Parish Clerk Contact Details:

Karen Hall-Price  Tel: 01449 780332 / 07812 105228

Notice of Vacancy in office of Councillor - Notice is hereby given that a casual vacancy has arisen in the Office of Councillor for the Parish Council. 

If by 31st May 2017 (14 working days after the date of this notice) a request for an election to fill said vacancy is made in writing to the Returning Officer at Mid Suffolk District Council, 131 High Street, Needham Market, IP6 8DL by TEN electors for the said parish, an election will be held to fill the said vacancy, otherwise the vacancy will be filled by co-option.  If an election is called, it will take place not later than 2nd August 2017.  Anyone who would accept co-option should notify the Parish Clerk as soon as possible.

Dated 10th May 2017

Propoer Officer

Broadband - Cllr Stringer and Mr Arnold have been informed that the Stowmarket P33 FTTP PON was made Customer Ready-for-Service (CRFS) on Monday 3rd April 2017.  Please note, however, that it can take up to two weeks for retail service providers (RSPs) to recognise new structures that have been made CRFS, before the Retail Service Providers are able to accept orders.  To avoid frustrations with the ordering process, it is recommended that people wait until after Easter before trying to place orders.  Once an order is accepted, it usually takes about two weeks to get an appointment for an engineer to install customer premises equipment (CPE) and make the final fibre connection to the property.  When ordering, customers should review the services and prices available from different retail service providers (ie shop around to get the best deal). 

As well as a choice of retail service providers, customers will have a choice of speed, service bundle and price to suit their requirements. Those customer that wish to make telephone calls over the fibre connection, should order that facility at the same time as they order their broadband upgrade.  Living rurally can present many challenges; Old Newton should shortly have one less obstacle to allow our businesses and home lives to thrive.  If anyone would like Cllr Stringer to call and explain further please get in touch, he is happy to call on you at any time to suit you.

New Cllr for Old Newton -  The Parish Council is very pleased to announce that Mr Richard Lawson has been co-opted onto the Parish Council for the position of Cllr for Old Newton (March 2017)

New Cllr for Gipping – The Parish Council is very pleased to announce that Mrs Kerry Baker has been co-opted onto the Parish Council for the position of Cllr for Gipping.  (August 2016)

Housing Needs Survey - The Clerk has been provided by Community Action Suffolk (CAS) the results of our recent survey.  The statistics that have come out are detailed below for information. 

• 94% were in favour of affordable housing
• 5% would not support affordable housing. 
• The survey issued received a 24% return rate.  146 household responses.  334 individual responses.  The greatest return rate was from the 16 – 24yrs bracket. 
• Out of 146 returned surveys – 22 people - 10 households stated they had a need. 
• A further 5 households (6 people stating that they wanted to return to the village).  A total of 15 households, 28 people. 

There are currently 15 households claiming a local connection on gateway to home choice.  Indicating a combined need of up to 30 new houses. CAS recommendation would be to bring forward circa 10 new houses to begin with.  The full report to be issued to all Cllrs, however it has been stressed that the owners of the report remains CAS and we are not allowed to share the full report.   Anyone who believes they should be provided a full copy of the report need to contact Sunila Osborne at CAS where they can discuss / purchase a copy.  The Parish Council’s next step will be to arrange a meeting with the working committee and CAS to discuss possible sites within the village.

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The Parish Council meets on the first Wednesday of the month in the  

Woodward Room, The Village Hall, Church Road, at 7.30pm.

Everyone is welcome to attend and there is a public forum at the end of the meeting.

For minutes and agendas (where these are available) please click below:  these are also displayed on the notice board outside the the Village Shop in Finningham Road.

For items to be included on the agenda please write or email to:

Karen Hall-Price - The Parish Clerk
1 Canhams Farm Cottage, Cow Green. Bacton
Stowmarket
Suffolk
IP14 4HH

email: karenyvonnehall@aol.com