2023-07-18 Minutes of the Meeting of Great & Little Gidding Parish Council

Present:  Councillors Hodson, Hargrave, Moody,  Maciag and Bolton, one member of the public  (LS), and the Clerk. 

049.23 Councillor Hodson, as Chairman, welcomed those present to the meeting

050.23 Apologies were received from:

County Councillor Gardener – will join the meeting later as he is attending another meeting.

District Councillor Alban – attending another meeting.

Councillor D’Altilia – unwell               

051.23 There were no Member’s declaration of Disclosable Interests for items on the Agenda

052.23 No members of the Press were present.  Member of the Public was in attendance for item 059.23 of the agenda.

053.23 Minutes of the meeting held on 20th June 2023 were confirmed as a correct record, proposed by Councillor Maciag and seconded by Councillor Moody.                       

054.23 There were no matters arising from those Minutes that would not be discussed as an agenda item.       

055.23 To receive reports from Councillors and Clerk:

District Councillor Alban had sent a report via email, which the Clerk read – regarding the lengthy debate of the proposed introduction of a charge for emptying of green waste bins.  The District Council Cabinet will make a decision this evening (18th July).  He

Clerk and Paul Hargrave had accessed the data on the speed awareness sign, approx 18 months worth of information.  Paul Hargrave had since carried out analysis of the data, a summary of which will be shared with Parish Councillors.  On the whole, in the vicinity of the speed camera, motorists were travelling within the speed limit, although it was shown that they travelled slightly faster going uphill (towards the back of the sign, which still records in this direction) – huge spikes of through traffic were recorded on cycle race days and these have been removed as they skew the figures.

There were no further reports from Parish Councillors.

County Councillor Gardener arrived later in the meeting and gave his report:

There is a Fire & Rescue related risks survey for completion online – Parish Council’s are encouraged to complete and a link will be sent to the Clerk.

Proposed congestion charge for Cambridge – 58% of Councillors were against the proposal, particularly as it included the various hospital sites in the charging zone, and there will be a review in October.

The next round of Highways Improvement bids can be submitted between 27th October and 12th January – non-complex (under £10,000) and complex (costing between £10,000 and £25,000) categories.  Existing submissions of 20MPH zones will be reconsidered in this process,  also buffer zones around existing speed restricted areas were proving to be successful and would be given greater consideration.

Cambridgeshire Priorities Capital Fund – deadline for applications is 24 September 2023, Clerk has forwarded details to Parish Councillors.

Following changes made by the Boundary Commission, Great & Little Gidding will remain in North West Hunts division.

Huntingdonshire District Council’s proposal to implement a £57.50 charge for emptying of green waste bins had been debated at a Council meeting for over 3 hours, there being many reasons why this would be unpopular/unworkable, a decision will be made this evening (18th July).  If this proposal is approved, with effect from 1 April 2024, all food waste will have to be put into the grey bin, and go to landfill. (Currently, the District Council is unable to charge for emptying blue or grey bins).

In response to Councillor Gardener’s report:

Councillor Bolton asked when the outcome of 20MPH LHI submissions will be known – IG will find out.

Clerk asked for an update on when work to the footpaths would be carried out, as has been proposed by Sharon Middleton (Highways Officer) when she visited the village last year – IG will find out a timeframe for this work to be carried out.

School site – Councillor Gardener has reminded the Chair of the Children and Young People Committee, Briony Goodliff, of the Parish Council’s interest in retaining the site as a community facility.

Call for sites – these were available to read via the HuntsDC website, including those proposed for Great Gidding.  The Planning Department are reviewing the submissions now.  There will be a 10 week consultation period, possibly Spring 2024, in respect of those sites that meet the required planning guidelines and the Parish Council will be a consultee.

Suggestions were made to consider this site for having the school house listed/graded, and to register this as an Asset of Community Value

Councillor Gardener left the meeting at 21.00

056.23 FINANCIAL MATTERS:

            a)  Barclays Bank statements for Parish Council account had been shared with the agenda.

