MINUTES OF THE BROCKLEY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 27TH NOVEMBER 2025 IN THE VILLAGE HALL, BROCKLEY AT 7.00PM
- Present
- Cllr Dr J Wymer, Cllr B Tyler, Cllr S Holmes, Cllr R Dinsey, Cllr F Driver, Cllr Baber, District Cllr Sarah Pugh and two member of the public
Apologies
- Cllr Ray Dinsey
- County Cllr Bobby Bennett
Declaration of Interests and Requests for Dispensation
None received.
To Approve the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting Held on Thursday 18th September 2025
Proposed and seconded that the minutes of the Parish Council meeting of the 18th September 2025 are approved – all in favour.
Matters Arising from the Minutes
The daffodils were planted but unfortunately by the Farm, a substantial number have been dug up again by City Fibre; Highways have sprayed the weeds around the bus stop and cleared the path.
County & District Reports
District Cllr Sarah Pugh’s report was previously circulated. Key topics: The Council is consulting until 19th December on a proposal to change the way planning applications are handled. It has produced 38 Local Validation Requirements. Any future applications must take into account the relevant Local Validation Requirements before submitting the completed application. Applications that do not reference the LVR will be immediately rejected; a meeting has been held with Tim Passmore at which many concerns from across West Suffolk were raised. The increased costs of policing rural areas are not covered by funding provision as, unfortunately, rural policing suffers the same issues as running rural councils. We don’t get as much per head as urban areas due to the funding formula used by central Government to allocate spending, if anyone has a poor experience when trying to contact the Police, please let Tim know and he will look into it by contacting spcc@suffolk.police.uk 01473 782773; thanks to Enforcement and Trading Standards a number of barber/vape shops have been closed down in West Suffolk. Issues raised included the lack of feedback to residents regarding speeding and the inability to access information/data; any update on the Local Government Restructure – no decision on elections until February next year.
Public Forum
All those involved in publishing the newsletter were commended for a very good read; the advisory signs requesting dogs are kept on leads (dog walking areas to be considered at the next parish council meeting); the lack of signage (not obligatory) when crops are being sprayed. Cllr Driver to check legislation.
Finance
Balance as of 13th October 2025 stands at £12,393.66 with no cheques outstanding.
Expenditure to be approved at the meeting:
- CAS website 66.00
- Hall hire 9.00
- Hall hire reimbursement 6.00
- Community Heartbeat 89.94
- Clerk’s salary x 2 months 263.90
- Admin x 2 months 56.00
- Grahams Gd Services 350.00
Balance following approval of cheques £11,552.82.
Budget and Precept Consideration
Several quotations have been received to complete the ground surfacing of the playground. Subsequent to discussion, it was agreed as there is little or no maintenance, the option of bonded rubber mulch received from the original playground installer AllOutPlay for the sum of £5,200 be accepted with a majority vote in favour of the decision.
Following consideration of future expenditure for completing the surface of the playground and the purchase of fittings and solar panels for the speed poles, it was unanimously agreed to increase the precept to £10,546. This equates to a percentage increase of 8.47% and an increase to residents of £5.97pa.
Village Hall and Management Committee
Given that the village hall is currently overly reliant on hall booking and the income from the bottle banks will finish in 2027, it was unanimously agreed that the £1,000 annual grant be reinstated in the 2026-2027 financial year.
Cllr Baber left the meeting at 7.50pm.
Visit from Nick Timothy MP
A successful breakfast morning with many residents able to speak with the MP and hear his views on many national issues. A question and answer session to be arranged next year.
Risk Register & Adoption of Policies
- Code of Conduct – considered and approved.
- IT Policy – considered and approved. For GDPR compliancy, a gov.uk domain name, and mailboxes for councillors received from Suffolk Cloud for the sum of £90 was approved. The cost of a new Brockley Parish Council website and a council owned laptop for the clerk to be sought.
- Data Management Policy – considered and approved.
- Freedom of Information Policy – considered and approved.
Agreed £20 Gift Cards
Agreed £20 gift cards be purchased for the two volunteers involved in publishing the newsletter and the resident who oversees the defibrillator – all in favour.
Any Other Business
Very minor issues highlighted within the playground report have been fixed.
Date of Next Meeting
Confirmed as 22nd January 2026 at 7.00pm.
With no further business the meeting ended at 8.10pm.