Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Tuesday 18th March 2025
Present: Councillors Maciag, Moody, Hargrave, Bolton and Hodson, District Councillor Alban and the Clerk.
One member of the Public joined the meeting (CB)
0177.24 Cllr Maciag, as Chairman, welcomed those present to the meeting.
0178.24 Apologies were received from Cllr Ian Gardener due to ill health
0179.24 There were no declarations of Disclosable Interest
0180.24 One member of the Public was in attendance to enquire if there had been any response to the broadband correspondence – Clerk advised that nothing has been heard to date.
0181.24 Minutes of the meeting held on 18th February 2025 were accepted by Cllrs Hodson and Hargrave.
0182.24 To receive reports from Councillors and Clerk.
District Councillor Alban:
He advised that an extraordinary meeting is to be held to discuss re-organisation of Councils. No decisions have yet been made, lots of ideas are being discussed. This will not affect the County Council elections in May.
He has spoken to Councillor Shacklock of North Northants Council and no decision has been made regarding the A D unit application.
The Saturday freighter service for green waste is not viable and, as the take up by householders of the paid collection has been much higher than anticipated, another option is being considered.
Parking on double yellow lines will become a civil parking enforcement at the beginning of April.
He encouraged us to watch/attend the Town and Council Forum events to keep updated of current activities and discussions.
The District wide Parish Council meeting will take place after election date.
Cllr Hargrave:
The jitty between Main Street and Gaines Lane has become overgrown, lots of debris, fallen branches – Clerk will report this on the Highways reporting webpage.
Deadline for the village newsletter is 26th March – Clerk asked to add that there are still Parish Councillor vacancies.
Village Hall – the Net Zero Villages grant was not successful, other grant opportunities will be followed up as and when available.
The small hall will be decorated over Easter weekend.
Pickleball sessions will start in the next couple of months.
A new charging policy takes effect from 1st April 2025.
Cllr Moody:
Requested that purchase of a noticeboard be added to the next agenda.
Clerk:
- As requested by Cllrs, email sent to Connecting Cambridgeshire regarding gigabit capable broadband – County Councillor Gardener and Sam Carling MP copied in:
Automatic response from MP asking for name and address before correspondence replied to. Nothing from other parties. See 0187.24 below
- At the request of Cllr Maciag, a reminder email has been sent to County Cllr Gardener regarding the school site requesting contact details for the CambsCC department/officer responsible for the site – no response received. See 0184.24.
0183.24 FINANCIAL MATTERS:
a) February statements from Barclays Bank
***Interest rates on the Deposit Account are decreasing from 1.35% to 1.25% with effect from 13th May 2025. This applies to Village Hall and Charity Deposit accounts too.
- Parish Council (everyday) Account – balance as at 4/02/2025 £1062.26 (includes £500 bequest)
- Parish Council Deposit Account – balance as at 4/2/2025 £25,676.65 ***
- Defibrillator account – balance as at 4/2/2025 – £101.70
b) PAYMENTS – Clerk’s wage calculation is awaited, therefore no payments to be made at present:
| Who | What for | TOTAL | Invoice includes this VAT amount | Authorised | Authorised |
| J R Trolove | Wages for January (26 hours) | Xxx | NIL | JRT | |
| Defibrillator account: WEL Medical | Spare parts for defibrillator (paid outside of meeting). | 149.94 |
- Clerk’s working hours for February approved as a total of 24.
- Microsoft will no longer support Windows 10 after October 2025. Cllr Bolton advised that it would still be possible to use Windows 10 after this date and there is unlikely to be any issues with laptop or using the Microsoft package. The current annual Microsoft package will automatically renew on 15th April via Clerk’s personal Paypal account.
- The Defibrillator has been repaired as, due to a lack of power to the unit, it required repair and replacement parts. The coordinator is aware that funds will need to be raised to pay for future repairs/supplies.
0184.24 PLANNING applications and matters:
There were no planning applications as at 14th March
School site – a notice has appeared on the school fence. In effect the County Council are advising a change of use, to enable the site be sold as a residential development site as there is no known use for educational purposes. Cllr Maciag suggested a response is written to the Secretary of State for Education asking that an access strip be retained to allow vehicular access to the former school house – at present there is no such access and, if this building cannot be sold/used as a dwelling, there is a danger that it will become derelict and we wish to preserve this visible heritage asset in the centre of the village conservation area.
An item will be included in the village newsletter to encourage those who were concerned about the school closure, and the site, to write a response.
A copy of the notice will be forwarded to Milton Estates (Peterborough) and, once our response has been written, that too will be sent to Milton Estates.
0185.24 Recreation Ground – grass cutting contract for 2025
Bradgate have provided a quote for the 2025/26 contract. At the last meeting I was given discretion of a 12% addition on top of last year’s price of £90 per cut, but the increase is 17.14% at £105.43.
Clerk advised that Bradgate had cut the grass today (18th March 2025), although no contract has been agreed. She will advise Bradgate that they have the contract for this year.
0186.24 Village Maintenance –
Contractor updated, works will be carried out within Pound area only – he will liaise with the Clerk in advance of carrying out the work
0187.24 Speaker or subject for Annual Parish Meeting
Clerk has been approached by Alconbury Flood Group who are carrying out works on Alconbury Brook, who have offered a speaker – Cllrs did not feel this affected our Parish.
Clerk suggested asking Connecting Cambridgeshire to attend, and this met with approval – Clerk will invite their representative to attend.
0188.24 Donations to Charities – Cllr Moody will draft a policy and bring to the next meeting.
0189.24 Correspondence received since 18th February 2025 :
a) NALC newsletters – dated Chief Executives Bulletin NALC events,
b) Cambridgeshire County Council –Cambridgeshire Matters monthly edition, Traffic Management Centre incident report for roads, reminder of the 20MPH funding scheme, Highways events planned for March – there are none in this area, micro surfacing programme by Highways Department – none for this area. Way 2 Go Road Safety newsletter (4/3)
County Planning, Minerals and Waste – an email dated 27th January, with 32 pages of notes and guidance on revision of the Local Validation List for planning applications, Children’s Holiday activities and Food for Easter,
- Huntingdonshire District Council – Town and Parish Council newsletter,
press release about Council Budget, another re. tree planting in Priory Park, St Neots, Launch of Public Engagement on Active Travel – invitation to visit venues for presentation and online survey to be completed, invitation to Waste Minimisation event at Pathfinder House on 27th March, Local Government re-organisation documents, notes from the recent Town and Parish Council briefing and pack of documents to be downloaded, advance notice of the Town and Parish Council Forum on 19th June at Burgess Hall, St Ives, Temporary shop wraps for empty retail properties in Huntingdon, Net Zero projects and grants
d) CAPALC –newsletter, future training dates, requested their subscription but sent invoice for another parish, Clerk has requested the correct invoice
e) Cambs Acre – Staying in Touch newsletter for January/February, presentation on Rural Housing Needs,
f) Combined Authority Cambridgeshire and Peterborough/Greater Cambridge Partnership – bus franchising introduced in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area by the Mayor.
g) Huntingdonshire Community Policing meetings – invitations to join online meetings on 24/9 and 15/12, both at 7pm.
h) Abigail Benson, agent for Milton Estates regarding Little Gidding public footpath signs – and a request from a walker about those footpaths too – this has now been resolved.
i) Defibrilator, water ingress and mouldy due to lack of power supply – spare parts ordered and will be fitted/have been fitted – see payment above.
0190.24 Items for next meeting:
0191.24 The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 15th April starting at 7.30pm
in the Village Hall, Main Street, Great Gidding.
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