At a meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday 24th May, 2004, there were present, Mr. J. Nichols, (Chairman), Mr. G. Alderton, Mrs. G. Soanes. Mr. J. Blowers, Mr. P. Offord, Mrs T. Townend, Mr. S. Lewis and Mr. K. Wood. 2 Parishioners, Councillor Brian Hunter and Special Constables Robert Meen and Chris. Taylor also attended.
Apologies were received from Mrs. E. Hilton and Mrs. E. Hume.
There were no declarations of interest.
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 26th April were approved and signed.
The Parish Council accounts for 2003/2004 were approved.
The election of the Chairman took place next. Mr. Nichols handed over the chair to Mr. Blowers, (Vice Chairman) who informed the Councillors that one person had been nominated and asked if there were any further nominees. As there were no other nominations Mr. Blowers proposed that Mr. Nichols should be elected and this was seconded by Mrs. Soanes, this proposal was carried unanimously. Mr. Nichols resumed his seat for the election of a Vice Chairman, Mr. Offord proposed that Mr. Blowers should be re-elected and Mr. Alderton seconded this, this was carried unanimously. The Clerk was asked to write to the Clerk of the Charity Trustees as 2 of the trustees are due to either stand down or seek re-election at the next Parish Council meeting which will be held on June 28th. The election of two representatives to the Village Hall Management was next on the agenda and Mr. Offord proposed that Mr. Alderton and Mr. Perks should be re-elected, subject to Mr. Perks agreeing to this.  The Chairman reported on the recent Northern Parishes Liaison Group Meeting, David Jessup from W.D.C. had given a very informative and reassuring report on the situation with the handing over of responsibility for Playground equipment inspection and repairs from Waveney District Council to Parish Councils within the next 12 months, as from WDC’s position the arrangement is no longer financially viable. He recognised that much of the rural play area equipment is very old and that despite that much of it is still eminently safe. Following the recent NPA report on all playgrounds which was very scathing, Mr. Jessup is prepared to contact them and inspect the equipment himself and put his report in writing. The District Council will hand over full responsibility for all the equipment to the Parish Council, and need the PC to appoint a representative, preferably someone with engineering experience, to inspect the playground and equipment on a regular basis and inform the PC what repairs need to be carried out. Mr. K. Wood volunteered to undertake this task and he agreed to contact Mr. Jessup to arrange a meeting on site.  Another useful part of the Liaison Group meeting involved Planning Applications and Procedures, with Frank Deveraux and Brian Hunter explaining how these items are dealt with at District Council level, comments were made by those present and the two Councillors had promised to take all these back to the Planning Committee. Mr. Hunter explained to those present that things would be changing soon with the way some Parish Councils objections to Planning Applications are simply dismissed by W.D.C Planning Committee and that parish Councils would in future be informed of the date of Planning Committee Meetings which involved planning applications relevant to that Parish Council, this would be particularly useful when a controversial application was being dealt with. Details of methods of appealing against Planning applications would also be given to Parish Councils in future. Mr. Wood had received a reply from W.D.C. regarding the spacing of the 30mph repeater signs along the B1074, in this it was confirmed that when the signs were installed in 1999 they were at the correct distance apart and they are still within the limits considered to be sufficient to prosecute speeding motorists. Mr. Wood passed his letter on to the Special Constables to take to their superiors.  Mr Hunter said in his report that there was a meeting of the Planning Committee during the week following the NPL meeting and he confirmed all the comments made there had been passed on and he had been given assurances that a new code of practice was being adopted and that Parish Councils will in future receive a copy of the Planning Committees agendas. Mr. Hunter also reported that he felt that he had built up a good rapport with the Northern Parishes Liaison Group and that the whole concept was working well. Parish Plans – 4 members of the Steering Committee, M. Pawson, J. Clayton, F. Lewars and G. Alderton, had attended the Suffolk Acre meeting and there was now a certain urgency about setting up a detailed estimate for enabling the committee to obtain the necessary funding. In order to get this funding they have to have the agreement of the Parish Council to fund 5% of the project, an after looking at a plan for a similar size Village this would mean a total of around £450. 00 a vote was taken and it was decided that the Parish Council would undertake to provide this amount. Mr. Alderton will contact the other members of this committee to arrange a further meeting. It was felt by the present members of the Steering Committee that 2 other members would be a great advantage, and as Mr. Jary had expressed a desire to help with the project, he was to be contacted about joining the committee. It was confirmed that the Village Festival would begin on 5th June with the Flower Festival and Teddy Bear Parachute jump, which would also be held on 6th and the Party in the Park would be held on 12th June, he format is similar to other years, leaflets with details will be distributed on Friday 28th May throughout the Village. 
There were no planning applications or accounts.
Other Parish Business. Mr. Lewis had encountered children riding bicycles and skateboards on the road round the Village with complete disregard for oncoming traffic, this was noted by the two Police Constables. Two complaints had been received about the hedge at 66 The Street, this was now overhanging the footpath so badly that wheelchairs and prams had to go onto the road to negotiate the footway. Mr. Lewis agreed to get the hedge cut back, there was also a complaint about the hedge alongside the footpath from The Street to Orchard Lane, the Clerk would contact the owner. The Clerk reported that Blundeston School had received confirmation that a new classroom was to be built at the rear of the School. This would enable the early years children to have a classroom to themselves. Mr. Alderton asked why the white lines had not been renewed on the bend in Market Lane, as the Parish Council had been informed that this work would be carried out when the contractors were in the area next, and they had been seen working in Somerleyton in the past week. Mrs. Soanes asked if there was any further news about the date of the closure of Lowestoft Road, but nothing official has been heard as yet. Mr. Blowers reported that Football teams were using the football pitch to practice on and as they did not seem to be the local teams he wondered if they had been given permission to be on the field. Mr. Alderton said he would speak to a member of Blundeston Football Club and see if these groups of youths were connected to them. It was felt that it was rather an imposition to just use the field without permission, as the local team have been granted this, and the field is mainly for any Village children who wish to use the space for recreation, not for other organised teams to just come along when they wish and render the field closed to other users. Mr. Offord had been handed a letter from a Parishioner who was complaining about the speed of motorists along Church Road, but as this issue is out of the hands of the Parish Council there was little that could be done. Mr. Lewis asked if anyone from Lakeside Rise ever attended Parish Council meetings as the Prison Officers Social Club is once again holding a Fun Day on the same day as the Village Festival, which had its date fixed well over a year ago, and in such a small village it did seem ridiculous to have two such functions on the same day. The Chairman expressed his regret that W.D.C. will not have Fair Trade Status by using Fair Trade products in their canteens and refreshment areas, he asked for permission to write to the Council on behalf of The Parish Council and say how disappointed members are over this decision. 
15 Minutes for Parishioner input.
Mr. Ffitch asked when the District Council would be cutting back the nettles and long grass along the footpath from Market Lane to The Street, as these were once again completely blocking the footpath, Mr. Alderton agreed to contact Adrian Clarke about this matter.
There being no further business the meeting closed.