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EAST BERGHOLT PARISH COUNCIL

ANNUAL PARISHIONERS’ MEETING

Thursday 14 May 2026 at The Lambe School, Gaston Street, East Bergholt

Present – Parish Councillors
Councillor J Miller (Chairman of the Council)
Councillor N Roberts (Vice-Chairman of the Council)
Councillor M Burns
Councillor S Davies
Councillor R Elmer
Councillor A James
Councillor M Hockley
Councillor M Hurley
Councillor J Price
Councillor R Smith
Councillor G Woodcock

In Attendance
G White, Parish Clerk
N Reed, Media Consultant
Two members of the public

1. Welcome

The Chair of the Parish Council, Councillor Joan Miller, welcomed everyone to the Annual
Parishioners’ Meeting and welcomed Councillor Adrian James to his first meeting as a parish
councillor.

2. Apologies for absence

Apologies for absence received from Councillors Allen and Matthews were NOTED.

3. Annual Reports from the Chairman of the Parish Council and Committee Chairs

Written annual reports from the following Parish Councillors had been placed on the council
website and each was presented to the meeting by its author.

The Chair of the Parish Council – Councillor Joan Miller

Overall the Parish Council has taken great notice of the County and District Councils’
submissions for local government reorganisation and preferred the outcome of three unitary
councils for Suffolk as it brings the decisions closer to our residents. East Bergholt is included in
Ipswich and South Suffolk unitary council. This outcome will hopefully enable our voice to be
heard much better than if there was a single council for Suffolk.

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The Council has agreed in principle to join with Brantham PC in engaging a Police Community
Services Officer for the two parishes. The Councils would have half a full-time officer
each.Terms and conditions for the appointment are still to be completed.

A proposal to extend the Conservation Area is very important for the village. Derived from the
Heritage Landscape report of 2021, the extension would take in fields as well as houses.
Protected green fields are extremely important to the people of East Bergholt to preserve the
environment and views which Constable walked and painted. The process is underway and has
now reached the formal consultation stage. All people in the village are invited to give their
comments. The Council’s job is to get as many people as possible to express their views on the
proposal. A public exhibition will take place on 23 May in the Lambe School with Babergh
officers present to answer questions. The final proposal will be submitted to Babergh Council for
decision on 21 July.

Councillor Burns has worked hard to co-ordinate the village efforts for the Constable 250
celebrations and we are happy to see how the village organisations have pulled together for this
event and organised a wide range of interesting functions that would make Constable proud.

A series of community events has been managed by Councillor Matthews, where experts in
various subjects have attended to give advice to residents. Whilst these events have been
excellent they have not been well supported and future events will be held at Fields in East End
to see whether this location will attract greater support.

Progress on Stage 2 of St James Place has been slow and currently discussions are taking
place between the developer and Babergh DC over the content and design of revised
proposals.

Burial Grounds Committee – Councillor Mark Hurley

Wildlife infestation at the cemetery resulting in rabbit-proof fencing being installed and attempts
to limit damage to graves caused by mole activity. The latter was not universally popular and
Councillor Davies expressed her opposition to any form of eradication, which would be
conducted as humanely as possible. She considered that the Council should try and avoid
disrupting the eco-system in this respect. Councillor Hurley said that the committee would
review the matter at a future meeting.

Burial fees have been reviewed and the committee decided to leave them unchanged and
review them again at each newly elected council, the next occasion being after May 2027.

Councillor Hurley thanked the groundsmen for their work in keeing the cemetery and churchyard
in such good condition and the committee for its ongoing support.

East Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan Committee – Councillor Nigel Roberts

Although the Neighbourhood Plan review started in 2019, the whole strategic infrastructure has
changed a number of times over the following years. The revised plan is now 80% ready to go
to consultation in September but we need to include the outcome of the Conservation Area
extension and new housing allocations and sites which the Neighbourhood Plan Committee will
propose to the Parish Council based on a strong evidence base and in the absence of any
helpful top down numbers from Babergh DC. Nevertheless we aim to commence the formal
Regulation 14 Consultation with the village in September. The aim is to achieve a new plan by
the end of 2027 dependent on a number of factors.

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Playing Fields Committee – Councillor Michael Hockley

The Solar Panel CIL project for the Pavilion is now completed and we expect significant
improvement in the electricity costs.

Money has been spent on grounds maintenance to keep the pitches in good condition.

Rabbit-proof fencing has reduced the problem by 90%.

The Tennis Club CIL clubhouse and toilets project has been completed. Thanks to Brian
Willshire for managing the project. The Cricket Club CIL nets project has also been completed.
The nets are the best in the county. Thanks to John Hambrook for his assistance with this
project and for his excellent work as Chair of the Sports Council. The Bowls Club is continuing
with its cladding project, supported by the Council.

Tree works have been undertaken and the CCTV system at the Pavilion has been extremely
successful. The few incidents identified from it have been sorted out quickly.

The new Boule Court at East End is working well and is a popular addition.

Thanks to Michael Hall the groundsman for going the extra mile to keep the pitches in such
good condition.

