Minutes of the Meeting of Great & Little Gidding
Parish Council held on 15th September 2015, 7.30pm
Present: Cllrs Alexander (Chair), Hodson, Hayden and the Clerk
Members of the public: 0
C Cllr: Bywater
Key: CCC Cambridgeshire County Council
HDC Huntingdonshire District Council
PC Parish Council
200.15 Chairman’s Welcome
201.15 To receive apologies and reasons for absence
Cllrs Howden, James and Giddens sent apologies and these were accepted.
202.15 Member’s declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests
None.
203.15 Public and press participation session with respect to items on the agenda
None.
206.15 Communication from District and County Cllrs
It was agreed to hear from C Cllr Bywater at this point, to allow him to attend another commitment.
Apologies received from D Cllr Tuplin.
C Cllr Bywater reported to the PC. He referred, in particular, to correspondence e) and invited Cllrs to contact him with any suggestions where monies could be saved by working together with other parishes, for example.
At this point C Cllr Bywater was thanked and he left the meeting.
204.15 To confirm and accept minutes of 18th August 2015
Minutes were, unanimously, agreed as a true record of the meeting. The Chairman signed and dated them.
205.15 Matters arising from minutes (information only)
None.
207.15 Communication from Parish Cllrs Cllr Alexander advised that he and Cllr James had attended the recent depot meeting at CCC re highways.
Cllr Hodson expressed his concern over a group of poplar trees on the green, where he noted a branch had fallen from one, in the area where children make dens. It was, unanimously, agreed that the Clerk should, urgently, contact CCC about the unsafe tree bordering the recreation ground and request they come out to make it safe as it was believed that the tree could be a danger to children. The Clerk advised that she would do this first thing in the morning.
Cllr Hayden also requested the Clerk follow up on the request to cut back overgrown vegetation on the bend, leading to Winwick.
208.15 Communication from Village Hall Charity Committee
Clerk to forward the most recent minutes to the Cllrs when she received them.
Cllr Alexander reported that the questionnaire was due to go out to all villagers regarding use of the hall and that committee member, S Branson, had resigned. He also advised that there was some interest from potential new members.
209.15 Clerk’s report
The Clerk reported that she had received a request from HDC to advise them of grass areas in the parish owned by the PC. They also requested a schedule of when grass cutting was actioned by the PC. The PC noted that the paperwork received from HDC was incomplete and the Clerk was requested to return the paperwork with a letter asking for the paperwork to be completed before the PC will action their part.
The Clerk informed that she had been contacted by the Royal British Legion and had ordered the same poppy wreath as last year, cost £25.00, to come out of Sec 137 budget. Cllr Hayden offered to lay the wreath on the PC’s behalf.
David Buttery, (Joliffe Daking), contacted the Clerk to advise that the ash tree on the bridleway, accessed from Luddington Road (previous agenda item, 152.15), has an instruction on it to be felled due to the loss of 3 limbs, now making it unstable.
Michael Trolove advised the Clerk that he would be making a major late summer trim at the Jubilee Wood, mid to late September and that he considered the new wheeled strimmer to be very useful.
Lastly, the Clerk advised that she would be taking holiday on the coming Thursday.
210.15 Correspondence received, inc:-
a) Email, (copying in the PC), from resident, regarding the development of a large rut in Gains Lane following recent works
PC noted
b) Email – Police, Rebecca Avery, Outreach community information
PC noted
c) Email – HDC, draft consultation Cambridgeshire Flood and Water Supplementary Planning Document
PC noted
d) Email – CCC, Eleanor Bell, improving communication with the community
PC noted
e) Email, CCC, Simon Bywater, Councillors as Connectors, Financial Challenge and Response
PC noted
f) Email, CCC, Cambridgeshire Energy Switch Scheme
PC noted
g) Email, CCC, Simon Bywater, New Covenant allowing communities to help local armed forces
PC noted
It was agreed for the following to be heard
h) Booklet, Consultation on a future model for Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Hard copy available from the PC office and a link had been placed on the website.
