Layham Parish Council
The main matters discussed at the 22 May meeting of the Parish Council were as follows:
• Re-launch of the Hedgerow Survey taking place on 29 May.
• Following the revelation that Brett Green’s drains have not been adopted by Anglia Water, enquiries are being made as to how to rectify this.
• Councillors had no objection to the plans submitted for the extension of Brick Kiln House on Shelley Road.
• Arrangements for the appointment of a new Clerk to the Council were discussed at length. There are two applicants.
• It was agreed to request a further training session for all councillors and the newly appointed Clerk, shortly after the appointment, to explore the role of the Clerk. The purpose will be to ensure we all have a shared understanding of the role.
• It was confirmed that our precept for 2008-09 will be £3700 (approx. £3000 less than required) due to an administrative error. A letter explaining the necessity to make up the shortfall in future years is being sent to all homes in the Parish.
• A report from the Green Team on the Green Village Day was received and noted.
• The next meeting of the Council will be on Thursday 26 June at 7.30pm

ALLOTMENTS
All plots owned by the Parish Council are being worked at present. There is a continuing demand for gardens but no immediate prospect of the Parish Council being in a position to obtain more land for cultivation. If any landowner or garden owner would be prepared to offer land for cultivation as an allotment, please contact David Pratt, the Acting Clerk to the Council, on 827667.

ST ANDREW'S - your local church
Sunday Services for July
6th July 10.30 am Family Service
13th, 20th 9.15 am Holy Communion
27th No service at Layham. The Dean's last service before he retires will be at 10.30 am at Hadleigh.

Forthcoming events
6th July 12.30 pm Please join us for a BBQ at Windy Ridge, Upper Layham. Bookings may be made on 822220. Adults £6.50, children £3.

Help!
In order to raise funds for the maintenance of the church building would you be willing to hold a coffee morning in your house/garden? If assistance is needed please contact either Sonia on 822220 or Audrey on 822081.

A Big Thank-You
Thanks to those who attended and/or supplied plants for the Plant Sale on 11th May. There was a steady sale of plants and delicious cream teas during the very warm afternoon resulting in £267.70 being raised for church funds.

Layham Green Team
Two new recycling services
Our nearest Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) in Hadleigh will now accept PLASTIC FILM and USED COOKING OIL. Please consider keeping all those plastic wrappers that act as envelopes these days and all your unwanted plastic bags. They stuff into a hanging bag in the garage or shed very easily. When you are next taking something to the HWRC take your bag of plastic film also. If you use and change cooking oil, don’t pour it down the drain for Anglia Water to clean up, but pour it into a large bottle and, again, keep it until you are on the way to the HWRC for another reason and dispose of it there. It is all these small actions by YOU that will make the difference! Thank you.

Layham Playing Field
A very big thank you to local businesses!
Our self-help project to provide a bigger and better swing on Layham Playing Field has been made possible by:
BRETT AGGREGATES – the sand and ballast company who run the pit in Lower Layham. They have provided 10 tons of ballast free of charge for the groundwork. The picture below shows the ten ton pile with COLIN AND MAUREEN BROWN, DAN MOAT and TERRI NEWMAN working on the first mix of concrete.
FRANK SMITH – the haulier who delivered the ballast without charge and insisted that if we wanted to make a payment we should put it into Cancer Research – which we have done.
HIREBASE – the machinery hire business in BUILDBASE. They loaned us two cement mixers and a small dumper truck for the weekend totally free of charge. This was a huge help and dramatically cut down the man-hours we would have spent on the job otherwise. The picture shows Terri Newman, LESTER BENNETT and NEIL RICHES at work with the mixers.
BUILDBASE – who supplied a ton and a half of cement at a very favourable rate.
CLIVE HOLDER - who brought along his digger and worked with us for a full working day, digging out the footings and base, removing the soil and erecting the steel swing structure. His knowledge and advice was invaluable. The picture shows Clive and Colin Brown removing topsoil from the site.
DAVID PEARCE of Layham Mill who agreed to his water supply being used for the weekend.
In addition to the ‘workers’ mentioned above, MICHAEL WOODS, ANDREW THORP and ALISTAIR MOAT worked on the project.
The photos show Neil preparing the shuttering, Lester checking the volume of concrete in the footings, Maureen, Colin and Alistair working on the base and the moment of truth when the swing frame had been dropped into the footing holes.
There will be a further report when we get the rubber safety surface laid and the new swings purchased and put in place.
This sort of support for local voluntary effort is what makes the world go round. The children of Layham will benefit for years from this generosity. Thank you all for your enormous support!
These jobs take time because those who do them are all volunteers. If you are a parent of a child who gets benefit from our playing field and feel you would like to help with maintenance, then call Michael Woods (Chairman Management Committee) on 823798.

100 Club
Winners for June were:
£15 Laing Ticket No.18
£10 Dunn Ticket No. 21

From the Layham Archive
The Layham Archive consists of a collection of information from the past, examples of which have been published in these columns. ‘Today’ becomes ‘the past’ of course, and the archive grows as photographs and information are added to the collection. Keeping the archive up-to-date is the voluntary task of the Local History Recorder and we need a volunteer to carry on the valuable work done by Pam Walker in recent years. If you are interested, please contact David Pratt, the Acting Clerk to the Parish Council on 827667.

Layham Good Neighbours
The ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of Layham Good Neighbours will be held on Monday 21 July 2008 at 8pm in the dining room of the Queen’s Head public house. Anyone interested in this very valuable voluntary work is cordially invited to come along.

Layham Hedgerow Survey
Twenty one villagers have put their names forward to help with this project. Most of them met for a training session at the end of May and a dozen of us had a group survey evening out in the field early in June. The picture shows Carolyn Webb, Jonathan Oldham, Richard and Sonia Groom, Sally Looker, Sheila Roberts, David Pratt, Peter Garnett, Jane Gales, Richard Cromwell and Michael Woods tackling the hedge alongside Overbury Hall Road.
It is never too late for others to get involved – simply phone Michael Woods on 823798.