Little Gidding

GREAT & LITTLE GIDDING PARISH COUNCIL 

Minutes of the Annual Parish Council meeting held on Tuesday 21^st May 2024

Present:  Councillors Moody, Hargrave, Bolton, D’Altillia and Maciag and the Clerk. 

Apologies for absence:

District Councillor Alban – at another meeting

Councillor Sanders  – work commitments

Councillor Hodson – family commitments

Annual Parish Council meeting:

Chairman – Councillor Maciag proposed as Chairman by Councillors Moody and Bolton.  He has signed the Declaration of Office.

Vice Chairman – Councillor Hargrave proposed as Vice Chairman by Councillors Bolton and Moody.  She has signed the Declaration of Office.

Councillors Bolton and Hodson have advised they will remain as Councillors.  Councillors Moody and D’Altillia will remain as Councillors, but advised that work commitments may impact their attendance at meetings.  Clerk will contact Councillor Sanders.  No other persons had expressed an interest in joining the Parish Council.

022.24 There were no declarations of interest regarding items on the agenda

023.24 No members of Press or Public in attendance at this meeting

024.24 Minutes of the meeting held on 16^th April 2024 were declared as a correct record – proposed by Cllrs Moody and seconded by Cllr Hargrave

025.24 this item not used

026.24 Reports from Councillors and Clerk:

Councillor Hargrave had met with residents who expressed an interest in the Village Hall, a committee has been formed.  They will hold monthly meetings, setting short term and long term objectives. A separate email address will be set up for bookings/correspondence.

Councillor Maciag advised that the Neighbourhood Plan Group aim to get the revised plan to HuntsDC in September.

027.24 FINANCIAL MATTERS:

             a) to note Barclays Bank statements for Parish Council account.

• Parish Council (everyday) Account  – balance as at 3/5/2024 £12614.08  (includes £500 bequest)
  • Parish Council Deposit Account – balance as at 4/3/2024 £26,286.99 (1.85% interest applicable)
  • Defibrillator account – balance as at 4/3/2023 – £248.84

b) PAYMENTS – the following payments were approved by Cllrs Maciag and D’Altillia, subject to the Clerk checking the cover applicable to CAPALC’s data protection offer:

c) Clerk’s working hours for April were approved as a total of 26

            d) a first draft of the AGAR was shared at the meeting.  Clerk and Cllr Hodson will meet to finalise figures for discussion and presentation at the June Meeting.          

028.24  PLANNING applications and  matters:

a)Nothing further heard from CambsCC regarding the school playground site, although we did not request a response in respect of any points made.

b) APPLICATION REF. 24/00821/HHFUL

 Single-storey Garage Extension, The Mill, Mill Road, Great Gidding Huntingdon PE28 5NT

Response required by 6^th June 2024

There were no objections or observations in respect of this application.

c) the application for the mast, antennas and equipment at Longbrook Farm, Thurning has been refused – Clerk from Hemington, Luddington, Thurning Parish Council will keep us updated.

d) the application for the anaerobic digester is marked as “Decided” but no further details are known at present.  Clerk is in contact with North Northants Councillor Shacklock and Hemington, Luddington, Thurning Parish Clerk.

e) District Cllr Alban had enquired about the outcomes of the Call for Sites exercise.  Hunts DC advise that there is nothing to report at present.

029.24 Recreation Field – it was agreed to instruct Wicksteed, £132 for unaccompanied annual inspection.

030.24 Correspondence received since 16^th April 2024:

            a) NALC newsletters – dated               Chief Executives Bulletin                   NALC events,

b) Cambridgeshire County Council –Cambridgeshire Matters, Road Safety Education Newsletter,

