1 An extraordinary Village Meeting was held in the Village Hall on Monday 14th September 2009 There were 19 people attending this meeting. Does the village support the submission to St Edmundsbury Borough Council Local Development Framework for housing development at site WS17 at Erratts Hill? Linda Scott gave the meeting background information to this proposal. There was considerable discussion with some of the younger people pointing out the need for affordable housing if they were to be able to remain in the village. Another larger development was suggested by one Parishioner encompassing 2 existing fields which would incorporate a number of affordable homes and more facilities. Another Parishioner suggested that the villages of England were long standing settlements and should be protected as such and as guardians of the village it was the responsibility of each generation not to substantially alter the settlement boundaries. A vote was taken and there was one vote to support the submission and 12 votes against. Does the village support the Core Strategy in the new LDF: Linda Scott again gave some background information. It was suggested that as this was such a large and complicated document and that as Linda Scott had done such full research upon it that she be appointed to put together the village response. This was agreed. County-wide travel survey: Linda Scott urged everyone to fill in their survey forms. There was a common misapprehension that this was to do with bus services only and that buses were not relevant to most people in rural areas. This is not the case as Suffolk County Council are seeking to build a picture of what people actually do at present and where they go and when so that they can consider all possible ideas for the future Community Speedwatch: John Barnett said that the current status was that the Parish Council supported the project and had paid the fee of £100 to join the scheme. There were several other local Parishes included – Great Bradley, Great Thurlow, Little Thurlow, Great Wratting and Withersfield. Two other Parishes were also in the scheme but were in the Bury area – Barrow and Fornham All Saints. There were 2 radar devices and it would be likely that Barrow and Fornham would share one and the 6 local to Cowlinge would share the other. The first volunteers training session is to held on 16th September at Thurlow village hall. The yellow reflective jackets are being ordered and there are 4 roadsigns now available. The actual speedcheck areas within each village are being agreed with the Police currently. The only thing preventing Cowlinge from having the speed checks in the village is the lack of volunteers. The scheme asks for a minimum of 2 volunteers from each Parish and every other Parish has provided more than that except Cowlinge. John Barnett said he would volunteer for one but there would need to be at least one other to ensure village checks. Diana Bowie offered to be a volunteer for the scheme and the Clerk will provide all the necessary papers. John Barnett said that there was to be an open Police meeting at Castle Manor School in Haverhill on Thursday 8th October at 7pm. 2 Ideas for the Budget for next year : There was one item suggested for inclusion in the budget for next year – the greens could be cut more frequently in the Summer Red telephone kiosk: Mark Reed said that he had been doing repairs on the telephone box and he was planning to clean off the current green algae and take on the role of maintenance/cleaning. Any other Parish Matter: The proposed new pavement between the Three Tuns and Tillbrooks Hill to alleviate the danger to pedestrians on the hill has been lost from this year’s programme. So the saga of the new pavement goes to over 30years of waiting. The question of the Japanese Knotweed at Green Man Bridge was raised and John Barnett said that a Haverhill company were kindly eradicating the weed free of charge to the Parish. He will check with them to establish the current status No other points were raised. The Chairman thanked everyone for coming and declared the meeting closed at 8.50pm Signed Chairman .