Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held in Barham Church Hall, on Monday 21st September 2026, 7.00pm
- Present
- Chairman Casey Wooltorton, Cllr Brenda Mitchell, Cllr Marilyn Lesley, Cllr Julie Gregory, Cllr Tim Carr & Cllr Paul Fenn.
- Also present
- BMSDC Cllrs David Penny and John Whitehead, SCC Cllr Asa Downing, the Clerk and 1 member of the public.
Open Forum
The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting, he explained that the Emergency Planning officer was unable to attend this evening as she is unwell, hopes to come along to the next PC meeting.
SCC Asa Downing's report has been circulated ahead of the meeting, he advised on the major refurbishment of Ipswich County Library. Energy efficiency loans are available for Suffolk residents. River Gipping path improvements are now complete. Families are invited to Get Moving at Suffolk in Motion Travel experience day, to be held on 10 October at Copdock Park & Ride. Cutting edge pothole busting machine put to the test in Suffolk at no cost to SCC. Over 140k of Suffolk roads treated as 2026 surface dressing programme comes to an end. Government has announced that it is withdrawing its decision to implement local government reorganisation in Suffolk. Paused LGR work in 14 other areas pending review.
Local issues, he has been having regular meetings with Highways and trying to come up with some better solutions to speeding and speed reduction zones around the villages. Speaking to residents across a few of the villages about some other highways issues mainly around parking or enforcement. Valencia waste is still currently not operating, continue to be monitored. Brett aggregates are now in talks to continue their mining and excavating licenses through SCC. Old Norwich Road will hopefully be part of the wider Ipswich ANPR network starting early next year. The road closures and fibre work in Henley has started and hopefully doesn’t cause any major issues to business and residents going forward. The petition around Bramford for free (SCC) school travel has reached around 500 signatures, and is being looked at from previous data and policy changes.
Cllr Mitchell would like to bring to his attention the 30 minute parking restriction which is set for the parking area outside the hairdressers, One Stop Shop and Estate Agents, this is not practical for customers and is not fair on the business’ who are trying to offer a service. He will speak to the parking enforcement department to see if restrictions can be lifted, or seek an alternative parking site.
Cllr Carr expressed his disappointment at lack of free transport for children in Bramford who need to be transported to Claydon High School. Understands that Port One had suggested that they may install a new safe pedestrian pathway to cover the route.
BMSDC Penny's report has been circulated to all ahead of the meeting. It confirms that Local Governments Reorganisation has been withdrawn and paused for many other parts of the country while they are reviewed. The district council now has a new dedicated officer for focusing on enforcement at Shrubland Manor. To focus on all the outstanding cases and to get on top of it. He encouraged the PC and residents to keep reporting issues of concern to the officer. The district council has agreed to introduce a Parish Connection Priority for new affordable and social rented homes. REACH is the new service that is able to provide tailored independent energy advice to make homes warmer, more energy efficient and cheaper to run. He advised that food waste and recycling services are now operating well. The Chairman informed him that residents are leaving their bins out for collection permanently, aesthetically this does not look nice. This is due to the confusion on bin collection dates. Cllr Penny will report this back to HQ.
1.09 Apologies
- Cllrs Bonnie Head and Graham Head, both on holiday. Nicki Morgan Emergency Planning Officer BMSDC.
- Consent/non consent to absence. Approved.
2.09 Councillors Declaration of Interests
- Declaration of interests with regards to any item on the agenda – None.
3.09 To Approve the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting Held on 27th July 2026
The minutes were approved correct, proposed Cllr Mitchell, seconded Cllr Lesley and signed by the Chairman.
4.09 Matters Arising from the Minutes of the Last Meeting to Include Workplan
- Work Plan
- The safety barrier leading down the steps to Barham Lakes still to be repaired and 2 directional signs still to be installed. PROW officer has informed the Clerk he is looking into this.
- 30mph speed sign at Barham Green has been re-erected.
- Chairman will keep chasing Taylor Whimpey regarding tidying up the grass area at the bottom of Church Lane. However new turf will not be laid until all of the services have been installed.
- District Councillor Whitehead informed that the ditch at The Slade is inspected every 2 week and cleared if needed. Therefore, nothing further for the PC to do.
- The Chairman has brought to the attention of County Councillor Downing the danger of poor visibility on the blind corner along Sandy Lane by the quarry. He will inform Highways to go along to carry out an inspection in the first instance.
- Cllr Fenn reported that the trees and hedges along the Norwich Road from Pest House Lane are covered in ivy, making them unstable, who is responsible for getting this sorted? Chairman advised that Highways would need to take this up with the landowner/farmer. PC continues to maintain the footpath and NSK are due to carry out the 2nd cut of the year soon.
