Pakenham Parish Council : Draft Minutes 13th May 2015 - Annual

PAKENHAM PARISH COUNCIL
DRAFT MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PAKENHAM PARISH MEETING
WEDNESDAY, 13TH MAY 2015
Pakenham Village Hall

Present: Cllr H Painter (Chairman), Cllrs: M Bagnall, I Brookman, N. Davey, D Dorling, C Palfrey and B. Sidebotham. Two members of the public also attended
Mrs S Brown parish clerk took the minutes

Councillor H Painter Chairman of the Parish Council welcomed everyone to the meeting.

1 - Apologies: All in attendance

2 - To sign the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 29th May, 2014:-
All present agreed that the minutes should be signed as a true record.

3 - County Councillor's Report:-
Councillor R Hopfensperger attended and gave her report which included: The Council had made £38.2million worth of savings in the last year and had 5years in which they have frozen the council tax. The energy from waste had a two year deal with Norfolk, this may be extended and the Council has received one million pounds a year for taking Norfolk's waste. In Pakenham the flooding issues are much better than it was through the works carried out. Through the locality budget Cllr Hopfensperger was pleased to help with the defibrillator and gala tent. It was advised the quality and filling controller of pot holes for the Pakenham area was Cheryl Smith at SCC. It was noted the 'children' sign had not been put up as this was paid for approximately 3 years ago. Cllr Hopfensperger to arrange another Highways visit in the next few months for a walk around the village. It was brought to attention there was a problem with lorries often having to go on the pavement going through The Street due to parked cars. To look at the possibility of putting yellow lines on The Street when the Highways site visit takes place. Cllr Dorling advised no works had been carried out from the last Highways visit. A broken directional sign was also highlighted.

4 - Borough Councillor Report:-
Councillor S Brown attended but had not received a report from the previous Borough Councillor.

5 - Police Report:-
An Officer from Suffolk Constabulary attended and gave their report: Firstly may I take this opportunity to thank the Chairman, the Council and members of the community for the support we have received during the year. Crime statistics 2013/14 – 19 crimes recorded, 3 crimes detected, 15% detection rate. Crime statistics 2014/15 – 28 crimes recorded, 4 crimes detected, 3 crimes pending, 25% detection rate. Reported crimes over the last 12 months include: 6 x thefts, 5 x burglary, 6 x assaults, 2 x criminal damage and 9 x other. Enquiries and operations relating to the series of burglaries that have occurred across the region continue and have produced a number of positive results. Three males have been arrested and charged with offences, and a further arrest has been made. There have been a number of changes in the team over the last 12 months. The Safer Neighbourhood Team now consists of PS696 Jay, PC1639 De Jongh, PCSO3232 Rushton, PCSO3267 Morton, PCSO3268 Teakle and PCSO3314 McDaid. Your dedicated officer for the parish is PCSO 3267 Jade Morton. It was asked if the Officer was aware 30mph signs can be moved to help with speed checks and was there anywhere in the village that this would be of benefit? The Officer could not think of anywhere that would be suitable for this to happen. The Officer advised she would try and carry out more foot patrols and leave the police car in a prominent position as this often helped to slow traffic. It was asked if speed checks could also be carried out on Fen Road. It was suggested Stowlangtoft may be worth speaking to re their community speed watch.

6 - Annual reports:-
Allotments – No report had been received.

Monday Club – A report had been received which was read to the meeting: Our club meets every two weeks. On those occasions we can play cards, dominoes or just have a chat. Once every two weeks the club enjoys a lunch prepared and cooked by Andrea Davy, which is very much appreciated, we also invite non club members to partake as there are a few elderly folk who mostly live alone. On each occasion we play bingo and have a raffle which raises funds for the club. From about April to October we have a few outings (approximately 5) to the coast, shopping centre and places of interest. We usually have a lunch and stop somewhere nice for tea on the way home. So far we have been very lucky and had good weather. In December we also have a Christmas lunch and a good time is had by all. There is just one thing we would like and that is a few more members. Pat Simpson

