Parish Council Meeting Minutes Annual Parish Meeting Minutes - Tuesday 12th May 2009
| Annual Parish Meeting Minutes - Tuesday 12th May 2009 |
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1. Apologies for absence. No Apologies. 2. Minutes of the Meeting of Tuesday 13th May 2008. 3. Matters arising from the minutes. 4. Report from the Parish Council Chairman: Peter Sanderson Planning The Council has considered a wide range of other issues during the past year. Highways After many years of lobbying I am sure you all agree that the new footpath in Spring Road is a great asset for the village and we hope that many people will be encouraged to use it for their safe access to the Playing Field. There remain a number of issues that the Parish Council has continued to raise and discuss. We met Suffolk Police to consider the difficulties that arise whenever traffic is diverted through the village due to an incident on the A143. A satisfactory arrangement has not been agreed yet but we hope that a better plan can be put in place for the future that avoids large vehicle travelling in both directions causing a major blockage and frustration to everyone involved. Further traffic incidents have occurred at the crossroads at Bowbeck. As reported elsewhere during the year the problem is very much due to poor driving and despite the problem at that location it is unlikely that Suffolk CC will impose a speed restriction on that stretch of road. There are many other rural roads in the county where similar conditions exist and a 30 mph limit across the whole county is not realistic. It is hoped, however, that Speedwatch will commence in the speed restricted zones in the village in the near future. Several volunteers from the village will be participating in this initiative in collaboration with the police. I would emphasise that the volunteers from Bardwell will be monitoring speed in other villages nearby that are involved in the project rather than Bardwell itself. Emergency Plan Parish Plan Group Consultations Police Village News Finance Finally, I reiterate my thanks to all the Parish Councillors and to Jaime Felton our Parish Clerk.
Establish or reaffirm the current and future needs of the existing community in the Parish of Bardwell enabling a revised Village Plan to be produced. This Plan should again take account of the wide diversity of views and needs of people living in the Parish. Consult as widely as possible with local people. Involve outside supporting organisations wherever sensible e.g. Suffolk ACRE for the housing needs survey. It is worth reminding ourselves that there is an existing Village Plan published in 2002. There has been significant progress on a number of issues e.g. the establishment of B.E.S.T., the support for a Multi-Use Games Area, litter picking and the Ramblers. Progress and future actions:- Amongst the first tasks was to engage Suffolk ACRE in order to carry out a Parish wide housing needs survey. Related questionnaires were distributed in early June 2008. During 2008 the Parish Magazine carried several articles specifically concerning the purpose and background to the Housing Needs Survey. 148 questionnaires had been sent back to Suffolk ACRE that equated to a response rate of 45% which, according to Suffolk ACRE, was higher than the normally expected response rate. Suffolk ACRE formally presented the report findings to the Parish Council on the 7th October 2008, in the Tithe Barn. 81% in favour of a scheme, 12% objected, 7% did not know. Three ‘1-2 bed’ – two for rent, one shared ownership Indicates a total scheme of 6-8 homes The VPG/PC conducted a series of interviews of prospective Housing associations culminating in the appointment of Hastoe Housing in Dec 2008. An initial boundary survey has been carried out to identify potential sites. A future event will be arranged, enabling local people to discuss the detailed proposals with representatives from Hastoe Housing, the Borough Council, Suffolk ACRE and the Parish Council. Village Plan Group Members are Andrew Smith, Kathie Bull, Jim Murray, Lilla Babraff and Delyse Ray 6. Report from Age Concern – Lilla Babraff A befriending service to older people living on their own Domestic information Helpline Working alongside the Bardwell Village Plan Committee As a member of the Village Plan Committee I have found this forum to be a valuable vehicle to create more widespread awareness and more prominence in the village. When we first met as a group it soon became apparent that there was little provision for older people in the village which prompted me to contact Age Concern Suffolk to seek ways in which we could promote their interests. The following outcomes are a result of our discussions: Awareness of older peoples’ needs: Members in the community and carers are now more aware and contact me if they see a neighbour or relative who may have a problem. I have received a wide range of queries and have been able to give people the information they require either with the relevant ACS leaflet or signposting them to the appropriate contact number at ACS. Pensioners’ Lunch Club: ACS has launched a campaign to encourage communities to provide social opportunities for older people and suggested that we organise lunches at a local venue. We are very fortunate to be able to use the services of the Dun Cow where Alan and Denise put on an excellent lunch for £6 per head. Our first lunch was held last June and has been held each month since with a good turnout of between 15-20+ people on each occasion. These are also useful opportunities to give out the ACS magazine, ‘Talk About Suffolk’, filled with a wealth