Hundon Parish Council

Meeting held remotely on Wednesday 17th March at 7.30pm under regulation 6 of the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police Crime Panels Meetings) ( and Wales) Regulations 2020

Present: Councillor D Nimmons Councillor G Spooner Councillor R Edwards Councillor B O’Leary

In Attendance: Amanda Parrett, Clerk Councillor Karen Richardson

2 Members of the public

Action HPC21/047 Reports from District and County Councillors and Public Forum Reports received from County and District Councillors were highlighted during the meeting. Reports attached to the minutes (Appendix 1).

Mr R Langridge queried the phone cable on the corner of the football Field. The clerk confirmed the matter is ongoing and is being dealt with by the insurance company. Clerk to speak to Mr Newton about his contact with BT regarding the incident.

Mr R Langridge queried the payment of £150 for clerks training, in the minutes of January meeting it was quoted as 5 sessions @£25 a session totalling £125. The difference between the 2 amounts is the VAT which was charged on the invoice.

HPC21/048 Apologies for absence Apologies received from Cllr M Rushbrook (WSC). Apologies received from Cllr M Evans (SCC).

HPC21/049 Declarations of interest and request for Dispensations None.

HPC21/050 Minutes of the Meeting of Council held on 17th February 2021 The Minutes of the Meeting of Council held on 17th February were accepted as a true record. All in Favour. Resolved

HPC21/051 To note progress of any actions arising from the Minutes, not covered by this.Agenda None.

HPC21/052 Village Matters Clockhall Lane – The hedge opposite the bench has been cut. Councillors have visited the site and feel this is sufficient.

127

12 Lower Road – This issue has been reported to the Rogeron Trust who will investigate further. It appears the tree in question may have already been removed. The Parish Council will wait for an update from the Rogeron Trust.

Brambles to the rear of 1 Farmerie Road – 2 quotes have been received for this work. Clerk Gavin Osborn, verbal quote of £250, Green Tree Works, written quote £400. Clerk to obtain a third quote.

Signpost at the crossroads of Clare Road and North Street – The fallen signpost has been reported and works ordered.

Mount Pleasant Road sign – the sign is laying on the ground and County Council Clerk state the sign does not belong to them. Clerk to email Cllr K Richardson (WSC) with details to investigate further.

2 Farmerie Road – Removal of the tree at 2 Farmerie Road will commence on 26th March 2021.

Football Field/Wildspace – Work to tidy the area will commence on 1st April 2021.

Walking dogs off lead – Query from resident regarding walking dogs of lead. It is a criminal Clerk offence to walk a dog off lead on a road or where there are signs stating dogs should be kept on a lead. Dogs should also have a collar and a tag with telephone number on.

BT Telephone line – This is under investigation with the insurance company. Clerk to liaise Clerk with David Newton and BT for timescales of when the line will be fixed properly.

Minutes of Meetings on Notice Board – Query from resident about placing the minutes of Clerk the meetings on the notice board. The Parish Council only has 1 notice board, which hold 4 A4 pieces of paper. It is not possible for the minutes to be placed on the notice board. Suggestion from Clerk to place a few copies in the Village Shop. To be reviewed in a few months.

Cllr D Nimmons declared a non-pecuniary interest being he ordered and supplied both the topsoil and barriers. HPC21/053 Financial Matters i) To agree payments list totalling £977.07 approved. (Appendix 2) ii) To agree receipts since last meeting (Appendix 2) iii) To agree transfer of £1,000 from the Deposit Account to the Community Account. Clerk iv) Bank Balances (Appendix 2) All in favour Resolved

HPC21/054 To agree Internal Auditor SALC were appointed last year to complete the internal audit at a cost of £234. Clerk Clerk suggested maintaining the services of SALC for this year’s Internal Audit at an estimated cost of £244. All in favour. Resolved

HPC21/055 Flooding Lower Road David Claydon highlighted the issues with flooding in Lower Road. In previous years Suffolk County Council have requested the ditches be cleared to ease the issues. This work has

128

been carried out by David Claydon, but the problem continues. A few years ago, David Claydon suggested meeting with Highways to discuss the issues, but Highways did not respond.

In addition to the clearing and maintaining of the ditches it is felt there are issues with the pipes which run under the road in the Lower Road, Clare Road area. These are maintained by Highways. The pipe under the road near the sewerage plant appears to have collapsed.

