At a meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday 1st March 2004 there were present, Mr. J. Nichols (Chairman), Mr. G. Alderton, Mr. K. Wood, Mr. S. Lewis, Mrs. E. Hume, Mr. S. Perks, Mrs. T. Townend plus 12 Parishioners.
Apologies were received from Mr. J. Blowers, Councillor B. Hunter and Mr. P.Offord.
A letter had been received from Mr. T. Prettyman tendering his resignation from the Parish Council due to new working commitments.
The minutes of the previous meeting, held on 26th January were approved and signed.
There were no declarations of interest
In view of the resignation of Mr. Prettyman it was proposed that the co-option of one of the two candidates to fill the previous vacancy should be held over to the next meeting, the Clerk would display a poster declaring the new vacancy for the legally required 14 days, and if 10 Parishioners had not expressed a wish to hold a bye election during that time, the two candidates could both be co-opted at the April meeting. This was agreed unanimously. No one from the Parish had expressed a wish to help to provide the youngsters with a new safe area to skateboard, the Clerk was asked to place the item on the agenda for the next meeting in the hopes that someone may come forward as a result of the Public meeting to be held in the Village Hall on Monday 29th March to discuss Parish Plans and the future of the two villages. The Clerk had received a telephone call from Anglian Water, after Mr. Alderton had contacted them to ask for the results of the survey carried out in Market Lane in December, the representative told the Clerk that a survey was carried out on Dec. 1st and this was inconclusive due to the difficulty encountered when examining the pipe as it narrowed considerably. There is also some controversy about the ownership of the pipe concerned. The chairman gave a report on the Northern Parishes Liaison meeting held on 29th January at Oulton; Mr. Everingham from W.D.C. gave an excellent presentation outlining the Councils progress with the Blue, Black and Green Bin trials taking place in certain areas. He admitted that there had been some problems but as householders get more used to the system things are going better, he did mention that some people had maliciously tried to sabotage the efforts of the council and engine oil had been discovered in one blue bin, but those concerned with the trial are pleased with the overall performance of the scheme. Parish Plans were also discussed and Oulton is interested in the Transport System Funding available. The proposed Oulton to Flixton Byway was also discussed, and it was discovered that Oulton had been aware of the change as long ago as July, but due to the fact that S.C.C. had sent the relevant details to Flixton near Halesworth, Blundeston and Flixton Parish Council had only been made aware of the proposal in January. The Liaison Group had a further meeting on February 16th, which Mary Mitson Woods of S.A.L.C. attended and discussed the Grants available from the Countryside Agency to help with developing Parishes and she said that holding a Parish Plans meeting was the first step in securing funding. She explained that grants of up to £10,000 per parish are available, so it was advantageous for groups of Parishes to work together, i.e. Blundeston & Flixton, Lound and Somerleyton could get together to apply for a transport grant and apply for £30,000. Electoral Boundary changes were also discussed at the meeting. Letters were read out from a resident of Camps Heath and a resident of Flixton who were both clearly very concerned about the proposal of the provision of a Byway rather than a Bridle Path between Camps Heath and Flixton. Mrs. Hume had contacted a Mr. Naylor of S.C.C. Legal Department and he had forwarded a copy of the original application for this change to Mrs Hume, this had been studied and Mrs. Hume had then contacted Adrian Clarke of W.D.C. who had assured her that the surface would not be treated in any way and the byway would be registered as a restricted Byway and the Council have no intentions of upgrading the Lane. The Clerk was asked to contact W.D.C. and ask for these conditions to be acknowledged in writing to the Parish Council, and to ask for reassurance that this upgrading is in no way connected with the development of 800 houses which are due to be built in Oulton in the next few years, the Parish Council would also like assurance that the Byway would remain a Byway in perpetuity. Councillor Hunter had sent an email in which he said that the SCC Rights of Way Sub Committee had taken very careful notice of the Byway becoming used by vehicular traffic, and as a member of that committee Mr. Hunter had been able to get an assurance that if in six months time there is any usage by vehicular traffic SCC will consider an order restricting the same. The Clerk was asked to forward copies of the letters from Flixton and Camps Heath residents to Oulton Parish Council.
