At a meeting of the Parish Council on Monday 2nd June 2003 in the Village Hall, there were present Mr. J. Nichols (Chairman), Mr. S. Perks, Mr. J. Blowers and Mr. G. Alderton. Pc Boggis and 15 Parishioners also attended.
Apologies were received from Mr. S. Lewis, Mr. P. Offord, Mrs. E. Socratous, Mrs. T. Townend, Mrs. E. Hume and Mr. T. Prettyman.
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 
There were no declarations of Interest.
Mr. Nichols expressed his disgust that so many Parish Councillors had not attended the meeting and asked that it should be minuted that Persons wishing to serve on the Parish Council should make every effort possible to attend Parish Council meetings, which are arranged 2 months in advance and reminders sent out 7 days beforehand. The other 3 Councillors present agreed with the Chairman. It was not known if 4 Councillors constituted a quorum, so the Clerk was instructed to contact the Legal Department of WDC on June 4th, and if the meeting was illegal, it would have to be declared null and void. The Clerk had received 2 estimates for repairing the fence around Peto’s Pond, another quotation is due within the next few days, it was agreed that the Clerk should accept the cheapest quotation and deal with the claim from the Insurance Company. Mr. Nichols then gave a brief report on the Northern Parishes Liaison Group meeting held at Blundeston on 21st May, the discussions covered the widespread problems of dumped cars, fly tipping and the user unfriendliness of the local Council waste sites. There seemed to be a common criticism of Waveney District Council for not “listening” to Parish Councils complaints regarding footpath repairs etc., and a feeling that Villages are not getting “value for money” in view of the recent huge increase in Council tax. The Police report contained the information that there is no major increase overall in crime although the Public’s perception seems to be that things are getting worse! The next meeting is planned for September 25th in Somerleyton Village Hall. There was no report on the progress of the footpath in Hall Road as neither Mr. Lewis nor Mr. Hunter was present. A reply had been received from Adrian Clarke regarding the state of Holly Gardens footpath, this stated that no evidence of standing water could be found, but the Clerk was instructed to write to Mr. Clarke and ask for an inspection during a damp spell of weather, as there had been no rain for around 6 weeks when the inspection was carried out. Mr. Perks expressed his anger at the decision to have a new footpath placed on the corner of Pickwick Drive and Market Lane, as there is already a path at the rear of the hedge which is for residents use only. It was pointed out that the Parish Council asked time and again, as did the contractor, for this path to be made available for pedestrians walking along Market Lane, but this was refused by the Highways Department.
There were no accounts.
Planning.
Notice was given by W.D.C of an appeal by Badger Building to be held at the Planning Department on Thursday 12th June at 10am. This appeal concerned two different applications, the construction of 7 dwellings and Garages and the construction of 6 dwellings and Garages.  A member of the Parish Council is invited to attend and at the Inspector’s discretion, participate in the discussion. The Clerk was asked to write and confirm that Mr. Blowers will attend to represent the Parish Council, and to request that a copy of the decision of the Inspector is sent to the Parish Council.
The following plans were approved.
Mr. D. Martin, 79 The Street, Front extension
Mr. & Mrs. Johnson, Bramble Cottage, Market Lane, Rear Extension.
Mr. & Mrs. Lown, 3 Meadowlands, single storey front extension.
Mr. & Mrs. Shaw, 1, Pickwick Drive, rear conservatory.
Mr. S. Williams, 9, Meadowlands, Front Extension.
Mr. R. Larcombe, 19 Lakeside Rise, move fence and construct garage.