Householder’s also have a responsibility to maintain ditches at the front of their properties.

Clerk to contact Cllr Mary Evans, SCC regarding this ongoing issue. Clerk

David Claydon is again happy to meet with Highways to identify problem areas.

HPC21/056 To approve correspondence list and receive urgent correspondence Correspondence received and highlighted for next month’s agenda. Correspondence list agreed. All in favour. Resolved

HPC21/057 War Memorial The topsoil for the churchyard has been delivered and the area left from moving the War Memorial has now been made good. Cllr D Nimmons, thanked Ewan Nimmons for completing the work.

Barriers are now in place around the War Memorial.

The Village Hall Committee have obtained a risk assessment for the War Memorial site. No further update from the Village Hall Committee.

HPC21/058 To consider Planning Applications to Council No planning applications received. Planning Applications granted: DC/20/0919/FUL

HPC21/059 Benches for the village Cllr K Richardson and Cllr M Rushbrook have kindly granted £500 each from their Locality Budget to assist in the purchase of new benches around the village.

Councillors have been circulated a list of suggested benches and will agree the style and number to purchase at the next meeting. The benches will need to be secured to the ground.

Suggested locations for the new benches are the top of Steeplechase, Buntry Lane, the allotments and the land to the side of Mizon Close`.

HPC21/060 TVAS All the new parts for the TVAS Machine have been purchased and the machine is now being placed around the village. Cllr G Spooner queried whether the machine could be placed on Whitings Hill. Cllr D Nimmons explained this location does not meet the guidance for placing the machine.

Cllr G Spooner commented on the dangers of Whitings Hill due to the speed limit, junction Clerk with Valley Wash and the narrowing of the road. Clerk to contact highways to discuss

129

procedure for changing the speed limit.

HPC21/061 Grit Bins New grit bin placements at the corner of Hall Road and at the bottom of Steeplechase have been suggested and agreed. All in Favour. Resolved

The clerk will complete the necessary paperwork to add these to the gritting route and Clerk once this has been authorised, then purchase new grit bins before the winter.

The grit bin at The Plough, Brockley Green needs replacing. Clerk to purchase a new grit bin Clerk from Seltek Solutions, where the previous grit bins where purchase at a cost of no more RE than £130 for a 350L bin. Cllr R Edwards to investigate the size of the bins already in place. All in favour. Resolved

HPC21/062 Verge cutting contract Councillors agreed to seek quotes for a 5-year verge cutting contact for the village. Clerk All in favour. Resolved

HPC21/063 Hundon’s Little Helpers Hundon’s Little Helpers have received the Lord Lieutanent’s special Certificate from the High Sherriff of Suffolk and Clare Countess of Euston in acknowledgement of their hardwork and support during the pandemic. The Parish Council have agreed to purchase a mount and frame, so the award can be displayed in the Village Hall. Clerk to price a mount and frame. All in favour. Resolved

HPC21/064 Postponed Election 6th May 2021 The postponed election is due to be held on 6th May 2021. Hundon Parish Council has 5 vacancies. The publication of the Notice of Election will be on 26th March 2021. All nominations must be received, in person, by West Suffolk Council at 4pm on Thursday 8th March 2021. The timetable and Notice of Election will be placed on the notice board and on the Parish Council Website.

HPC21/065 Press and Public Excluded from the meeting No press and public were excluded from the meeting.

HPC21/066 Date of Next Meeting 21st April 2021.

HPC21/067 Closure 8:45pm

Signed ……………………………… Date…………………… Chairman

130

Appendix 1

Report from Mary Evans, Suffolk County Council

Locally

I shared today the image and details of the appalling flytipping on Maple Hill overnight. WSC and the police are aware

I do hope by sharing this the culprits are caught.