            Parish Council (everyday) Account  – balance as at 4/7/2023 £16373.86

Parish Council Deposit Account – £33.43 interest added, balance as at 22/6/2023   £16,061.85

            Defibrillator account – 51p interest received.

            b) PAYMENTS – the following online payments were approved:

 WhoWhat forTOTALInvoice includes this VAT amountAuthorisedAuthorised
 J R TroloveWages for May ( 43  hours )XxxNILJRT 
 Bradgate Ground Maintenance Ltd (no xxxx)  NO INVOICE RECEIVEDGrass cutting of Recreation Field  JRT 
 CANALBSInternal audit71.25NILJRT 
 Information Commissioners OfficeData Protection renewal fee40.00NILjrt 
 VILLAGE HALL payments     
 Julie Trolove refund for Mick George Ltd19 tonne of gravel706.80n/a  
 Julie Trolove refund for Glassjacks LtdGlass crates198.72n/a  
  • to approve Clerk’s working hours for June     –         total of  38

Payments and Clerk’s hours – approval proposed by Cllr Maciag and seconded by Cllr Moody.

  • AGAR was emailed to the external auditor on 23 June, exemption certificate is awaited.  The Internal Auditor’s report was shared with the agenda.

057.23  PLANNING applications and other planning matters:

There are no new planning applications in advance of this meeting.

Clerk did comment that there had been no planning application in respect of works to Manor Barn, Main Street and, it would appear, that the entrance to the property (in the Conservation Area of the village) had been altered.

Councillor Hodson advised that, at 65 Main Street, the window size had been reduced in accordance with the submitted plans, but the stone wall has not yet been reinstated.

Clerk will email the Conservation Officer in respect of both properties.

058.23 Call for Sites – Cambs CC have submitted an application to Hunts DC in respect of the school site proposing a housing development. (see Cllr Gardener’s comment above at 055.23).  Clerk had obtained contact details of the CambsCC  employee with responsibility for the school site – an email will be sent requesting a visit/access by Parish Councillors.

059.23   Co-option of Parish Councillor – Mr Lee Sanders has completed a co-option form, introductions were made.  He was proposed as a Parish Councillor by Cllr Hodson, seconded by Cllr Maciag. 

060.23  Current Standing Orders and Financial Regulations were distributed to Parish Councillors prior to the meeting.

                Standing Orders – Cllr Moody proposed acceptance, without changes, seconded by Cllr Maciag.

                Financial Regulations – Cllr Moody proposed acceptance, without changes, seconded by Cllr Hargrave

                Other policy documents – the Clerk will research templates for required policies.

                Information Commissioners Office template for model publication scheme – suggested amendments and additions – this had proved difficult to read and will be sent again to Councillors.

061.23 Recreation Field annual inspection report from Wicksteed Playgrounds – a 42 page inspection report  had been received.  The Clerk will summarise the comments and forward to Parish Councillors

062.23 Correspondence received since 20th June 2023:

                a) NALC newsletters – Chief Executives Bulletin, NALC events list, Star Council awards,

b) Cambridgeshire County Council – nothing received

c) Huntingdonshire District Council –

 waste minimisation meeting held on 12 July – speaker on home composting. Community Ownership Fund – webinar invitations – Cllr Hargrave will attend one of the webinars

Huntingdonshire Climate Conversation – registration required:

Friday 17th November

The event will last most of the day, we’ll confirm start and finish times in due course

The Burgess Hall, Westwood Road, St Ives, PE27 6WU

Clerk will forward details to Cllrs Moody and Hodson.

Health Inequalites – Quality of Life survey available on HuntsDC website until 4th August

Roadside grip cutting between Winwick and Hamerton on 31st July

 d) CAPALC – email re. Cambridgeshire Priorities Capital Fund funding – initial deadline

24/9/2023, June Bulletin forwarded to Councillors, Health inequality support services,

e) Combined Authority Cambridgeshire and Peterborough – *** has this disbanded, or replaced by the Greater Peterborough and Greater Cambridge Partnerships

f) Neighbourhood Alert/ECOPS etc – News from the Courts emails, cannabis factory alert, scam emails, youth work, cable thefts, anti-social behaviour,

g) Greater Peterborough Partnership / Greater Cambridge Partnership – bus network alongside better walking and cycling infrastructure

h) Cambs Acre – affordable rural housing

i) Keep Britain Tidy – Love Parks Week will take place from 28 July to 6 August, 2023.

062.23 Items for next meeting:

            Templates for policies, review of ICO template

            Registering properties in the Parish for Listing or Asset of Community Value

063.23 The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 15th August 2023 at Great Gidding Village Hall

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