of useful information for older people, and other advice that may be relevant for the time of year, eg help with heating costs. On one occasion Anne Powell, ACS Community Link Manager, joined us for lunch too. I can also pick up any issues that may be of concern to individuals and act upon these. Activity for older people: ACS is keen to encourage older people to take part in as much physical activity as possible and have started a ‘Walk About Suffolk’ programme. To this end, Val Booth of the Bardwell Strollers attended a 1-day Walk Leaders training course in Woodbridge last July. Bardwell Village News: the magazine is the ideal communication to publicise the activities of ACS, we advertise the dates for the Pensioners’ Lunch Club along with articles relating to other issues, for example, transport and shopping facilities for older people. Overall, it has been a successful launch of the ACS Community Link especially during the last year where we have introduced the Pensioners’ Lunches. As more people in the village are now using the service, I feel that ACS contributes to the welfare of older people and gives them a voice to express their concerns. Question: Do people over 55 receive the police information. If not it may be worth thinking about and they may also be able to obtain deterrent stickers from the police. 7. Report from Parochial Church Council – Peter Mitchell Just over a year ago, at the end of March 2008, we said farewell to Philip Oliver, our Rector for almost thirty years. In early May he and Elizabeth moved out of Ixworth Vicarage for a new home in Barningham. Then began the tortuous procedure decreed by the Church of England for the advertising, interviewing and selecting of a new Rector. It involved not only the eight Parishes but their Patrons, our Archdeacon and, finally, the Bishop. It was with great relief that we had at least one interested and interesting candidate who was finally appointed in the New Year of 2009 and installed as the team Rector for all eight parishes at a service in our church in March. His name is Phillip Garbett, spelt with two ‘L’s’ unlike his predecessor. He has, as they say, hit the ground running. He attended and chaired eight Annual Parochial Church Meetings, Eight Parochial Church Council meetings and a number of committee meetings in several parishes, including ours. He has met with all the non-stipendiary clergy of the Team on many occasions and we now have services planned through to the end of July. He has taken services in all of the churches, more than one in some of them. And, if that was not enough, he and his wife Ingrid have moved from Felixstowe to a revamped Ixworth Vicarage to start a completely new life style – they have been townspeople up to now. They are currently away on a short pre booked holiday to draw breath and recharge their batteries, but they will be back before the end of the month and will be seen at events in Bardwell and elsewhere thereafter. He is, no they are, good news for the Blackbourne Team. 8. Report from Bardwell Charity Trustees – Peter Mitchell We are aiming to be of assistance to the Tithe Barn in their schemes for improvements and we have supported the Community Lunches and Teas that are an offshoot from the Parochial Church Council. We believe that both ventures are within our remit. We have negotiated small incremental increases in our rental income for lands that we own round the village, but income from investments elsewhere is hit by current national financial difficulties. Nevertheless we still have funds available to meet appropriate requests for help. Nigel Robinson, our Clerk for a number of years, indicated his wish to relinquish the position having moved even further away from Bardwell. We have been very fortunate to be able to appoint Chris Roberts in his place. He has managed to bring our accounts and records up to date, always difficult in such a handover, and we greatly value his work on our behalf. We said farewell during the year to Canon Philip Oliver who had served with the Trustees for almost thirty years. In his stead we welcomed Rev Liz Jump, Team Vicar, to our meetings. Now a new Team Rector has been appointed it will be for him and the Team Vicar to decide who will fill the clergy seat on our board. We continue to depend on others to advise us of people in need. If we know, we may be able to help. If we do not know we can do nothing. The Charities’ funds are there for the benefit of parishioners. Help us to help others. 9. Report from Friends of Bardwell Church - Eileen Russell-Roberts
The FOBC had their third Safari Supper which was attended by 24 people on Friday 28th November 2009. This raised £302.00. The event seems to be much appreciated and it is planned to hold another in November 2009. a) FOBC are currently working towards raising sufficient finance to cover the cost of the proposed electrification of the clock which is shortly to take place. Other events planned for 2009 are Hidden Gardens of Bardwell on Saturday June 27th, ‘Traditional jazz’ concert on Friday September 25th, Safari Supper in November- date to be arranged. All these events are open to the whole village not just the friends of Bardwell Church. 