At the 2007 Annual Parish Meeting there were present - Mr. J. Nichols (Chairman), Mrs R. Herrivan, Mrs. T. Townend, Mr. J. Blowers, Mr. R Leech, Mr. S. Lewis, Mrs. E. Hume, Mr. S. Rees, Mr. K. Wood and Mr. S. Perks, Pc D. Boggis, WPC L. Moore and 24 Parishioners also attended
Apologies were received from Mrs. G. Soanes, Mr. & Mrs. K. Ward.  W.D. Councillor P. Ashdown, S.C. Councillors A. Barron and M. Cherry 
Mr. Nichols announced that the accounts for the Village Hall Management Committee, the Parish Council and the Charity Trustees were on the table at the side of the Hall for Public Inspection. 
The Minutes of the previous Annual Meeting were read, approved and signed.
The Chairman reported on the past year and said that the Parish Council had met 12 times during the year and that he had managed to chair all those meetings, the average attendance of Parish Councillors had been 8.6 per meeting exactly the same as the previous year. He thanked all the Parish Councillors who had attended on a regular basis and special thanks were given to Mr. Perks (Vice Chairman) and Mrs. Soanes who had taken over the Chair of the Village Hall Management Committee. He also thanked W D Councillor Ashdown and S.C. Councillors Cherry and Barron for their support and attendance where possible at the P. C. Meetings.  Mr. Nichols said how grateful the Council were for the presence of our Police Officers at the monthly meetings, up until recently in the form of Pc Boggis. He referred to the stringent rules on Declarations of Interest and their impact on Parish Councillors at meetings. Average public attendance at the meetings has increased from 6 to 10 over the year. Mr. Nichols then outlined some of the issues raised by Parishioners which have been dealt with over the last 12 months. He thanked the Clerk for her work during the year and for her work with  Mrs. Mayes the Blundeston Journal representative to ensure that a report of each meeting appears in the Lowestoft Journal. The minutes are also posted on the Village website (www.blundeston.org.uk) Planning applications had been the most contentious issues dealt with and a major change to the Local Development Framework had caused concern, proposals had been forwarded to allocate 3 sites for potential future development which could total 323 new units in the Village, it was stressed by Mr. Nichols that the Parish Council had responded strongly objecting to any large scale development in the Village and pointing out the devastating effect such development would have on a small community and the current level of service provision within it.  It was noted however that these proposals were not planning applications only exploration of available development sites within Waveney, in fact two of the sites the proposals had been put forward without the knowledge of the landowners. Mr. Nichols said that the quarterly meetings of the Northern Parishes Liaison Group were invaluable for discussing problems of a mutual nature and to hear speakers on specific topics. He thanked the Party in the Park Committee for organising the Annual Event on the Millennium Green and reported that due to the  irresponsible behaviour of a group of youths from outside the Village last year this years event will be confined to afternoon activities only. Irresponsible dog owners were still causing a problem by allowing dogs to foul public areas despite two dog bins being provided, and the ever present nuisance and in some cases health hazard caused by fly-tipping had also been made worse by the closure of the Wilde Street site. Paul Ashdown had sent an email offering his apologies in which he asked to be kept informed of any fly-tipping occurring within the Parish and said that this needs to be dealt with quickly especially during hot weather. Allyson Barron had reported that she would inform the Parish Council as soon as any new developments with regard to the Schools Reorganisation came to light. The Police report was given by Pc Boggis. He outlined the significant changes in the Lowestoft Policing system when, as of 19th March the Lowestoft area was split into 3 separate neighbourhood teams, he has been asked to cover the whole of North Lowestoft and maintain the link with the Rural North Parishes along with WPC Lauren Moore and PCSO Susan Kershaw. He said that during the past 12 months there had been 60 reported crime incidents in Blundeston. 2 were recorded as domestic non-crimes and a further 13 were deemed non-crimes subsequently. Of the remaining 45 crimes 30 were detected which is an amazing 66.7% detection rate, probably the highest in the force. Of the 60 reported crimes 13 related to HMP Blundeston. There were no reported crimes in Flixton. The Art Circle reported that their class was now full and there is a waiting list, they had visited the Fitzwilliam Museum Art Galleries and will be taking a trip to Buckingham Palace to see the Royal Italian Collection. This year they will be holding an exhibition in Blundeston Village Hall on 12th & 13th May. Blundeston Bowls Club reported that there had been vast improvements to the green partly due to the newly fitted automatic watering system, a new mower has been purchased with the help of a grant from SCC which will also help to improve the playing surface. Membership stands at about 40. Blundeston Charity Trustees reported that the sale of the land at the rear of Meadowlands now brings in an average income of £900 per month as opposed to £40 per annum previously. Over 100 households received Tesco vouchers at Christmas and 16 students living away from home received Book Vouchers to the value of £60. Any request for assistance will be considered but the request must come from the person concerned not a third party.  Blundeston & District Local History Society reported that they have a membership of approximately 50, there have been speakers at each of the four meetings held in the winter months, and there are 3 summer visits planned. The Chairman offered his congratulations to the two members of the History Society who had written the recently published book “Blundeston”.  