We are waiting to find out what the major new investment by the Government in the bus sector will mean for Suffolk. The government’s new bus strategy, backed by £3 billion of investment, wants to promote more frequent, more reliable, easier to use and understand, better coordinated and cheaper bus services. The thinking is that levelling up services across the country will encourage more people to use the bus, rather than the car, as we build back better from the pandemic. The changes include:

• simpler bus fares with daily price caps, so people can use the bus as many times a day as they need without facing mounting costs

• more services in the evenings and at the weekends

• integrated services and ticketing across all transport modes, so people can easily move from bus to train • all buses to accept contactless payments • 4,000 new British-built electric or hydrogen buses will provide clean, quiet, zero-emission travel • transition cities and regions across England to emission-free buses, safeguarding the UK bus manufacturing industry • end sales of new diesel buses, and we have launched a consultation on the end date today.

We await information from the Department from Transport on how rural bus travel can be made more sustainable. Because of the decline in use caused by the pandemic, bus operators have already received significant emergency support from the government. From this summer, only services under these

131 arrangements will be eligible for continued support or any new sources of funding from the £3 billion transformational investment.

Suffolk County Council recently launched a new website to support sustainable travel. The Way To Go Suffolk website provides information and advice on walking, cycling, public transport, car sharing and electric vehicles. Created by merging the existing content on Suffolk Spokes and the Local Links websites, the new website features up to date information on how people can travel more sustainably across the county. www.thewaytogosuffolk.org.uk

Quiet Lanes update

Just two weeks away from being able to meet friends and family outdoors, Suffolk County Council is encouraging residents to explore more of the beautiful countryside on their doorstep through its Quiet Lanes initiative. Quiet Lanes is a nationally recognised designation for narrow, rural roads which can be shared with walkers, horse riders, cyclists and other road users. It encourages drivers to take their time when they see the Quiet Lanes sign, so we can all enjoy rural lanes with greater safety. Quiet Lanes at Snape and Glemsford have just achieved planning consent and the initiative has another 50 proposed lanes going through planning for April 2021. A new website allowing residents to find the Quiet Lanes near them will be available in May.

Parish Councils have been working hard together to identify and propose the network of over 300 miles of Quiet Lanes in Suffolk, which if all approved, will be the first of its size in the country. Since the initiative began in Suffolk, the Quiet Lanes volunteers have engaged 192 parishes and agreed 323 routes through some of our most treasured countryside. Parish Councils are working together to link up through the lane network in context with public consultation and local neighbourhood plans.

The Suffolk Waste Partnership has joined forces with environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy and other local authorities across the country to launch a new campaign aimed at stopping disposable nappies from contaminating recycling.

Locally, around 150 tonnes of nappies end up in Suffolk recycling bins each year. This equates to approximately 3000 nappies needing to be removed from the recycling every day. This truly unpleasant job needs to be done by hand by staff at Suffolk’s Material Recycling Facility (MRF) in Gt Blakenham. So, by keeping nappies out of our recycling bins, you are not only helping to get our recycling right but protecting staff at the MRF.

The Suffolk Waste Partnership is trying to reach nappy users with a new campaign that has been tested with them and offers a clear message that disposable nappies should never go in their recycling.

£3m Decarbonisation Programme

SCC recently won grants totalling just over £3m from the Government to run energy efficiency projects at some of its office buildings, schools and fire stations through schemes such as the installation of air source heat pumps, solar panels, better insulation.

Investment in repairing the roads this spring

Drainage Budget – an extra £2m

132

New heavy-duty machinery to deal with issues such as powerful jetting (blockages in pipes including root ingress); - Surveying and investigating issues (including CCTV capability) that cannot be resolved by jetting to inform decision on next stage

New Operational based engineer -Review outcomes from the above – recommend quick wins such as minor blockage removal or pipe replacements which can be dealt with by a new dedicated drainage focused civils gang; - If not possible, ensure investigations are sufficient to provide sufficient information to the design team

Investing £1m to fix potholes – hiring in extra gangs to get the work done

Joint Report from Karen Richardson and Marion Rushbrook

Grants update

WSC have already paid out in the region of £95 million through grants and rate relief for this financial year to thousands of West Suffolk businesses since the pandemic began.

As you know the Government has set out its roadmap to recovery and with it the lifting of restrictions and the anticipated reopening of many more businesses.

The Government has now informed Councils of the deadlines for its existing grant schemes (dating back to November 2020), designed to help businesses through the restrictions, as well as announcing that there will be Restart Grants, although we are still awaiting the exact details of this and will update you when we can.

