At a meeting of the Parish council held on Monday 10th January 2011 there were present, Mr G Wade (Chairman), Mr S Perks, Mr S Rees, Mr J Blowers, Mrs T Townend, Mr P Ball, Mrs G Soanes, Mrs J Browne, WDC Cllr P Ashdown & SCC Cllr M Barnard, 
5 Parishioners were also present.
Apologies were received from Mr K Wood, Mr R Leech, Mr J Nichols, SCC Cllr Colin Law, SGT Andy Green, &  PCSO Sue Kershaw,
The minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday 22nd November were approved and signed.
Declaration of Interests Mr Perks declared a personal interest in the planning application for ‘Timbers’
Clerks Report Update from the last meeting – the branches obscuring the ‘20’s plenty’ sign outside the school on Church Road and the 30mph sign on Lowestoft Road/Queensway have been trimmed back. The worn lines in the middle of the Road near to the old fruit farm entrance have still not been repainted and have been chased up. The footpath sign near garden farm barn on Market lane which had been broken off has now been replaced. The 30mph repeater sign which had fallen over on the verge on the B1074 was reinstated but has since again been knocked over and will be reported to Highways.  The duck signs have been produced and plans are in place to site them.
15 minutes for Parishioner input A parishioner thanked parties concerned for trimming back the hedges near the road signs on Church Road & Lowestoft Road.  It was reported that tractor tracks had marked the grass on the bank at the entrance to Hall lane at the junction with Hall road & there were concerns regarding damage to the newly planted spring bulbs put in as part of the Blundeston in Bloom project. It was requested a “keep off the grass’ sign be placed to advise. The councillors felt this was not necessary as it is not a regular occureance. Mr Ffitch thanked the council for obtaining the duck signs & requested a date to be arranged asap for pond clearing.
Other Parish Business (Parish Councilors) a concern was raised regarding new hedging that has been planted on the corner opposite the Peto’s pond junction. Once the hedge had grown up there was concern it would obscure vision of approaching traffic .SCC Cllr reconfirmed that the junction improvement works are scheduled to take place within the next twelve months to improve and make this junction safer. It was agreed to take a look at a later date after this work had taken place.  Mrs Browne raised concerns with regards to school traffic as the volume continues to cause concern particularly during the recent freezing conditions. The Millennium Beacon has been removed by Mr Perks for safety reasons due to the rotten post. Mr Perks confirmed a new post would be required and agreed to trace a replacement post and report back to enable the council to re-erect. Mr Blowers has obtained the required new parts for the mobile goal posts along with new nets he then suggested using the same person who built the goals to restore them with the new parts. This was unanimously agreed. The caretaker of the village hall has requested a grit bin to be placed in the grounds and he has agreed to salt the village hall grounds in the bad weather . Cllr Barnard advised he would be able to fund a bin for his locality budget leaving the Village hall management responsible for purchasing and refilling with salt.
There were concerns regarding the legal responsibility for gritting once the council commit to doing so. It was requested the clerk contact SALC to confirm the legal situation and report back at the next meeting. Large pot holes on the entrance to village hall were reported. Mr Perks offered to obtain quotes to repair this and will report back to the council.  Mrs Soanes asked if anyone was interested in using the new netball equipment that is stored and remains unused in the village hall.  The chairman reported one of the benches on the millennium green had been unbolted. No one was aware of why and he offered to look into it and resolve. The chairman received correspondence from a local amateur dramatics group ‘home grown’ requesting use of the village hall to put on an event for the local community. The chairman will meet with the group and find out more information. The chairman received a letter from a parishioner reporting the brambles behind the tennis court were growing through the fence and requested if they could be trimmed back. It was agreed that Mr Jones would be contacted and requested to trim back away from the court and tidy up. Mr Rees will contact him and request this be done as soon as possible
The Chairman had sold the wood from the felling of the poplars £100 was raised and it was agreed to put this towards the purchase of new replacement trees. The chairman had a price to replace with native Rowan trees and will purchase and arrange to plant with the relevant supports. 