Pakenham Charities – Pakenham Charities sent their report which was read to the meeting and included: The trustees for 2014 were the vicar, the Rev. Valentine, M. Sargent and D. Dorling representing the Parish Council, J. Culley and C. Palfrey as co-opted Trustees for the Charities for the Poor. The Rev. Valentine was appointed as chair for the year. At the end of 2014 Maggie Cohen retired as Clerk to Pakenham Charities after assisting the charity for several years and has been replaced by Sally Smith. Income to the Charity totalled £5,838 for the year to December 31st 2014, a decrease of £304 against the 2013 income. Of this £5000 was transferred from the Pakenham Town Estate, with the remainder received from investments, rents and a small amount of bank interest. There is also £2,575 in a savings account. A total of £5,524 was allocated as charitable grants to individuals and organisations during 2014. The trustees met in December to decide on the main allocation of funds. During the year 47 grants of £50 were provided and 6 individual cash grants of between £100 and £250 and continued to pay for 2 Lifeline Alarm Systems for Pakenham residents at a total cost of £274 for the year. Grants to organisations have been paid to the Blackbourne Centre, Pakenham Monday Club and Ixworth Patients Association. A grant was made to the Parish Council towards the installation costs of a community defibrillator. During the year historic records of the Charity were deposited at the Suffolk Records Office. The fund is advertised on the village website and an advert inviting applications is placed in the Village & Church News in autumn. Notices are also displayed around the village. Although the main allocations are agreed in December, the trustees hold a summer meeting and Pakenham residents are welcome to approach the clerk with requests by letter or email at any time during the year. Funds are kept in reserve to meet ad hoc applications for needs arising. A copy of the accounts were received. Mrs Sally Smith

Pakenham Social Club – There were a number of events in the Village Hall all well attended. The mix embraced a number of very good bands, a comedy and cabaret evening plus a couple of events held in the Pavilion. The main event was the Charity Fun Day held in July. Charities who benefitted over the year were East Anglian Air Ambulance, Suffolk Accident Rescue Service, Sick Children's Trust plus the Red Nose Day Appeal. Overall a great year of entertainment for charity. Mr John Culley

Pakenham Village Hall and Playing Field Association – The year has seen continued good use of the village hall with many regular users and one off hirers taking it to well utilised. Regular hirers and users include The Monday Club, Pakenham Players, Toddlers, W.I. and The Village Cafe to name a few. Our largest hirer has been the Community Church. There have been the Quizzes and wine tasting evenings to help with fund raising. Thanks to the Pakenham Charities for their support. The Village Hall has also seen many more functions for the benefit of the village as a whole, with the music nights and dances organised by local folks Social Committee and open to all. They are proving very successful and show there is a need. Thank you to the Social Committee for their donation to help us. The Trips and Falls Prevention sessions run by Lesley on Wednesday continue to be well supported with a lovely atmosphere to the class which brings in some from outside Pakenham as well. During the year 2015 the Village Hall Committee will continue to resolve issues as they arise. In 2015 we have seen the bowing out of James (Jim) Burrows from an active role on the Committee, and our thanks go to him for his long term involvement of probably 35 years. This year will see continued ongoing maintenance work to keep the Hall, Pavilion and Playing Field in good shape. The PVH & PFA helped and supported the community by its involvement in speedily getting the drainage works done to help reduce the flood risks. Recently the village defibrillator has been installed on the hall wall and available for all. Our thanks go to the Parish Council for their continuing support of the village hall in any way they can. At least we can give you a warm room to use for meetings. Roger Harnor

Parent and Toddler Group – In September 2014 the Pakenham Toddler Group had a new committee. We have endeavoured to keep a local toddler group going which has a long standing history of a friendly and active group. The group has sessions on a Friday held at the village hall. The sessions are open to anyone locally with babies or children of pre-school age. The new committee changed the session times to 9.30 – 11.30am allowing for set up. This new time has proved popular and works well. Regular sessions have included play dough, painting, junk modelling, cooking and biscuit decorating. We also have guests coming along to entertain the children such as Heartbeeps and Little Explorers nursery. These provide lovely sensory and music sessions. As a treat for mums too I have done beauty sessions so the mums can have some pampering whilst the little ones play. All in all the group is going from strength to strength and is a lovely group for little ones to play safely and parents to meet and chat over a cuppa. Michelle Roberts

