Minutes of Little Bealings Annual Parish Council meeting held at Bealings Village Hall at

7.30pm on Monday 11 May 2009

 

Present:  Mrs F Evans, Mr K Beaumont, Mrs F Hopkins, Dr C Rowe, Miss D Williams and Mrs M Wilson

 

In attendance: Mrs C Ramsden, Clerk to the Council

 

 

 

CouncillorActions

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Apologies and Declarations of Interest

 

Apologies were received from Mr P Carr.  It was noted that Mr Bellfield was also unable to attend.  Mrs Wilson declared an interest in matters related to the Village Hall and the permissive footpath.  Mrs Hopkins declared an interest in matters related to the use of the footpath through the Churchyard.

 

 

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Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman

 

Mrs Evans (as current Chairman of the Council) asked for nominations.  Mrs Evans was proposed by Miss Williams and seconded by Mrs Wilson.   It was RESOLVED:

 

·                     that Mrs Evans be elected Chairman of the Parish Council.

 

Mrs Evans asked for nominations for Vice Chairman.  Mr Carr was proposed by Mr Beaumont and seconded by Miss Williams.  It was RESOLVED:

 

·                     that Mr Carr be elected Vice Chairman of the Parish Council.

 

 

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Appointments

 

It was RESOLVED:

 

·                    that the following appointments be made for 2009/10:

 

Village Hall Management Committee representative:  Mrs Evans

SALC representative: Mrs Evans

Footpath and Tree Warden:  Mrs Jennifer Cook

SORR representative:  Mr Carr

 

 

 

 

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Minutes of the Meetings held on 9 March 2009

 

These were amended and signed as a true record.

 

Matters arising from the Minutes

 

Great Bealings Environment Group

Mrs Hopkins had been unable to attend the meeting on 25 March.  It was RESOLVED that:

 

·         the minutes of the meeting would be circulated

 

·         the appointment of a representative to attend future meetings would be considered when the date of the next meeting was known.

 

 

Highways

 

Maintenance

It was noted that:

 

·         Mr Ball had removed the sand box at the end of Holly Lane as requested

 

·         SCC had agreed to supply traffic data for the Martlesham Road and Playford Road, but no date was arranged for the survey

 

·         SCC had no budget provision as yet for the supply of road safety signs by the Playing Field.

 

Bealings School Parking

It was noted that all those who had been approached about a meeting to discuss road safety and the prevention of damage to the bank and Churchyard had accepted.  These included representatives from the PCC, the School and SCC.  It was RESOLVED:

 

·         to ask the SCC Travel Plans Adviser to chair the meeting

·         to arrange the meeting for a Monday during May or June

  

P3

It was noted that an order from SCC for footpath cutting was expected and cutting would start very soon.  Three cuts of some routes were planned.

 

Permissive Footpath to Great Bealings

It was noted that some walkers were using an additional section of path not included in the route and were continuing behind Brimar to the footpath by Manor Farm.  The landowner had agreed that extra signing should be put in place to deter this.  It was RESOLVED:

 

·         to contact SCC and ask for increased signing

 

Walks Leaflet

It was noted that only a few copies were left.  A reprint of 500 copies would cost approximately £130.  It was RESOLVED:

 

·         to ask Mr Bellfield if funding for printing could be provided from his locality budget

 

 

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Planning

 

C09/0526:  Village Hall, The Street, Little Bealings – Replacement of existing crittall windows and surrounding cladding/panels with PVCU frames and panels

 

It was RESOLVED:

 

·         to support the application.

 

 

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Parish Plan

 

It was noted that the Parish Plan had been completed and Mrs Evans, Miss Williams and the Clerk would attend a Reception on 13 May to celebrate its publication.  There was some concern that the Action Monitoring Group (AMG) would police the Council’s decisions, seeking compatibility with the Plan.  However, it was also considered that the Plan was a useful tool for the Council, advising it of residents’ preferences and so informing its decisions.  It was RESOLVED:

 

·          to advise the AMG of two requested amendments to its Terms of Reference:

1.                 paragraph 3: amend 'JPPSG' to 'AMG'

2.                 final paragraph: amend 'necessarily' to 'wholly, exclusively and necessarily'

·          to endorse all three volunteers from the parish to join the AMG, Carol Ramsden, Jenny Shaw and Hilary Wilkinson, in order that the parish would have adequate representation at each AMG meeting

 

 

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Police

 

Miss Williams reported on the SNT, which provided monthly summary reports for the 12PT.  It was noted that much of the focus was on the larger parishes of Kesgrave and Martlesham and that no officer had attended a Council meeting or supplied a detailed report for many months.  Despite there being a sexual assault in the parish reported in the local press during April, there had been no contact from the police on the matter and no information or advice issued.   It was RESOLVED:

 

·         that Miss Williams would advice the 12PT SNT that the Council had lost confidence in it and would like to improve the relationship between the police and the Council

 

·         that a link to a survey on police performance would be put on the Council website and publicised.

 

Finance

 

Adoption of Accounts for 2008/09

 

The accounts for 2008/09 were received and the effectiveness of the internal audit arrangements considered.   It was RESOLVED:

 

·           that the current arrangements for the internal audit were effective and appropriate

  • that the  accounts for 2008/09 be approved
  • that the return to the external auditor for 2008/09 be approved

 

Income and Expenditure

The Chairman reported the following income and expenditure:

 

Income:

·           First half of the precept from SCDC: £2,750

Expenditure:

Cheques were signed as follows:

·           SALC membership for 2009/10: £194

·           Suffolk ACRE membership for 2009/10: £25

·           Bealings Village Hall donation: £250

·           John Belstead Playing Field donation: £250

·           Benefice Newletter donation: £100

·           Grundisburgh News donation: £10

·           Mrs J Gosling for internal audit: £20

·           Clerk’s salary and expenses, including annual allowance: £971.85

 

It was RESOLVED:

 

·           not to donate funding to the Coastal Accessible Transport service while it was not being used by any parishioner

·           to consider a further donation to the Playing Field if it required funding for a specific project

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DW

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Matters Arising from Circulated Items

Circulations 2009/03 and 2009/04 had been returned to the Clerk.  It was RESOLVED:

 

·                     Local Government Review: to advise the Boundary Committee that the Council’s views on the future structure of local government in Suffolk were unchanged if the review was to take place, but that, due to current economic conditions, the Council considered that the review should be abandoned and the status quo maintained

·                     SCC Transport Newsletter: to advise SCC that an alternative to the 0845 number given for enquiries should be included, to lessen costs for non-BT customers

·                     Suffolk ACRE: Funding E-shot:  to publicise the availability of newly available funding and grants for projects, especially as COMMA funding was specified for communities affected by former aggregates extraction

·                     Training:  that the Chairman would attend SALC Leadership Skills Training at a cost of £90

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Correspondence

 

It was RESOLVED:

 

·                     that the following correspondence would be circulated to Councillors:

·                    SALC: information on the status of its advice and The Local Councillor

·                    Local Councils Update Issue 115

·                    Clerks and Councils Direct May 2009

·                    SCC Guide to Accessible Community Transport

·                 that a request from Bee Farrell for the Council’s support for an application for O2 ‘our community’ funding for a community food, growing and social meals would be considered when the requested details were supplied

·                 to display posters for the Suffolk Show, Dogs Trust and Heritage Plant Sale.

 

It was noted that notice of the candidates for the forthcoming County Council elections had been received and displayed.

 

 

 

 

 

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Date of Next Meeting

 

The next meeting of the Council would be on 6 July 2009.

 

 

There being no further business to discuss the meeting closed at 9.10pm.