Roads, Footpaths and Flatford Committee – Councillor John Price

Two new dog bins have been erected at the request of villagers.

The broken highway drain that has been flooding and blocking Flatford Lane at Clappers Farm
has finally been repaired by Suffolk County Council though it took over eighteen months to
resolve. The work was good, but they must act in a more timely manner.

Suffolk County Council only do maintenance but not discretionary highway improvements. We
have been trying to get improvements on the B1070 past the School for some years and it is
hard to understand why they will not address our proposals properly even though they have
discussed them with our consultants.

The designated liaison officer has been on long term leave for nearly twelve months and
discussion over the B1070/Straight Road/Gandish Road junction and also Touchey Hill has
been paused despite the fact that there is on average an accident per month. However, these
accidents are not all recorded in Suffolk County Council’s records in which the data is not
accurate. There has also been little progress on the the location of a speed device on White
Horse Road.

We hope to take advantage of the new Suffolk County Council policy for a 20 mph zone and
hope it is not revoked by the new administration.

‘Chatty benches’ have been installed which we hope will aid social interaction.

Thanks to Jeremy Kemp, the litter picker who does a superb job in keeing the village litter free
and to the toilets cleaners Mike and Sandra, who do a wonderful job to a high standard and

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promptly report any problems which occur. The initiative led by Louise Smith, Assistant Clerk for
children’s speed posters has had a marked effect in the village,

Councillor Roberts considered that SCC Highways’failures to support East Bergholt as they had
promised on highway matters had been disgraceful and suggested that Councillor Price’s
Annual RFF report should be forwarded to the new County Councillor, the Reform Leader of the
Council and to Wayne Saunders, to highlight the Parish Council’s serious concerns regarding
the poor service it had received. We feel let down by the Highway Authority and look forward to
a more productive 2027.

Councillor Woodcock commented that drivers do slow down at the white gates on the B1070
which were part of the Section 106 works for Constable Gardens.

Young People Committee – Councillor Marion Burns

The year has been dominated by the establishment of the youth club which has recently been
re-launched with separate sessions for younger and older children. There is work to be done to
establish these new arrangements. The youth club really needs a new venue and it is a shame
that the Congrgational Church is not yet available for permanent use.

The committee has funded the toddler group and commenced canvassing residents upon what
children want and need. This is already proving to be a very worthwhile exercise.

Councillor James added that someone is currently seeking to establish a new toddler group in
the area.

Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee – Councillor Bob Elmer

In 2025/26 the Council’s budget was £207,383.50 of which £160,000 was funded by the
precept, the remainder from reserves as necessary. The Council spent £162,996.09, which
represents 101.9% of the precept and 77.1% of the budget. £2996.09 was taken from reserves.

The committee spent £65,528.90, 98% of its budget. Several budget heads were overspent due
to increased prices or increased activities but these were offset by unspends notably in salaries,
tax and NI and bank interest which exceeded anticipated income.

The committee awarded £6,560 in grants, though was disappointed that the number of
applications had reduced as the budget available was £15,000.

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) awards were made to East Bergholt Tennis Club, East
Bergholt Cricket Club, the Playing Fields Committee for the Pavilion Solar Panel project and to
the Lambe School. Expenditure during the financial year amounted to £73,261.56. Total CIL
funds at the year end were £693,012.93, which has been earmarked for the village’s priority
projects.

4. Report from District Councillor Sallie Davies

An update on Local Government Reorganisation in the East of England is that Essex County
Council has said it will pursue a legal challenge to the five unitary council outcome. We are
awaiting to see if Suffolk County Council decides upon a similar course.

Babergh DC has problems with the housing allocations from central government which it may
need to challenge. For the moment Babergh DC is continuing to work on the existing geography

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despite the fact that Babergh district is scheduled to be split between two unitary councils but for
the moment Babergh DC is awaiting the outcome of the Essex legal challenge which could
impact on Suffolk.

Babergh DC’s new extended recycling schedules are being rolled out and so far are working
well.
Regarding Phase 2 of the St James Place development, Babergh DC is going back to the
developer, Hills, with required design changes. However, they consider it unlikely that Hills will
be prepared to make those changes in which case the planning application will probably go to
committee with a recommendation for refusal. If there are any changes to the current
application, it will go back out for consultation.

The effect of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on planning is likely to be significant. Before much longer
it is likely that small applications will be determined by AI and already objections to applications
are being made via AI.

Councillor Price wondered if this was also likely to be the case with Building Regulations and
District Councillor Davies said she would establish the position.

The Chair said there is no report from the County Councillor this year as County Councillor
Georgia Hall retired from office at the very recent election. The Council has appreciated her
support and offers its thanks to her for doing her best on behalf of the village.

The new County Councillor is Darius Laws who is meeting representatives of the parishes within
his electoral division on 1 June. As the Chair has a prior appointment on that day, Councillor
Davies volunteered to represent the Council at that meeting.

5. Open Forum

Neither member of the public present wished to raise any issues and the Chair closed the
meeting at 7.57 pm.

The next Annual Parishioners’ Meeting will take place on 13 May 2026.