Minutes of the Meeting of Great & Little Gidding
Parish Council held on 18th August 2015, 7.30pm
Present: Cllrs Alexander (Chair), Giddens, Howden, Hayden and the Clerk
Members of the public: 0
D Cllr: Tuplin
Key: CCC Cambridgeshire County Council
HDC Huntingdonshire District Council
172.15 Chairman’s Welcome
173.15 To receive apologies and reasons for absence
Cllrs Hodson and James sent apologies and these were accepted.
174.15 Member’s declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests
None.
175.15 Public and press participation session with respect to items on the agenda
None.
176.15 To confirm and accept minutes of 21st July 2015
Minutes were, unanimously, agreed as a true record of the meeting. The Chairman signed and dated them.
177.15 Matters arising from minutes (information only)
None.
178.15 Communication from District and County Cllrs
Apologies received from C Cllr Bywater.
D Cllr Tuplin reported to the PC that there was to be a boundary review for wards represented by Huntingdonshire District Councillors. He also informed the PC that the lower end (less than a metre) of the 18c brick wall on Main Street, had been removed, as was permitted.
At this point D Cllr Tuplin left the meeting.
179.15 Communication from Parish Cllrs Reports were heard from the Parish Councillors.
Cllr Giddens reported that the grass on the pathways had been trimmed and that she understood that a member of the public, with his family, was kind enough to have swept the jitty of debris. The Clerk was requested to write and thank him.
Cllr Howden reported that the Clerk had sent a letter to all allotment holders reminding them not to use hosepipes to directly water the allotments.
Cllr Hayden reported that a member of the public had noticed some of the new drains in Gains Lane were protruding, approximately, an inch above the road surface. Cllr Alexander to take some pictures for the Clerk to refer to CCC for clarification.
Cllr Alexander reported that the barbed wire fence along the jitty, near the gateway had fallen or been cut down.
180.15 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 to go out to all villagers regarding use of the hall and that committee member, R Downer, had resigned. He added that a member of the public had, very kindly, offered his professional services to remove a wasp nest that was causing a nuisance in the hall. The Clerk was requested to write and thank the member of the public.
181.15 Clerk’s report, inc:-
Review of tenants’ contracts to ascertain whether sub-letting is allowed.
Clerk reported that she had reviewed both contracts and although it was not directly stated, both contracts implied that sub-letting was not allowed.
182.15 Correspondence received, inc:-
a) Email – East Northamptonshire Council, Notification of Submission of the North Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy
PC noted.
b) Email – HDC, Bridget Halford, Basic Tree Inspection Course
PC noted.
c) Email – BT, line rental going up by £1.00 per month
PC noted.
The following correspondence came in after the agenda was published and the PC allowed it to be reviewed
d) Email – Sue Jarvis, Village Produce Show committee, regarding a correction to the Summer CLARION
To clarify, the Village Produce Show is not run by the Village Hall Committee, as was the impression given in the CLARION. It is run by an independent society whose profits go to supporting various local community groups. The Clerk informed the PC that she had already apologised for the misunderstanding and that she had offered to clarify this again in the next CLARION publication.
The Clerk also informed the PC that Kim Wells, Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator, had contacted her to request that, in the next CLARION, she would like it removed that she works with the police as this is not the case. PC noted.
e) Email copying in the PC – Bernard Watson, regarding ‘Men at Work’ signage left behind after works completed
PC noted.
183.15 Finance, inc:-
a) Payment of accounts
All payments were, unanimously, approved and all associated paperwork was initialled by two signatories.
Expenditure
£305.21 – Salaries (STO)
£14.34 – BT July payment (DD)
£1.00 – Milton (Peterborough) Estates Company (CHQ 100919)
£6.48 – Stationery (stamps) (CHQ 100920)
Receipts
None
The Clerk confirmed that she had received and banked (contingency) £179.00 from the VH Committee for the cancelled WW2 event
b) To note the reconciled bank account balance
£10,904.91 Current Account
£15,780.14 Deposit Account
184.15 Planning
None.