c) Huntingdonshire District Council –16/4 HDC launches capital grant funding for Rural Businesses, Town & Parish Council April newsletter, grants of up to £2,500 for initiatives that support their communities and the Huntingdonshire Futures Place Strategy, Huntingdonshire District Council has teamed up with Cambridgeshire Police and Cambridgeshire Fire to conduct a trial using hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel, Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) is celebrating the opening of the East Anglia Energy Academy in St Ives, which will bring forward new jobs, skills and investment into the district, powerpoint slides from the Parish Council information session for EV Charge points, District Council launches Online Climate Hub  ***the Clerk had passed the information from the previous meeting to Little Gidding Trust as they own the car park at Little Gidding, and were interest in the potential of this scheme

d) CAPALC –newsletter, May training dates, Martyn’s Law – protection of premises from Terorism Act

f) Cambs Acre –  Staying in Touch newsletter,

g) Combined Authority Cambridgeshire and Peterborough – posters encouraging use of concessionary bus passes

h) Parish Online newsletter

i) Neighbourhood Alert/ECOPS etc – News from the Courts email

j) CARESCO offering to visit to explain their services for older residents

035.22 Items for next meeting:

             Approval and signing of the AGAR

036.22 The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 18^th June 2024

            in the Village Hall, Main Street, Great Gidding.

Meeting closed at 21.02

DRAFT MINUTES of the 2024 Annual Parish Meeting of

Great and Little Gidding Parish Council

Tuesday 21^st May, 7.00PM at Great Gidding Village Hall

PRESENT:  Parish Councillors Maciag, Hargrave, Moody, Bolton, Neighbourhood Policing Team Sergeant  Martin and 5 members of the public.

APOLOGIES received from District Councillor Alban and Parish Councillor Sanders

***Parish Councillor D’Altillia and 2 members of the public joined later in the meeting.

Councillor Maciag, as Vice Chairman, welcomed those present to the meeting.

Councillor Hodson was unable to attend the meeting, his annual report (copy attached) was read out at the meeting.

Councillor Maciag gave an update on the Neighbourhood Plan – it has been reviewed by Huntingdonshire District Council and changes and additions are to be implemented before it is returned to Hunts DC for approval.

Sergeant Anna Martin of the Neighbourhood Policing Team gave an overview of police involvement in our rural area, advising that our Parish has a very low crime rate.  She encouraged engagement with the Team through the Cambs Police Website (https://www.cambs.police.uk/), particularly the live chat option for crime reporting.

Questions from members of the public:

• Anaerobic digester – concerns about traffic and transport – no decision has yet been published. As the site is in the neighbouring county, Clerk is continuing correspondence with North Northants contacts.  SB encouraged building a good relationship with the developer to enable future discussions.
• A second speed camera has been installed recently – results are monitored in both directions and act as an advisory measure to drivers. 
• Councillor Bolton advised that a 20MPH limit has been applied for in respect of the lane down to Little Gidding – decision has not yet been made by Cambridgeshire County Council.  SB recommended the Parish Council apply for a 20MPH limit throughout Great Gidding.
• Call for sites – Huntingdonshire District Council have not yet published any decisions on sites.  RG had read on the Hunts DC website that results will be known in July.
• Advertising the Parish Meeting – DU advised that Annual Parish Meeting should have been better advertised.  Clerk advised the notice had been placed on the village website and the Village Hall website, earlier than the required 2 week notice period.  It was felt that new residents were unaware of events/services/facilities in the village and means of communicating with residents should be improved.

The meeting closed at 20.06

Chairman’s report:

Thank you for attending tonight, I am sorry that, due to unforeseen circumstances, I am unable to  attend in person.

The last year has been challenging, rewarding and hugely frustrating.

I would like to thank my fellow councillors for their hard work and dedication to the Parish ( and of course where would we be without Julie, who does a fantastic job as Clerk.)

Just a few of the things we have dealt with in the last 12 months

The Parish Plan – We have a great team working extremely hard to produce a plan which reflects the wishes of our residents, we have more steps of the process to complete, but we are progressing well. A huge thank you to the team 

Call for sites – Earlier in the year the Council asked people to suggest parcels of land that might be suitable for housing, we appreciate that the submission by Milton Estates caused a lot of concern, but as of today, we have not heard back from the Council, we will of course  let you know as soon as we do. Even if a site is agreed as potential development, the owner would still have to apply for planning permission as normal.

