The following matters were discussed at the Parish Council meeting in October. Lots of discussions around parking problems in the village!
New Councillor
We are delighted to announce that Nigel Leonard was voted onto the Council at our last meeting. We believe that he will make an excellent addition to our team and look forward to working with him.
Dropped Kerbs
We have now been given a price for the dropped kerbs that would make a huge difference to anyone trying to access the school in either a wheelchair or a mobility scooter. Unsurprisingly the costs for these are rather high so we are initially looking at ways to encourage Suffolk County Council to fund these.
Parking around the Shop
As I mentioned in the last magazine, the cost of putting double yellow lines around the junction and along the roads there is very high. We spent the time since the last meeting considering whether the lines will actually help the problem due to the difficulties of enforcing these. After much further discussion, we voted not to go ahead at the moment with the proviso that we can reconsider if the enforcement issue can be better solved.
Parking at the junction of Bantocks/Valley Road
Although there has been an improvement in the number of vehicles parking close to this junction, we continue to be concerned about the danger caused by parking along this stretch of road. We will be looking at the costings for double yellow lines here, but again the issues would be enforcement of these. We also fully understand the difficulty for those without parking spaces next to their houses, but would encourage them to ensure they are parking without affecting highway safety.
Parking on the grass next to the Folly Road allotments
We have recently been told of a parking ticket being given to someone who had parked on this piece of grass while working on their allotment. This is the first time this has ever happened and we feel it is rather ironic given the number of vehicles parking in much more dangerous places around the village. However, we now understand that it is in fact illegal to park on footways or verges behind double yellow lines. We will be erecting a sign to that effect as soon as possible.
Another AED Defibrillator
I do apologise for the comments I made about this in the last magazine which were unintentionally misleading. As many of you know, money was raised for two defibrillators by Nikki from the pub, one of which was put up at the pub. However, it was very difficult to find a place to put the second one which required an electricity source. As a compromise, the actual defibrillator bought with the money raised was sold to the Bowls Club. The money from this has been kept separately by the Parish Council as the cost of a solar powered defibrillator is higher than one powered by mains electricity. The Parish Council is now in a position to pay the extra and voted at the meeting to purchase one as soon as possible. This will be located in the centre of the village around Overing Avenue. Again I apologise for any distress caused and for the length of time it has taken us to organise this.
Fly-tipping on the fields at the back of Heathway and Lavenham Road
A local farmer has contacted us about the fact that residents are dumping mowings and builders waste over their fences and onto the land he farms. He has asked us to say that this counts as fly-tipping and is illegal. He said that large chunks of concrete have also been left near to the footpath that runs from Lavenham Road up to the Church which could cause huge and expensive damage to any machinery that he is using on the fields.
Planning
We have been very concerned about an application to convert Brookwood Manor (previously a Care Home in Little Waldingfield and with an entrance off the road to Lavenham) into 10 separate dwellings – 3 new detached properties and 6 three-storey apartments and one single-storey inside the original property. We have huge concerns about the number of vehicles trying to exit from the single track road onto the Lavenham Road which carries a lot of traffic according to our SID data, as well as the environmental impact. In an area with a high number of retired people, we do not see the purpose of having three storey apartments or housing. We also note that this is, yet again, another development in the area without any affordable housing.
Donations
Every year we make donations to local charities; we do have a specific protocol for this so would ask for anyone interested in asking for a donation to follow the donations/grant policy on the Parish Council section of the village website.
Ending with some good news! Footpath from Folly Road to the Church.
A small group of us, including David Taylor, our footpath warden, met James Pickerin from the The Rights of Way and Access team (Suffolk County Council) to discuss making this footpath more accessible as it is so regularly used by residents. I have to say we were all highly surprised when he announced that he would be organising a contractor to assess the footpath for us, provide a quote for the work entailed and would then himself be putting in a bid to Babergh for the money. And, we asked, what do we have to do? To which he replied that we simply need to put a small amount towards it and then find volunteers to do some of the cutting back of the overgrowing vegetation. This is fantastic news and really proactive on behalf of James and his team.
Monthly Meet a Councillor
This month a Councillor will be available between 10.30 and 11.30 am in the Village Hall at the Coffee Morning on Wednesday 13th November and in the Committee Room at the side of the Village Hall between 6.30 and 7.30 pm on Friday 22nd November. Do come along if you have something you’d like to discuss with the Parish Council.
If you have anything you wish either to bring to the Council’s attention or for the Council to consider at the next meeting (Monday 9th December), please email Mark Freeman on parishclerk.gwpc@waldingfield.uk or phone on 07922 336386. Alternatively the Clerk is at the village hall every morning between 9-11.30 apart from Wednesday.
Many thanks, Clare Kiely, Chair of the Parish Council