It was reported that over 250 copies had already been sold. Blundeston Brownies report explained that the new time slot of 6p.m. - 7.30p.m. had worked well without any losses from the Brownie Pack, it had been necessary to change the time as the new leaders could not manage the previous early start. There are 21 girls enrolled and another 3 starting after Easter. Blundeston Pre-School have 38 children on the register most of whom live in Blundeston. The New Year saw the beginning of a 5 session week which is working well. Close links are kept with the school they have had successful fundraising events and have received a grant to purchase a container in which to store the outdoor equipment. The Party in the Park Committee reported that for the 5th year running the event was a great success, this year there will be a Picnic in the Park on 16th June, the format for the rest of the day will change in the respect that there will be no Beer Tent or evening Disco. On Friday 15th June in the evening the Plough Football Team will play The Old Boys of Blundeston on the Football field.  Other events during the year to raise funds have included a Barn Dance and a Children’s Halloween party. Blundeston & District Royal British Legion reported that they had arranged for gift vouchers to go to the widows of past members, and their welfare officer visited any who needed comforting due to health or other reasons. A fund raising evening has been arranged for 26th May, when the “Castaways” group will entertain. Saint Mary’s Church report included the news that the are problems with the East Wall, it is thought that the South East Buttress needs under-pinning but until the architect and specialist make their inspection and file a report, nothing can be done. Various concerts have taken place during the year and there will be a concert by Taverham Brass Band on June 17th from 2 - 4p.m.  There will also be a piano recital on Wednesday 4th July.  The Annual Flower Festival will take place on 9th/10th June and volunteers to help man events were requested. The Children’s Holiday Club has been a huge success and this year will be held from 6th to 10th August.  Wendy Dawson gave a report on The Skate Park project, she told the meeting that all the costs would be covered by grants from various sources and once the Planning permission is altered from 5 years to  a minimum of 15years most of the funding can be obtained. It is hoped that work would commence at the beginning of July and once the funding is available a Skate Park Management Committee would be put in place, this committee would include youngsters who use the facility. The 2nd Oulton Broad Scout Group gave their report and informed those present that when they started in Blundeston in October 2006 there were 50 youngsters who moved with them, and now they have more young people who are mostly from the Village. They are planning a fun day in the Village in 2007 and asked to be informed if there was any way in which they could help other groups in the Village. The Sunshine Club reported that they have had two lunches out and six outings during the year, unfortunately their numbers are depleting and new members are needed if they are to be able to continue. Anyone over 55 is welcome at their meetings on Monday afternoons 2 - 4p.m. The Sunshine Club members reported their thanks for the new chairs in the Hall. Blundeston and Flixton W.I. have approximately 60 members during the year a wide variety of subjects have been covered at the monthly meetings this year they range from Fire Prevention to Everything I always wanted to know about Sex!  They hold weekly craft classes, two rambles a year, a garden party and this year will be holding a “Ready Steady Cook” evening in June. The Village Hall Management Committee reported a very busy year, with the Hall being used up to 3 times on some days. A grant has been received from WDC to help provide new double fire doors for the Hall, the floor is going to be replaced and it is hoped to get a grant from the Lottery Fund towards the cost of this. There has been a spate of teenage parties where costly and considerable damage has been caused and the Committee have decided that there will have to be a refundable deposit of £200 for such parties in future. 30 new Upholstered chairs had been purchased by the Parish Council after a request by the Sunshine Club for more comfortable seating. A contract cleaner has been organised on a monthly basis to help the Caretaker in his daily routine. Mr. & Mrs. Fox were thanked for all the hard work they put in throughout the year.
Any other Parish Business. Miss Bailey reported that her neighbour had written a letter to Anglian Water regarding the constant problem that her and her sister had with raw sewerage flooding their property, the neighbour said in the letter that a non return valve had been installed at a point in the main sewer and this had stopped the problem in that area, the letter urged AW to consider fitting these valves along the main otherwise the problem would simply move along Lound Road. Miss Bailey also raised the matter of the repair to the footpath in Lound Road which has been promised for the last 12 years. Mrs. Mayes said that she was amazed that there had been no comment from the public to the proposals to build a total of 45 houses in the village when only 4 years ago there had been uproar in the Parish and over 100 people attended a meeting in the Village Hall when the building of 5 houses at the rear of Meadowlands was proposed and the public classed the proposal as urban sprawl.  Ms Dawson told those present that in her task of raising funds she had found that the Parish Plan was an invaluable tool, firstly because in regard to the Skate Park, the need for such a facility had been identified in the document and prospective funders were impressed with the professionalism of such a powerful document. At 8.15 the meeting closed.