Anaerobic Digester – After months of no news at all, the website now says “decided” but does not say, what has been decided. We did all we could and will continue to do all we can to stop this development.

The School House – Now that the school has closed, we considered using the brick school, building as a village community building, but the financial economics just didn’t work, so we have advised Milton Estates that we are not interested in leasing the building from them

School Playground – Again we were considering purchasing this from the County Council, as a village amenity, but the conditions the County Council placed on the sale made the risk too great for us to contemplate 

After several years as Chair, I have decided it’s time to stand down, I will remain on the Council for a smooth transition, but if anyone would like to join the PC please let us know.

Present:  Councillors Hodson, Moody, Hargrave, D’Altilia, and Maciag and the Clerk. 

172.23 Cllr Hodson, as Chairman, welcomed those present to the meeting

173.23 Apologies for absence:

County Councillor Gardener – at another meeting

Councillor Sanders – work commitments

Councillor Bolton – not available

174.23 Cllr Hodson declared an interest in agenda item 181.23

175.23 There were no members of Press or Public in attendance

176.23 Minutes of the meeting held on 20^th February 2024 were declared as a correct record – proposed by Cllr Moody and seconded by Cllr Hargrave

177.23 Reports from Councillors and Clerk:

Cllr Maciag had attended a meeting with HuntsDC and other members of the Neighbourhood Plan group to discuss the draft policy.  They were advised that some re-editing was required, particularly with regard to policies and planning matters.  Once this has been completed, the Plan will be re-submitted to HuntsDC.

Also, monies left in the Neighbourhood Plan budget will have to be returned to the Department of Levelling Up after the end of the financial year on 30^th March 2024, and then re-applied for in respect of the 2024-25 budget.

Clerk – PCSO Sergeant Martin has accepted the invitation to attend the Annual Parish Meeting.

Clerk has completed an online survey from CambsCC regarding the re-introduction by the Council to spray weeds with chemicals – the request was made to include our Parish in weed spraying schedules.

Clerk had forwarded to Councillors the recently received email about alternative plans for those who have not signed up to the Garden Waste Subscription Service.  Larger villages will have a monthly collection, Great & Little Gidding fall into another category where they were offered up to 10 bins to be sited/emptied from Parish Council owned property.  Lengthy discussion followed regarding locations and logistics.  District Councillor Alban joined the meeting during this discussion, having been at the Folksworth & Washingley Parish Council meeting, where similar questions and observations were made.  On the whole it was felt that the District Council was transferring many problems and issues regarding green waste disposal to Parish Councils and the Clerk was asked to compile an email of comments and observations and send to the District Council (cc to Cllr Alban).

District Cllr Alban reminded those present of the District Wide Parish Council meeting to be held on the evening of 20^th March at Norman Cross Motel.

Cllr Hodson asked if anything further had been heard about HuntsDC Call for Sites report  (Clerk had checked their website and there was no mention) – he will enquire about its progress.

178.23 Financial Matters

            a a) to note Barclays Bank statements for Parish Council account.

• Parish Council (everyday) Account  – balance as at 4/3/2024 £2323.92 (includes £500 bequest)
  • Parish Council Deposit Account – balance as at 4/3/2024 £26,286.99 (1.85% interest applicable)
  • Defibrillator account – balance as at 4/3/2023 – £248.84

b) PAYMENTS – Clerks wages and Village Hall payments were approved

* see 182.23 regarding the Microsoft payment.

c) Clerk’s working hours for February were approved as a total of 30.5.

179.23 Planning applications and other planning matters

            61 Main Street – extension to form orangery.

            As this was a resubmission of a lapsed permission, the Parish Council have no objections.

180.23 School playground – proposal from Milton Estates.  Cllr Maciag had advised Milton Estates that the Parish Council would not be buying or leasing the School House from them.  Milton Estates then asked if the Parish Council would continue with the project to convert the school playground to a MUGA – Councillors agreed that Cllr Maciag should advise Milton Estates that the Parish Council are still interested in this site.

