MINUTES OF HARKSTEAD ANNUAL PARISH MEETING.
MONDAY MAY 09 2016 – 8PM IN VILLAGE HALL
Present: District Cllr. David Rose, and 20 parishioners.
Parish Cllrs. William Wrinch, Alison Looser, Roger Harward.
1. Apologies –Parish Cllr. John Zalucki, parishioners Jenny Freeman and Margaret Harward.
2. Minutes –APM May 18 2015 were signed as correct.
3. Matters Arising – There is ongoing action to fight for faster broadband in the parish. Parish council are still awaiting a reply from the leader of Suffolk County Council, and parishioners are waiting to hear if they can present a petition to the same.
4. Chairman’s Report – William Wrinch welcomed everyone and said that in the past year there had been no significant changes. Roger Harward had been welcomed back on to the Parish Council, but there were still two vacancies. Planning had been quiet, with only a few applications in the past year and police had kept the Parish Council up to date with local crime. A local footpath survey had been done and was an ongoing thing, with a lot of volunteers involved in walking the paths and reporting any issues. The Baker’s Arms was changing hands again and William said he hoped the new landlords would be well supported. William concluded his report by thanking Dave Wood and David Rose from County and District for their ongoing support and regular attendance at meetings. He also thanked the parish councillors, the clerk and Rodney Freeman, who was internal auditor for the accounts and everyone for coming this evening. No one had any questions at the end of his report.
5. Local Charities – Boothby – Rodney Freeman reported as usual that it was set up to help with education and the poor, in Harkstead and Arwarton. Up until November 13 2015, of the £800 income, £180 had been spent on a student grant. The trustees are himself, John Abbott, John Carey, Tony Robertson and Wendy Sadler and any could be approached for information. No one had any questions. Jack Cartwright Trust – Roger Harward read Margaret’s report. The investment fund had decreased to £45k. Last December £1731 had been paid out as follows £35 to over 65’s and £75 to the over 75’s. There had been 30 applications. Despite advertising fewer people were applying. There are over 65 parishioners who could apply. Trustees are Margaret Harward, John Abbott, Eddie Ardern and Vic Last. AGM of Harkstead Millennium Green Trust – Chairman Rodney Freeman distributed copies of the annual report and accounts. The trust was established in 1998 to hold the Green in perpetuity for the village of Harkstead and had 8 trustees were. In the past year a £20 donation had been received from an Antique Tractor Rally. Apart from a weekend caravan rally booked for June 2017, there were no other events in the offing, They hope to put a hard surface in front of the kicking wall, the funding of which will hopefully come from S.106 funds. Rodney thanked John Abbott for keeping the grass cut and the trustess for their help in maintenance of benches, fencing etc. Good Neighbour Scheme – Jacqui Martin reported that this meeting was classed as their AGM and it was now in it’s sixth year. She thanked all the volunteers and Holbrook and Harkstead Parish Councils for funding. Donations also helped to keep it afloat. Most of the calls for help were for transport to and from shops and medics, dog walking and general help. The information for people using the scheme is confidential. Jacqui then thanked the GNS volunteers, particularly the committee and said new ones were always welcome. As treasurer, Christine Boon reported on the GNS accounts. Main expenditure was for insurance and phone, which now had a new number 328326.
6. Parish Council Accounts – William Wrinch gave a brief review of the accounts that had been circulated for all to see. There were no particular issues and the only question was from David Fleming Brown about the new Footpath noticeboard. It was bought from funding left after village sign had been paid for. This was nothing to do with parish Council precept money.
Any other business - District Cllr. David Rose –He began by saying he didn’t want to bombard everyone with the usual facts and figures but would like to report on general issues which he was concerned about. He said there had a been a lot of instability lately and hoped the new Chief Exec. would get it sorted. One of David’s biggest bugbears was the passing of certain planning applications, such as 144 new build at East Bergholt and the plans for the area near Tesco at Copdock. As he stated before, the way the Core Strategy policies have been re written makes it more difficult to oppose development. David concluded his report by thanking all present and asked if anyone had any questions. There were none. William Wrinch thanked David and said that he regularly attended Parish Council meetings and always willing to answer questions then.
County Cllr. Dave Wood - As he couldn’t attend the meeting, he had sent in a written report. The new term for the County started with a new leader, Colin Noble, who re-jigged the cabinet so many experienced members lost their place. Since the General Election, there’s been a squeeze on Local Govt. finances, ultimately reducing grant to zero over this Parliament’s lifetime. County has opted for an extra 2% precept (Govt. directive) rather than increase council tax by 2%, this will help towards community services for the elderly. Devolution – a deal to offer local authorities in Suffolk, Cambs. and Norfolk, if they’d like to combine under an elected Mayor. Benefits supposedly include, more local control over the drivers of economic growth, transport, development and training. All local councils need to ratify this by end June before a wider consultation. Proposed Mayor would take office from May 2017. Not a long enough time to put everything in place. Fire Service – Since consultation on massive cuts, the final result ill be discussed on May 17in a cabinet meeting. Buzzabout – undergoing a facelift with major cuts to finances. Providers will have to sign up for a 5 year deal and cover a wider area. Highways –the new director has made substantial changes but not a lot of improvement noticeable yet. Locality Fund – no Harkstead organisation has requested any grant money in the past year. Grant money has been given to a rural coffee caravan towards purchase of a new vehicle, and to Cancer Campaign to raise awareness of skin cancer, to Primary Schools in Suffolk.
Parishioner Evie Rayson – gave a vote of thanks to all the groups, the Parish Council and the County and District Councillors, Dave Wood and David Rose for keeping Harkstead village, ticking over nicely.
Clerk – informed everyone that William was standing down as chairman of Parish Council, but he would still be a councillor.
William was then thanked for his time as chairman and the meeting ended at 9.28pm.