At a meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday 18th June there were present Mr. J. Nichols Chairman, Mr. J. Blowers, Mrs. G. Soanes, Mrs. T. Townend, Mr. S. Rees, Mr. R. Leech, Mrs. R. Herrivan, Mr. S. Lewis, Mr. K. Wood and Mr. S. Perks. Pc Matt Griffith,  S.C.C. Allyson Barron and 8 Parishioners also attended. 
Apologies were received from Mr. P. Ashdown (WDC) and Mr. M. Cherry (SCC)
There were no declarations of interest.
The Chairman expressed his concern that as only 4 Parish Councillors attended the May meeting of the Council there may have been irregularities in the legality of the meeting, but on reading the official documents regarding such matters he has established that a quorum is only 3 members or 1/3rd of members, whichever ifs the greater. As a consequence the May meeting was quorate and thus was able to make decisions. The Chairman went on to say that having read the publication “Standing Orders” he had discovered that once elected as a Parish Councillor the summons to attend a meeting is a legal requirement, apologies must be given, with a valid reason for not attending and the other members of the Council must approve the absence at the meeting concerned. If a Parish Councillor misses 6 consecutive meetings they could be asked to retire from the Council. 
The election for the posts of Chairman, Vice Chairman and two representatives for the Village Hall Management Committee was held next. (This had been deferred from the previous meeting.) The Clerk took over the proceedings for the election of a Chairman, Mr. Blowers nominated Mr. Nichols as Chairman, Mr Leech seconded this, and the proposal was carried unanimously. Mr. Nichols then presided as Mr. Lewis proposed and Mrs. Soanes seconded that Mr. Perks should be nominated as Vice Chairman, this was carried unanimously. Mr. Perks and Mrs Townend were elected as representatives to the V.H.M. Committee.
Pc Griffith gave the police report, he offered apologies from PCSO Kershaw and Pc Boggis he told the meeting that there had been 0 reported crimes for Flixton during May and 5 reported crimes in Blundeston, 1 of these was subsequently classed as a no crime, 1 was drugs related at HMP, 1 was theft of property and two were crimes at Walton Garage which were classed as commercial premises crimes. Information had been left with the Clerk by Pc Boggis giving details of an event to be staged at the North Retail Park on Saturday 23rd June.  SCC Allyson Barron informed the meeting that she had had discussions recently with Derek Oldman of the Highways Department regarding the speeding along the B1074 etc with him. She said that she had attended the Flower Festival and Teddy Bear Parachute jumping event at Saint Mary’s Church recently and an open Farm event which had been held locally and she congratulated everyone concerned and said how conscious she had been of the enjoyment and community spirit engendered at both events. Councillor Wood asked if the speed limit repeater signs along the B1074 had been repaired, turned round and cleared of foliage enough to make the job of the Police speed enforcement legal yet.. This was not known at present. Mr. Blowers informed the meeting that the subject of the rubbish dumped at the former Fruit Farm site was being dealt with by the Environmental Health Department.. The Clerk reported that vandals had broken the fence surrounding the play equipment area and that Waveney Fencing would be repairing it in the next few days. Mr. Blowers said that youths play football on the area instead of using the football pitch and when the ball is kicked onto the road, they simply trample over the fence instead of using the stile or the gate, he also said that the boys often run in front of passing traffic to retrieve a ball, which is a hazard to themselves as well as to motorists. The boys have been asked to play on the football field but complain that there are no goalposts (these have been taken away for repairs) the fact that there are no goalposts on the play area does not seem to matter however. Mr. Blowers is investigating the possibility of purchasing some junior posts which can be moved when senior football games are played, he is also locating funding and asked the Parish Council’s permission to proceed, this was given. 
Planning
The meeting was then adjourned to allow members of the public a chance to comment on the planning issues to be discussed. Lengthy discussion took place regarding a letter from LCC who wished to erect a telephone mast at the rear of the Plough Inn in Market Lane, the proposers had a list of 10 other sites in Blundeston where they had approached landowners and been refused. The general feeling was that this mast would be in a very prominent position in the Village close to many recreational facilities and the general public would not be willing to have it sited in this position
The meeting was then reopened. 
A letter had been received from the Area Planning Officer in response to the comments made at the last meeting regarding the Garage at Fairfield House Flixton. In the letter Mr. Nicholson said that the drawings were adequate in the opinion of the Local Planning Authority and the Parish Councils objection to the upper floor being used for residential use is not valid as there was no reason given by the Parish Council as to why this would be objectionable..  The LPA is proposing to limit residential use of the area for any other purpose other than those ancillary to the residential use of the main dwelling house.

Mr. & Mrs. C. Osborn, Lyric, Lound Road, Erection of a rear Conservatory. This was approved.
