BRANDESTON PARISH COUNCIL

 

Minutes of a Meeting of the Council held at the Village Hall on Wednesday, 21 February 2007

 

Present

Councillors D Risk (Chairman) (DR), P Summers (PS), S Thurlow (ST), C McArthur (CM) and K Churchill (KC)

PC Trudy Beckwith and PC Jeffery Burt

Parish Clerk and RFO A M Hounsell

Parish Historical Recorder Mrs W Woodland

Parishioner Mr N G Hayward

 

1-0607/7 - Welcome and Apologies.

The Chairman welcomed Councillors and visitors to the meeting and advised that there were apologies for absence from Cllrs. H Saxton and J Garratt, Cty Cllr P Bellfield and Dist Cllr N Jackson.

The Chairman then adjourned the meeting to permit PC’s Beckwith and Burt to advise the council as stated in the attached notes.

The Chairman then reconvened the meeting and the Clerk was instructed to advise residents of the details provided by the PC’s

 

2-0607/7 - Declarations of Interest

ST declared interest in agenda item 7(i) (a)

 

3-0607/7 - Previous Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of 06 December 2006 were approved and signed as a true record

 

4-0607/7 - Matters arising from previous minutes.

(i)      Speeding in The Street (previous minute 4-0607/6 (i))

The Clerk confirmed that he had written to SCC, East Area Highways requesting that their “SID” equipment be brought to Brandeston. Reply has been received advising that this subject was dealt with at Endeavour House, Ipswich and the Council’s request had been forwarded there. No further reply has been received. The Clerk was instructed to press SCC for a response.

(ii)      Local Development Framework (previous minute 4-0607/6 (ii))

The Clerk advised that the Parish Meeting to discuss this matter and a possible Parish Plan was now booked at the village hall for Monday 16 April 2007 at 8.00 pm.

PS explained that SCDC efforts were slipping back. He suggested that we should not rush and that after the village meeting (including Annette Gray of Suffolk ACRE) we may wish to delay preparation of a Parish Plan. After briefly reviewing the documents sent by SCDC, PS suggested and it was agreed that PS and CM review the questionnaire and provide response by 02 April 2007 - their response to be advised to the village at the meeting on 16 April.

The Council agreed to publicise the meeting as follows :-

Brandeston website

Parish magazine

Circular through doors

Notice boards

(iii)     Drainage in The Street (previous minute 4-0607/6 (iii))

The Chairman advised that the site meeting requested in the minutes of the meeting of 06 December 2006 had been held on Friday 19 January 2007, attended by himself, the Clerk, ST (as village hall chairman) and Mr R O’Brien with Mr D Fawcett of SCC.

Resulting from this, SCC agreed construct an offlet into the (currently in-filled) drain at 37 The Street (provided the residents agreed to the necessary works in their garden) and to carry out infilling of the dip outside Mr O’Brien’s house. The Clerk had agreed to write a suitably worded letter (subject to review and comment by SCC) to the residents of 37 The Street.

The raised kerb at the village hall was also discussed and Mr Fawcett had reiterated that SCC’s responsibility ended at 1.3 metres from the roadway. He had agreed to provide an estimate to complete the surfacing beyond this point to the gate pillars. The Clerk advised this meeting that he had received this estimate in the amount of £829.90 + VAT.

After discussion, the Council agreed to accept this estimate and the Clerk was instructed to advise SCC.

(iv)     Audit of Village Hall Accounts (previous minute 8-0607/6)

ST stated that the auditor had advised that they required full details of all committee minutes showing approvals leading to the expenditure made in the year in question (to June 2005).

 

(v)      SCDC North Area Liaison Meeting (previous minute 10-0607/7)

The Chairman advised that he and JG had attended the meeting and minutes were issued two days later – there was nothing to be dealt with at this stage. However, full input was requested from councils on planning issues. The minutes of the meeting were circulated to councillors.