PCC : Churchwardens Report – May I apologise for the absence from your meeting but we both have prior commitments. The report was read to the meeting which included: Wardens are elected each year by the ordinary members of the Parish to represent its interests in the maintenance and effective administration of the material elements of the church within the community. The church as an organisation run small charities, namely the 'Chancel Fund' and the 'Spring Stanley Bequest' and we annually provide from those funds sums of money to support those in need. Through the work of the Elders we provide support and much needed financial aid to those who find themselves in difficulty. The Village Cafe has been a successful venture for the church and is finding a role in the community. As a bonus any excess funds from this venture are placed into the Chancel Fund for redistributing to the community. This year we were charged with providing the Diocese with the sum of £23,000 of which we could only supply £20,000. This was a shortfall to the Diocese which we had never done before. As it was the total cost of running the church was £24,731 which included maintenance and other expenses. A cost of £475.60 per week. In order to achieve this we were heavily dependent on the work carried out by fundraisers for which we are eternally grateful. We give especial thanks to Holly Weaver, Chris Carrol-Davies and others of the fund raising committee. As it was we still had to draw on our meagre savings to the sum of £1,500. The current stage of development in the Church building is the restructuring of the South Transept to provide a valuable asset of a Parish/Benefice office which will be available to the parish for use as a meeting room or other facility. We would be pleased to hear the views of the community as to what they would like to see this facility used for. We have various plans to provide community support from this space. It has been provided by the generosity of the Kristina Martin Trust in memory of her and as a fitting memorial to the family. Nigel Farthing & Christopher Burn-Murdock

Tree Wardens Report – I would firstly like to thank Graham Cranmer for carrying out regular visual H & S checks in the Dell and Church Green Wood for the Parish Council. During the last 12 months we have carried out Tree Surgery work brought to our attention from the professional H & S 3 year survey carried out for the Parish Council in 2013. We have also carried out regular tree maintenance work in the Parish Burial Ground, and there is possibly more work required there to remove a number of dead trees, once the boundary line and ownership is established. The Oak Tree planted in 2012 at the Watermill to commemorate the Queens Diamond Jubilee is establishing really well. – Derek Dorling

Village Newsletter – No report received.

Women's Institute – A report was received which included: We get involved in Village Events including making and serving cream teas at the Flower & Produce show, a cake stall at the Watermill for Mills Day, teas at the Fun Day on the playing field and took park in Open Gardens by showing our gardens and selling whole cakes. Speakers at our meetings have included: A resident who volunteered to go to villages in South Africa to help came and spoke of her experiences when she returned. Newmarket's Town Crier, a very enthusiastic biker who planned long bike rides for charity, making of accessories from unusual items, Emma on local egg farm, Horry Parsons in theatrical mode and Lyndsay on hedgehogs. Visits and activities have included: A boat trip on the River Orwell, Sandringham Craft Fair, Federation Quiz, theatre visits and holding a jumble sale, the Annual Garden Party in July and a Christmas supper was very good. We produced our own W.I. Christmas card and now there is a competition at the Flower & Produce show for cards for the village. The W.I. Baton is going around Britain, came to Pakenham in November by Vintage Car from Thurston. We toasted the occasion and Ros rode her horse carrying the baton to Norton. Tracy is our delegate going to the National AGM and Lynda Painter and Ros Griffin are going to Buckingham Palace Garden Party in June. Our W.I. membership has fallen this year, we have some new members so hoping things improve. Thanks to Mary Kirby our President and for members making posies, collecting correspondence and may other things and most of all the members. Pat Addington, Secretary, Pakenham WI

7 - Parish Council Report – The Chairman's report included:-
Thank you to all the village organisations especially Roger Harnor for spending so much time working for the village. Thanks also to all the Parish Councillors and thanks go to Marion Sargent who has stepped down and welcome to Beryl Sidebotham our new Parish Councillor. Thank you to our County Councillor Rebecca Hopfensperger and all her work for the village and her locality budget. Thanks to go to Christopher Spicer, the Parish Council would like to send him a letter of thanks for all his past work for the village as our Borough Councillor and welcome to Simon Brown on becoming the new Borough Councillor. This year the Parish Council have purchased a defibrillator and cabinet and a gala tent. The drainage in The Street and on Fen Road has been addressed and we ask Cllr Hopfensperger to thank Highways on the Council's behalf for all their work on rectifying the problem. The Council is continuing to monitor the drainage in the Fen and we are pleased Anglian Water is responding very quickly to any problems. An Officer from SCC is attending a Parish Council meeting in June to answer questions on drainage and capacity of the pumping station. We have had a visit from the Chief Executive of St Edmundsbury Borough Council who has promised to sort out planning enforcement issues. An Officer from Havebury Housing is attending a Parish Council meeting next week to discuss the possibility of affordable housing. Cllr Hopfensperger advised Great Barton had been through looking at social housing. A short discussion was held on affordable housing. The Chairman reported all memorials in the lawn cemetery have been brought up to current British standards for safety. The Parish Council have also organised a CPR and defibrillator training session being held on Saturday, 23rd May 9.45 – 12noon in the village hall.

8 - Open Forum: No member of the public wished to speak.

9 - Date of the next meeting: The date of the next meeting to be confirmed.

There being no further matters the meeting closed at 8.15pm.



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