Blundeston & Flixton Parish Council Meeting
July 14th 7.30pm – 9pm Blundeston Village Hall

1. Apologies. Mrs E. Hume, Mrs T. Townend,  Mr K. Wood, Mr S. Perks.

Present: Mr J Nichols (chair), Mr S Lewis, Mrs R Harrowven, Mr J Blowers, Mr S Rees, Mrs G Soanes, SCC Mrs A Barron and Mr M Cherry, WDC Mr P Ashdown and 12 parishioners.

2. Minutes. 
Agreed as a true record

3. Declarations of Interest. 
 No declaration of interest.

4. Parishioner Input.
•	Reeds and weeds around the edge are posing a problem with the pond at the end of Barkis Meadow which needs needs cleaning out. Chair explained that this type of reed is very invasion and needs cleaning out from time to time. Chair suggested it’s cleaned out in the winter when the birds etc are not nesting. Action: Mark forward to the autumn.
5. Parish Councillors Input
•	S Rees commented on scruffy appearance of 2 cottages in the village and requested that we could write to the owners. Chair commented that issues such as this are outside the remit of the Parish Council to comment on unless they become a health hazard. 
•	S Rees reported that parking in The Street continues to be an issue and is worse than ever. The vehicle that parks at the junction of The Street and Orchard Lane was mentioned in particular. We will continue to raise this as a problem but accept that many of the properties on the Street were not designed to accommodate cars.
•	R Harrowven reported that a motorbike from an address in Lakeside Rise had been observed speeding with no tax or number plates. She will report it to the police including the address. Poor resurfacing of parts of the B1074 had left areas of exposed tar which could become a problem in hot werather.
•	G Soanes reported that two 30mph signs had been taken down by the builder near the Hedgerows development on Lound Road. M Cherry will address this issue with Highways on our behalf.

6. Other Parish Business

6.1 Police Report
Chair presented report as PC Kershaw and PC Boggis sent their apologies. Two incidents had been recorded for June. One was a reported incident of road rage in Short Road, the other was a reported non crime between a mother and son. A decision was made not to prosecute as the facts of the cases were not in the public interest. PC Kershaw had visited Blundeston Primary School on two occasions and given input on “Who can help us when we get lost” and “Safety near the sea”. Sue took along a lifeguard which went down very well with children and teachers! Sue has chased up highways to repaint the yellow zig-zags outside the school and a SLOW on the corner of Lound Road. Two youths had been spoken to regarding riding motorbikes on the footpath between Market Lane and The Street following a complaint. It has also been reported that some youths had ridden their motorbikes on the playing field next to the skate park. This is not desirable and she had requested that a sign be put up at the top of the field staying that motorbikes were not permitted on the field. This was agreed and J Blowers agreed to action this. 

6.2  Local Councillors report 
The councillor reported that many of the local services were being outsourced as it is reported to be cheaper. There will be a local government review, to be debated next Tuesday 22nd July. Parishioners invited to input so all options can be taken into consideration.

6.3 County Councillors report (M Cherry)
The County boundary proposal document had been delivered at short notice. Councillors were unhappy because none of the recommendations they had suggested were in there. Councillors are trying to investigate why these hadn’t been taken into consideration before it’s discussed further on 22nd July. For Suffolk what’s proposed is a unitary authority for Ipswich. The rest of Suffolk, without Lowestoft, as a single authority, administered from Bury St Edmunds with Lowestoft and some of the immediate surrounding parishes, including Blundeston, becoming part of a single Norfolk authority. It’s not clear what will come out of the debate and if ‘Yartoft’ or the ‘Golden Coast’ is still on the table. We will still get our services from the same companies but it will be operated from Norfolk. All County Councillors are not happy about what’s in the proposals and this will be debated further next week. All input from Parish Council’s and individuals is encouraged. Our County councillors will be pushing for the original suggestion, which will be a combined authority between Lowestoft and Yarmouth although this is not the view of the ruling group on WDC. Chair commented that what they appeared to be suggesting sounded crazy in particular that Ipswich could be unitary but not Norwich. He further commented that most of us don’t care what it’s called, or where they draw the lines. We just want an organisation that gives us value for money, providing a good service and not wasting rate-payers money. At the moment we are quite clearly not getting that from WDC with the exception of the excellent rubbish collection and re-cycling service. All parishioners present appeared to agree with his sentiments. There is a lot of concern about keeping historical boundaries, although M Cherry commented that these had changed considerably over the years and first boundaries are difficult to trace. A Barron wanted to assure parishioners that while this is on going there will still be business as usual. A Barron also confirmed that the funding for the path opposite the Village Hall was being progressed and going through. Olympics 2012 going ahead and will have a knock on effect to local authorities who will have an active involvement in it. Chair commented that the Lound Road footpath badly needed repairing and it is the worst footpath in the village and is actually dangerous. A Barron agreed to raise the issue again. M Cherry commented that it was the responsibility of the highways now. Chair commented that he doesn’t care whose responsibility it is now, we just want it addressed once and for all with no further excuses. M.Cherry says that all requests are considered but have to be prioritised, and that’s what causes the delay. Chair commented that it has been marked forward for action for at least the last eight years, and subject to promises at every AGM since then, but nothing happens and this is just not good enough.