211.15 Finance, inc:-
a) Payment of accounts
Expenditure
£305.21 – Salaries (STO)
£14.45 – BT August payment (DD)
£250.74 (£41.79 VAT) – Refund to Cllr Alexander (CHQ 100921)
£77.40 (inc. postage, agenda incorrectly states £74.60 inc. postage) – Refund to C Bradley, purchase of Arnold Baker reference book (CHQ 100923)
Receipts
£15.30 – HDC Clothing bin rebate
b) To note the reconciled bank account balance
All payments were, unanimously, approved and all associated paperwork was initialled by two signatories.
Clerk reported that she had questioned the amount with HDC given the PC received £79.35 last year. She had been advised that without records of when the bin was emptied, there was no recourse. The PC, unanimously, agreed to accept the amount.
£26,055.35 Current Account, less £2.80 postage for reference book = £26,052.55.
£15,780.14 Deposit Account
Cllr Hodson noted some administration (not financial) errors on the budgeting statement and bank reconciliation.
• The return of £179.00 from the cancelled WW2 event to be put back into Sec 137 and be noted as a minus figure. Clerk had put the money into the ‘Contingency’ allocation.
• To make a correction on the budgeting statement – £100.00 to the Village Show and £250.00 to the WW2 event – both in Sec 137 allocation.
• £15.30 recycling bin rebate to be added to the allocated reserve on the bank reconciliation.
Clerk to action.
212.15 Planning
None.
213.15 Health & Safety matters, inc:-
Update on :
a) Gains Lane, overhanging branches – Clerk
No new news to report. Clerk to follow this up and report back.
b) Brook at the back of the jitty, update – Clerk
The Clerk advised that she had resubmitted the request to have the brook water examined, however, she had not received any communication from the Environment Agency in regards to this matter. Clerk to follow this up and report back.
214.15 Update regarding the recent drain work in Gains Lane –
Cllr Alexander Cllr Alexander informed that he been communicating with Les Middleton regarding this matter and had supplied him with some photographs showing that some drains were positioned at a higher than surface level, therefore, providing no use for drainage of surface water. The Clerk was requested to follow up and report back.
215.15 Discussion of Parish Councillor’s/Trustee’s training needs
It was, unanimously, decided to defer this to the following meeting’s agenda in the hope that more members would be present.
216.15 Tree Survey, update – Cllr Alexander
Cllr Alexander reported that he had received a quotation from Eastern Tree Surgery which had come in after the agenda had been published. The quotation covered an inspection and digital mapping of Parish Council trees – £701.73. Cllr Alexander reported that he had requested a quotation from another source but had received no response. The PC discussed and unanimously, agreed to proceed with the quotation. Funds to be taken from the allocated ‘Trees’ budget. Clerk to contact the company with the PC’s decision.
217.15 Update on village sign work – Cllr James
Item deferred. Cllr James not present.
218.15 Policy review, inc:-
Risk Assessment, update – Cllr James
Item deferred. Cllr James not present.
219.15 To review the grass cutting schedule
The clerk advised that the contract was due to be reviewed December 2016.
220.15 To consider maximising investments
The PC discussed the saving percentage associated with the bank accounts. The Clerk advised of the Unity Trust, internet bank and the PC discussed. It was, unanimously, agreed for the Clerk to research this option and report back.
221.15 Items for the next CLARION
Via the Clerk, Cllr Giddens had forwarded that it might be worth considering adding a request to residents on Main Street, to park on their drives to reduce parking on the road.
222.15 Items for discussion on next agenda
Continuing discussions.
223.15 Date of next meeting
20th October 2015.
This section of the meeting was closed to the public
Staffing Matters
224.15 To discuss an increase in the Clerk’s weekly hours
It was, unanimously, agreed to defer this item to the next agenda in the hope that more members would be present.
Meeting closed 8.20pm
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