At a meeting of the Parish Council held on 10 March 2008 there were present:- Mr J Nichols (Chairman), Mr J Blowers, Mr. S. Perks, Mr. K Wood, Mr. S. Rees, Mrs. T. Townend, Mrs E. Hume, Mr. S. Lewis, SCC. M. Cherry and 3 Parishioners. 
Apologies were received from R. Leech, WDC Paul Ashdown, Pc D. Boggis, PSCO Sue Kershaw and SCC Allyson Barron
Minutes.  The minutes of the meeting held on January were approved and signed. 
Declarations of Interests Mr. Lewis declared an interest in a set of plans he had been given with regard to the building of 2 houses on a site at the rear of 12 The Street.
15 Minutes for Parishioner Input. Mrs Dawson asked what has happened re the letter from a resident complaining about the mess on the roads and the extra vehicles connected with building work being carried out in Lound Road. She had experienced several promlems recently, bricks had been stacked on her land, but have since been removed, the parking of contractors vehicles has been atrocious. The Lorries are carrying mud all over the road and there seems to be no consideration given to residents. She also said that large areas of the hedgerow have been removed and she would like to know if it is going to be replaced. The Clerk had written to the contractor after the complaint last month and the Chairman read out the reply in which it was stated that every consideration was given to neighbours and that anyone with any complaints should contact them directly. Mr. Ffitch reported that there was a dangerous loose kerbstone in Church Road opposite to Rose Cottage. Councillor Cherry agreed to take this matter in hand and contact the relevant authorities. Mr Edwards reported that the gate at the fruit farm is left open more often than it was closed nowadays. He thanked the local farmers for cutting the hedges along Flixton Road making the area more easy for pedestrians to negotiate. 
Police report…Pc Boggis reported that there had been 12 reported crimes during January and February, 3 relate to HMP Blundeston one of which was subsequently no crimed. Of the 5 cars broken into in January outside Blundeston Primary School, 3 were recorded as theft from a motor vehicle and 2 as interference with a motor vehicle. The offender has not been aprehended. A bird scarer has been stolen from a field and a pedal cycle stolen from Pickwick Drive, 2 as yet unclaimed bikes were recovered from the pond in Market Lane but the stolen one is still outstanding. The SkatePark had graffiti all over the ramps and this crime is still undetected. The final crime was a parcel stolen from a greenhouse in The Pippins. The Police expressed their congratulations to WDC for the prompt removal of the graffiti and Pc Boggis asked that any local resident who sees such crimes being committed should contact the Police at the time.In an effrot to get to know local childen PSCO Kershaw is organising a Tennis game for local children on Friday 28th March, 10a.m. for youngsters and 11.30 for 11 and over. If this proves successful Sue will organise a tournament. The Police have spoken to the foreman of the building site in Lound Road about cars being parked on the pavement and the foreman at the site on The Street has been spoken to about the mud on the road. 
District Councillor report Councillor Ashdown has discovered that Bridleways should not be hard surfaced and he will take up the matter of the site in Flixton with the footpaths officer. The Somerleyton concerts will go ahead with appearances by Lenny Henry, Jasper Carrott and Jo Brand but there will be no Haze concerts. The Annual Village Quiz will be held on 3rd November in Blundeston Village Hall. In the new WDC document Blundeston has been recognised as a village suitable for small scale development. He will fight to make sure that any development is indeed small scale.
County Councillor report.. Malcolm Cherry reported that he, Alison and portfolio holder Guy McGregor attended a meeting with Rail-track, to discuss the issues of traffic in Oulton Broad in order to reduce the time the barriers are down and help alieviate the traffic jams there. He is now on a committee regarding lorries and the problems with sat navs sending them through Villages and small lanes. 
Skate Park update not too much to report except vandalism and graffiti on the equipment on the evening of 27th February. WDC came as soon as possible and removed the offensive and disgusting pictures and words. Litter problems were experienced during half term but this was cleared away. Phase 2 bid is progressing and a quote is expected soon.  Mr. Nichols had a word with the Sunday and Saturday football team organisers and asked them to clear the rubbish left in the ditches and around the football pitch, which they said the away team supporters had made, but this has been cleared over the weekend. The clerk had prepared an up to date income and expenditure account for the Skate Park and a copy was given to each Councillor. The Chairman commented that he was concerned about the amount of water laying on the skate park surfacing - Mr Lewis said that once the design of Phase 2 was complete and the new equipment layout clear he would put a drain under one of the pieces which would solve the problem completely. 