Correspondence
2 copies of the Handbook The Good Councillor’s Guide had been received and were distributed. An invitation had been received from the Suffolk Ramblers Association to join a 5-mile walk on Sunday 22nd June, meeting at Decoy Farm for a 10.30a.m. start. A survey of the footpaths in the Parish will be carried out during the walk and the findings will be presented to SCC. Anyone wishing to join in will be made welcome; a picnic lunch will be required. Various items or information had been received from Suffolk Acre.  WDC had written to ask if the Parish Council would like to be linked to the Waveney website. Information about A Broads Local access forum being held in July was received. A copy of the Draft Broads Plan for 2004 had arrived. Notice of the next round of Area Forums had been sent; the date for the local meeting was 23rd July, in Oulton Community Centre. SCC had sent a copy of the results of a consultation exercise on the proposals for the Periodic Electoral Review. A copy of the accounts for the Local branch of Cruise Bereavement Care had arrived together with a request for a donation, in line with Parish Council policy donations cannot be made from the precept. The chairman read out 3 letters which had arrived after the Agenda was compiled. The first was from residents of The Loke, asking for the Parish Council’s help in contacting the owner of the field rented out as a paddock adjacent to The Loke, the hedge surrounding this is very overgrown and recently during a storm, the branches chafed the overhead electricity cables so violently that they caught fire, and the electricity supply to the houses in the Loke was disrupted. The Clerk was asked to contact the owner and ask for the hedge to be cut back as soon as possible. The second letter was a copy of a letter sent to the Highways Department of WDC from a resident who had tripped on the uneven surface of the footpath in Lound Road and sustained injuries to her knee, hand and shoulder, resulting in having to have a wound on her leg stitched. The third letter was from a landowner who proposed that his land behind the houses on the West side of The Street could be built-up as a new housing development and provide the answer to the problem of residents of The Street having no parking space off road. He suggested that the Parish Council should consider this proposal, and he went on to say that the development could provide benefits to the existing population such as, better parking; a larger sewer and surface water system and it would confine development within the centre of the Village. As there were so few Parish Councillors present the Clerk was asked to include this in the agenda for next months meeting Pc Boggis gave the Police Report next – there had been 4 crimes in Blundeston in the past month, 2 concerned untaxed vehicles used by visitors to HMP, one also occurred in the car park at the Prison and this was criminal damage to a car parked there, the 4th crime was a stone thrown through a window by a youngster. Fly tipping is still a problem but recently 2 cases have been reported and followed up. Abandoned and burnt out vehicles seem to be less of a problem as only two have been dumped so far this year.
Other Parish business
Mr. Alderton reported that there are still no white lines at the Blundeston/Somerleyton/Lound cross roads after the resurfacing work was carried out there recently. The clerk was asked to contact the relevant department and ask for the work to be carried out as soon as possible. He also reported that he had noticed that the footpath from Market Lane to The Street was completely overgrown with nettles and the hedge was hanging over the footpath too. He had contacted Adrian Clarke who had agreed to cut back the nettles, but this work had not been done as yet, the Clerk was asked to contact Mr. Clarke and say that if the work was not carried out within 7 days of receipt of the letter, the Parish Council would get the work done and submit the bill to W.D.C. Mr. Blowers reported that a resident of The Street is still waiting for work to be carried out on the footpath running from The Street to The Pippins. He also reported that junior goalposts had been purchased with monies left from the now defunct Youth Club and erected on the football pitch, youngsters are enjoying using these and some even called to see Mr. Blowers and thanked him for acquiring them. Mr. Blowers also reported that he had oiled the “squeaking sign” on the Millennium Green which had been complained about recently. Suffolk Acre had contacted Mr. Blowers and said that Parish Council’s cannot obtain a grant to replace play equipment but that if a committee was set up to look after the Play Ground they could apply for funding for new equipment. It was agreed that this should be discussed at the Village Hall Management meeting later. 
The meeting was opened to the public. The Chairman thanked Mr. Ffitch and Mr. Edwards for the superb job they had made of painting the posts and rails around the pond at Barkis Meadow, and asked if there was enough paint to carry out the same task on the Peto’s Pond fence, Mr. Ffitch said that there should be enough, and he added that Mr. Alderton had helped by strimming the grass around the posts on the pond. Mr. Ayers asked if the Parish Council intended entering the Village of the Year competition this year as he felt that the parishioners should be asked to tidy up rubbish all summer to improve the chances of winning. Mr. Soanes asked if the cars usually parked on the corner of The Street and Lound Road can legally park on the grass verge there, this situation was unclear. Mrs. Mayes asked why people who go to the trouble to pick up dog excreta in a plastic bag, then dump the bag? No one had an answer for that! Mr. Oldman complained about the pile of sand on the road in The Street which was left unlit at night, Pc Boggis said he would deal with this matter.  
There being no further business the meeting closed.

(The Clerk contacted Julian Wright of W.D.C. Legal Department on June 3rd, and he informed her that a third of members makes a quorum, therefore the meeting was legal)