The Parish Clerk:
Rosemary Cochrane
Melvington
Willisham Road
Barking Tye
IP6 8HY
(01473) 657009
Email the Parish Clerk
Follow Barking Parish Council on Twitter or tweet us @BarkingParishCo
Scheduled meetings take place on the third Thursday of every other month at Barking Village Hall at 7.30 pm - open to the public. A copy of the Minutes of these meetings can be seen upon request from the Clerk and on this website.
The Parish Councillors are:
Cllr Michael Smith - 01473 658599 - Chairman
Cllr Stephen Butler - 01449 720278 Vice Chairman
Cllr Michael Bailey - 01473 658525
Cllr Denys Hoyland - 01449 722578
Cllr Pearl Hollocks - 01449 720911
Cllr Alex Smith - 01473 658133
Cllr Ann Ross - 01449 721038
Representatives to Outside Bodies:
Needham Market & Barking Welfare Charities:
Susan Marsh
Cllr Michael Smith
David Bishop (Village Representative)
Theobalds Endowed Foundation:
Cllr Michael Smith
Mrs Carole Wright (Village Representative)
Barking Village Hall Management Committee:
Cllr Michael Bailey
Cllr Alex Smith
Parish Paths Partnership
Cllr Alex Smith
The Parish Council’s responsibilites include:
• Finance - The Parish Council is responsible for the approval and monitoring of Council expenditure, annually analysing future funding requirements and recommends the precept to be raised. Arranging insurance of parish property, loans and donations and other associated activities requiring finance.
• The Tye and Footpaths - maintenance of theTye (common)*, Public Footpaths and Play Equipment. The Parish Paths Partnership is responsible for the maintenance of the footpaths within the Parish of Barking, which is Chaired by Alistair Murthwaite.
*The Bye Laws can be viewed by clicking onto the following link - Barking Tye Bye Laws
• Planning – The Parish Council receives and considers consultation copies of all Planning Applications relating to the parish. Recommendations from the Council either in support of the application or as objections, are passed to Mid Suffolk District Council who, as Planning Authority, will make use of these comments in their determination of the application. A list of planning applications considered by the Parish Council can be viewed by following the attached link - Barking Parish Planning Applications
• Parish Property – The Parish Council provides and maintains litter bins, dog waste bins, notice boards, play equipment, benches and street lights.
• Highways and Lighting - The Parish Council oversees highways matters such as the need for road repairs, signposting, street lights and the supply of electricity for street lighting.
Summary of meeting of Barking Parish Council
held on 19th January 2012
PCSO Vince Whitrow reported on the recent spate of metal thefts incl. lead from Needham Market. All are encouraged to protect their property and discourage thefts by using Smart Water. The Police are working closely with local scrap merchants in a bid to tackle this problem.
County Cllr Julia Truelove reported on the last full Council meeting, the January Cabinet meeting, Suffolk Broadband Business Survey, objects being thrown from bridges and Sita Trust Grants. All are encouraged to complete both the Business and non-Business Surveys as part of the drive to get Suffolk a better broadband service. The surveys are on-line but the Parish Clerk has paper copies if needed. The surveys can be found at http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/ and http://surveymonkey.com/s/SuffolkBusinessBroadbandSurvey.
During the meeting a planning application for Alma Cottage, Barking was considered; a donation to St Mary’s Church for grass cutting was approved; the grass cutting contract for the Tye was once again awarded to Eastern Facilities Management Solutions (formerly County Grounds Service); funding provision for the forthcoming Diamond Jubilee celebrations were considered; the Budget for 2012/2013 was agreed at £19,828 and the Precept set once again at £8,362. This is the fourth consecutive year that the Precept has not been increased due to prudent financial housekeeping by the Council. Another issue discussed was the possibility of changing the street light bulbs to energy saving ones or of switching them off from midnight to save energy costs. Costs are being looked into.
The Parish Council has again put aside funds to enable it to consider donation requests from local groups and organisations and once again encourages applications.
Car parking on the Tye was again discussed. It has been noted on several occasions that vehicles are being parked on the Tye next to ‘no parking’ signs. The Council is looking into what action can be taken regarding this breach of the Bye Laws.
