Slightly older, a little wiser perhaps, a bureaucrat returns to Parish Council...

The sun beat down on our small, but perfectly formed, village, and I was a bureaucrat on a mission. Partly because I wanted words with our quintessentially useless Conservative County Councillor over his crass dismissal of concerns over our Demand Responsive Transport service - they've withdrawn the right to use the concessionary bus pass altogether - but also because, in his role as a probably equally inept District Councillor, he has been part of a Conservative Group whose failure to ensure sufficient availability of land for housing has led to speculative planning applications being approved despite rejection by the community and the District Council itself.

More on that later...

We had a packed agenda for my first meeting back after a self-imposed, but Chair and Clerk inspired, exile, and I was keen to contribute where I could.

The most important piece of business was a presentation on Village Plans by an Officer of Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils - the two authorities are effectively joined in all but political leadership - following the overturning by the Planning Inspector of rejection of a speculative 170 house development in Stowupland, the neighbouring parish. We can potentially enhance the prospects of guiding any development that might come our way if we take advantage of some of the options - Village Plans etc - that are open to us.

The catch is that Mid Suffolk's planning department doesn't lend itself to much confidence - we've been let down before - and in a village of two hundred and sixty souls, the capacity is probably limited (we would be comfortably the smallest village in Mid Suffolk to attempt such a thing). However, it would be remiss of us not to consider it, and our new Chair is terribly keen (as Lord Bonkers might put it).

And, whilst I worry that we might be at risk of heightening expectations that might not be deliverable, it does offer us a chance to consult residents about what they might want for the village in the coming decade or even more.

We also had a report from our District Councillor, who isn't useless, I have to admit. Elected last year, beating a drop-in Conservative candidate on General Election Day (no mean feat), he has worked hard and assiduously attends local events. His reports are informative and he answers questions put to him, unlike our County Councillor...

...who didn't turn up. He did e-mail over a derisory report, although you'd think he'd make more of an effort given that he's technically up for re-election next year. And so, he dodged another opportunity to explain why the village doesn't have the 20 mph speed limit that he's promised, a year later, or to explain how axing the right of pensioners to use their bus passes on the new Connecting Communities service represents "a better service at lower cost".

All of the usual gaiety ensued with the financial report. I was mildly concerned that we're presented with a financial report at the meeting, one of the previous Clerk's more disconcerting habits, without year to date spending reports or comparisons with the annual budget, and will be proposing a more informative reporting framework at our next meeting.

That said, I like our new Clerk. Jennie is much less prescriptive and much more open to suggestions than her predecessor, and I'm keen to work with her to spread the burden a bit more than it was in the past.

And finally, jollity broke out as we discussed the emergency bag, which had been kept in a loft until recently. It contains some useful items in case of a disaster, including a waterproof whistle. Admittedly, if we get flooded out in Creeting St Peter, the prospects for Stowmarket are pretty grim, but it's nice to know that we covered in the event that the polar icecaps melt spontaneously...