Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting Held in Barham Church Hall

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held in Barham Church Hall, on Monday 26th November 2025, 7.00pm

Present: Chairman Casey Wooltorton, Vice Chairman Cllr Julie Gregory, Cllr Paul Fenn, Cllr Marilyn Lesley, Cllr Brenda Mitchell, Cllr Bonnie Head, Cllr Tim Carr & Cllr Graham Head.
Also present: One member of the public, BMSDC Cllrs David Penny, John Whitehead, Suffolk County Councillor Chris Chambers and the Clerk.

Open Forum

Member of the public would like to know what the £15,000 donated to the Parish Council by Bretts has been spent on, as the money could be used for road repairs to Sandy Lane? The Chairman advised that the money is ring fenced for village maintenance.

Member of the public informed that Sandy Lane is dangerous to walk along as it has no pavements. The quarry lorries have caused damage to the road. Would benefit on having a pavement for pedestrians. The Chairman informed that he has discussed options to improve Sandy Lane with Bretts and also urged the community to get a partition together for when the new planning application for the quarry is submitted to the district council.

County Councillor Chris Chambers advised that the quarry planning application is likely to be submitted to planners in February next year, this will be the time that the parish council should list everything they wish to be corrected from the existing planning application.

Reports from District Councillors

Suffolk County Councillor Chris Chambers report. This has been submitted to all ahead of the meeting, he has nothing further to add.

BMSDC District Councillor John Whitehead reported on the Community Governance Review. He confirmed that there are no plans to merge Barham with Claydon. There is a newly updated Licensing Policy. Planning applications to be monitored for Bio Diversity. A new enquiry system at the district council will help to triage enquiries and to get each enquiry through to the correct officers.

BMSDC David Penny highlighted the Mid Suffolk Magazine produced every 6 months, this has not yet been circulated around Barham.

1.11 Apologies

Apologies for absence. None.
Consent/non consent to absence. NA.

2.11 Councillor Declaration of Interests

Declaration of interests with regards to any item on the agenda. The Chairman reminded that members of the picnic site charity have dispensations already granted.

3.11 To Approve the Minutes of the Last Parish Council Meeting Held on 22nd September 2025

Approved correct, signed by the Chairman, proposed Cllr Mitchell seconded Cllr Lesley.

4.11 Matters Arising from the Minutes of the Last Meeting

Workplan. Road sign on Church Lane is still bent, Chris Chambers to chase this on up. A14/Barham lakes steps has been repaired one way, it is thought that the PROW officer is awaiting the outcome of the Rail Link enquiry, before final work is completed. Norwich Road verge cutting Cllr Fenn reported that many of the trees are covered in ivy, making them unstable. Chris Chambers to chase up cutting of the verges the whole length of Norwich Road into Claydon and attending to the trees. Chairman will take a look and contact the owner of property at 1-3 Norwich Road where the hedge is overhanging the pavement outside, this needs cutting back. SCC Chris Chambers confirmed that the order has been placed for new Welcome to Barham Village signs and he will pay for these from his budget.

Taylor Whimpey to re-turf the area at the bottom of Church Lane on the junction. Will await the next Kirby Rise Play Area ROSPA inspection due in January to see if the slide is flagged.

Barham Website Accessibility – New Regulations. The Clerk advised that Suffolk Cloud has now run a website accessibility report on the Barham website. It has found that there is clear room for enhancement and has listed all of the improvements needed to help create a smoother more inclusive online experience for all users. Suffolk Cloud has quoted that the cost to carry out the improvements is £35 per hour and it is expected to take 2/3 hours. Suffolk Cloud has also quoted to carry our accessibility monitoring of the website throughout the year to ensure that the website continues to remain accessible and compliant. This will cost £750 a year. The Clerk asked the PC that they consider that Suffolk Cloud manage the accessibility for the PC as she does not have the technical expertise to carry out the accessibility requirements. It was agreed by all that Suffolk Cloud should be asked to carry out the accessibility work and to continue the monitoring throughout the year, proposed Cllr Fenn seconded Cllr B Head.

5.11 Review of Parish Council Planning List and to Discuss Any New Planning Applications Received

No new planning applications to report.

6.11 Vacancy on Barham Parish Council – Resignation of Ian Woods

The district council has been notified and a notice has been placed on the village notice board. It is hoped to be able to fill the vacancy by Co-Option at the next PC meeting.

