Wangford

Concert - There will be a concert in aid of the Church Roof Fund on Sunday, May 31 in the church starting at 3pm which comprises the St Giles Ensemble, Audrey Laycock on piano, John Wilkinson on clarinet and Frank Cliff on viola who will perform pieces from Schumann, Reinecke and Mozart. Admission by programme is �7 on the door (students free).

Parish council - Louise Wilby attended the last meeting and reported on the recent village housing survey. Overall the survey, which had a very good return rate revealed that 78 per cent of returns were in favour of developing a small housing scheme in the village. One of the main points of concern was the provision of homes for children of residents. Overall though very little need for an affordable housing development had been shown. The district council has some housing stock in the village which is allocated through the choice based letting scheme. Under reports councillors reported that the rat problem on the allotments appears to be under control. No response has been received to the advert for additional councillors. It has been established that Section 106 money could be used for re-surfacing of the tennis court. The clerk will seek some quotations for re-surfacing, widening the entrance and some new fencing. The play equipment was inspected and the only item requiring attention is painting of the large slide. A local decorator will be approached for advice and quote. There will be an allocation of 75 Latitude tickets again this year, all of which will be weekend tickets, but can be split into day tickets if required. George Sheppard has cleared two conifer trees from the playing fields. The council is taking dog fouling in the village seriously and has joined with Southwold and Reydon, resulting in publicity in the EDP and Lowestoft journal. The council decided to support an application for an amendment to the quarry phased extraction. Permission has been granted for a single storey extension to the doctors' surgery in Church Street. The chairman attended the planning meeting relating to development at land adjacent to Little Priory. Additional information had been submitted and the application was deferred until the next meeting in May. Concerns were expressed over the upcoming Wings and Wheels event at Henham Park, with aircraft flying over houses and resulting spill of aviation fuel. A licence has been issued by the chairman agreed to speak to the organisers. The overgrown verge adjacent to the bottom of the High Street and A12 was mentioned, it being difficult to cross the A12 to go to Henham. Concerns were mentioned regarding the outreach post office and the poor service in the village. The date for the annual parish meeting was agreed for Thursday, May 14 at 8pm. The chairman agreed to liaise regarding a joint meeting proposed with Uggeshall, Frostenden and South Cove's Parish Councils to discuss the A12 problems with Suffolk County Council Highways Department.

Sports club - The 23rd annual meeting took place with a tribute to recently deceased committee member Tony Punt. The officers and committee were re-elected with Malcolm Woolnough continuing as chairman/secretary. Treasurer Margaret Chapman presented a satisfactory financial report and a donation of �800 to the community centre was approved. It was agreed that membership fees would remain unaltered. Our future in the Waveney Short Mat League hangs in the balance and must be decided by June. Prospective players are most welcome on Fridays 2pm or 7.30pm. Some of our members will be playing for outdoor teams in the summer which leaves us particularly short. We entertained 15 carpet bowlers from Blythburgh and Wenhaston in April and gave them an insight into short mat bowling. The annual competition for the Cinque Cup was won by the Green Team for the third consecutive year - they are chasing hard to equal seven wins by the Red Team.

Uggeshall notes - We are very grateful to everybody who brought their mowers, strimmers, pruners and spades to do such a great job on the Uggeshall churchyard. It is certainly looked a picture by midday!

Church services - Morning prayer will be in Wangford church this Sunday at 11am with Sheila Mitchell, evensong will be in South Cove Church at 3pm with Brian Fisher and evening prayer will be in Uggeshall church at 6pm with Julie Eaton. All are welcome to attend.