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Cowlinge Annual Village Meeting 24th April 2017

Joel Giblenn welcomed 37 people to the annual village meeting.

Minutes of last year's meeting: Copies of last year's minutes were available at the meeting and approved.

Suffolk County Council: County Councillor Mary Evans said that speeding on the roads was still a problem. There is a new speed enforcement team now in place. Inspector Denny Cooper is happy to have the Vehicular Activated Sign data. A member of the public suggested that the problem was mainly the prison officers at shift change and also mums late on the Barnadiston run. Borough Councillor Jane Midwood said some things never change as she was reporting this 20 years ago when she was County Councillor! Education was poor in the County in the past but there have been significant improvements in the last 2 years. Funding from central government is still difficult despite the new formula moving some monies from the cities. With Highways there has been some progress. The lighting team is now better and there are now drainage specialists in place. After the elections local government may well be back on the agenda with the possibility that we may return to West and East .

St Edmundsbury Borough Council: Borough Councillor Jane Midwood said good evening to everyone in and thank you for inviting me to your Annual Parish Meeting. I have been looking back at my Annual Reports from last year and I see that few things have changed. The £40 brown bin system is now into its second year and I am told that take up is as expected – that is a small increase on the first year. I hope residents will report any problems they may have to me with any of the waste bins or collections. Unfortunately I can see no change at all in the awful state of our roadside verges with litter strewn everywhere and fly tipping too. Village litter picks, supported by the loan of equipment by St Edmundsbury do a fine job in their annual or twice yearly collections but it is not really the answer to the culture that seems to think it is OK to eat and drink in the car and then throw the remains out of the window. Last year I spoke to you about the proposed Waste Hub. Planning permission was granted and the project is now going ahead. The Community Governance Review last year recommended that Great and became one Parish and that a large area of was moved to Haverhill. I am pleased to say that I was able to defend the wishes of the majority of Withersfield residents and the parish boundaries have remained the same - until the next time the Boundary Commission decides to interfere with historic local village areas. I look forward to hearing about your Locality Budget spending and applications for next year’s budget too. When I became your Borough Councillor in 2015 I had no idea how contentious Planning (or Development Control) could be. I still have a lot to learn, especially on the consultation process. Please be assured that I will listen to residents’ concerns and take up issues with planning officers. 2

If there are any problems regarding vehicles using Elms Road for the new Wedding venue then please let Jane know.

With regard to problems at Parklands (aka The Cottage) Jane has taken this up with the Conservation officer but there appears little can be done. On April 25th, before the St Edmundsbury Full Council meeting, Tim Passmore, Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner, will give a presentation. I will inform your Parish Council if there are matters relating to our rural area that he addresses. Please email me or telephone if there are Borough matters you wish to discuss and I send all good wishes to everyone in the local community.

Suffolk Police: P. C. Darren Marshall had apologised but no-one was available to come to the meeting tonight. He sent a report: This report covers the period from 01/04/2016 through to and inclusive of 22/4/2017. During this period there have been 6 reported crimes within the village.As shared this time last year, all Safer Neighbourhood Teams have now moved over to producing a generic “Area” Newsletter which are provided monthly and are published on our “all new” external website. Suffolk Constabulary has recently carried a review of its local Policing. Following both a reduction in funding and a change in the nature of crime, we have had to reassess what our priorities will be. It was decided that our focus should be on protecting vulnerable people from crimes against them including on-line offences, drugs, offences against children, domestic violence and serious sexual offences. This has meant less time to focus on some of the traditional complaints which is often led by parking matters. Final figures in these fields for the parish of Cowlinge are as follows….. BURGLARY DWELLING – 1 Between 18/11/16 and 21/11/16 a long time unattended property was forcibly entered and a quantity of fitted copper piping and the households water tank was also taken. This inevitably led to water damage therein as well. ROBBERY – 0 VIOLENCE WITH INJURY – 0 SERIOUS SEXUAL ASSAULT – 0 DRUG TRAFFICKING - 0 ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR – 0 A summary of the other reported matters are as follows…. Between Feb’16 and Apr’16 but not reported until 16/12/16, an alleged Domestic Assault occurred between known parties within a private address in the village. The matter was formally reported however owing to the prosecution time limit having expired, the matter wasn’t pursued. Between 01/08/16 and 03/08/16 a trailer was stolen from a premises in the village On 11/09/16 a parishioner was bitten by anothers dog causing injury despite said dog being on a lead. The handler was identified and approached the victim of their own choice which appeased the reporting person. On the victims request the matter was left at that. Between 18/09/16 and 20/09/16 a car was unlawfully taken from a premises in the village and was subsequently found burnt out in the Farley Green area. And …In the week leading up to 07/12/16 a Lawn Mower was stolen from another dwelling in the village. 3

