At a meeting of the Parish council held on Monday 22nd June 2010 there were present, Mr J Nichols (Chairman) Mr.S. Perks, Mr. S. Rees, Mrs. G Soanes, Mrs T Townend, Mr R Leech & Mr. G Wade. SCC Cllr Mr M Barnard, SCC Cllr Mr C Law, WDC Cllr Paul Ashdown, PCSO Sue Kershaw and 7 Parishioners were also present.
Apologies were received from Mr K Wood, Mr J Blowers, Mrs J Browne, Mr S Lewis and PC Stranks  
The minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday 10th May were approved and signed.
Declaration of Interests No interests were declared
Election of Chairman The clerk took over the meeting for the election. Mr Nichols expressed his wish to resign as chairman following 16 years in the post and 8 years prior to that as Vice Chairman. He said he was very proud of what had been achieved since he joined the Parish Council in 1976 especially the purchase of half of the glebe land which is now the ‘millennium green’ and the acquisition of the playing field behind the village hall on a long term lease from a local farmer. After further discussion Mr Wade expressed an interest. This was proposed by Mr Nichols and seconded by Mrs Soanes. Voting was unanimous.
Election of Vice Chairman Mrs Soanes proposed Mr Perks and Mr Nichols seconded the proposal. This was also carried unanimously.
Election of Village Hall management representatives Mr Perks and Mrs Townend agreed to remain as representatives of the parish council, they were duly re-elected.
Clerks report Following the previous parish council meeting. It was reported that the ironworks in the road at the junction of Short Road and hall lane had sunk and the surface was rough. Following my report temporary repairs have been made and the road is marked out for a more permanent repair. The pothole in the street has also been filled.
The footpath between the Street and The Pippins has now been cleared and access restored. The dead sycamore tree has been cut down and removed. A query was raised as to whether a disclaimer sign needs to be on display at the playground. I contacted SALC who advised the following - The council are not compelled to have a disclaimer notice for your play area.  As long as the council has sufficient public liability insurance you will be covered for any accidents that happen, providing that you adhere to any conditions within your policy regarding inspections and maintenance.  We have entered the Village of the year competition. Judging will take place this week and an update will be reported at the next meeting. The footpath in Market Lane (outside Seymour house) has been repaired and reinstated.
15 minutes for Parishioner input. A Parishioner thanked the council for removing the dead sycamore tree which was leaning on his boundary fence on the footpath between The Street and The Pippins  
Other Parish Business (Parish Councillors) Mr Perks reported that two truckloads of asbestos had been dumped onto private land Behind Meadowlands. A Witness had managed to obtain part of the registration number and had reported it to the police. PCSO Sue Kershaw confirmed this incident is ongoing and being investigated. Mr Nichols reported there was a problem with the old Walton Road garage site being used as a dumping ground for other building sites in the village. In addition the site is being used on a Sunday. Mr Nichols has spoken to the owners of the site to ensure the area is cleared up as soon as possible. Cllr Ashdown visited the site and had witnessed materials being dumped on a Sunday. Mr Rees reported the site was currently being cleared up and work would continue over the coming days to improve the appearance. Mrs Townend had received a complaint from a parishioner regarding an amateur radio aerial on a neighboring property which was affecting their television reception. The owner of the aerial was at the meeting and advised he had not received any complaints himself and stated that he complied with all the terms of his amateur radio licence as required. He said that he would be happy to assist any inquiry into the problem. Cllr Ashdown will follow up and report back. Mr Wade produced a leaflet that a parishioner had picked up in Somerleyton. The leaflet contained information about the village and local clubs, shops and services etc. Mr Wade asked if we could produce a similar leaflet for Blundeston. This will be discussed at the next meeting. 
Police Report. The police report was read out by PCSO Sue Kershaw.There were five recorded crimes for the month of May for Blundeston & none for Flixton. One of which related to HMP, One burglary from a building site in Church Road, One theft from a vehicle parked at the village hall, One theft from The Street and one theft from an employee. Three complaints had been received of a whippet dog running loose on church road and this was a danger to traffic and caused concern for the children walking to school. This was not the first time the dog has been reported. PSCO Kershaw has spoken to the owner of the dog and he reassured her that it will not happen again.   CSW (Community Speedwatch) has been busy throughout the parish and letters have been sent to the offending drivers. All statistics are being logged. Two more volunteers have come forward and we now have 13 in total. The volume and speed of the traffic in Church Road and Pound lane is causing concern to many in the village. With the extension of the school in the new Autumn term the situation will only get worse. Several suggestions to ease the problem are being looked at. PSCO Kershaw attended the Pre-School to give a talk on road safety.
