A meeting of the Parish Council was held on Monday, 12^th November 2007 at 7pm in Eyke Village Hall.

 

Present: Mr Adams, in the chair, Mrs Abu-Hejleh, Mrs Sutch, Mr Shaw, Mr Whitmore, Mrs Clarke, County Councillor, Mrs Sturrock, District Councillor, the clerk and 4 members of the public.

 

Apologies: Mr Fleming; Suffolk Constabulary.

 

There were no Declarations of Interest.

 

Minutes: Those of 10/09/07 and the planning meeting of 25/09/07, having been previously circulated, were taken as read, agreed and signed as a correct record.

 

Matters Arising:

1. Vehicle Activated Signs. In an e mail of 14/09/07 to the clerk, Luke Barber from SCC said he was pursuing this through Alan Newman, who has said that money should be available from the road improvements fund, which is part of the Rendlesham planning agreement.

2. Post Office Closures. Ufford is earmarked for outreach services, following closure. The clerk is waiting to hear whether, if a mobile service is provided, this would also cover Eyke.

3. Ufford Parish Council is hoping to arrange a weekend site meeting to involve Bromeswell, Eyke and Ufford Parish Councils, along with Mr or Mrs Smith, Mr Foskett and an SCC representative to discuss the removal of the hedge which obscures visibility at the junction of the A1152 and Bridge Road. Mr Smith is likely to want financial support . Mr Foskett is happy to cut back his hedge.

4. Following the request for verge cutting to uncover partially obscured road signs, Mr Fawcett from SCC explained that the area is allowed 2 cuts per year, which have happened, but he would assess whether anything further could be done.

5. The clerk had received a call from the Probation Service about cutting the hedges on the green and in the car park, but it seems likely that wires were crossed, as the group came, without the agreed further notice, and just cut the churchyard hedges.

6. Rural Housing. Nigel Brett has offered to talk to the Parish Council about undertaking a local housing needs survey, the first step in delivering small developments of affordable housing in rural locations for local people. Before committing to this, the council agreed to ask for a sample survey form to discuss at the next meeting.

 

Reports:

Mrs Clarke, County Councillor. Mrs Clarke firstly mentioned the two recent emergencies affecting the County Council: the possible major flooding as a result of wind and high tides along the coast, and the outbreak of bird flu. Major flooding was avoided, and all emergency systems coped well. The bird flu outbreak, being very recent, has not tested SCC yet, but the County Council will certainly have a major role to play.

Work continues to ensure a smooth transition to the new Ipswich Council.

Regarding waste disposal services, non-recyclables are to be burnt in incinerators, and the energy generated will be fed into the National Grid. Studies indicate that emissions for such incinerators have little or no effect on health, and is a scheme already prevalent in other environmentally aware countries in Europe.

Councillors continue to contend with budget difficulties, with a £16M shortfall for next year. There is great concern over serious underfunding for services for the elderly.

SCC has been rated a 4 Star Council again by the Audit Commission, and is now in the top ten councils in England.

Regarding the Vehicle Activated Signs, Alan Newman is in the hands of the District Council who handle the development money for road improvements. This will possibly be considered in the new year.

Mrs Clarke also suggested that money from the Locality Budget could be used to buy new doggy bins.

Mrs Sturrock, District Councillor. Mrs Sturrock was disappointed not to see a representative from Eyke at the Peninsula meeting on 22^nd October.

SCDC is contending with a £600,000 budget shortfall. Excess parking charges are to be increased.

On planning matters, there is pressure from government to build houses in rural areas. SCDC planning services has a two star rating: the maximum is three.

Suffolk Constabulary. (Via email) PC Brett has now taken up a position elsewhere, and PC Simon Barry has taken on his role. Unfortunately, he is off sick at present. There have been no reported crimes in Eyke since the last Parish Council meeting.

Wilford SNT. (Meeting attended by Mr Whitmore on 16/10/07. This took place at the new office at Rock Barracks, Sutton, where attendees could see the new premises which allows officers to have a local focus in the heart of the community, where they can work with local people to tackle crime, anti-social behaviour etc in order to create a safer environment for all. An Inspector or Sergeant will oversee the policing, and will report to the District Commander. Each team across the County will be made up of police officers, and community support officers, special constables, council staff, community partners and volunteers. A new scheme to introduce community wardens to the teams is also being developed.

RoSPA. The playing field has been inspected. There were no high risk issues, but the pedestrian gate, with its possibility of finger entrapment is still seen as a medium risk. Mr Guntrip has still not responded to the clerk about rectifying this: it was agreed that this time the clerk would write to him: if he does not respond promptly, the Council will find someone else to carry out the necessary work.

Mr Whitmore will file down the protruding bolts on the gate and the field gate.

The barriers have now been repainted.

 

Correspondence:

1. East Suffolk Travellers’ Association. Their latest bulletin was available.

2. Trail Bike Enduro Club. Their next event will be on 25/11/07 in Rendlesham Forest.

3. SCDC Planning Policy Coverage post September 2007. The Parish Council has been sent a list of policies which will continue to be in force in the Local Plan, and relevant to planning application discussion after September 07. Councillors agreed the substance of the letter was hard to decipher.

4. SCC Fire and Rescue Service Action Plan for the year 2008-9 was available for information.

5. Suffolk Constabulary: Suffolk Roadsafe and Community Speedwatch. This organisation invites individual parishes or groups of parishes to address speed issues by setting up a Speed Watch Scheme. Groups would need to be self-funding and manned by volunteers. Training in the use of speed detection devices and allied issues would be given, and the police would follow up offending vehicles with a letter of caution to the registered keeper. Councillors felt this was not worthwhile in terms of the initial costings and responsibilities, when the end result is just a letter of caution.

 

Planning:

1. The application C07/0515 for the development rear of the Elephant and Castle has been withdrawn.

2. Dan Davies, Landex Developments Ltd wishes to meet again with the Parish Council to come to an agreement about what would be acceptable to the Parish Council before he submits a further application for the Elephant and Castle. To that end, he sent further drawings for consideration. Councillors felt that the main issue is one of access, which is a problem however many properties are built, and whatever size they are. They rejected the call for a further meeting.

 

Other Matters:

Outdoor Playing Space Contributions: use of current funds. No one had come up with any ideas on this and it was not felt to be sensible to try to spend the money for the sake of it. It was agreed to bear this in mind, and raise the matter again in a few months.

 

Finance:

1. Draft budget. Councillors were reminded this needs to be thought about before the next meeting, when the budget for 2008-9 will be agreed.

2. Cheques: a) Playsafety Ltd: £77.55 (Playing Field Inspection); b) MJH Garden Services: £40.00 (Cutting the Green); c) P Nobbs: £200.00 (Barrier painting on rec.).

 

There was no Parish Forum.

Any Other Business:

1. Community Access Scheme. It was agreed to sign up for more information on this, which replaces the P3 organisation, from which the parish has benefited in the past.

2. Mr Adams reported overgrown hedges near Mr Caley’s house in Church Lane. The clerk will see if the County Council is prepared to cut them back.

3. Mr Adams also reported puddles accumulating in the same area after rain. The clerk will report this.

This closed the meeting at 8.40pm.