Whilst present, it’s suspected that the offender(s) also tried unsuccessfully to enter an unattended vehicle thereat too. CURRENT CRIME TRENDS West Suffolk has recently suffered an increase in Dwelling Burglaries. The trademark M.O. tends to be framework forced via jemmy use at the rear of properties. Thorough “tidy” searches area made lulling returning homeowners to not initially realising that they’ve been targeted. Gloves are always worn and a pillow case is typically taken to transport jewellery and cash. Some burglaries have involved high value vehicles stolen from driveways too. The group suspected of being involved are certainly cross border criminals thought to be active in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambs. In recent weeks we’ve had properties targetted in Cavendish, , Hargrave and and more further afield. Should any parishioner see what they believe to be furtive activity on their or neighbouring addresses, this is a definite 999 call and we will promptly attend. We make no apologies for recommending again that all home owners remain vigilant and regularly review their home security. Great advice can always be sought from our newly revised Suffolk Constabulary Web Site. Secondly Since early March’17, the Sudbury and Haverhill areas have suffered x 17 Theft From Motor Vehicles. In the main, Ford Transits and Connect style vans are tending to be targeted, invariably via an entry method that leaves no damage. As usual, the proceeds of these crimes are almost always high value branded power tools but cash and some hand tools have also been removed at some scenes. We always advise that valuables are removed from work vans when unattended and certainly overnight. Please consider installing additional alarms even a classic shed style alarm or sensor padlock. As ever, should you see anything of a suspicious nature close to home or whilst on your travels please call it in as matter of urgency and I can assure you that we’ll check it out quick-time. Thanks for your continued support…… Pc 270 Marshall and all on your Safer Neighbourhood Team

Neighbourhood Watch: Andrew Crocker said that it was pleasing to be able to continue to report low crime figures for the village. However, crimes continue in the surrounding villages. We should all continue look out for dodgy vehicles reconnoitring in the village and report any to 101. Theft from outbuildings continue to be prevalent and nuisance callers. We are the eyes for the Police so we must alert them when necessary. A reminder when going on holiday to not make it easy for villains to spot you are away.

Parish Council: Parish Council Chairman Joel Giblenn introduced himself and said that the Parish Council year had been busy with:

1. Achieving 2 grants to assist towards the transfer of land at Tillbrooks from Havebury to the Parish Council 2. Maintenance on the village trees that the Parish Council has responsibility or duty of care for 3. Achieving a wi-fi 'hot-spot' at the Village Hall 4. Organising the litter pick 5. New seat at the village sign 4

6. Village Hall shed refurbishment 7. Grasscutting of the Greens and verges to a high standard and greater frequency

A member of the public thanked the landowner who was present for the improvements to the footpath near Mots End. Another member of the public said that some of the footpath signage at Great Oaks Farm had disappeared which made following the correct path difficult. The landowner said this would be looked into.

Community Speedwatch and the new Vehicular Activated Sign: Speedwatch John Barnett said that we combine our speedwatches with . This gives a total of 6 volunteers to call upon (2 Cowlinge and 4 Great Bradley). We go out every 3 or 4 weeks for a couple of hours usually at the evening rush period from April to when the clocks go back in October. If anyone would like to help please let me know. We have another new speedgun (now 3 in total) to assist and this was fully grant- aided. Vehicular Activated Sign John Barnett said that there were now 2 Vehicular Activated Signs and these were shared between 5 Parishes which effectively means that Cowlinge has one for a month to be moved between poles every 2-3 months. One Parishioner said that vehicle speeds were really bad on Queen Street and that the Vehicular Activated Sign should be turned round to face up the hill. John Barnett said he would see if this was possible.

Superfast broadband: County Broadband has opened another Access Point at the church but we have no information on any further ones planned. Green Man cannot get a signal from the church despite being next door - it apparently needs an extra antennae on the church. Another Parishioner said that he had not been offered the government subsidy of up to £350 when he signed up to County Broadband in December of last year. Mary Evans confirmed that the subsidy had been in place at that time. Clerk asked everyone to email him if they had any problems with County Broadband so he could find out what was happening. Mary Evans said that BT will be putting a superfast fibre cabinet at Pound Green by March 2018 latest.