5.09 Review of Parish Council Planning List Discuss New Planning Applications Received
- SCC/0123/26MS Southern extension to Barham Quarry for sand and gravel extraction with associated export of sand and gravel, restoration using imported materials, associated site infrastructure, highway works, drainage works, demolition of an agricultural barn and construction of a replacement barn. Barham Quarry, Sandy Lane, Barham
The Chairman explained the disappointment that residents have not taken action to be involved to stop the application going ahead. Due to lack of support from residents over the last 2 years and meetings with Bretts Aggregates he is not happy to pursue any further. Unfortunately the Parish Council will not get any CIL or S106 money from the planners on this application. Bretts continue to clear the driveway leading onto Sandy Lane to help prevent movement of sand along Sandy Lane. They also clean out the drains regularly and carry out road sweeping when needed. Nothing further the PC can add to its objection of the application, any objections in the past have been ignored.
District Councillor Penny understand the frustrations of the PC. He is also lead to believe that there is an environmental statement which shows a pedestrian footpath to be provided along Sandy Lane leading down from the residential properties and also to make the road wider. He will look into this.
6.09 To Co-opt a New Member onto Barham Parish Council
No applications received.
7.09 Finance
- Monthly Payments – to agree the payments for July & August 2026.
- July, payments £3004.00, receipts £4078.60, approved by all, signed off by Cllr Mitchell.
- August, payments £2436.84, receipts £0.00, approved by all, signed off by Cllr Mitchell.
- Monthly reconciliation – August bank reconciliation.
As at 301/08/26 the Current Account £39,247.51. Business Account £46,195.62. The accounts are holding reserves of £15,549.18 CIL money & £11,859.47 for grass cutting (Brett Aggregates). Signed off by Cllr Mitchell.
- Parish Council Annual Insurance renewal – Invoice to pay
The current insurers Hiscox renewal fee is £1016.36. The Chairman informed that after the disappointing service which the PC had received from its current insurers, he would suggest that they are no longer used. The clerk has obtained an quote from Zurich insurers for a renewal price of £820.08 for the year or £754.60 over a 3 year fixed term fee.
She has also contacted a 3rd provider, however they have failed to provide a quote. It was agreed by all to move to the new provider of insurance, Zurich and to lock into the fixed 3 year term for £754.60 a year. Proposed Cllr Carr seconded Cllr Fenn.
- Replacement of Locks on the 2 Parish Noticeboards
The Chairman has never received the keys for the parish council noticeboards from the previous Chairman, so therefore it was time to have the locks replaced. He has carried out the replacement of the locks himself and submitted a Screwfix receipt for £21.99 to cover the purchase of drill bits to carry out the work. Payment approved, proposed Cllr Carr seconded Cllr Gregory.
- To Consider the Parish Clerks Annual Pay Increase – April 2026
NALC has advised of the new pay scales for Clerks to be implemented from 1 April 2026. The Chair reported that the Clerk is currently on SCP 30, £21.14 per hour, salary £12,092.08. He would like the PC to move the Clerk up the scale to the top of the LC2 bench mark to SCP 32, £22.94 per hour, salary £13,121.68. Approved by all, proposed Cllr Fenn seconded Cllr Mitchell.
The new pay award to the Clerk, reflects her 30 years’ experience. The Chair passed on his appreciation to the Clerk. The Clerk thanked the PC for her new salary award.
8.09 Conclusion of External Audit – End of Year Accounts 2025-2026
The Clerk reported that the external auditors PKF Littlejohn have issued their report and certificate for the end of year accounts. 3 matters have been highlighted and have been addressed by the Clerk as follows; Box 2 must reflect Clerks pension (Saff Costs) not box 6 (other payments). Data Protection policy is now uploaded onto the PC website. PC must annually provide evidence of the consideration of the independence of the internal auditor upon appointment. The auditors conclude that the PC has met all other relevant legislation and regulatory requirements. The conclusion of audit notice has been placed on the noticeboards and the PC website. Invoice received for the services of PKF Littlejohn, £756.00, payment approved.
9.09 Reports
Councillors to report on any meetings that they have attended since the last meeting.
The Chairman informed that the picnic site charity starts work on building the extension for the new café at the site tomorrow, hopes that it will be open in the spring 2027.
Cllr Carr would like to see included on the next agenda, item addressing a new junction onto the Norwich Road from the new TW estate. This will be the main through road once Church Lane is finally closed. The current junction is not wide enough and causes a bottle neck. TM would need to submit a variation on the plan to take this forward. Chairman advised that the last piece of the footpath leading from Norwich Road and along to Kirby Rise is to be installed once all the services have been put in, 18/24 months away.
10.07 Date of Next Meeting
16th November 2026
The meeting ended at 8.13pm.
Chairman …………………………………………………. Date ………………………...........