Accounts.	The following accounts were proposed for payment by Mr. Perks and seconded by Mr. Alderton.
Sykes Industries Limited (Stainless Steel Slide Chute)	£1,468.  75 
		Suffolk Accident Rescue Services (annual donation)		      £50. 00 
Planning.  	The following plan was discussed and approved,
Mr. P.D. Smiles, 32 Lakeside Rise, 	Single storey rear extension.
Three other plans had been discussed just after the previous extra meeting had been held as they arrived immediately afterwards.
Mr. & Mrs. Harvey 1, Copperfield Terrace, Rear Playroom and Garage at side, this was approved
Mr. D. Osborn Land Adjacent to The Oaks in Lound Road, this was refused on the grounds that the dwelling is too far forward of the adjacent property and would be intrusive and block light. The land in question is subject to regular flooding and the access is very close to a dangerous road junction
Mr. I. Hoskin. Flowerlands, Lound Road, erection of a two storey dwelling, this was refused as an unsuitable site for a new dwelling, with access very close to a dangerous road junction and there is an ongoing problem with serious drainage and flooding in this area.
Correspondence. A Vital Villages update had arrived from the Countryside Agency. S.C.C. were inviting Parish Councils to apply for provision of a bus shelter, it was felt that in view of the controversy recently when the Parish Council had proposed siting a bus shelter in The Street, it would be better to ignore the offer at present. A quotation had arrived from W.D.C. for cutting the grass on the Playing field at the rear of the Village Hall and in the Play area at the side of the Hall at a cost of £467. 77 for the next year, it was agreed that this be accepted. Information had been received from W.D.C. regarding the Council Tax Base for 2004/2005. W.D.C. had sent a copy of an inspection carried out by the National Playing Fields Association on the Village Play area. The Councillors were concerned that so many faults had been pointed out as W.D.C. had been inspecting the equipment for several years now and none of the faults had been identified during these examinations. The Clerk was instructed to contact Sue Bowyer and discuss the new methods of paying for these inspections, as these had been free of charge previously, and work out a plan to rectify the faults recognised during the recent survey. It would also be pointed out to Ms Bowyer that the slide chute had been replaced since the inspection and 3 new pieces of equipment had been installed. The point made in the survey that some equipment did not display the manufacturers name on a plaque would be difficult to address as Parishioners had made the wooden equipment on site. It was decided that Blundeston should enter the Calor Gas Village of the Year Competition again this year, last time the Parish Council entered the competition, the judges marked the Village down because of untidy gardens the amount of litter about the roads, the Chairman would make Parishioners aware of the competition during the Parish Plans Public meeting on Monday 29th March. Information regarding the Countdown to compliance of the Disability Discrimination Act had arrived from Fordham Johns. A letter from the Chairman of Blundeston Magpies Football team had arrived asking for a donation towards building better changing facilities in Lound. It was felt by some Councillors that this would benefit several Blundeston Young people, but in view of the Audit Commissions strict guidelines on donations from Public Money the Clerk was asked to enquire of the Legal department of W.D.C. if such a donation would be legal. Brian Hunter suggested that the team get in touch with him to obtain monies from Locality Funding. Other Parish Business.
Mr. Blowers had left information that there were now at least 3 untaxed vehicles on the Council owned land at Queensway. The Chairman agreed to look into the matter. Mr. Blowers also said that water was running down the B1074 at the site of the accident black spot, during a recent dry spell of weather and this would freeze and cause major problems, the clerk was asked to contact the Highways Department about this again. A letter had been received from a Parishioner complaining about the amount of dog excreta on pavements around the Village. The Chairman said that he did not really see what the Parish Council could do except contact the Dog Warden again. The next Area Forum will be held on 31st March in St. Michaels Church Hall Oulton Broad. Mr. Lewis reported that the recent Disco held to raise funds for the Party in the Park had been a success. Mr. Perks asked if anything had been reported about the repairs promised for Lowestoft Road, as the surface water was still a problem in that area. Nothing had been heard about this ongoing obstacle.
15 minutes for Parishioner input.
Mr. Soanes said that he would like to impress on the Parish Council the importance of harassing Anglian Water to make a decision about repairing or replacing the pipe in Market Lane. 
There being no other business the meeting closed at 8.35p.m.