Possible transfer of land at Tillbrooks Hill from Havebury to the village: There are currently grants available of £850 to assist with the transfer of the land. We are waiting for a meeting of the Havebury board to approve the deal. Should it go through the Parish Council has budgeted for a party along the lines of the national 'Big Lunch'. The meeting was asked if they approved of that idea and there was a definite yes. The whole idea of land transfer was begun by a Parishioner at Tillbrooks Hill asking if some play equipment could be provided there. Havebury said they didn't do it on their land but would consider transferring it to Cowlinge to allow them to do it and also they could give some grant aid towards it. The meeting was then asked if they wanted to see some play equipment on the open areas there. Several Parishioners said yes and one said no. There was a consensus that the residents at Tillbrooks should be canvassed for their views. A parishioner said that they had a tennis court that was not used very often and was available for anyone who wished to use it - they would just expect a donation to the church. 5

Moving the bench back to its old position on Tillbrooks Hill will now depend upon any possible new play equipment so this is on hold.

Village Newsletter: The village newsletter has now ceased publication. The meeting was asked whether this was still needed as there is now the facebook page and website and if so whether anyone would like to take it on. No one came forward.

Cowlinge Facebook page: Paul Davis said that there had been a slow but steady increase in the numbers of people using the Facebook page to 45 so far. There is a lot of local information on the page and the more that use it the more relevant it becomes to the village.

Cowlinge website: John Barnett said that he looks after the website but it still needs a lot more work to bring it up to more modern standards. He pointed out the Great Bradley website was superb and managed by a member of the public on behalf of the village. He asked for anyone who might have the time and expertise to do this for the village to contact him.

Village archives: John Barnett said that thanks must go to the many people who had worked on the archives over the years. The hope is that eventually all the archives would be digitised and put online for everyone to be able to access. To that end one offer of assistance for the scanning has already been received before the meeting and a Parishioner at the meeting offered his help also with scanning facilities up to A3. John Barnett will coordinate this.

Coffee Caravan: John Barnett said that the Coffee Caravan comes with a huge amount of information about services that are available in the area and Suffolk in general. They will be changing their venue to meet at The Threeways public house in future and the dates are 8th June, 10th August and 30th November. This will coincide with the regular Thursday coffee mornings at Threeways.

Village Hall: There was now a wi-fi hot-spot at the Village Hall and this is available for local businesses who have no reasonable download/upload speed on their own premises. The use of the Hall has really improved since all the improvements have been made with table tennis from time to time, birthday parties and a christening party. A large company from Haverhill has hired the hall for one evening next month. The regular use of the hall as a polling station is also making a big difference to the income. Sue Smith said that the mobile library was also now calling at the Threeways.

Reports from Village organisations:

W.I. Valerie Woodman said that the W.I. still had much the same numbers as last year - around 10. They have had some nice outings with other W.I.s. On 11th May they are to have a 'Hedgehog' lady come to give them a talk - it is open to all including gentlemen. They requested that the curtains be put back up on the Village Hall windows as they found it very difficult at a recent meeting with the strong sun coming in. It is difficult to attach the old curtain rails now with the insulation on the walls but it was suggested that roller blinds would do the job.

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Church. Jo Wreathall said that their budget was still very tight. They are planning to restore the church porch with the assistance of a local benefactor. The County Broadband Access Point is operational. One notable event was a large gathering of the Bitten family. The next service will be in June and then the Harvest Supper and Farm Walk. Thanks go to the Parish Council for their annual contribution to the churchyard maintenance.

Clay Pigeon Club: Mark Reed said that the club had made a serious investment last year and this has seen a big improvement in numbers - so much so that there is now a long waiting list.

Bell ringers. David Wedgwood said that it was the same message as last year in that they still need more ringers. They practice at Cowlinge and as they both have 5 bells although they usually find Stradishall easier as their bells have been much more recently repaired. They have a notional team of 6 but normally only 3 or 4 are available at any one time. He invited people to come and give it a go and ensure that the bells don't fall completely silent. If people hear the bells in afternoons it is likely to be a visiting touring band which occurred 3 times last year.

Fund-raising for East Anglian Air Ambulance. Irmela Jamieson said that the coffee morning had raised £573. This year's date is 30th September at Lambfair House.

Forthcoming events: Sue Smith said that there will be another Open Gardens on 24th June Farm Walk is on 23rd September at Bansteads Farm

Any other ideas, thoughts concerns: David Wedgwood said that he had experienced a downturn in internet speed at his connection to County Broadband and that information from the company was that it would have to install further equipment. John Barnett said that the repayments received by the Parish Council of the loan to County Broadband had increased indicating a greater take up which could explain the slower speeds.

Joel Giblenn thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and declared it closed at 9 pm

Signed Chairman date