At a meeting of the Parish Council held immediately after the Annual Parish Meeting on Monday 26th April 2004 there were present, Mr. J. Nichols (Chairman), Mrs. G. Soanes, Mr. J. Blowers, Mr. G. Alderton, Mr. S. Perks, Mr. K. Wood, Mrs. T. Townend and Mrs. E. Hilton. Councillor Brian Hunter and 1 Parishioner also attended. 
Apologies were received from Mr. P. Offord and Mr. S. Lewis.
There were no declarations of interest.
The Chairman welcomed Mrs. Hilton to her first meeting as a Parish Councillor.
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 5th April 2004 were approved and signed.
The Clerk reported that Chet Taxi’s and S.C.C. School Transport department had both been contacted with a view to altering the pick up point for school transport, to the Hobart School and Benjamin Britten/Lowestoft Sixth Forms, but both had been unwilling to move the pick up and drop off stop to either the Village Hall or Blundeston School instead of The Street, which would avoid the associated congestion problems. S.C.C. had tried to co-operate but had apparently received a haranguing from the parents of the children in question. It was reported that the next Northern Parishes Liaison Group meeting to be held on Thursday 29th April in Corton Village Hall at 7.30p.m. would include a discussion with David Jessop from W.D.C. regarding the new arrangements for inspections of Playground equipment, plus a presentation on Planning procedures by Frank Deveraux and Brian Hunter, which will be helpful for Parish Councils. 
Accounts. The following accounts were proposed for payment by Mr. Blowers and seconded by Mr. Alderton.
		W.J. Jermy	Annual rent for playing field		   £200. 00
		W.D.C. 	Providing footway in Market Lane	£3,500. 00  
		Suffolk Acre	Annual Subscription			       20. 00
		S.A.L.C.	Annual Subscription			     327. 82
		Allianz Cornhill Insurance Ann. Premium		     858. 01
Planning.    The following plans were approved
	Mr. M. Loveridge, 46, The Street, Relocation of previously approved detached garage.
	E.W. Jermy Ltd, Holly Garden Nurseries, Erection of 2 replacement Glasshouses.
	Mr. D. Osborn, Land adjacent to The Oakes Lound Road, Construction of detached house with integral garage. This with the proviso that the Highways Department approve the vehicular exit onto Lound Road, in view of the close proximity of a dangerous road junction.
Correspondence. A letter had been received from Adrian Clarke of W.D.C. in reply to the Parish Council’s request for written confirmation that the change from a Bridle way to a Byway status on Wood Lane will make no difference to the usage of the path. The Parish Councillors were satisfied that the contents of the letter were reassuring and Councillor Hunter told the meeting that S.C.C. were also firmly behind the proposition that the Lane should remain as a naturally surfaced byway. The letter also categorically confirmed that the creation of a byway is in no way connected to the housing development proposals for Oulton. An invitation for two representatives to attend a Parish and Town Council Workshop hosted by W.D.C. on Wednesday 12th May at Oulton Community Centre had been received; Mrs. Soanes agreed to attend with the Clerk. A copy of the W.D.C. / Suffolk Countryside Manual had arrived. Information had been received from Suffolk Preservation Society, and as the Parish Council’s membership at lapsed, the Clerk asked if the Councillors would like to renew the subscription, which had been held for many years, this was approved.  A letter from W.D.C informed the Parish Council that Lowestoft Road would be closed for some important repairs and maintenance during 2 weeks in May, Mr. Beldon had also requested permission to site a Portacabin and toilet on the Parish Council owned land adjacent to Queeensway for the duration of this work, which all told would be for approximately six weeks. The Councillors gave permission for the cabins to be placed on this land subject to Waveney District Council consulting with the immediate neighbours. 
Other Parish Business Mr. Alderton pointed out that the Affordable Housing Survey approval form should be completed and sent back, the Chairman agreed to deal with this. Mr. Alderton also asked if the Clerk had received any reply to the letter sent enquiring when the white lines on Market Lane corner were going to be repainted. The answer had been given by W.D.C. that this work would be done when the contractors were in the area doing a similar job. Mr. Perks reported another incident of fly tipping in Marsh Lane recently, when a lorry load of evergreen hedge trimmings had been dumped, but it was noted that these had been removed earlier in the day. Mr. Wood asked if the Parish Council could ascertain what the correct spacing is for 30mph repeater signs to allow for prosecutions, as during the two recent traffic surveys carried out by Pc Hill and Pc Boggis, out of 146 vehicles travelling along the B1074 during the survey only 37 were being driven at less than 31 mph. A similar scenario occurred on Lowestoft Road, Blundeston when out of 186 vehicles only 85 were below 31mph.  Mr. Hunter agreed to find this information, and the Clerk was asked write to the Highways Department about the matter. Mr. John Marquis, a resident of Lakeside Rise, had provided information regarding the recent problems in Lakeside Rise over the parking of staff cars in the residential area adjacent to the Prison. A meeting with residents and representatives of the Prison had been held recently and they had resolved the situation, the Prison representatives confirmed that there are funds available for work to start to make other areas suitable to the staff to park their cars, and this will begin as soon as possible.
There being no further business the meeting closed.