At a meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday August 11th 2004 in Blundeston Village Hall there were present: - Mr. J. Nichols (Chairman), Mr. G. Alderton, Mr. J. Blowers, Mr. P. Offord, Mrs. T. Townend. Mr. T. Prettyman, Mr. S. Lewis, Mrs. E. Hume and Mr. S. Perks, Pc Boggis and 14 Parishioners also attended.
Apologies were received from Mrs. E. Socratous.
There were no declarations of interest.
The Chairman opened the meeting by welcoming those present and then reading a letter of resignation from Mr. C. Ayers one of the two representatives from Flixton on the Parish Council. As Mr. Ayers had mentioned verbally several months ago that he had no desire to carry on being a Parish Councillor, Mr. Perks and Mrs. Hume had spoken to Mr. Keith Wood of Flixton and he had agreed to being co-opted onto the Council if that was the wish of the other councillors, it was agreed that Mr. Wood should be contacted and invited to attend the next Parish Council meeting in order for this to be carried out. It was noted that the work on the Market Lane footpath had not started on July 28th as had been suggested by W.D.C. last month but “road-works ahead” warning notices had been placed in position during the afternoon of 11th suggesting that the work was imminent. Mr. Lewis had had a site meeting with Mr. Hunter along Hall Road and Councillor Hunter had become very aware of the dangerous situation for pedestrians along this part of the Village and he agreed to give strenuous effort to gaining the funding to have a pavement made along Hall Road into round the corner into Hall Lane. Mr. Blowers reported that the working party from HMP was due to start work at 8.15a.m. on Tuesday 12th on the task of repainting the Village Hall. Mr. Lewis had arranged for the doorjambs, which had been damaged during the recent burglary, to be repaired on Wednesday in order that they could be painted. Marsh Lane is still closed and Waveney District Council are still trying to clear up the mess left by the tipping of the tarmac emulsion, Pc Boggis reported that some progress has been made with the Police tracing the culprit and the evidence is being forwarded to the Environment Agency. Mr. Perks agreed to inspect the See Saw and see if the wood can be repaired instead of having to be replaced. 
Planning.
The results of the Appeal by Badger Building were read by the Chairman. Copies of this document had been forwarded by the inspector to all interested parties. The Proposal to build 7 dwellings on the site at the Pippins had been turned down. But the proposal to build 6 dwellings was approved. The Chairman read the contractors must meet all 9 of the stringent conditions the inspector had ruled. Mr. Lewis asked if Blundeston Charity Trustees had met to decide if the Charity’s part of the land was to be sold, Mr. Nichols said that negotiations are now going ahead between the Trustees, the agents and the Contractors with a view to a possible offer to purchase the land. Mrs. Townend asked if the minutes of the Charity Trustee meetings are made public, the Chairman agreed to discover if this is allowed. Mr. Perks asked if the Parish Council were consulted over the names of new developments as he thought that it would be appropriate if it could be called Herbert’s Garden, as this is the local name this piece of land is known by.
The following plans had arrived after the publication of the agenda 7 days ago.
Mr. & Mrs. Howchin – 5, Pickwick Drive – Construction of a rear conservatory.
This plan was approved
Mr. M. Osborn    - construction of two detached houses and garages on land adjacent to Holly Barn Market Lane, Blundeston.
This was approved subject to the Parish Council being given the assurance that the mature oak trees on the frontage of the site will be retained and the boundary to the East will be replaced with a hedge rather than a wooden fence. The Parish Council would also like the assurance that all the materials used will be in keeping with the character of the Village as a whole and especially the Ancient Barn, which adjoins this plot.
Accounts.
The following accounts were approved for payment, proposed by Mrs. Hume and seconded by Mr. Prettyman.
Blundeston Roofing and Building (emergency repairs and new window for Village Hall) -  £681 .50
Pc Boggis gave the Police report next. He said that as a result of the newspaper article reporting the dumping of the tarmac in Marsh Lane 3 separate leads had been received and these were being followed up. There had been 4 crimes in the last month and two of these had taken place at HMP. The third crime was one of assault in the playground, where two youths had been fighting, and the fourth crime was one of criminal damage along a newly erected and painted wall, whereby someone has painted a line along a considerable length of this wall. In the same month last year 10 crimes had been reported, and all in all Blundeston is bucking the trend by having less crime than in the previous year, this year from 31st April to 31st July there have been 18 reported crimes and during the same period last year there were 36 crimes.

Correspondence. 
Suffolk Acre had forwarded various information and magazines. Suffolk Acre sent information on a meeting about Parish Plans. D.I.A.L. had sent information for people with disabilities. GO-East had sent information on renewable energy and the Planning System, Mr. Lewis took this to read. There was a Legislative and Financial report from the Broads Authority. Information had been received from DEFRA with regard to Rural Services Standard for 2003.  A Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance Open Space Standard had arrived from W.D.C.
Other Parish Business.
Mr. Alderton reported that the nettles in the Alleyway between Market Lane and The Street need cutting again the hedges along this footpath have still not been cut, the outlet pipe from the pond in this area has still not been repaired and the Chairman agreed to contact the relevant person at W.D.C. as this work should have been done when the pond was cleared out last October. Mr. Alderton also asked if the Clerk could write to Anglian Water and ask what the results of their 3 resent camera surveys carried out along Market Lane were. Mr. Blowers reported that the new junior goalposts purchased recently had both been wrecked within 2 weeks of being set up and he had managed to make one decent one out of the two, it was agreed that no more should be provided. Mr. Prettyman was told that there had been no reply from W.D.C. following the Parish Council’s request to be removed form the classification of being a Larger Village. Mrs. Hume asked if Louise Wilby had been contacted again to conduct a Village Survey to ascertain the views of the Parishioners with regard to providing affordable housing in the two villages, the Chairman agreed to contact her. The Chairman reported that he had attended the function at the Howe Heath Pit last weekend and was most impressed with the stewardship and control over events taking place there. 
The meeting was then opened to the Public 
Mrs. Sturman expressed her concern about the extra traffic associated with the lorries of building materials and the contractor’s personal vehicles during the construction of the development at the rear of Meadowlands. Mr. Oldman questioned the soak away and permeable surfacing spoken about in regard to the hard surfacing areas on this proposed development, this was explained more fully by Mr. Offord and Mr. Alderton and Mr. Oldman then understood the terms, which had been used.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.20p.m. The next meeting will be held on September 8th at 7.30p.m.