Pakenham Parish Council : Minutes 15th January 2026

PAKENHAM PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 15th January 2026
Pakenham Village Hall

Present: Cllr Davey (Chairman), Cllr Bagnall, Cllr Berry, Cllr Dorling, Cllr Palfrey, Cllr Sargent and Cllr Sidebotham
Others in attendance: Claire Usher (Clerk), County Councillor Hopfensperger, District Councillor Speed and 2 members of the public.

150126/01 Apologies for absence: None.
150126/02 Declarations of Interest (DoI):-
Councillors noted no declarations of interest were made.
150126/03 Dispensation:-
Councillors noted no requests had been received and none were requested at the meeting.

Public Forum:-

150126/04 County Councillor Report – Cllr Hopfensperger reported that the bridge repairs in Thieves Lane had been programmed for the end of January. The Department of Transport had allocated £8m in funding to improve bus services and bus related infrastructure across the County. If there were areas in need, such as improved services or improvements to bus shelters the Parish Council can put forward proposals. The County Council had backed a new 20 mph speed limit policy to enhance road safety, but she felt this was still an expensive exercise for Parish Councils to achieve. As regards devolution, the mayoral appointments had been put back by 2 years and whether County Councillors elections would be held in May had been passed to the Government to decide if and when these will take place.

150126/05 District Councillor Report – Cllr Speed reported on the current stage with devolution. The new refuse collections will begin in April with householders being provided with more bins in which to separate their waste. All households had been informed of the new system via a newsletter. The bottle banks in the District would remain.

There were no questions from the public.

150126/06 Minutes of previous meeting:-
All Councillors resolved to accept the minutes of the Council meeting held on 20th November 2025 as a true reflection of the decisions made and authorised the Chairman to sign the minutes.

150126/07 Reports Arising from Previous Minutes: None to report.

Planning:-

150126/08 Councillors noted that no planning applications had been made to West Suffolk Council relating to this Parish since the last meeting.

150126/09 Councillors noted that no planning decisions had been made since the last meeting.

Finance:-

150126/10 All Councillors confirmed receipt of the finance report for the period ended 31st December 2025.
150126/11 All Councillors noted that there had been no receipts since the last meeting. 150126/12 All Councillors noted that there were no payments to authorise.

150126/13 Appointment of Internal Auditor:-
The Clerk recommended Trevor Brown who had previously worked for other Parish Councils and would recommend his services. It was agreed by all Councillors that Trevor Brown be appointed the Council's Internal Auditor for the end of year accounts.

150126/14 Grass and Hedge Cutting Contracts:-
This item was deferred to the next Parish Council meeting.

150126/15 Allotment Rent 2026/27:-
It was agreed by all Councillors that the allotment rent for 2026/27 remains unchanged.

150126/16 Cemetery Charges 2026/27:-
It was agreed by all Councillors that the cemetery charges for 2026/27 remain unchanged.

150126/17 Pakenham Fen:-
The Clerk reported that she had received correspondence from Sizewell C as the Parish Clerk for Ixworth Parish Council and that they would be willing to meet to discuss the proposed works. It had been reported at the Ixworth Parish Council meeting and they had agreed that Pakenham Parish Council should lead this meeting but representatives from Ixworth Parish Council should also attend, along with County Councillor Joanna Spicer, County Councillor Rebecca Hopfensperger and Roger Spillar, Green Ixworth.

It was agreed that Pakenham Parish Council will take the lead with this meeting and appointed Cllr Berry and Cllr Sidebotham to attend. District Councillor Speed would also like to attend the meeting. The Clerk to arrange.

150126/18 The Pavilion:-
The Chairman reported that Paul would like to clean the area around the containers of rubbish and remove the 3 containers. To replace with 2 new containers with a roof constructed between the two containers for storage.
Councillors agreed that moving the containers forward slightly would help but had no problems with the removal of the old ones.

150126/19 Correspondence:-
a. Anglia Care Trust: A request had been received from a charity, Anglia Care Trust, who are trying to set up a Good Neighbour Scheme in the village. It was agreed that the Trust be invited to the next Parish Council meeting to discuss the scheme.
b. Allotments: The Clerk reported that she had received a request for an allotment from a resident who did not live in the village. All Councillors agreed that as there was no waiting list and the Council had been informed that an allotment holder wished to give up their allotment, to offer the plot.
c. West Suffolk Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning 2026 Consultation: The Clerk reported that all Councillors had been sent the link if they wished to comment.
d. Parking, The Street: The Clerk reported that she had received correspondence from a resident who was experiencing increasing problems with people parking across their driveway. Councillors advised that the resident should install a 'No Parking' notice at the entrance of his drive and advise them to contact Suffolk County Council as the highways authority. Unfortunately, the Parish Council did not have any powers in relation to highways and parking of vehicles.

150126/20 Councillors to note any items for inclusion in a future meeting:-
Micklemere – The mere is full of water opposite The Mill and this piece of land is the responsibility of Suffolk Wildlife Trust – Clerk to ask Suffolk Wildlife Trust for an update.
Allotments – clearing of plots

150126/21 All Councillors noted that the next meeting will be on Thursday 19th February 2026 to be held in The Pavilion.

150126/22 The Chairman closed the meeting at 8.50pm