At the Annual Parish Meeting for Blundeston and Flixton held on Monday 26th April, 2004 there were present Mr. J. Nichols, (Chairman), Mr. G. Alderton, Mr. J. Blowers, Mrs. G. Soanes, Mr. S. Perks, Mr. K. Wood, Mrs. T. Townend and Mrs. E. Hilton. Councillor Brian Hunter, Pc Boggis, Pc Hill and 11 Parishioners also attended.
Apologies were received from Mr. P. Offord and Mr. S. Lewis.
The Minutes of the last Annual meeting held on 28th April 2003 were read approved and signed.
The Village Hall Management, Parish Council and Charity Trustees accounts were on display for Public examination.
The Chairman opened the meeting by welcoming those present and explaining that strictly speaking there should be no matters arising, but several things crop up each year and these would more than likely be covered in his report. The Chairman’s report informed those present that there had been 14 Parish Council meetings during the past 12 months, 3 of those being extra meetings to deal with specific planning issues. He thanked all those councillors who had attended on a regular basis and welcomed Mr. K. Wood, Mrs. G. Soanes and Mrs. E. Hilton who had all been co-opted to replaced the 3 Councillors who had resigned over the past 12 months. The Clerk was thanked for her work for the Council and along with Mrs. I. Mayes for ensuring that the minutes of each meeting are published in the Lowestoft Journal, and he feels that with the minutes being posted on the village website promptly as well the public is kept up to date with issues concerning the Village as a whole. The chairman outlined the various contentious planning applications which had occurred during the year and pointed out that the draft Waveney Local Plan has shown that there will not be any large scale building in Blundeston in the foreseeable future, however, small developments and individual infill sites would continue to be recognized as permissible. The Chairman thanked the local Police Officers who made every effort to attend Parish Council meetings and usually sent a report if they could not attend in person. He was saddened by the lack of support from the parents of the group of youngsters who had managed to get a signed petition asking for a suitable surface to allow them to skateboard in safety, no one had come forward to raise funds, even though a suitable site and the means of acquiring funding had been offered by the Parish Council. Councillor Brian Hunter was thanked for finding money in his locality funding for several projects in the Village and his continued support to the Parish Council. Mr. Ffitch and Mr. Edwards were thanked for their efforts in painting the posts and rails around the two village ponds. Councillor Brian Hunter reported next, in his capacity as a Local and District Councillor, he affirmed that he was conscious of the importance to all Parish Councils of the Waveney Local Plan, and he had initiated a series of discussions to take place at Northern Parishes Liaison Group meetings in an endeavour to secure as much understanding and inclusion by Parish Councils. Mr. Hunter elaborated on the suggestion that the Northern Parishes along with Oulton Broad and Normanston Ward should have only two County Councillors, and wondered how there can be any relation between the needs of Blundeston and Normanston. The Chairman thanked Mr. Hunter and he informed those present that Councillor Hunter could always be relied on the be upfront and honest with the Parish Council, he then asked if anyone had any questions. Miss G. Bailey thanked Mr Hunter for procuring a grant to allow the Sunshine Club to hire a special coach suitable for one of their members who was wheelchair bound to join other members on their summer outings. She then asked if he could investigate the provision of Slow Signs at the approach to Lound Road along the Flixton Road, which had been the scene of several accidents as was proving to be a dangerous crossroads. Miss Bailey also reported that the Planning Department public sign regarding the development at The Brambles was not suitably displayed to allow it to be read easily, it was wrapped round the post supporting a 30mph repeater sign. She also was not happy with the way that Council properties were being sold, thus excluding low income and elderly people being able to be housed in the Village, the Chairman and Councillor Hunter pointed out that the policy for selling Council houses was a National Government, not Local Council policy. Pc Boggis presented the Police Report next, there were 57 reported crimes during the last 12 months, 10 of these were related to HMP and the other 47 related to the Village of Blundeston out of these 23 were detected. This total was 26 crimes less than that of the previous year, which is hopefully a good sign. The officers also left a copy of the findings of the recent road traffic speed survey carried out in Blundeston and Flixton.  Blundeston Bowls Club reported that the 2003 season had gone well, and that the Club had won division one in both the Benacre and Lowestoft and District leagues. There are 40 members and now that the lease to the green has been finalised the club feels secure enough to gradually improve facilities as funds become available. The Charity Trustees reported that a new system of vouchers had been tried over Christmas when £3557. 