At the last Parish Council meeting we celebrated a year since five of us had joined the Council and it was really good to have the chance at the Annual Parish Meeting on 27th April to look over all that the Parish Council has achieved (and not achieved) in that time. We have learned a lot since last May and, amongst other things, we are much more aware of how long everything takes and how often we have to remind outside bodies of what they have promised to do.
Thank you to those of you who came along to the Meet and Greet to see the groups and organisations we have running in our village and also to the representatives of those groups who gave up their time to be there. Also we were very pleased to see a good number of parishioners at the Annual Parish Meeting who could share in our first year as a Council.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all the Councillors who have been part of the Council this year, and also our Clerk, for their support – they have all worked very hard and given up a lot of their time for the village.
The May meeting was our Annual Parish Council meeting and we had a number of matters that we are obliged to do before we carry on with our normal business. The first of these is to appoint a Chair and Vice Chair for the next year. As I am writing this, you will gather that I have been accepted for another year alongside Pete Berry as my deputy.
We also agree the committees and responsibilities going forward and a table of who is doing what will be up on the website soon.
These were the main matters discussed at the Annual Parish Council meeting in May:
Vacancy for a Parish Councillor
Sadly Kerry Francis has had to resign due to family and work commitments and we are once again looking for an enthusiastic and dedicated member of the Parish to join the Council. If you are interested, please email in to the Parish Clerk (email details below) to find out more.
Parking around the Shop
Unsurprisingly this continues to be the issue that we hear most about. As a first step we will be going back to Highways (who have already agreed to double yellow lines around every corner of the junction) and ask for an extension to these along the road opposite the shop and down into Heathway. We know this won’t solve the problem, but it is a start. We will be reporting back to Babergh and Highways to remind them of the constant issues with dangerous parking including the fact that there have already been two accidents in the area; we will be asking them to fund all or at least part of the cost of these double yellow lines.
There is a risk that putting double yellow lines will just make more vehicles park on Green Acre itself, so we will be exploring putting planters along the edge of the green. We have to be careful that anything there will not block the sightline from Ten Tree Road.
Once these yellow lines are there, anyone parking on them will be doing so illegally so we have a better chance of doing something about it. We hope also to invite the police to visit the area at one of the peak busy times to let them see exactly how dangerous it is.
Turning area at the end of Green Acre
Residents are finding it difficult to exit their driveways at the end of Green Acre due mainly to parking by customers to the takeaway. They are also blocking the turning area itself so that vehicles are having to reverse back down the road – on one occasion this was an ambulance. The Council has agreed to fund a sign (as we did on Heathway) to try and prevent this from happening again.
Term time Parking for Pre-School on the Playing Field
Sadly we have been told that we do need planning permission for this so we will need to find out the cost of this together with the cost of preparing the ground before making a final decision.
State of the road near the Bowls Club
My positivity over this was somewhat misplaced! The road has not yet been done. Philip, our County Councillor, will be following up on this for us.
Transfer of ownership of Green Acre
We now own Green Acre! This means that decisions over what happens there are now in our hands.
New and Replacement Playground Equipment
The company who will be doing this for us has visited the site and the plan is to get the goal and basketball hoop in place before the Summer holidays. We have been promised these within the next 6 weeks so let’s see what happens.
Playing Field and Pavilion
The solicitor has prepared a draft of the letter due to go out to Suffolk County Council (SCC) and we will be meeting with him to finalise this over the next few weeks. We are hoping for a positive response from SCC regarding allowing the village access to both our pavilion and the playing field.
Folly Road Hedge
We would like to thank the owner of the hedge at the end of Folly Road for such a prompt response to our letter.
Heathway Junction Hedge
Residents are still telling us how grateful they are that they can drive out from Heathway safely now that the hedge there has been removed. After discussions with the owners of Pear Tree Cottage, we will be putting up a fence where the hedge used to be because we do not want any future owners of the cottage to put up another hedge in its place. We feel this is necessary for highway safety especially with the extra traffic generated by the takeaway.
New Tree on Green Acre
You may notice a new tree being planted on Green Acre later this month. This was in response to a request from a resident, early last year, for a tree in memory of her late husband. The Parish Council agreed to this as her husband was a long-standing resident of Green Acre, having moved in when the houses were very first built!
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 10th June), please email Mark Freeman on parishclerk.gwpc@waldingfield.uk or phone on 07922 336386. Or come to chat to members of the Parish Council at the Community Larder on Fridays at the Village Hall.
Many thanks, Clare Kiely, Chair of the Parish Council