District Councillor report  Cllr Paul Ashdown reported WDC had gone through a series of changes and had since received very positive reports from the audit commission. This will be the last year of elections as next year will see all 48 Councilors up for election. A solution for the deficit in the DWP calculations (department of working pensions) has been found and is currently being worked on by staff. Councilor Law explained that the original problem was caused by a DWP extrapolation technique which had completely distorted and exaggerated the reality of the real deficit. All departments at Waveney are working well and looking forward to a good year ahead. 
County Councillor Report.Cllr Mike Barnard reported he had received four letters in support of a solution to the traffic problem at the school. Cllr Colin Law handed out copies of proposed plans for the junction of Church Road, Flixton Road and the B1074. The plans showed the junctions at Flixton Road & Church road as two separate junctions. This should rectify the problem of vehicles speeding across the junction and not indicating and would make the junction clearer for all to understand. The current set up is very confusing  and was considered dangerous. Cllr Law sought approval from the parish council to this plan to enable him to move the project forward to the next stage and this was approved. Cllr Law asked if the parish required any road salt bins sited around the village. They would need to be purchased but would be filled free of charge. This was considered a very good idea. The clerk will find out the costs and report at next meeting. 
Northern Parishes meeting update Mr Nichols attended the meeting on 21st June and reported the following. CSW (community speedwatch) was proving very successful and more sites had been put forward. Several sports clubs had shown an interest in using the site at Lothingland middle school when it becomes redundant in 2011. If anyone has any suggestions as to its future use please contact Suffolk County council. The next NP meeting is Tues 21st September 730 pm at Blundeston Village hall. 
Pre-School development of outside area Ms Carly Jones ( Chairperson of the Pre-school)  produced a scale drawing of the proposed plans for the outside area behind the village hall. These plans will include a hard standing area, 4m x 8 m canopy, wheelchair/pushchair access by ramp, small wooden playhouse, sand pits and planters for vegetables and flowers. For the funding to be approved and granted the pre-school required a letter clearly stipulating the parish council supported the scheme. The councilors took a look at the outside area in question to get a better idea of the plans. The following concerns arose. 1 – Steps still need to be in place for easy access by other village hall users. 2 – Concerns over vehicle access to back door. Ms Jones advised that an additional quote will be obtained to include the new steps and will ensure they can be incorporated into the ramp provided. Vehicle access will not be obstructed from either of the side gates by any of the new equipment being installed. Taking into account the need to ensure steps to the back door access were built into the plan approval was proposed by Mr Rees and seconded by Mr Nichols. The Clerk will action the required permission letter.
New bench at bus stop Following the resignation of Mrs Barbara Shaw ( Parish Clerk) it was decided to purchase a new metal bench. This will be purchased by the parish council to thank Barbara for all her hard work, commitment and support over her 16 years as clerk and a total of 24 years involvement with the Parish Council. It will be placed by the bus stop outside the front of the village hall. A suitable inscription has been suggested by Barbara which everyone agreed would be perfect. John Nichols will source costs from local supplier and provide for approval at the next meeting.
Clerks Laptop Following a recommendation at the April meeting, the clerk produced three quotes for a new parish council laptop. The quotes were all around the same price bracket and approval was given for the clerk to make this purchase through a local company.
Accounts The following accounts were approved for payment. Chairman’s broadband allowance Apr/May/Jun £25.00. Clerks salary plus 1/3 telephone £330.00 Clerks printer ink and extra set of keys for rear gates £17.99
Planning Mr K Blowers, ‘Kontiki’ Market Lane. Construction of detached garage/store. Concerns were raised over the close proximity of the garage to the road and neighbouring boundary. Also concerns about the size of the construction in relation to the house and in particular to the original bungalow on that site. Based on the observations above it was agreed to oppose the application on these grounds.  
Correspondence Suffolk Acre Copies of ‘the local councilor’ handed out. The Suffolk Foundation, 5th Anniversary newsletter. SCC speed management guidelines booklet. Broads authority, Local development framework. NCC, Minerals & waste local development framework. Suffolk police, Change of opening times at the police station. Suffolk Acre AGM invitation.

The next meeting will be held on Monday 19th July 2010 at 7.30p.m. There being no further business the meeting closed at 2130hrs