Pakenham Parish Council : Minutes 21st May 2026

PAKENHAM PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting held on Thursday 21st May 2026

Present: Cllr Nick Davey (Chairman), Cllr Bagnall, Cllr Berry, Cllr Dorling, Cllr Palfrey, Cllr Sargent and Cllr Sidebotham
Others in attendance: Claire Usher (Clerk) and 7members of the public.

210526/01 Election of a Chairman of Pakenham Parish Council:-
Cllr Bagnall proposed Cllr Davey as Chairman and seconded by Cllr Palfrey with all Councillors in favour; as there were no other nominations Nick Davey was unanimously elected as Chairman to Pakenham Parish Council.

210526/02 Cllr Davey duly signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office as Chairman.

210526/03 Election of a Vice Chairman of Pakenham Parish Council:-
Cllr Davey proposed Cllr Dorling as Vice Chairman seconded by Cllr Sargent with all Councillors in favour. There being no other proposals Cllr Dorling was elected as Vice Chairman of Pakenham Parish Council.

210526/04 Cllr Dorling duly signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office as Vice Chairman.

210526/05 Apologies for absence: None
210526/06 Declarations of Interest (DoI): No interests were declared.
210526/07 Dispensation: Councillors noted no requests had been received and none were requested at the meeting.

210526/08
Report of the County Councillor: Newly elected Harry Richardson had sent his apologies.
Report of the District Councillor: Andrew Speed had sent his apologies.
Public Forum:-
A member of the public asked if the minutes of the Parish Council meeting could be included in the Village Church News. The Clerk advised that due to the timing of the printing of the magazine, the minutes would always be behind a month. It would be more appropriate to add the draft minutes to the noticeboard once these had been agreed by the Chairman and circulated to all Parish Councillors. All Councillors agreed that the draft minutes be added to the noticeboard outside the post office.
The resident of Rosedene attended the meeting to give Councillors copies of updated plans for the extension works before being submitted to West Suffolk Council.

210526/09 Minutes of previous meeting:-
All Councillors resolved to accept the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 16th April 2026 as a true reflection of the decisions made and authorised Cllr Davey to sign the minutes.

210526/10 Planning:-
a.
Councillors noted that there had been no applications made to the local District Council relating to Pakenham since the last Parish Council meeting
b.
Councillors noted that there had been no decisions made since the last meeting relating to Pakenham by West Suffolk Council.

Finance:-
210526/11 All Councillors confirmed receipt of the finance report for the period ended 30th April 2026 prior to the meeting.
210526/12 Bank Reconciliation:-
Councillors confirmed the receipt of the Cash Book for the period ended 30th April 2026 with cash available of £29,835.01; £18,759.09 in the Current account and £11075.92 in the Deposit account.
210526/13 Receipts:-
Councillors noted that £13,420.00 the Precept and the VAT claimed for 2025/26 of £802.23 had been received.
210526/14 Payments:-
All Councillors resolved to approve the following gross payments by internet banking confirming a full schedule, supported by invoices and receipts, had been received prior to the meeting:

Governance:-
210526/17 Internal Audit Report ending March 2026:-
All Councillors and received and accepted the internal report.
210526/18 Annual Governance Statements ending March 2026:-
All Councillors approved the completion of the Annual Governance Statements of the Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) for the year ending 31st March 2026.
210526/19 Accounting Statements:-
All Councillors approved the accounting statements as transposed on the AGAR form for the year ending 31st March 2026 and noted that Pakenham Parish Council was exempt from external audit. The Clerk will publish the Statements on the website.
210526/20 Policies of Pakenham Parish Council:-
Councillors agreed to approve the following policies with no amendments:-
Code of Conduct
Asset Register
The Clerk is currently updating the risk assessments and will provide these ready for the June meeting.

210526/21 To Appointment Representatives - The following appointments were agreed:-
210526/22 Pakenham Village Hall and Pavilion: Cllr Berry
210526/23 Pakenham Charities: Cllr Dorling and Cllr Palfrey
210526/24 Tree Officer: Cllr Dorling
210526/25 Ixworth Patients Association: Cllr Sargent
210526/26 Weekly parish property inspections: Graham Cranmer.

To receive updates and reports from officers and take appropriate action:-
210526/27 Outstanding Actions: The Clerks report had been circulated prior to the meeting.
210526/28 Citifibre Wayleave Agreement: Citifibre were still considering the position of the cables.
210526/29 Pakenham Mill and Fen:-
The Clerk informed Councillors that she had received correspondence from a resident who was concerned about the proposed works to Pakenham Fen and was suggesting that further meetings were needed with other organisations including Sizewell C to update parishioners on the situation. The Clerk informed Councillors that Sizewell C and other organisations would be very reluctant to meet as these works were due to commence shortly following approval of the works by the Secretary of State, but would keep trying to make contact with Sizewell C for further updates and times when these works were due to commence.
210526/30 Allotments:-
Vacant Plots: The Chairman and Vice Chairman had met with the Clerk at the allotment site to consider what action was necessary to clear the empty plots of weeds and debris left by the previous tenants before reletting. The Council was waiting for quotes for the vacant plots to be cleared and will report to the next meeting.

210526/31 Chairman's Report: There was no report.
210526/32 Councillor's Reports: There were no reports.
210526/33 Correspondence: The Clerk had not received any further correspondence.
210526/34 Any other Council business for information to be noted or for inclusion in a future agenda: None

210526/35 All Councillors noted that the next meeting of the Parish Meeting will be at 7.30pm on Thursday 18th June 2026.

210526/36 The Chairman closed the meeting at 8.00pm.