Mabs Harrison has resigned as Local History Recorder. The Council wishes to record its’ thanks to Mabs for her hard work and dedication to the role. The Parish Council is hoping this vacancy will be filled very soon. Enquiries to the Parish Clerk please by 1st March in time for a decision at the next Parish Council meeting.
Finally, the Council is pleased to announce that the Barking Hedgerow Survey has been completed. This detailed survey of all the hedgerows in the Parish was undertaken by the Barking Tree Warden with some help from his friends. Barking has many species rich hedgerows, including Buckthorn, Medlar, Red Hawthorn and most importantly Spurge Laurel. A rare Balsom Poplar was also identified. The Parish Council wishes to record its’ thanks to Richard Cage for his hard work in ensuring the completion of the Survey which is a massive contribution to the heritage and inheritance for future generations of the landscape hedgerows in the Parish. This is something that has never been undertaken before and is not likely to again for many years to come.
The next meeting of the Parish Council will be 15th March 2012. A draft copy of the minutes is available from the Parish Clerk .
Barking Parish Council Budget 2012 - 2013
Community Governance Review - Barking
Barking and Darmsden residents will have by now received letters from Mid Suffolk District Council asking for their views on the Community Governance Review. The Parish Council urges everyone who has received a letter to respond by the deadline so that everyone’s views are taken into consideration.
Barking/Darmsden Residents - Want to save money on the cost of your heating oil?
The Barking Parish Plan Implementation Steering Group would like to hear from anyone who would like to join a new community based, countrywide oil buying syndicate. Over 60 people indicated in the Parish Plan questionnaire that they wold be interested in becoming part of a Parish buying group, so we are expecting a big response to this request. Responses to Implementation Steering Group members (Sue Marsh, Sue Bailey or Rosemary Cochrane) or via link on Parish Plan page of Barking Parish website www.barking.suffolk.gov.uk
Vacancy for Local History Recorder for the Parish of Barking
There is a vacancy for the post of Local History Recorder for Barking. This is an unpaid role and would suit anyone in the Parish of Barking who has a little time on their hands, is interested in the History of the Parish, and who wants to perform a valuable role within the community.
A little bit about the Local History Recorder Scheme:
The Suffolk Local History Council administers a Local History Recorders Scheme throughout Suffolk. It maintains a network of people in the county to ensure the survival of valuable material for future local historians by: 1. seeing that the present is adequately recorded at local level, and 2. being on the look-out for items of historical interest which might be overlooked or lost for ever. To do this Recorders are asked to note significant happenings in their area, especially the changes going on around them, and also to be on the look-out for older records and to record reminiscences of their area in the past.
Recorders are asked to send in a short report at the end of each calendar year, giving an account of activities in their community and the changes that have taken place. The reports are kept on open shelves in the nearest branch of the Suffolk Record Office. When Recorders resign, the material they have collected is deposited for safe keeping with the Record Office in the name of the Suffolk Local History Council.
For further information: http://www.slhc.org.uk/recorders.html
Anyone interested should apply/make enquiries to the Parish Clerk – Rosemary Cochrane (01473 657009) as soon as possible. The deadline for applications is 1st March 2012.
Chairmans Report to the Annual Parish Meeting 14th April 2011
To see report ,click onto the following link -
Chairman's Annual Report 2011
Dog Walkers
Signs have been erected on the Tye by the play area advising that dogs are not to be allowed into the play area. The Parish Council asks that dog walkers respect this order.
Shop Local
OneSuffolk has been trialling the addition of a ‘Shop Local’ page linked to Parish Council websites. The trial has now ended and Barking has decided to take this opportunity to add this link to our own website.
The shop local system is designed to meet two needs:
- To allow a parish or town council to keep a directory of shops and business in their area. This listing is available from their onesuffolk web-site and can be used by their community to find useful information.
- To allow people (residents, visitors etc) to search the whole of Suffolk simultaneously.
If you are a local business, based in the Parish of Barking, (including sole traders) and you would like your business contact details available via the Barking website, please contact Rosemary Cochrane who is in the process of setting up the directory – 01473 657009 pc@barking.suffolk.gov.uk
Freedom of Information Publication Scheme
Barking Parish Council is required to produce a publication scheme for information availability under the Freedom Of Information Act 2000.