7.11 Finance

Monthly Payments – to agree the payments for September & October. September payments £4277.43, receipts £28,060.00. October payments £2168.70, receipts £113,352.78. These were approved by all and signed by Cllr Mitchell. A copy of the schedules along with a summary sheet of receipts and payments for the quarter 2 has also been circulated to all ahead of the meeting.
Monthly reconciliation – to approve the bank reconciliation to October. As at 31/10/25 the Current Account £209,540.79, Business Account £55,770.59. Includes earmarked reserves £201,983.70 CIL money and £13,019.34 Brett Aggregates/Village Maintenance, Cllr Mitchell signed the bank reconciliation.
Community Infrastructure Money (CIL) Received – Consider allocating the money on projects. The Chairman reported that a further £113,352.78 CIL money has been received from various planning applications in the village. This gives a total of £201,983.70 CIL money which the PC currently holds. £88,000 has already previously been earmarked as reserves and ringfenced for the Barham Picnic Site Charity. He would like to propose that a further £112,000 is ring fenced for the Picnic Site Charity, so that play equipment can be installed and the site can be up and running. Mid Suffolk Council has informed that they will not be helping the Charity as there is no money available from them. The picnic site will have to fund themselves. Cllr Fenn objects to this amount of money, he thinks it is too much to give the Charity. Money should be donated to the Claydon & Barham Recreation Ground and Barham & Claydon Community Centre. Cllr B Head advised that it is important to get the picnic site up and running ASAP so that Claydon & Barham residents can reap the benefits. Cllr G Head does support the money being given to the Charity, but would like the Parish Council to give something else back to the village and suggest a Christmas Tree with lights on Church Lane. The Chairman informed that Bretts has offered to give a Christmas Tree to the village each year. He will pursue this. Cllr Gregory agreed that money needs to be spent on the picnic site to get it open and making money back in return. Cllr Lesley agrees with the CIL money being given to the picnic site charity. Cllr Mitchell agreed with the CIL money being given to the picnic site charity as there is not other money coming in. Cllr Carr asked for clarification on the costs to get the picnic site open. Chairman confirmed £1/4 million in total which includes a pre-school. Port One is in negotiations with helping to fund the Pre-School. The Chairman proposed £112,000 CIL money to be given to the Barham Picnic Site Charity, seconded Cllr Lesley. Vote 7 in favour and 1 against. The additional £80,000 earmarked reserves, ringfenced for the Barham Picnic Site Charity will now be transferred also to the Charity.
To Approve Transferring some money from the HSBC Current Account into the Business Account. The Clerk advised that there is now no need to transfer funds between the 2 bank accounts at present.
To Consider Payment of any Annual Donations. £845.00 has already been given out in donations this financial year. No further requests have been received.
Re Painting of Barham village sign – Quote Received. 2 workers using tower scaffolding, all materials plus travel to site daily, total cost £325. Can commence work in the spring 2026. Money to be paid out of CIL funds. Cllr Mitchell proposed to go ahead with this seconded Cllr B Head. All in favour.
Chairmans Allowance and Chairmans Ink Costs. The Chairman informed that he will donate his Chairmans allowance of £300 and Ink Costs (this was inherited from previous Chair) £100. Payment of costs to the Chairman approved, proposed Cllr B Head, seconded Cllr Lesley.
Maintenance Grant to Barham Picnic Site Charity 2025/2026. The Chairman asked that the PC consider making the payment of £3000 budgeted for picnic site maintenance grant to the Charity. Proposed Cllr Mitchell seconded Cllr Lesley, 7 in favour and 1 against.
To Consider the Draft Precept Budget for the forthcoming financial year 2026-2027. The Chairman, Cllrs Mitchell & Lesley and the Clerk have created a draft proposal ahead of the meeting which has been circulated to all for consideration. The PC considered all of the proposed receipts and payments. May change insurers next year depending on the outcome of a settlement for legal fees/court case. It was agreed to increase the precept to take into account the annual fee for website hosting and also to cover the increase in the Clerks salary. £60,270.00 proposed Cllr Mitchell seconded Cllr Gregory, all in favour. There is therefore no precept increase per household due to new homes which have been built in Barham. Approx £7.00 a month per household, the same as the last years precept budget.

8.11 Parish Council to Purchase a New Printer for the Clerk

The Chairman reported that the PC printer the Clerk uses is in need of replacing as it is not operating efficiently. Cllr Gregory advised that there are currently good deals to be had right now for Black Friday. Cllr Mitchell proposed that the Clerk purchases a new HP printer ASAP, seconded Cllr Fenn, all in favour. Clerk will need to also update the HP printing costs as different ink cartridges may be needed.

9.11 Kirby Rise Play Area (Official documents received from solicitor)

The Clerk advised that the official Title Deeds and Land Registry for the Kirby Rise play area green has been received from Prettys Solicitors as they no longer offer the facility to retain the documents. The Clerk will keep the documents on file.

10.11 Review of the Barham Parish Council Complaints Policy

The document has been circulated to all ahead of the meeting. It was agreed that no changes are needed, and the review to be approved. Proposed Cllr Fenn, seconded Cllr Woods, all in favour.

11.11 Joint Neighbourhood Plan - Barham, Bramford, Claydon, Great Blakenham & Little Blakenham

The Chairman reported that he and Cllr Carr have attended meetings regarding the Joint Local Plan. Great Blakenham have pulled out of the joint plan as they have no areas left in the village for development. Asked the district councillors if CIL money is likely to continue should there be a new Unitary Council? Cllr Penny advised that this would be up to the new council to decide. The Chairman advised that Barham has allocated areas already for development and it is unlikely that any further areas are available for development. The PC currently gets 15% CIL funding for each new development, with a Neighbourhood Plan can expect to go up to 25% funding. Would the PC benefit from the additional work load that they would face? Cllr Fenn suggest that consideration should be made on who is willing to help as it would require residents being involved, he cannot see this happening! Consultants would be employed at a cost of £40,000 which Port One have offered to pay for.

Cllr Carr suggests that to have a plan will safeguard and protect the village from future developments and that a plan would have credibility. However, a wish list to include a new doctor’s surgery cannot be guaranteed. The Chairman proposed that the Parish Council also pulls out of the Joint Neighbourhood Plan, he does not have the time to allocate to all of the extra work needed, seconded Cllr Mitchell, 7 in favour and 1 abstained.

Cllr Carr asked the district councillors for an update on the Port One redevelopments, they advised that it is still in the process of community engagement.

12.11 Reports

Councillors to report on any meetings that they have attended since the last meeting. No further reports received.

13.11 Dates of Forthcoming Meetings 2026

The Chairman would like to set the dates for the forthcoming year. Clerk to compile a list and bring to the next meeting. Date of next meeting Monday 19th January 2026. Date for next meeting with MP Patrick Spencer 26th January 2026.

The meeting ended at 8.47pm

Chairman …………………………………………………. Date ………………………...........