Highways Issues
Mr. Lewis was given a copy of the email received from John Goodyear of SCC and a Site meeting will be arranged to discuss the proposed new footpath from the Village Hall to Short Road Mr Lewis will contact Mr Nichols once he has organised a meeting. Mary Keasley of WDC replied to the Parish Council’s email regarding the proposed 2 new classes at Blundeston Primary School and the extra cars which this will generate, as the amount of cars that are already parked outside during school dropping off and picking up times cause problems now. The School Governors had asked if the Parish Council would support having a permanent one way system along Church Road, which would help with the problem of cars having to back when confronting a coach as the buses are not allowed to reverse. The Chairman and Councillor Cherry said that in their opinion the Highways department would never consider such a proposition. The Chairman suggested that as a two tier system appeared to be inevitable, then use should instead be made of the current Lothingland Middle School site. This was in the countryside with good access and parking space and no disruption for the villages. Quite clearly the road network and parking for teachers and parents was wholly inadequate within and around the confines of the present Blundeston School site and would be much worse with the two extra classrooms planned. 
Mark Kerridge had contacted the Clerk to inform the Parish Council that the surface dressing programme which includes Church Road will begin in early April and will be finished before July. 
Village Hall floor repairs. Mrs. Soanes announced that Awards for All have agreed to provide a grant of £10,000, two more old quotes will be updated. The work will have to take place during August as that is the month during which the Village Hall is used the least, and there is no Pre-School, it is anticipated that the repairs will take 3 to 4 weeks.
Accounts the following accounts were approved for payment
Sam Perks	Galvanising Steel fence for V Hall 			91. 12
Colin Ayers  manufacture of cage for emergency exit door	          685. 00
WDC Rospa Inspection of Play equipment			            64. 63
Suffolk Acre Annual Subscription					25. 00. 

The Clerk's salary was reviewed next, this is £950 a year at present and was last increased in 2001. The Chairman will work out a cost of living increase and work this out retrospectively then bring the result of this to the next meeting. 
The Clerk asked if the Councillors would agree to the minutes and the agenda being sent to them by email. This would save ink, paper, petrol and time. Those present were in agreement with this suggestion and once everyone's email addresses were available this method of distribution would begin.
Planning
Mr and Mrs Evans 3 Short Road, Construction of a two storey side extension and single storey rear extension.  	Approved
Mr. & Mrs, Tillett  67, The Street, Construction of two storey side extension and front porch			Approved
Wilem Limited proposed 2 dwellings rear of 12 The Street. These Plans were given to Mr. Lewis but these have yet to be forwarded to the Parish Council from the Planning Department. It was felt that as outline planning had been already given there was not a lot more could be commented on. It was agreed that this should be put on the agenda for the meeting in April.

Correspondence
Information was received on the Council Tax Base 2008/09. Details of 106 payments were received. Notification was received that there was an appeal by Sea and Land Power and Energy ltd with regard to their plans on a site in Kessingland. The Audit Commission had informed the Parish Council that the new External Auditors would be BDO Stoy Hayward LLP. WDC Local development Framework had been received and the councillors were told that there was a 6 week consultation period. The chairman read out all the passages relevant to Blundeston, which is still classed as a larger village. Some comfort was taken by the fact that it was stated that Blundeston would still only have small scale developments in the foreseeable future.  Norfolk Minerals and Waste Local Development Framework details had arrived. A booklet had arrived with ideas for St. Georges Day Celebrations. Suffolk CC had sent information that the School Organisation Review  will now go through. Suffolk Preservation Society Details of Training Workshops had arrived. Suffolk ACRE had forwarded a copy of their Suffolk Scene magazine together with a warning about the spate of Raves held in Village Halls recently. The East of England Regional Assembly sent details of a draft Planning for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation in the East Of England. Details of the Suffolk Village of the Year Awards in 2008 has been received, after consideration it was decided that there as there were 3 large building sites and a few infill sites in the Village at present there would not be much point in entering the competition.  The Chairman had attended a World of Planning Event at the Council Chamber on March 4th and found it very informative, constructive and interesting. Several more of these meetings will be held in June.  PreSchool had asked the Chairman if they could be allowed to have donkeys on the football field during their Easter Fayre on 22nd March, he had informed them that this would be fine unless there was a Saturday Football match that afternoon. Mr. Perks had received quotation for repairing the fence around the Tennis Court and around the stile on the Play area. £340 for the tennis court and £130. 00 for the play area fence, Mr. Perks was asked to contact the contractor and get him to carry out the repairs. The Scout Group Leader has asked if the Parish Council would have any objections if they change their name to 1st Blundeston and asked what funding could be obtained to enable them to change their scarves and badges so that they are they same as the original Blundeston Scout troupe, Waveney Forum and SCC Locality funding could be available for this. .Local Government Boundary Review letter from Mark Bee of WDC asking for a comment on the “Yartoft” option of becoming a unitary authority and parts of Suffolk becoming Norfolk. Discussion took place and it was agreed to carry this forward to the next meeting.
The next meeting will be held on Monday 14th April at 7.30p.m (this will be preceeded by a Village Hall Management Committee meeting) and the Annual Parish meeting take place on Monday 12th May at 7p.m.
There being no further business the meeting closed.