Police Report.  Police report was read out by the clerk. For the month of December there were no recorded crimes in the parish of Flixton & three for Blundeston. A drunk & disorderly male was charged and glass broken at the telephone box on Lowestoft Road, these were related and the investigation is still on going. Two items were thrown from a moving vehicle on Flixton Road causing a cyclist stress and alarm here again investigation still on going. In Orchard Lane two youths have thrown ice balls and apples at properties causing concern to residents. Fly Tipping was reported to PCSO Kershaw. This was near the lake, on Lakeside Rise. W D C were informed and as this was on private property the land owners will get it removed. I have informed the Highways of damage to a sign on the B1074. Following on from this report concerns were raised over the broken glass in the phone box. Mr Rees will look to see how much glass is required. Mr Perks suggested using Perspex instead of glass.
District Councillor report Cllr Paul Ashdown reported the area examination plans for Lake Lothing and the Local development framework will be completed next month. The action required with the oak trees on Queensway is still ongoing. A site visit has been undertaken and Cllr Ashdown is waiting to hear back . Cllr Ashdown passed on information regarding a Suffolk foundation grant
County Councillor Report. Cllr Mike Barnard advised the flooding and surface water draining onto Lowestoft road has been reported. An inspection is due to take place and following that works to rectify by the relevant responsible parties will be done. No confirmed date for this works was available. The height of the Blundeston sign at the junction with market lane is the responsibility of National highways agency. Cllr Barnard has requested the regional representative take a look at this.  SCC budget cuts are still being finalized with no confirmed announcements due until February. Reconfirmation that regular gritting will continue to be A roads & bus routes only.
Willow Tree 
Mr Rees read out the report from Paul Mcdowell-Veitch of Waveney Norse regarding the condition of the large willow tree at the entrance to the playground. The tree was next to the poplar tree that recently came down in high winds and in the opinion of Mr Mcdowell-Veitch is suffering from the same fungal disease. The council were undecided on the action to take and decided to follow the recommendation of Cllr Ashdown to have Fiona McEwan the tree preservation officer for Waveney district council inspect the tree before making a final decision on what action to take with the tree. Cllr Ashdown will contact Ms McEwan and liase with the clerk
Barkis Meadow pond The pond clearing party were due to meet before Christmas but due to the pond being frozen this was delayed and will now take place on Sunday 23rd January at  1030. All Welcome. Please come suitably dressed to assist with the tidying 
The clerk will re-print posters.
Mobile Fish & Chip van Mrs Soanes had received a letter from a local shop requesting permission to park their mobile fish and chip shop van on the village hall car park. This will be on Tuesday evenings 5pm-7pm. The council agreed and approved Mrs Soanes will contact the owners to pass on the decision.
Accounts The following accounts were approved for payment. Mr Nichols – Broadband Allowance (Oct/Nov/Dec) £25.00. Mrs Rees,Clerks Salary & telephone (Oct/Nov/Dec) £330.00 plus postage £4.92. Mrs Soanes – Plaque on new bench £34.00. Mr J Blowers – New mobile goal nets from Harrods £ 60.98
Planning Mr S Tate, The Rectory, Market Lane – Extension for form first floor and single storey side extension.  This was approved unanimously with a note regarding the siteing of guttering along the boundry of the neighbouring property.
Mr & Mrs M Gilder, Timbers, Pound Lane – Extension to form first floor & two storey front extension. This was refused on grounds of the size of the property exceeding current guidelines regarding the overdevelopment of the original site. 7refused the application with 1 abstention
Correspondence Suffolk Accident Rescue – Donation request. It was agreed to donate £50 the same as last year. SALC – Local Councillor magazine passed to councilors. Trading standards – onsumer Champion network. SCC – Notification of temporary road closure C904 Yarmouth Road, Lound ( between Browston Lane & Back Lane) SCC – Residential care home information was passed onto Mrs Soanes.
Diary Notes - W.I are holding a coffee morning to raise funds for the village in bloom on Sat 19th March. The next Village in Bloom is on 20th January at 730pm in the village hall. 
There being no further business the meeting finished at 2110hrs
The next meeting will be held on Monday 21st February 2011