40 was distributed, and 21 full time university students had also benefited from book tokens to the value of £60 each with former residents who are now living in nursing homes receiving a small gift. The land behind the Pippins has now been sold and contracts will be signed in the near future. The Local History Society announced that their membership stands at approximately 50 and members enjoy a wide variety of speakers at the 4 meetings a year, with 3 outside visits during the summer months. There was no report from the Mother and Toddler Group. The Playgroup report was given next; there are 29 children on the register and three members of staff plus 1 trainee member. A second Ofsted inspection was held in June 2003 and the outcome was good. It is hoped to change the name to Blundeston Pre-School and the committee are waiting for confirmation from Ofsted before this can happen, they also reported that the new play equipment has impressed the children. The Parish Team reported that they meet regularly with the Rural North Police Officers and representatives of the Prison and several projects in and around the village had been carried out as a direct result of this co-operation. The most notable recent work was in the redecoration of the Village Hall, but other projects in the pipeline are repairing the seat on the Play area and the re-painting of the play equipment. The Royal British Legion had a new standard dedicated in the Church followed by a march past, and two entertainments had been organised in the Village Hall in the past 12 months, work on similar projects is in progress. St Mary’s Church report contained the news that a new Rector for the Somerleyton Group, Roger Kent, has been appointed and he is to be inducted on 30th July in Blundeston Church. The two bells are to be put back in working order and a new path has been laid, with help from the Locality Fund. Blundeston Church is the only Grade 1 listed Church in the Somerleyton Group and this causes some problems when repairs need to be carried out. The Sunshine Club reported another busy and interesting year; unfortunately the Chiropodist has declined to continue attending the Village Hall on a regular basis. Five outings have been planned for the summer and the 35 members enjoy meetings every Monday except Bank Holidays where they play whist, scrabble, darts once a month and bingo. The Tennis Club reported an unchanged number of members and the fact that criminal damage has been caused to the Net recently, someone had scaled the surrounding chain link fencing and cut away a large portion of the net. A replacement is being purchased. The Village Festival Committee report came next, it has been decided that the Party in the Park will take place on Saturday 12th June this year, last years proved to be a success once again and the fundraising events held in the interim have ensured that there are sufficient funds to cover the cost of the marquee, live band, disco and toilets. There will also be a children’s entertainer this year giving Punch and Judy Shows etc. The Chairman then gave the Village Hall Management Committee report; the Caretaker was thanked for the way that he and his wife look after the Hall. The charges for hiring the hall are reviewed each year but it is the Committees policy to keep these as low as possible. The Prison inmates had redecorated the Hall and the chairman thanked the Parish Team for organising this. Mrs. Hilton was thanked for getting a grant to enable the new play equipment to be purchased and installed. New lighting in the main hall, electric hand driers and a replacement spotlight system have all been installed during the past week. The W.I. reported that their membership now stood at 60, the Annual Bingo, Bangers and Mash evening had attracted a coach full of visitors from Halesworth, and members were busy rehearsing for a show to be held on May 14th and 15th, this was an evening of humorous sketches and the proceeds would be given to the Village Hall Management Committee towards the cost of the new spotlight equipment. The chairman then gave a brief report on the progress of the Millennium Green, the Green is maturing well and the grass is mown regularly and kept in a good condition. Disappointment was expressed at the fact that several people were letting dogs loose on the Green, despite a notice asking owners to keep them on leads, this was adding to the general unrest in the Village about the vast amount of dogs mess currently around. The Chairman pointed out the petty incident recently when one parishioner had taken it upon themselves to put up a notice about people who had picked up the mess but then discarded the bag containing it, someone had then decided to place the full bags in a pile under the notice, Mr. Edwards had removed the offending bags and the Parish Council were very grateful to him for this. 
Any other Parish business. Miss Bailey suggested that as St. George’s day 2005 occurred on a Saturday it would be a good idea to have a celebration in the Village. This was thought to be feasible by several Parishioners, the British Legion offered to organise a Parade and other ideas would be considered.
There being no further business the meeting closed.