In terms of the existing restrictions grants, these are to gradually be phased out from 31 March through to 31 May 2021. West Suffolk businesses that have previously applied need take no action as the Council has paid them automatically to make the process easier. But those that haven’t and were forced to close during the restrictions, only have until 31 March to apply in order to get the full combination of grants for which they may be eligible. Those applying between 31 March and 31 May will receive smaller amounts of grant funding, before the schemes completing actually close to all applications on 31 May 2021.

Businesses in the ratings system that were forced to close, can still apply, if they haven’t already, for a combination of grants extending back to November.

The scheme for open hospitality, leisure and accommodation businesses that were impacted by restrictions in socialising during December, also closes to applications on 31 March.

Government criteria apply to these schemes.

For all these grants plus updated on the Restart Grant, we ask that you direct businesses to our dedicated grants webpage at www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/c19business

Car Parking

The council will continue to pause a long-delayed rise in parking charges to help communities and businesses during the pandemic. Since the pandemic it has kept parking prices either free or at a lower rate and money used from the charges is used to help pay for services as well as maintain car parks, which cost the council about £1 million in business rates alone. Before any increases the law requires notices to include a date the changes will commence, no

133 final decision has been made as to when this will start and the authority’s cabinet will keep the situation under review. The Council will continue to work with and listen to the business community and residents.

Parking on kerbs

Where there are no Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) on roads, the Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) team do not have any authority. In a case like this it’s best to approach the police to see if can be seen as a Highways obstruction offence

Report street parking infringements

For parking infringements where a TRO is present - any member of the public can report a parking issue here:

Report street parking infringement - West Suffolk Councils Electronic Forms (achieveservice.com)

Help for rough sleepers with healthcare service

The Council has already invested in extra accommodation as well as securing funds from the Government’s Next Steps Accommodation Programme (NSAP) for longer term accommodation for people with medium to high support needs.

Using £30,000 of funding secured for one year from West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group, the council will be working with clinicians from the Marginalised Vulnerable Adult (MVA) service to provide personalised healthcare to people who have been rough sleeping.

Holiday Activity & Food (HAF)

This is an extension of the Dept of Education funding that Suffolk County Council (SCC) received last year to provide a certain number of activities, along with healthy food parcels.

This year, WSC have been commissioned by SCC to take the lead with the activity providers and work with a wider remit than last year. Therefore, covering a wider geographical area. This year we will be responsible for the roll out of the programme and for Easter the council have been provided with £51,600, if this pilot is successful, they will then be given further funding for the Summer and Christmas holidays.

Full Council 23 February 2021

John Griffiths, the council leader put the following in his statement:

I wanted to pay tribute to the work of Parish and Town Councils, alongside other local groups, who are and continue to play their part so well during this time. They largely recognise the issues we and the public sector are facing in supporting our communities and businesses, and we have also evolved the way we have been working to share responsibilities, or to bring other organisations in, so we can together reach common goals. Examples include making High Streets COVID safe, engaging with local businesses, giving street furniture a much needed facelift, or working with volunteers to get help to the most vulnerable. West Suffolk, and indeed Suffolk, is well known for working in new, different and better ways and the pandemic has, if anything, cemented that work and brought forward new initiatives to help people directly in their local communities. I am sure you will all join me in hoping that this not only continues but strengthens further.

134

Census Day

This takes place on 21 March. Residents have received letters with online codes. If residents need help, they can call 0800 141 2021 or go to www.census.gov.uk.

Results will be available within 12 months, although personal records will be locked away for 100 years, and kept safe for future generations.

135

Appendix 2

Bank Reconciliation 16/03/2021

Community Account Business Account £ £ £ £ Balance c/f from previous month 2,071.29 24,588.80 Transfer between accounts 2,071.29 24,588.80 Interest Received/Charged -0.21 0.79 VAT Balance 2,071.08

Income received – Hundon Herald 315.00 Balance @ 16/03/2021 2,386.08 24,589.59

March Payments SALC 30.00 SALC 30.00 Red Side Up 180.00 DKN Services Ltd 78.12 DKN Services Ltd 191.44 A Parrett 24.99 A Parrett 14.39 A Parrett 305.13 SALC 54.00 Westcotec 69.00

less expenditure 977.07

1,409.01

Money to be transferred between A/Cs 1,000.00 -1,000.00

Closing balance 2,409.01 23,589.59

136