10. Report from Bardwell School – Caroline Clarke Last summer most year groups took part in the inter-school sports events such as multi-skills days and sports days. Year 4 pupils completed their cycling proficiency and the whole school went on an outing to the sea life centre in Hunstanton. We held the usual annual events such as May Festival, Sports Day, Football Tournament and Summer Fete and the Leavers Service. For the first time the Bardwell School Association paid for all the Year 4 leavers to have a special trip out with their teachers. They chose to go ten pin bowling in Bury and great fun was had by all. The Autumn Term got off to a good start with 11 new pupils joining us in reception. The children and teachers decided they would like a change rather than having classes 1, 2 and 3 they chose names. Since September our classes have been called Ladybirds, Busy Bees and Dragon Flies. We are delighted to welcome two peripatetic music teachers into school this year. Three 7yr olds are learning the violin and two older pupils are learning the Cornet. The children have performed in assemblies and have made excellent progress. All the pupils in Yr3 and Yr4 also learn the guitar as a class and have one lesson a week delivered by a visiting teacher. Although the class guitar ends in July. The other individual lessons will continue. Once again our youngest pupils decorated plates with our mothers and toddlers group. November marked a visit by OFSTED. Everyone worked incredibly hard and we were all pleased with the strengths that they identified. Christmas was a busy and exciting time. We had a nativity day at school where all the children were asked to bring a family member or friend into school to work alongside them on activities. They made crib scenes and puppets from the Christmas story. We had a decoration making day, a carol service at Bardwell Church, Carols around the tree, Yr3 and Yr4 pupils sang at the pensioners lunch and the school put on two Christmas productions. The younger children performed The Snowman and the older children performed Holy Joe. Both were wonderful and the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We also had Christmas parties and of course Father Christmas popped in to see us with presents for all the children. The Spring Term has been full of exciting learning opportunities. We held a maths and art day where family members and friends were invited to work alongside their children on interesting projects linking art and 2D and 3D shape and symmetry. We also held our first science week where all the children took part in lots of exciting science investigations on a daily basis. The highlight of the week was a visiting science show called Bowls and Balloons which was interactive and informative. This was funded by the Bardwell School Association. The children did something ‘funny for money’ by dressing in funny clothes with funny hair for red nose day. We also dressed as our favourite book calendars for world book day. For Easter the children decorated eggs in a Super Hero theme and we had an Easter Cake sale. Our Yr3 and Yr4 pupils participated in a ‘sing up’ at Thurston Community College performing songs with children from other local Primary Schools. The whole school visited Stanton Church for an interactive Easter experience learning about stations of the cross. Already this term our Yr4 pupils have completed their cycling proficiency and showed real courage when faced with all the fair lorries and torrential rain!! We have several trips planned for this term including Southwold, Colchester Castle and the House on the Hill Toy Museum. Our Yr3 and Yr4 pupils will be going on a three day residential trip to Hill Top in June for three days of outdoor adventure activities. We have almost completed all the work that we need to do to achieve Healthy School Status. Our kitchen garden continues to be a success, where we grow vegetables used in our school dinners. The walking bus has gone from strength to strength. It now operates three mornings a week due to increased demand and up to three quarters of pupils on role use the bus on a given day. This term we are delighted to have an outstanding literacy teacher working with our oldest pupils delivering exciting literacy lessons based around drama. We have been able to update lots of our computer equipment this year and are in the process of setting up a computerised lending library system. An exciting new project is the development of our early years outdoor area. Very soon the children in our youngest class will have an all weather canopy, colourful floor markings, new fencing and a large wooden playhouse. This will mean that their learning can be extended and developed outside the classroom in all weathers. We will make our regular links with pre-schools and nurseries this term, as we visit our new pupils and they visit us in preparation for September. Clubs we have run this year have included Cricket, Gippy Gets Active, Gymnastics, Football and Athletics. Our football team has won the fair play winners certificate for the second year in a row. We have had two new governors join our governing body recently. The Governing Body has no vacancies at present and is actively involved in supporting and working alongside the Head-Teacher, staff, pupils and parents. Links with the Church continue to be strong, borne out by our recent church schools inspection report. Pupils take part in family worship, church members regularly lead church worship at the school. We were delighted to receive a gift from the PCC of 20 bibles for our youngest children. There is to be some exciting collaborative work with the church later this term, focusing on the Bells Restoration Project. All of the above would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of lots of people. Thank you to all staff, pupils, governors and parents for their hard work a commitment and to everyone who has supported the school in any way this year by attending events, sending in vouchers or bringing in cans, ink cartridges and mobile phones for recycling.
