At a meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday 12th January 2004 there were present, Mr. J. Nichols, (Chairman), Mr. P. Offord, Mr. G. Alderton, Mr. J. Blowers, Mr. S. Lewis and Mr. K. Wood. 6 Parishioners and Pc Hill also attended.
Apologies were received from Mrs. T. Townend and Brian Hunter. Mr. S. Perks, Mr. T. Prettyman and Mrs. E. Hume did not attend
The minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday December 15th 2003 were approved and signed.
There were no declarations of interest.
There had been no progress with the proposed skateboard area over the Christmas period, and no adults had come forward to assist with the setting up of this project. Mr. Blowers reported that he had explained to residents of Hall Lane that the scheme would only be a flat play area, which could be used by skate-boarders safely away from parked and moving vehicles. The three proposals from last month regarding the vacancy on the Parish Council were discussed next. The Chairman outlined these again 1. Holding an immediate election, which would incur considerable costs. 2. Holding an election in conjunction with the European elections on June 10th. 3. Leaving the position vacant until the next due election in 2 years time. Mr. Blowers said that if the vacancy was held over for 2 years there would be more vacancies to fill, as he knew of at least 2 Councillors who would not be seeking re-election at that time. It was decided that option 2 would be the most suitable and therefore it was proposed that the Clerk should ascertain the cost of combining an election with the European elections and report back to the next meeting. If the cost was not prohibitive the election would therefore take place in June.  The Clerk had still not received a report from Anglian Water with the results of the recent survey carried out along Market Lane, Mr. Alderton said that he would contact the person concerned at Anglian Water. Brian Hunter had been following up a letter sent by the Clerk to Waveney District Council on 17th November, which had not yet been acknowledged, the letter contained four Highways problems raised at the November meeting of the Parish Council, Mary Keasley had emailed Mr Hunter earlier in the day and he had forwarded it to the Clerk as he was unable to attend the meeting in Blundeston. In the reply Mrs. Keasley said that the Slow markings in Market Lane would be carried out next time the contractor is in the area. Work is programmed for this year to put in a drainage scheme, kerb and to resurface Lowestoft Road, an inspector had visited the site and could find no evidence of a bump in the surface. Tim Beldon is dealing with the flooding in Hall Road near Pound Lane, and the problem of the flexing of the surface of the road at the culvert in Flixton has been reported to Suffolk County Council Bridge Engineers and they will reply directly to the Clerk after their inspection. Pc Hill gave the Police report next. He informed those present that in December 2003 there were five reported crimes of which 3 were in the Village and two in HMP. This compared with December 2002 when seven crimes were reported in Blundeston, all of which were within HMP. Overall in the Northern Parishes there were 269 reported crimes in 2003 compared with 303 during the previous year. Pc Hill also reported that he had been to a meeting of the residents of Lakeside Rise in the last week. There has been an increase in the number of staff at HMP and the Car Parking facilities cannot cope with the extra vehicles, drivers are therefore parking along Lakeside Rise, making life difficult for the residents, it is anticipated that the Home Office will shortly be seeking a site to make more Parking spaces, other options were that the large green areas in front of the houses on the estate could be used for parking. It was felt by the residents that the staff should have parking facilities away from the residential area. 
There were no Planning Applications.
There were no Accounts
Correspondence.  It was proposed that Mr. Nichols would take the letter from SALC regarding Countryside Agency Grants towards Parish Plans and Rural Transport Schemes to the Northern Parishes Liaison Meeting next month. This would seem to be in a similar vein to the proposed Suffolk Acre/Public meeting on Parish Plans, which had been arranged for March 29th in Blundeston Village Hall. The Clerk had contacted Annette Gray of Suffolk Acre and she was able to come on that date and had sent more information and examples of posters and flyers to publicise the meeting. The Chairman outlined the main points that would be discussed at this meeting and emphasised the importance of having a good turn out of Parishioners at this meeting to give them an opportunity to decide on the future of the Village during interactive discussion. It was decided that the Chairman should contact Louise Wilby to ask her to attend at the same time, instead of coming to the early March meeting as her experience on affordable housing schemes would then be available to the General Public. It was hoped that as a result of this Public meeting a sub-committee could be formed to deal with the formation of a Parish Plan. Details of the meeting would be distributed to every house in the two villages and posters would also publicise the event. A letter had arrived from SCC under the Wildlife and Countryside Act - Modification of Definitive Map and Statement, giving details of a proposed change from a Bridle path to a Byway from the B1074 to Camps Heath. The Chairman agreed to contact the author of the proposal to find out why the change was deemed necessary.  The Chairman had received a letter from the Countryside Commission thanking him for the Parish Council’s comments on the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and saying that the comments will be evaluated by the mapping team and then if appropriate the draft map will be modified. Information on Road works and Traffic had been received from Atkins Highways and Transportation. 
Other Parish Business
Mr. Offord reported that he had read in a newspaper article that it is now being put forward that Planning departments should recommend that old barns on the outskirts of Villages are converted for use by light industry and small workshops or affordable housing units instead of large residences. Mr. Blowers reported that a Parishioner had discovered that a repair carried out recently by Anglian Water in Hall Lane had sunk considerably, this had been reported to the company and they assured him that the fault would be rectified in the immediate future. Mr. Blowers told the members that the Blundeston and District Branch of the Royal British Legion would be holding a concert on 24th January.  Mr. Lewis reported that the Village Festival Committee will be holding an 80’s Disco on February 21st in order to raise funds for the “Party in the Park” which is due to be held on June 12th, this event will be the finale to the Village Festival week which will commence on 5th June with the Annual Flower Festival and Teddy Bear Parachute at St. Mary’s Church. Mr. Wood informed those present that a pedestrian had been hit on the hand by a car last week as he walked along the B1074 in Flixton. The Chairman then congratulated Clive Ffitch on his Christmas Day swim and he reminded those who had sponsored Mr. Ffitch that payment is now due, Mr. Ffitch had braved the elements in aid of the restoration of the 2nd Church Bell in Blundeston which is one of the few remaining artefacts from the now ruined Church of St. Andrew in Flixton.
There was no Parishioner input. 
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.35p.m. 
Mrs. Hume telephoned her apologies to the Clerk later in the same evening.

After the meeting the Clerk contacted WDC to determine the cost of an election, as in previous enquiries about the filling of the vacancy on the Parish Council, she had been informed that an election would be necessary. It was confirmed by the Legal Department that in fact no election would be needed if notice of the Vacancy had been displayed for at least 14 days on the Parish notice-board and that ten or more Electors had not requested that an election takes place. The notice of a Vacancy for Blundeston was displayed for 6 weeks and there were two valid nominations for the vacancy. There were no requests from electors for an election to take place. It has therefore been decided that no Election by the Parishioners is necessary, and the Clerk has been advised by WDC that the vacancy can now be filled by a simple majority vote of the Parish Councillors at the next Parish Council meeting. The matter will be added to the next meetings agenda, the two nominees will be informed and a ‘secret ballot’ will be held.