Click onto the following links to view the Publication Policy & Core Classes adopted by Barking Parish Council and the Information Available from Barking Parish Council and associated costs.
The next Scheduled Meeting of the Parish Council
will be the held on Thursday 15th March 2012.
Public and Press are welcome to attend.
Viridor Landfill Communities Fund
Viridor owns the landfill site at nearby Little Blakenham, and provides funding for community or environmental projects in the vicinity of landfill sites (within a 10 mile radius). Viridor is setting up a decision making steering group which will meet 4 times a year to consider applications, with each meeting lasting approx. 2 hours. They are asking for local representative to come forward to sit on this new steering group. If anyone is interested in representing Barking on this new steering group, please contact the Parish Clerk as soon as possible.
Summary of the Barking Annual Parish Meeting
14th April 2011
The Annual Parish Meeting for Barking was held this year on Thursday 14th April at 7.30pm in Barking Village Hall. Parishioners listened to annual reports from the Barking Parish Council, Barking Community Council, the Barking Village Hall Management Committee, the Ringshall & Barking WI, the Barking Tree Warden, the Local History Recorder, the Chestnut Club, the Barking Pre-School, Barking Neighbourhood Watch, Barking Chapel, Barking Carpet Bowls, Barking Art Group, the Parish Paths Partnership, the Theobalds Foundation, the Needham Market & Barking Welfare Charities, the Safer Neighbourhood Team, Parochial Church Council, and the District Councillor. There was also the opportunity to view the Final Report produced by the Barking Parish Plan Steering Group and to hear about the TV Digital Switchover Scheme. Tea/coffee, biscuits and homemade cakes were served afterwards.
A draft copy of the minutes is available from the Parish Clerk.
Rosemary Cochrane, Parish Clerk, 01473 657009
From Suffolk Trading Standards:-
We would like to introduce you to a new scheme Suffolk/Norfolk Trading Standards are in the process of rolling to members of the public. We feel that you would benefit in knowing more about it.
Predominately the scheme is aimed to protect the public from rogue traders by giving them an online database of traders that have gone through checks by Trading Standards and received positive feedback from previous customers. It is possible to get the information via a website, plus a manned telephone line. We hope it to become the first post of call in the county when looking for a trader. This initiative was initially held by Age Concern, but we took over from them and installed tougher trader checks in the last 6+months. Along with this scheme we can create awareness of rogue traders, cowboy builders and doorstep knockers as in the summer month these offences occur more regularly.
We are now in a situation were we want to make the public aware of this facility and contacting Suffolk networks and associations that deal constantly with the public can hopefully fan this out.
Once the information has been perused please contact me (numbers below) and we can discuss how to take this further.
Below is a link to the website + an attached leaflet for your perusal.
www.suffolktrustedtrader.com <http://www.suffolktrustedtrader.com>
Barking Parish Council Emergency Response Plan
A major emergency can take place at any time and be caused by a number of factors including adverse weather, a road, major rail or air accident, fire or a host of other events. Assistance may not be immediately available and in the event the incident is very wide spread, the community could be temporarily isolated, with residents of the parish not receiving outside help for some time.
Barking Parish Council has produced an Emergency Response Plan which is the plan of action in the event of an incident occurring which directly impacts on the Parish of Barking. In preparing this Plan it is important to record details of people who could assist in an emergency; as well as those who may need assistance.
Should such an event occur, our first thoughts will be for our own family and immediate neighbours, but it may be that you have special skills, equipment and/or knowledge which could prove invaluable to the wider community.
A questionnaire was issued to every household in the Parish of Barking and the results were incorporated into the Plan. Of course we all hope that this information will never have to be used, but it is better to be prepared for any eventuality.
The Plan will be reviewed regularly, so the questionnaire is still available via this Website to download/print, by clicking onto the following link - Emergency Response Plan Questionnaire. If you prefer to email your response to me, please send it to me at 
pc@barking.suffolk.gov.uk
Please be assured that any information that you supply will be retained by the Parish Council, and will only be used for the purpose of the Emergency Plan.
Rosemary Cochrane
Clerk