Joanna has now been a C Cllr for 20yrs (last week). She has come to most Parish Council meetings and thanked BPC for making her so welcome and keeping her in touch with all that happens in the village. SCC have set aside £1m for pot hole repairs but this is not all that need to be done. Work needs to go into education and protecting children. An extra £1.4m has been put into working with vulnerable children. Very pleased with the pavement along Spring Road and that the changes to the road lay out at the Green have finally been settled. It has been a long project which has involved hard work from all. Efforts continue in regard to Bardwell Hall and Glassfield Road. Congratulations were passed to the Bardwell Village Plan Group for their progress with housing. School Organisation review is still in progress. Will begin to phase out Middle Schools. There may be a New Secondary School east of Bury St Edmunds. 12. Report from Bardwell Ramblers – Jim Murray This past year has seen a group of half a dozen on one occasion to others well over a dozen. The size of the group does not interfere with our enjoyment. Rain has, on occasions, stopped play. On two Sundays in autumn with planned walks, the weather was atrociously wet. These were sensibly abandoned in an attempt to avoid a reconstruction of the Battle of the Somme. If the rain devils thought they had spoilt our fun they were mistaken. The café at Ixworth provided a warm, dry and very convivial location for a natter and a cup of tea. The following rainy Sunday we accepted a generous offer to tea from one of the group. I’m not sure we have yet walked off the effects of such a good spread of homemade cakes, scones and biscuits. There is usually a report of our (nefarious) activities in the Village Magazine the month after it occurs and there is a permanent record on the Village Website together with a programme of future events. We meet in the spring to plan walks for the year ahead and to agree who will lead. We are always interested in encouraging new members to join. We are inclusive and, more importantly, very friendly indeed. You are welcome to walk, ramble, amble, dander, wander, and roam with us as you wish. If you would like to stroll, mosey, saunter or dawdle can I recommend our sister group, the Bardwell Strollers. And now for a commercial break - to paraphrase Garrison Keillor – Bardwell Amblers and Strollers where all the members are above average! Why not join us for a breath of fresh air and some exercise? Next Amble 7th June 2.00 at the Tithe Barn. 13. Report from Bardwell Strollers – Jim Murray (by Val Booth) We are a “break-away” group from the R(A)mblers who enjoy the occasional short, gentle walk around Bardwell and local villages, with no stiles or ditches to manoeuvre! Our aim is to suit all level of walkers and to give lots of people a chance to join in a very sociable event. We hold these gentle walks once a month, on a Wednesday. Sometimes they are in the morning, but usually are held in the Afternoon. Transport is arranged for anyone not wanting to walk both ways. We have Two meeting points; 1st is at the Tithe Barn, 2nd meeting point is near the Entrance driveway to the Church. Watch the Posters displayed around the village for the Start Times. During the year we have been very fortunate with the weather on all of our walks. We have found 4 different walks around Bardwell village and on several occasions have been able to finish our walks with a Community Lunch or Afternoon Tea. Last December we walked around Great Barton and then enjoyed a Christmas Lunch at The Bunbury Arms. We have walked around Ixworth village, finishing our walk with Tea at the High Street Cafe`, and not forgetting our walk to Wyken Hall in Stanton, of course, finishing our walk with refreshments at The Leaping Hare Restaurant. Have you noticed, we nearly always finish our walks with food and drink! Why don’t you join us on our next Stroll? Everyone is welcome. 14. Report from Tithe Barn Trustees – Jim Fletcher In answer to our annual request for more committee members, three willing and very able volunteers stepped forward. These are Eileen Russell-Roberts, Christopher Watford and Andrew Smith whom I am sure will richly enhance the committees input into running this lovely barn. Also we have a new auditor, Cindy Wishart who replaces Peter Hackman. Tony Herron, our treasurer, has been working overtime to try and keep us in the black so as well as calculating how much prices have had to be increased, he has been in consultation with the Parish Council to set up a bank account to pay for the future improvements without paying VAT. These improvements are for a new lighting and heating system, to be installed in August as well as other large improvements i.e. new furniture and new flooring. We shall endeavour to