Pakenham Parish Council : Minutes - 18th September 2000

PAKENHAM PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting held on 18th SEPTEMBER 2000
AT THE PAVILION AT 7.30p.m.

Present: Cllr. D. Dorling Chairman; Cllr. J. Mangnall; Cllr. B. Chester; Cllr. H. Painter; Cllr. P. Smith; Cllr. L. Couper; Mrs V. White, Borough Councillor; Mrs. P. Griffiths, Clerk.

APOLOGIES: Apologies were received from Cllr. A. Cox.

MINUTES:-
Councillor Smith pointed out that the path referred to in item 9(ii) was at the back of Manor Garth, not the Owell. The minutes of the meeting held on 14th August 2000 were then confirmed as a true record.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES:-

i) A plan had been received from Suffolk County Council Highways Department showing where the suggested new road signs should be placed to improve road safety. Detailed discussion took place on the merits and position of the signs and other improvements that could be made and there was a consensus of opinion that further advance warnings were needed at the Thurston Road crossroads and at Thieves Lane junction. It was also agreed that heavy lorries using the Thurston Road as a through route from the A143 to the A14 added to the safety problem. The clerk was asked to write to Suffolk County Council, outlining the parish council’s views and requesting a weight limit on lorries using Thurston Road.

ii) Councillor Mangnall said that the tree surgery work on the playing field had not yet been done but was expected to be carried out in the near future.

iii) The lease agreement had been sent to the Bowls Club. They would prefer a five year term rather than two years and would also prefer to pay the rent annually rather than quarterly.

VILLAGE WEB SITE:- 
Mr. Harvey and Mr. Phillips attended the meeting and answered questions from the parish council. Councillor Dorling said that his main concern was that people would think that the website was the official voice of the council. Mr. Harvey said that they had set up the website as a contribution to the village and published whatever information was given to them. There was nothing to stop the parish council setting up its own website if it wished to do so. It was agreed that the Agenda and minutes of the parish council meetings be published on Mr. Harvey’s website; hopefully it would encourage more people to attend the parish council meetings.

BOROUGH COUNCILLOR’S REPORT:- 
Mrs White recapped on the discussion that had taken place earlier on the road safety improvements in the vicinity of the Thurston crossroads. She said that there was a sum of £24,000 available for footway improvements and Pakenham could apply for some of this. Also, all county councils had been allocated an amenity grant, which could either be split between villages or given to one. Referring to the electoral boundary review which had been discussed at last month’s meeting, she said that Ingham did not wish to be included in Pakenham Ward. The final decision, however, rested with the Boundary Commission.

GRASSCUTTING IN CHURCHYARD AND PARISH BURIAL GROUND:-
Information had been obtained from SALC which confirmed that the parish council was not responsible for cutting the grass in the churchyard unless it was “closed”. In previous years the parish council had taken responsibility for cutting the grass on the assumption that it was closed, but this was now known not to be the case as a burial had taken place there. Councillor Chester said that there had been a large increase in the cost of grasscutting and for the forthcoming year he would get quotations from both David Thrower and St. Edmundsbury Borough Council. After some discussion and suggestions on how the parish should approach the issue, it was agreed that until the churchyard was definitely closed they would not take responsibility for grasscutting.

PLANNING APPLICATIONS:-
Permission had been granted for the erection of a conservatory at Queach House, Gt. Barton. No new planning applications had been received since the last meeting.

FINANCE:-

CORRESPONDENCE:-

i) Suffolk County Council had written to all parishes to inform them that a virtual reference library was now available on the world wide web. Information could be accessed from any library or from a home computer.

ii) The comments on the St. Edmundsbury Local Plan had been summarised and were available for inspection at the borough offices and the public library. As the print-out totalled 770 pages it was not feasible to send a copy to all respondents.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:-
As a result of the recent fuel crisis, the flood warning meeting which Councillor Smith had been due to attend had been postponed to 10th October.

DATES OF NEXT MEETINGS:-
It was agreed that the nect meeting be held on Monday 6th November 2000.