Parish Meetings 2024

AGENDA

VILLAGE MEETING

Stansfield Annual Parish Meeting

Tuesday 14th May, Stansfield Village Hall

An open meeting for electors to raise and discuss village issues.

1. Apologies

2. Approval of Minutes from APM 30th May, 2023

orts from : West Suffolk District Councillor and Suffolk County Councillor

4. Chairman’s Report (Chairman of Stansfield Parish Council, Rex Barnes)

5. Stansfield Parish Council Financial Report for 2023-24

6. Updates from Parish Council working parties and village organisations (eg: Old Chapel Graveyard, Website, Community Engagement, Good Neighbour Scheme, Village Hall)

7. Speed Monitoring in the Village.

8. Assets of Community Value9. Any other issues that electors would like to raise.

Draft: Minutes of Stansfield Annual Parish Meeting

Tuesday 14th May, 7pm in Stansfield Village Hall

Present: 10 electors of the parish of which four were parish councillors. The meeting was chaired by Rex Barnes, Chairman of Stansfield Parish Council.

1.Apologies: Cllr. Sarah Pugh (WSC); Parish Cllrs Corlett, Ball and Spillett: David and Annie Lines (Clerks).

2. The minutes of the APM held on 30th May 2023 were voted as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

3. Reports given to the Annual Parish Council Meeting on 8th May 2024 from West Suffolk Cllr. Sarah Pugh and Suffolk County Councillor Bobby Bennett were also submitted to this meeting.

4. Chairman’s Report.

Rex Barnes said that the Parish Council had joined forces with the Village Hall Committee and the Good Neighbour scheme volunteers and together they were working hard to provide more opportunities for the community to enjoy getting together. After a successful Saturday morning event, a Summer Family Fun Day was being planned, as well as an Autumn nature event, centred on the old Chapel Graveyard.

The Parish Council had welcomed the whole valley being designated as an LVL (Locally Valued Landscape) in recognition of its beauty, and historic field systems and woodlands. They also made a submission to West Suffolk Council planners about how developments in rural areas are regulated, and the way in which housing need surveys are conducted.

In order to be more accessible and inviting to residents, the Parish Council was aiming to operate in as less formal and stuffy a way as possible. To this end the number of formal meetings per year had been reduced from six to four, with great effort put into informal opportunities to meet with and collect ideas and views from residents.

With the aim of improving communications with and for residents, a review of the PC website was being undertaken by a special Working Party, which included residents as members.

In these times of cost of living increases, Parish Council expenditure was being kept as low as possible helped by generous sponsorship of items such as a new laptop for the parish clerk, and grants from the district and county council’s locality funds, for which he thanked our WSC and SCC councillors. The Parish finances were strong and in good order.

He also thanked Derek and Dolly Adams and the Village Hall Committee for their very hard work in putting on such interesting events during the year, and the Good Neighbour

scheme volunteers for working hard to help the community. Andrew and Jan Pallett were thanked for supervising the maintenance of the village Defibrillator, sited outside the Village Hall.

Finally Rex invited all residents to join in, help and have Fun in the coming year!

5. Stansfield Parish Council Financial Report for 2023-24.

Parish finances were said to be in good order and will be posted on the Parish Council website.

6. Updates from:

Village Hall Management Committee; the Good Neighbour Scheme: and Working Parties on the Village Website, Community Engagement, the Old Chapel Graveyard were given and will be placed on the website.

7 Speed Monitoring in the Village

Various ways of deterring speeding in the village were discussed. A request to Suffolk County Council Highways Department had resulted in speed indicator devices being placed at both ends of the village for a week in April and data was awaited on the speeds recorded. A potential danger spot at the junction of Thurston Lane and Lower Street will be reported.

8. Assets of Community Value

Residents are invited to nominate any assets that are valued by the community, such as the Village Hall, the old telephone box, and the old village water pumps, for a list to be compiled by the PC.

9. Other Issues Raised by Electors

Safeguarding Training: a recommendation that parish councillors should undertake this.

Archive Material held on an old PC computer: a resident asked that this be held safely. (NB: although the computer has been scrapped, this material is being held on a hard disk in the hope that a volunteer curator will come forward).

Mobile Phone coverage in places was poor but no one suggested a remedy (other than perhaps to move to Kensington!!).

Potholes: Most of these had been fixed with a new machine, and the condition of the village’s roads was said to be much better than six months ago.

The meeting closed at 8.14pm.

Drafted by: PMB 15 May 2024