At a meeting of the Parish council held on Monday 7th December there were present, Mr. J. Nichols Chairman, Mrs. G. Soanes, Mr. J. Blowers, Mr. S. Lewis, Mr. S. Perks,  and Mr. S. Rees. W.D.C. Mr. P. Ashdown and 5 Parishioners were also present.
Apologies were received from Mr. R. Leech, Mrs. J. Browne, Mrs. T. Townend, Mr. C. Law, Mr. M. Barnard, PC Stranks and PCSO Kershaw had sent a message to say that she will arrive later.
The minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday 9th November were approved and signed.
Declaration of Interests. No Interests were declared
15 minutes for Parishioner input. Ms. Dawson reported that the owner of a Fish and Chip van, who is at present visiting Hopton, would like to provide a service at Blundeston on Monday evenings and would like to park his van in the Village Hall car park between 5.30. and 7.30pm from the beginning of February. Permission for this was given. Mr. Ffitch reported that the pond is filling up over the outlet pipe and Mr. Rees reported that there is a definite back up in the pipe along Market Lane and the manhole cover outside Avoca has been lifted several times. The Chairman said that the matter of the Pond would be discussed later in the meeting. Mr. Ffitch also reported that the reflector sign on the corner of Market Lane that has been broken off, the Clerk has reported this to the Highways Department, but so far has not had a reply.
Other parish business (Parish Councillors). A Parishioner has complained to Mr. Wade about the pile of wood outside a house in Lound Road and is concerned that it will attract rats, Mr. Ashdown agreed to get in touch with the Environmental services and get someone to inspect the pile. Mr. Wade also reported that a ditch in Lound Road alongside a cottage has been filled in and is causing flooding in the area. Mr. Ashdown agreed to seek advice as to who should be contacted regarding this. Mr. Wade reported that the SLOW signs have still not been reinstated on the road on the approaches to Lound Road. Mr. Rees reported that several gardens in Market Lane had been flooded on Sunday. The Chairman reported that serious damage has been caused to the grass verge on Lowestoft Road opposite to Queensway. This was caused by a large lorry being loaded with sugar beet. Mr. Ashdown agreed to contact the Highways Department. A report will be received from the Parks Department after Mr. Nichols met with a representative of Waveney Norse to give advice on the Football Pitch with regard to regular maintenance, and it would seem that weekly work would be necessary to keep the pitch up to a good standard.  
Police Report.  There were no recorded crimes in Flixton but 5 in Blundeston for November. 2 of these related to HMP Blundeston. A male and a female were charged with driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol following a RTC in Lowestoft Road, this has caused extensive damage to a brick wall.  There was a burglary at a Garden Centre and two young males were caught on CCTV but the investigation is still ongoing. Community speed watch letters have been sent to the 9 volunteers and a meeting will be held at Somerleyton Post office in January 28th at 12 noon to finalise paperwork etc. PCSO Kershaw has spoken to the Head Teacher at the School in regard to the voluntary one-way system during School hours, and has spoken to the Highways Dept. for advice. No signs can be erected as the scheme will only be voluntary.  The case of the cyclist who was involved in an accident in Flixton in October is still ongoing. 
District Councillor report Local Government Review is finished and it has not gone the way that Waveney hoped it would. Whether a decision will be made before a general election remains to be seen.An election will be held in May for one year and after that these will occur every 4 years. The section 106 monies due to Blundeston and Flixton stand at £3,500 to spend on open spaces. Mr. Ashdown spoke to Mr. Law before coming to this meeting and he gave the same report as had been received by the clerk. See below. 
County Councillor Report. Mr. Law had sent an email in which he said that he had met with the Highways dept. with regard to the junction of B1074 and Church Road and together they have come up with some options to be considered, once these have been developed he will bring these to the Parish Council, hopefully to the next meeting. He is also finding out what can be done about the flooding there.
Skate Park update All funding is in place and the supplier will be paid in 3 instalments. Estimated start date will be in January there will be an interim payment due partway through the build. A skate park meeting was held in September and the manager of the Lowestoft Skate park attended and he knew exactly how much 106 payments were due to be claimed by the Parish, which was helpful for Ms Dawson. A payment for £1,500 which is the VAT due at present needs to be approved and sent of as soon as possible. This of course can be claimed back by the Parish Council.
Update on Playground surfacing. Mr. Perks has still to deliver the sand for this work. Mr. Rees will remind him.
Millennium Green update. The planned working party for 12th has been postponed. Paul Button has been approached to take another cut for hay from the wildflower meadow, but at the moment the grass is not long enough.
Report on Pollution in Pond. A site visit with the Chairman, representatives from WDC, Bob Blizzard and several parishioners took place on 13th November after the situation had been explained no-one seemed to know exactly how the pollution could have happened or who actually owned the pipe which caused the problem. The representative from Anglian Water has since reported that they have found the cause of the leak of the sewerage into the pond - there was some damage to one of the drains coming out a house into the drains in the road and this had got into the storm water drain, this will be rectified and it should never happen again. Anglian Water will restock the pond with fish in the Spring. The unsatisfactory situation of storm water drain in Market Lane was raised whilst Bob Blizzard was present and he walked along the area with the Chairman. Once ownership of this pipework is discovered work will start to renew the whole drainage system along here. 
Clerks position. The Chairman had advertised on the Village Notice-boards and with SALC. and there has only been 1 applicant. The chairman asked if the Parish Council wanted to set up an interview panel or simply appoint the applicant. It was decided unanimously that Mrs Karen Rees should be appointed. 
Blundeston Charity Trustees. The Chairman said that the trustees have agreed on the distribution of vouchers and book tokens for this year and a total of around £6,000 has been distributed. Ms. Dawson is retiring from the board in January and a new candidate is being sought. Mr. Nichols proposed Mr. P. Ball and Mr. G. Wade volunteered himself as a Trustee. Mr. Blowers proposed that the decision should be deferred until the next Parish Council meeting. It was suggested that the Councilors consider if they would like to propose a candidate before then, as Trustees must be proposed and seconded by Parish Councilors. 
Accounts
The following accounts were approved for payment. Proposed by Mrs. Soanes and seconded by Mr. Lewis.
B.M. Shaw  (clerk’s salary) Oct/Nov/Dec			300. 00
		Plus 1/3 telephone rental		             9. 16 = 	  309. 16
J. Nichols (chairman’s broadband allowance)			                25. 00
Clever Curves   VAT (this will be reclaimed a.s.a.p.)	                       1,500. 00
Suffolk Accident Rescue Service 					      	    50. 00
Precept set at £6,500. 
Planning
Mr. C. Pullinger, 15, Barkis Meadow, replace flat roof with pitched roof to existing front dormer window.
This had been approved earlier in order to send the Parish Council’s comments to the Planning Department.
Correspondence
Environment Agency - New nuclear power station at Sizewell they have a role both terrestrial and marine  
Information regarding upkeep of Telephone Kiosks had been received.  
Broads Authority Local Access Forum - Member Vacancies.
WDC referral of Code of Conduct complaints.
Ministry of Justice, War Memorials - repair, maintenance and protection.
The Clerk was thanked for her work over the past 15 years.
Thhe next meeting will be held on 11th January 2010 at 7.30p.m. There being no further business the meeting closed at 9p.m.