The current members of the parish council are:
	Mr Richard Brice
	Mr Mark Brewster
	Mrs Cathy Croome
	Mrs Sue Green
	Mrs Debbie Ball
	District Councillor Mr John Matthissen. Tel. (01449) 771742
	Mrs Liz Michie
	Clerk: Giles Hill Tel. (01449) 740272

Parish Council Meetings 2009
Please note the dates of the Parish Council meetings for 2009 are:

Advertising in the Newsletter

10% discount which will be applied for payment in advance for 5 insertions (half year) or 15% for 10 insertions (full year). Any advertiser in arrears for more than three months would not have their advert inserted until full payment had been received. Giles Hill

News from the Parish Council

The Village Appraisal …Is Here At Last
You should now have had a copy of the Village Appraisal questionnaire. Please take the trouble to read it carefully and complete one for your household. It is an important source of information so that the Parish Council can ensure it is reflecting the views of the majority on a range of important issues for the village. Your completed questionnaire will be collected from you. There is also a youth questionnaire for completion by each young person in the village, which will also be collected. This really matters.

Village Play Area
Isn’t it bizarre that what most view as a great new facility can cause disharmony in our community? As you know, the Community Council, open to everyone in the village, was set up to manage the operation of village facilities including the Pettiward Hall, the new play area and car park. This is a group of volunteers who manage the facilities that we own as a community, via the Parish Council - your elected representatives. All along the Community Council has been keen to ensure the provision of a safe play area for small children, as well as to ensure that the area is looked after properly so it remains, in the future, as good as it is now. It is necessary to have a few simple rules about play area use to ensure that equipment is used safely and that the facility is not a nuisance to near neighbours. This requires the active co-operation of all in the community. A small minority have engaged in thoughtless and childish behaviour from those who are old enough to know better. This includes frequent climbing back into the play area after it is locked, obscene graffiti, misuse of play equipment and uprooting of posts, as well as urinating on, and cycling among, the planting. What a shame. How sad that we can’t all look after what we’ve got and what a lot of villages crave. Misuse of community facilities is not an option. We do not want to lose a facility we have only just acquired, or indeed curtail those that are in the pipeline like the playing field also to be developed. The resolution of this issue lies with us. No doubt the play area has had novelty value, but it is time now that the misbehaviour stops. If it does not, with regret the Parish Council will have to consider appropriate action. We should not have to do this and do not want to, but we will not shirk from what we have to. The Parish Council will consider the operation of the play area again on Monday 7 September at 7.30pm in the Pettiward Hall. If you have any views, please come to the meeting and share them.

Village Caretaker
The Parish Council is recruiting a paid part-time Village Caretaker to help maintain the Pettiward Hall, the play area and car park and other facilities that will be developed in due course. Full details of the role are available from Councillor Liz Michie on 613699 or lizmichie@btinternet.com. It will include locking up, Hall cleaning, keeping the village tidy, grass cutting and basic maintenance jobs. It may well be suitable for a job share to ensure continuous cover. Fundamental is a passion for our community and dedication to looking after it. The closing date for applications is Thursday 10 September 2009.

Village Car Park
You may well see a DHL lorry in the car park on Thursday 24 September. Don’t worry, we haven’t lost our wits. The lorry is involved in a lesson for the village school children and as long as the car park can stand the weight it will be parked there that day only.

Speed Camera
The speed camera project is still in the hands of the Police, but we still need three volunteers for Great Finborough. We have three already and need three more. Please contact me if you are interested (including those who did previously). The role is not to stand in for the Police, it is simply to use the speed camera – within strictly defined parameters – and record the registration numbers of speeding motorists. These are passed to the Police who do the rest. Richard Brice

Triangle Opposite the Primary School
The Parish Council was concerned that following the recent refurbishment work, this area seemed to have been forgotten. Suffolk County Council was approached and they advised that the area would be added to the mowing schedule. Rodney Self, the Tree Warden, reported that the replacement tree would be available for planting later in the year. A New Salt Bin Following comments received from parishioners about the unsightly pile of road salt outside the church, the Parish Council agreed to install a salt bin which will appear in due course.

Dropped Kerbs at The Chestnuts
The Parish Council has asked Suffolk County Council to consider installing dropped kerbs on either side of The Chestnuts entrance, to allow a more convenient crossing for wheelchairs and prams. Giles Hill

Village Noticeboard
Since the last newsletter, the village noticeboard has been installed next to the new car park. We have had lots of positive comments about the quality of Dargan Mosesson’s workmanship. Thank you to Neil and Melvin Green who fixed it in the ground. If you want to put something on display, or removed from the noticeboard, please contact me on 677940 or call in to Park Cottage in the grounds of Finborough School. Alternatively contact Giles Hill, the Parish Clerk, who also has a key (see Who’s Who). Norman Vendittelli

Hilary Smith RIP
Hilary Smith died recently after a life of putting other people first. She was one of us and never failed to be counted in her very quiet inimitable way whenever she saw the need. As well as being wife to Mick and mother to seven, Hilary was at the heart of our community. Amongst other activities she worked as Village School secretary for 25 years and in the Village shop for 34 years. She was an active member of the Church community, serving as Warden for a number of years. Until her illness prevented her, Hilary was a stalwart of Village Bingo, the Candlestick Club and the Pettiward Hall Management Committee. In 2001 she received the Community Achievement Award from Mid Suffolk District Council for her outstanding contribution to the local community. Her final illness was borne with characteristic courage and stoicism. Hilary was a remarkable lady in every sense of the word and one of a kind who is very definitely missed. She was extremely hard-working, caring and sympathetic to the needs of others. Richard Brice, Trudy Gray
The Church was full for her funeral on 13 July as was befitting. She was a dear friend who could always be relied upon and always kept one’s confidence. I, like many others, am missing her. Patricia Reeve