obtain outside funding for at least half of the cost of the heating and lighting work. We are also trying to obtain a refund of part or all of our disabled access work already completed, from the Bardwell Charity Trustees, approximately £1,750 plus £350 Howards Hearing Loop. The barn hiring is now down slightly as we have lost the Euston Shoot. However, we may have gained a regular one from an Ixworth Martial Arts club for two nights a week. All in all things are not looking too bad for the future as long as people still want to hire this truly fabulous facility. Question: A plea was made for investment in more comfortable seating. The committee are currently voting against this due to the high cost of replacement. Cushions were bought as an intermediary solution. 15. Report from Bardwell History Society – Ruth Stokes The group has been involved with the Bells Restoration Project and the history of them. They have made a photographic record of the graffiti in the ringing chamber. Articles have been placed in the Parish Magazine. Question: These articles are very informative. Would the group consider putting together a booklet? Ruth answered that they would but that it is a large project and something to possibly consider for the future. Thanks were passed to Ruth and the group for all the work that they do. 16. Report from B.E.S.T – Bryn Lewis 17. Report from Bardwell Playing Fields Association – Dave Ray The BPFA cannot take credit for the pavement to the Playing Field, but after many years of lobbying by the BPFA committee, the Parish Council, and our Suffolk County Councillor, Joanna Spicer, late last year saw the construction of this pavement from the village to the Playing Field down Spring Road. This now means that it is much safer for pedestrians to access the Playing Field and we are very grateful for the support of the Parish Council and Joanna Spicer in bringing this very worthwhile project to fruition. Neither can we take credit for the cricket nets installed at the Playing Field last year: the Cricket Club raised the money for, and arranged the construction of the nets, which are providing a great training facility for the Club. Last year also saw the construction of the new storage shed. The Parish Council kindly agreed to the release of some Playing Field project funding to pay half the cost, and we were successful in getting St Edmundsbury Borough Council Rural Areas Community Initiative funding to pay the rest. The shed was built by Pollard & Co of Stanton, the steel doors were made by Uniseed Engineering, also of Stanton, and we, with plenty of help from our friends in the Cricket Club, built the ramp to the doors and put up shelves, hooks, and straps to make sure that we could make best use of the space available. This new shed now stores equipment for the Wasps Football Club, the Bardwell Cricket Club, and the Bardwell School Football Teams. We have also installed a new seat at the top of the playground, and a picnic table with space for a wheelchair in the playground at the top of the path. We are very grateful to the Bardwell Charity Trustees for a grant to help fund these new items. We hope that the extra seating now available at the Playing Field, together with the pavement down Spring Road will encourage older members of our community to walk to the Playing Field. We have continued to organise work parties to carry out minor maintenance, repairs and improvements to the facilities on a self help basis to keep our costs down. In the last year some 160 man-hours from 12 different volunteers, mostly from our Committee and the Cricket Club, helped our efforts. The work carried out in this way has saved us many thousands of pounds. The MUGA continues to give excellent service and to receive a pleasing level of use for such a village facility. We continue to receive regular financial support from the Parish Council, and some regular donations to our funds, both of which are very greatly appreciated. In the last year we organised 3 fund raising events, which are good community events which also raise some money for the Playing Field: the Village Fete, organised jointly with the Church, the October Quiz Night, and the Wine & Cheese Tasting evening in March. In the coming months we have the Village Fete on Saturday 20 June and the Quiz Night on Friday 23 October. This year we plan to replace the chainlink fence up the field side of the playground area. This is somewhat dilapidated and has been criticised in annual independent playground inspection reports. We plan a new sturdy bow top steel fence. The clearance of the old fence and the installation of the new will be done by Unpaid Work, hopefully this summer. They will also move the toddlers swing to a new position closer to the pavilion. The BPFA will organise a work party to lay a rubber grass mat safety surface and install a swing barrier after it has been moved. The move of this swing will consolidate play equipment for younger children at the pavilion end of the play area, and make space further up for new equipment for older children. The Parish Council has kindly agreed to fund half of the cost of this project using funds earmarked for playing field improvements, and has recently been given a St Edmundsbury Borough Council Rural Areas Community Initiative grant to cover the rest. Questions: It was commented that the grass underneath the picnic table was getting very long. Dave Ray said that he would note this comment and look to get the problem resolved. 