(vi)     Re-naming of Low Street (previous minute 12-0607/6 (ii))

ST circulated notes prepared by WW.(see attached) to councillors, which explained the link to the name Lower Candy. It was agreed that if the name change was implemented it should cover “The Old Stables” to “Westerling” (on the north side) and “17 The Street” to “Forge House” (on the south side)

The Clerk was instructed to prepare a circular requesting views on this subject for delivery by ST to those directly involved.

 

5-0607/7 - Planning

(i)      The Clerk advised that applications C06/1438/LBC (Alterations and additions to include replacement doors with fire escape doors and disabled access – Brandeston Hall School), C06/19233/FUL (Summerhouse, Red House) , C06/2027/LBC (Alterations to include infilling existing arched opening with fire door – Brandeston Hall School) and C06/2071/FUL (Erection of garage and pergola, Clovers, Mutton Lane) had all been approved.

(ii)      The Clerk also advised that he had submitted comments for application C06/2241 (Revised scheme – Master’s House, Brandeston Hall) in accordance with the notes prepared by PS, which were circulated to Councillors. The Clerk was instructed to enquire of the latest status of this application with SCDC.

 

6-0607/7 – Financial Report by RFO (The Clerk)

(i)             The Clerk circulated the current cashbook position for both Council accounts. The main account has a current balance of £1,612.79 and the 100+ account a balance of £11.68 (both after allowing accruals for cheques raised and for latest receipts). The Clerk confirmed the satisfactory status of the Council’s finances.

(ii)           The Clerk also confirmed that the precept application had been submitted for £2050 as agreed by the Council and that two equal payments would be made in April and September 2007.

 

7-0607/7 – Financial Matters

The Council approved payments as follows :-

(i)             £10.00 for the Parish Plan meeting on 16 April 2007 and £14 for the Council and Annual Parish meetings on 25 April 2007 both to Brandeston VH&RG for room hires. ST withdrew from the meeting for this item.

(ii)           Clerk’s office expenses for 2006-07 of £273.00.

(iii)          £25 as donation to the Suffolk Accident Rescue Service.

 

8-0607/7 – Entry in the Village of the Year Competition

The Council agreed in principle to enter this competition. ST agreed to complete the application forms and to approach Mrs Mitson Woods and/or Mr Reade for assistance if necessary.

 

9-0607/7 – Correspondence

There were no correspondence matters requiring the Council’s attention.

 

10-0607/7 - Variation to the agenda business

The Chairman agreed to permit discussion as follows :-

(i)                   ST raised the matter of cutting of the grass of the recreation ground. She advised that the hall committee had contacted Brandeston Hall without reply but that Mr Peter Thurlow of the VH committee will be in contact with The Master. Steve Western had suggested that sheep be grazed with appropriate safety measures. The Chairman pointed out the likelihood of droppings from sheep. The council also suggested that Mr Ivan Leach’s “topper” could be used to cut the grass to a length more suitable for normal cutting.

(ii)                 KC raised the matter of the formal inspection of the recreation ground play area. It was advised that there was relevant correspondence with PS. He was requested to pass this to ST for action by the VH committee.

(iii)                The council expressed its thanks to Mr D Risk, Mr J Garratt Mr R Martin and Mr I Leach for pruning the chestnut tree adjacent to the recreation ground play area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date of Next Meetings

Dates of next meetings were agreed as 16 April 2007 (Parish Plan meeting at 8.00 pm), 25 April 2007 (Council meeting at 7.00 pm followed by Annual Parish Meeting at 8.00 pm) and 09 May (annual council meeting at 8.0 pm)

 

The meeting closed at 10.00 pm

 

 

NOTES OF ADVICE FROM PC’s BECKWITH AND BURT

PC Beckwith explained that she is to be our Community Police Officer and that she had “caught” one speeder (a school mum) who was warned. She produced the most recent SID indication for October and confirmed that she will bring SID to Brandeston as often as possible.

PC Burt mentioned the possibility of car break-ins. He also advised that the force had a Crime Prevention officer who could visit residents for a free audit (PC Steve Barrett who is based at Southwold but could be contacted via a central phone number - 01473 613500)