W. J. Jermy and Sons, relocation of internal garage to detached, on plot no1 adj. to the Brambles Lound Road.
This was approved.
Erection of 10 Dwellings at Pickwick Drive - details of house numbers had been forwarded.		       
Key Developments, Corton - Construction of 2 houses with garages at the Mill House - 10 The Street, - this application had been withdrawn.
HMP Blundeston -Installation of a Satellite Dish at the Gatehouse Lakeside Rise. This was approved.
LCC erection of telephone mast at the rear of the Plough Inn Market Lane. The Chairman asked for Councillors opinions on this application and it was unanimously felt that the application should be rejected, the site is adjacent to the Bowls green., is in close proximity to the tennis court, the football field, the children’s play area and the Village Hall, all of which are heavily used as recreational facilities by young and old alike. It was felt that the mast should be erected in an open area away from the main centre of the village. Mr. Nichols said that he would take on the task of reporting the Councils decision to the applicant. Mr. Wood subsequently offered to have the telephone mast on his land in Flixton and Mr Nichols agreed to mention this in his response without committing the Parish Council at this stage.
Accounts the following accounts were proposed for payment by Mr. Leech and seconded by Mrs Soanes.
B.M. Shaw - Clerks Salary for April, May and June 		237. 50
		Plus 1/3 telephone rental			   9. 16 =    £246. 66
J.H. Nichols	Chairman’s allowance for Broadband		  25. 00
		Plus underpaid last quarter			    7. 00 =   £32. 00
Correspondence  
WDC had sent details of a Rough Sleeper Count Survey, this was not applicable to Blundeston and Flixton. There were also details of their timetable for the Local Development Framework. Waveney had also sent correspondence requiring details of suitable venues for the Development Control Committees to hold their meetings.  SCC had sent further details of the scheme to make a Unitary Council for Ipswich. The Secretary of Saint Mary’s Church PCC had sent a letter requesting a donation towards the upkeep of the Churchyard, it was agreed that a donation of £125 should be sent.  
Other Parish Business.
Wendy Dawson reported that funding and planning were all going ahead for the Skate Park Project., and as it had to be seen that funding was being provided locally she was organising several events for that purpose. Mrs. Townend reported that the hedges along Church Road were overgrown and hanging over the pavement along there, especially the one at Hopefield. She also thanked everyone who had supported the Picnic in the Park the previous weekend. Mr. Blowers reported that there had been a severe case of vandalism at the Bowling Green on the night of the Picnic in the Park (Saturday/Sunday 16th/17th June.) A total of 6 windows were broken involving 3 buildings on the site, he had reported the incident to the Police but no officer had attended to see the damage. Pc Griffith said that the number to ring in such cases is 01986 835100 (Martlesham Heath)  Mr. Blowers also said that he had been informed by Mrs. E. Socratous that she was no longer able to mange the affairs of the Tennis Club and asked that the Parish Council find someone else to carry out this task. The Chairman asked for the matter to be put on the agenda for next months meeting. Mr. Perks asked if anything further had been sorted out about the trees dumped on disputed ground at Cockshoot, nothing had been heard as Mr. Ashdown was on holiday. He also reported that there had been a major amount of rubbish dumped in Marsh Lane. Mrs. Herrivan said that WDC had sent a lorry that day to try and clear the lorry load of fly tipping away.  Mr. Lewis reported that the Millennium Green signs saying dogs must be kept on a lead, and owners should clear up after their dogs need replacing and signs should be put on the Play area stating that no dogs are allowed. Mr. Alderton was asked to make the required notices and he agreed. Mr. Lewis also asked if the Parish Council could afford to buy a laptop to enable the Clerk to type the minutes at the meeting, making the publishing of the final minutes less time consuming, it was agreed that the issue would be discussed at the next meeting. Mrs. Herrivan reported that Motor Bikes had been racing again along the B1074 on Sunday and the noise could be heard coming all the way from Haddiscoe through to Blundeston., she explained that it was no use the Police using a speed gun on weekdays, the time to catch high speed and dangerous riding was on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Pc Griffith then attempted to explore time slots when the problem was greatest without making any commitment to deploy police resources. Mr Wood then offered to tell the Police the optimum time to set up a speed trap in return for the fees generated by this action. The Chairman asked Mr Wood not to be facetious about such a serious subject reminding him that Pc Griffith was trying to be helpful. At this point Mr Wood left the meeting.. 
15 minutes for Parishioner input.
Mr. Ffitch reported that the nettles along the edge of the footpath from Market Lane to The Street needed cutting back, Mr. Jones would be asked to do this. He also reported that the boys fishing in the pond in Market Lane are throwing rubbish into the pond. Mrs. Barron reported that Bob Blizzard is publicising his petition for a third river crossing. 
There being no further business the meeting closed.

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