comment at the present time.
• Emails from Residents: Overgrown hedge at allotments and pothole on road to playing field/allotments: The Clerk to contact Havebury housing to report the pot holes to them and to ask for them to be repaired. The Clerk and Chair to ascertain which householder/s owns the hedge and the Clerk to write to them asking if they could cut these down to a reasonable height.
• Making the Dell more accessible to children: this was briefly discussed, Council were happy if the resident wished to clear brambles. Cllr Sargent to write an article for the Village Newsletter highlighting the woodland areas which villagers might wish to make use of.
• Two objections received in regards the outline planning application DC/22/0591/OUT Land adj. Deraleen, Bailey Pool Road – Noted
• Right of Way adjoining Water Mill – Evidence statements had been sent to SCC awaiting their decision as to whether this would be added to the definitive map.
• Memorial request Plot F1 – Council had no objection to the memorial.

12 - Planning Applications to comment:-
DC/22/0723/FUL : Queach House, The Queach, Great Barton
Installation of ground mounted solar panels.
Council discussed and all in agreement no objection.

DC/22/0591/OUT : Land adj. to Deraleen, Baileypool Road
Outline planning one dwelling.
Council discussed Cllr Dorling proposed objecting seconded Cllr Sidebotham a majority decision to object to the application as it was felt it did not meet policy DM27 Housing in the Countryside as the proposed property is on the edge of two properties and not within a cluster of 10 or more existing dwellings or an infill.

13 - Finance Report:-
Bank balances: the deposit account held £16,647.19 at 30 April 2022 this includes £6,500 transfer and £1.01 bank interest received.
The current account held a cleared balance at 30 April 2022 of £23,897.11 and an uncleared balance of £23,934.91, this includes receipts received of: £329 memorial plot F4 and burial plot E2 - £210 allotment rent - £12,180 Precept payment - £525 Suffolk County Council grant towards the children's jubilee mugs and VAT reclaim made for the year 2021-22 of £1451.49 received.
i. To consider and approve Annual Governance Statement Section 1 and authorise Chair to sign on behalf of Council: Circulated to Councillors and Clerk read to Council all in agreement for the Chair to sign on behalf of the Council.
ii. To consider and approve Accounting Statements Section 2 and authorise Chair to sign on behalf of Council: Circulated to Councillors all in agreement for the Chair to sign on behalf of the Council.
iii. To consider and approve exemption from the requirement for a limited assurance review and authorise Chair to sign on behalf of Council: All in agreement to approve exemption and the Chair to sign on behalf of the Council
iv. To consider audit report: Audit report received no recommendations made.
v. Insurance review and payment of premium £410.25: Year 3 of a three-year long-term agreement with Pen insurance Council reviewed and all in agreement for the payment of the premium.

14 - Councillors' reports and items for future agenda:-
Cllr Davey to strim the grass triangle at corner of Bull Road and Fen Road on behalf of the Council.

15 - Date of next meeting:-
The date of the next scheduled meeting was confirmed as Wednesday, 15 June 2022 in the village hall.

There being no further business the meeting was closed at 10.15pm

(Ref: 402-406)