Winter Weather
At long last I think all the regular salt grit pile sites in the village have been replenished. It is good practice to review the positions of our grit in order to make sure the sites that are topped up each year are in the right place for the community to gain the most benefit. If you have any suggestions for additional grit heaps then its not too late to try to get them added to the list, please let myself or any of your councillors know exactly where and why you think a site needs to be included.
Also if you have any other concerns or you see maintenance issues on your travels around the village please let me know and I will be happy to report them to the relevant local authority for consideration.
Budget and Precept request
In order to calculate the amount each household would have to pay to raise the requested amount for the parish council we need to use a tax base calculation, which is set by the district council for a Band D property. The precept is the principal source of income for the Parish Council and unlike other tiers of local government we do not receive funds directly from central government so decisions on budgets for insurance, maintenance, salaries, street lighting and facilities etc are carefully considered against the effects of any increase in the annual amount residents might have to contribute through their council tax. All these factors have been very important in the consideration of our precept request this year and after much debate council have agreed that, for 2014/15, we can meet our cost by setting a precept of £3744 which will ensure that residents have no increase in the amount of their council tax that goes to the parish council.
Planning
As a statutory consultee on planning applications within the parish this month saw the parish council put forward the following responses to MSDC: Application no. 0001/14 Alterations to roof of west wing (including increase in height and construction of dormer window to rear elevation) and erection of new glazed entrance porch with pitched roof (to replace existing) Ivy Cottage, Brettenham road “Buxhall parish Council have NO OBJECTION to this application based on the information received”
The following MSDC decisions were noted; 3410/13 Erection of a granny annexe, Crown Cottage, Mill Road – GRANTED
The next parish council meeting will be held on Monday 17th March 2014 at 7.30pm in the village Hall and everybody is welcome to come along.
Paula Gladwell – Buxhall Parish Clerk
01449 737942 buxhallpc@live.co.uk