6.4 Skate park update
Ms Dawson commented that the funding application to the FSA for the Phase 2 ramps was submitted at the beginning of July. The incident of motorbikes being reported on the playing field had resulted in PC Kershaw posting a notice on the skate park notice board advising offenders that this was not allowed and if they persisted then their bikes could be confiscated by the police. There have been none reported at the park since this note was posted. There will be a fund raising event at The Plough Inn, Blundeston with a band on 26th July. 

6.5 Update to play equipment
No update was available because Parish Councillor Keith Wood was not present.

6.6 Footpath Maintenance
Chair spoke to the department and they have a new contract as the current contractor didn’t want all the work. The contractor who was awarded the contract comes from Diss. The policy is a narrow cut each to make the footpaths passable. The conservation policy is that nettles and other weeds outside this area are not cut as they are renowned for encouraging various species of wildlife. If the footpaths are used regularly then they remain passable. A second cut is due to be completed within the next few days. The contact person is from Stowmarket and can be contacted on Tel:  01728 403059 .

6.7 Church Road Resurfacing
Chair commented that when they resurfaced they didn’t resurface the last 30 metres up to the junction with the B1047. The reason for this was that this section of the road is in such a bad state that it was not possible to simply re-surface it. This should have come as no surprise to the highways department as the Parish Council have been asking for this to be repaired for the last six months! M Cherry commented that it was not suitable to just skim the top and those parts of the road would need a more thorough surfacing. Parish Councillors want to know when that area, which is now dangerous for cyclists, is going to be repaired. (Highways have told us that this needs to be separately priced and will be done in August)

6.8 1st Blundeston Scout Group
Tina, Simon and Chair were invited to camp site breakfast to take part in the ceremony for the new colours now that the scout group have been renamed as 1st Blundeston Scout Group having changed names from the 2nd Oulton Broad Scout Group. The chair presented the group with their new colours and the occasion was marked with the three Parish Councillors in attendance.

6.9 Reminder - Northern Parish Councillors meeting – on Monday 21 July.

7. Accounts
It was requested that the loan from the Village Hall committee of £3,000 should be repaid as soon as possible. This was agreed.

8. Planning
8.1. Application to replace existing flat roof on garage with a pitched roof, at Overcombe, Hall Lane - Agreed

8.2 Single story extension at 4, Lakeside Rise. - Agreed

8.3 Chair informed that the application for the construction of two houses at the rear of 12, The Street, Blundeston has been approved by Waveney District Council.

9. Correspondence
•	Broads Authority offering training on broads reed cutting and managing the marshes.
•	Letter from the applicant regarding the approval for planning at the rear of Pantiles, Market Lane; an explanation of the circumstances of the application and what had subsequently happened.
•	Received Broads Authority annual report
•	Suffolk County Council have sent details of sustainable community events, other training events being held including chairing skills day, new clerks day and follow on day, budgeting workshop, Suffolk dog day, a Broads safe action plan.
•	Waveney District Council -  
•	Change of service provider - P Ashdown had already covered this subject.
•	Changes to register of electors.
•	 Emergency plans clarification. 
•	Summary of Suffolk local policing. 
•	Suffolk joint emergencies planning for dealing with pandemics, virus etc and wanted to know how many spaces we have left in the cemetery!
•	FSA letter confirming receipt of funding application for the skate park.
•	Leaflets received on planned road works and how to plan your journey. Strangely also received leaflets for the South west of England!
•	Received Coastlines report on tidal surges forecasting.

Village Hall Flooring
Problems have arisen in relation to the dividing doors floor tracking. Following a site meeting a letter had been received from “Total Build” contractors. They quoted for 3 options in relation to this tracking and the new wooden floor in the main part of the Hall:-
•	Option 1, fit new floor track for dividing doors and continue beech flooring for entire length of the hall for the additional sum of £867.61
•	Option 2, as option 1 but with mechanical fix plywood over existing concrete floor for the additional sum of £1,262.78.
•	Option 3, Chop out existing floor track and supply and fit new track in it’s place, adjusting the doors accordingly. Still leave the transition ramp for additional sum of £398.26.
Chair wanted the different options discussed and considered so a decision could be made at the meeting by the full Parish Council as owners of the Hall. After a thorough discussion it was unanimously agreed that Option 1 should be adopted. Parishioners present also unanimously agreed this was the best option. M Cherry agreed that he would help contribute to the additional funding required. It was suggested we may want to put a time capsule down before the floor is laid and Mrs Soanes agreed to progress this with organisations and individuals. Any suggestions should be sent direct to her. 

•	Church Yard maintenance letter request for grant from Miss G Bailey, Secretary of Blundeston St Mary’s PCC. The chair had checked the previous grants given and the last one was for £125 in July 2007. Their estimate for the year was £306.84p. Parish Councillors agreed they would contribute £200.

10.	A.O.B.
John Blowers reported damage to new football nets. He had arranged for a net mender to repair.

11. Date of next meeting – 8th September, 7.30pm