18. Report from Bardwell Church Bells Group – Barry Felton Work commenced in May to re-hang the refurbished bells, including 3 new bells, all set in a new steel frame, set lower in the tower. The old mediaeval bell frame has been preserved and a new gangway will provide easy access for viewing. Archaeologist Abby Antrobus undertook a study of the old frame and her drawing will be displayed in the Church. Removal of the bells from the tower in February 2009 was an historic moment in the Church’s history, as it is probably the first time that all of the bells have been out of the tower. John Ruffles, whose grandfather and great uncle were both bell ringers, was there to see the fourth bell lowered and loaded onto a lorry. This bell is dedicated to his grandfather Hector. A successful application to the Heritage Lottery Fund accounted for 43% of the funding required but we are also very grateful to many other grant-making bodies and local businesses for their contribution. These include: Bardwell PCC We also owe a huge vote of thanks to local hauliers Whitton & Frost who volunteered to transport the old bells to the bell foundry in Nottingham and then return them to Bardwell after retuning. Work will continue during May and we expect to have the bells re-hung and ringing in early summer. 19. Report from Bardwell Village News – Ian Beyer Ian Beyer has been proud to be a part of the team but it has been hard work. He thanked everyone that has given items to be entered. Please carry on; it still has much progress that it can make. Thanked everyone who co-operated when he needed entries in a hard copy format. Mal Shepherd can now receive entries via email. Thanks were given from both Margaret and Ian to those who have taken over the running of the BVN. 20. Report from Community Lunches and Teas – Dinkie Williamson In liaison with the Bardwell Village Plan group, and building on the successful response to the Pensioners’ Monthly Lunches at the Dun Cow, the parish church began to offer monthly ‘Community Lunches’ on the first Wednesday and ‘Teas’ on the third Wednesday of each month, commencing September 2008. Both the lunches and teas are available on a non-profit basis with the following, rather formal, aims: To target the following people who are ‘at risk’ of being in need: i.e. the elderly, disabled, housebound, single parent families, those on low incomes, unemployed Bardwell Charity Trustees agreed, in June 2008, to support the cost of hiring the Tithe Barn and to pay direct labour costs i.e payment for one person, to plan, prepare and cook the lunches. To date, these have been held each month, with attendance, for lunch, increasing steadily from between twenty to thirty people and teas, between ten to fifteen people. Attendance is typically older or (semi) retired people, although not exclusively. Just occasionally parents with toddlers have come. The ‘Strollers’ coordinate some of their walks so that they can join either the lunches or teas. We could not cope with many more people at lunch time and, indeed, a rota has been established to ensure that there are sufficient volunteers to provide a good service (that matches the quality of the food!) whilst having time to sit and chat amongst the diners. It is the belief of the PCC and those involved with the production of these lunches and teas, that each of the above aims are being achieved. The atmosphere is always lively and enjoyable. Age Concern has recognised the value of this provision, although they do not, physically, support it. Bardwell Charity Trustees have regularly reviewed and reaffirmed their support for this venture. On behalf of the PCC, we acknowledge the responsibility for ‘pastoral care’ from the parish church and we trust that this is but one step towards achieving this goal. [Other ‘pastoral steps’ will follow shortly, with the appointment of the new Team Rector, Phillip Garbett]. 21. Reports from Other Village Organisations 22. Any other Business the Chairman may allow The Chairman passed his thanks to everyone who contributed to and attended the meeting.
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