185.15 Health & Safety matters, inc:-
Update on :
a) Gains Lane, overhanging branches – Clerk
The Clerk reported that Les Middleton would be covering Gidding whilst Tony King was being replaced. Les had informed that he wasn’t able to identify the owners of individual trees, however, he would try and source a more informative map to help with this. He also advised that he would tried an pin down a more definitive date on when works would commence and he would also try to provide the PC with the contractor’s brief.
b) Brook at the back of the jitty, update – Clerk
The Clerk advised that when she contacted Anglian Water she had been referred to the Environment Agency. Alan Jones had suggested it would be useful to have a Cllr present when he reviewed the brook and Cllr Alexander had offered. As yet, it had not been possible for Cllr Alexander to make contact with Alan. The Clerk was requested to contact Alan again and report back.
186.15 Update regarding the recent Chapel End works – Clerk
The Clerk read aloud the response from Les Middleton after she had sent pictures to him of apparent ‘shoddy’ work, for clarification. He advised that CCC would not get involved unless there was a defect of more than 50mm. He suggested the PC could refer this to the Street Works Dept. but he did not expect them to take this up unless there were holes, etc, more than 50mm deep which the Clerk’s pictures did not appear to show. The PC were satisfied.
187.15 Discussion regarding the benefits of Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) membership and the possible Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Association of Local Councils (CAPALC) membership
The Clerk advised that the differences were that SLCC supported the Clerk to do her job, they did not advise the PC separately. If she had a grievance with the PC, SLCC would support her. CAPALC was felt to be more like an insurance policy. They supported the PC directly and if the Clerk had a grievance against the PC, CAPALC would support the PC. The Clerk informed that she could not recommend one over the other. She added that if the PC felt they needed support in a legal capacity, CAPALC would attend a meeting where as SLCC would not.
The Clerk advised that she understood that SLCC membership could be split between her other PC’s of which one is currently also a member.
A discussion was had, however, no decision was reached.
To be reviewed in the November budget.
188.15 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.
189.15 Play equipment on the recreation ground, update – Cllr James
Via the Clerk, Cllr James informed that the PC were unsuccessful in their funding request with the Community Chest Fund. She requested this item be removed from the agenda until she managed to source another funding avenue. This was, unanimously, agreed.
190.15 Tree Survey, update – Cllr Alexander
Cllr Alexander reported that he had sent an aboriculturalist a village boundary plan and he was awaiting a cost to review and number the trees owned by the PC. To be reported at the next meeting.
191.15 Village Hall notice board replacement, update – Cllr Alexander
Cllr Alexander reported that he had purchased and positioned the new aluminium framed notice board. Cllr Alexander to provide the Clerk with the invoice.
192.15 Update on village sign work – Cllr James
Via the Clerk, Cllr James reported that she was waiting on a couple more quotations and she would report at the next meeting.
193.15 Approval of ‘Welcome Pack’ for new residents to the village
The Cllrs reviewed and unanimously, approved the design and content, bar the removal of any business information that was not deemed as an amenity. Cllr Giddens to organise the delivery of the welcome packs to new residents. The Clerk was requested to thank the member of the public who produced the packs.
194.15 Policy review, inc:-
Risk Assessment, update – Cllr James
Via the Clerk, Cllr James reported that she was in the process of producing the risk assessment document.
195.15 To consider maximising investments
It was, unanimously, agreed to defer this item to the next agenda when it was hoped that more members would be present. The Clerk was requested to find out how much percentage each of the held accounts were offering.
196.15 Items for the next CLARION
Apart from the items mentioned in the correspondence, Speedwatch and the Village Hall Committee questionnaire were included.
197.15 Items for discussion on next agenda
Continuing discussions plus a review of the grass cutting schedule.
198.15 Date of next meeting
15th September 2015.
This section of the meeting was closed to the public
Staffing Matters
199.15 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.
200.15 To discuss the purchase of a reference book to aid the Clerk’s role
The Clerk suggested she purchase the ninth edition of the Arnold-Baker Local Council Administration reference book and she advised that the Amazon Website sold this for, £74.60 plus £2.80 p&p. The purchase was, unanimously, approved and the Clerk to purchase and be refunded at the next meeting.
Meeting closed 8.40pm
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