181.23 Allotments – Cllr Hodson requests approval  for installation of 8 x 6 shed, to replace an existing shed on his allotment – approved by Cllr Moody and seconded by Cllr Hargrave.

182.23 IT and online storage – Clerk has had issues with the laptop as storage capacity of 5MB was overfull and emails could no longer be sent or received.  She has deleted lots of non-essential documents and emails, stored documents on memory sticks and this has alleviated the problem for the very short term, and was grateful for advice from a resident.  Part of the problem is due to the expiry of the Microsoft package.  Discussion followed about payment for the Microsoft package, now only available online via payment by debit/credit card, which the Parish Council does not have. 

            Clerk was asked to enquire how other Parish Clerks overcome this.

            Clerk was recommended to purchase an external hard drive to increase storage capacity.

183.23 Highways, Byways and Footpaths

Hemington Lodge Road – Temporary Traffic Road Closure mid-April for repairs.  Clerk had been contacted by Clearchannel and directed them to CambsCC Highways Dept  to answer their specific enquiries.

Chapel End – Temporary Prohibition of through traffic between 12^th and 18^th March – this was thought to be another water leak issue between the Mill and Gains Lane, but details are not known

184.23 Recreation Ground – application to HuntsDC for bio-diversity grant was unsuccessful.  Councillors agreed not to reapply.

185.23 Village Maintenance

Benches in Main Street – one quote has been provided,  Cllr Hodson felt this was too high, various suggestions made about how to get this work done and this will be added to the April meeting agenda.

Cllr Moody requested Clerk to enquire of Highways Dept if 2 x 3 seater benches can be sited on the area of grass opposite the shop (intersection on the Luddington Road/Winwick Road).

186.23 Correspondence received since 20^th February 2024:

a) NALC

b) Cambridgeshire County Council

• Help at home – care micro enterprises
• www.volunteercambs.org.uk – ways to volunteer and where
• Traffic Management Centre monthly report
• Easter Holiday Activities and Food Programme

c) Huntingdonshire District Council

• Installation of cigarette butt bins in centre of Huntingdon
• Community bio-diversity grant scheme
• Police & Crime Commissioner election on 2 May 2024 – poster re identification requirement
• Festival of Huntingdonshire – slides from the online session
• Reminder that householders can still sign up for Green Bin collection

d) Cambs ACRE – staying in touch, Kirsten Bennett to step down as Chief Executive,

e) CAPALC – March training sessions, selling D DAY 80 Flag of Peace,

f) eCOPS etc – tackling speeding, parking and anti-social behaviour,  news from the Courts,  Police Community Engagement sessions, Action Fraud

g) Parish Online – newsletter

h) Jon Parsons – email request to metal detect on Parish Council property – Clerk will respond as Parish Council does not own land that can be detected.

i) Barclays Bank – scams and how to avoid them

j) Ian Clarke Dip Arb L4 (ABC) TechArborA, Arboricultural Consultant, S P Landscapes & Tree Contractors Ltd – offer to survey trees in the parish – Clerk will retain this information for the future survey of trees in the Parish.

187.23 Items for next Meeting (including Annual Parish Meeting):

            21^st May is the date of the Annual Parish Meeting – preparation of annual review

Preparation of Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR)

Appoint an Auditor to carry out Internal review

188.23 The next meeting of the Parish Council will take place on

Tuesday 16^th April 2024 at Great Gidding Village Hall, starting at 7.30PM

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Tuesday 16^th January 2024

Present:  Councillors Hodson, Bolton,  Maciag, Moody, Hargrave, D’Altilia and Sanders, and the Clerk. 

146.23 Cllr Hodson, as Chairman, welcomed those present to the meeting

147.23 Apologies and reasons for absence were received from:

            County Councillor Gardener – attending another meeting

            District Councillor Alban – attending another meeting                    

148.23 Member’s declaration of Disclosable Interests for items on the Agenda were made by Cllr Hodson in respect of 155.23 – Allotments

149.23 No members of Public & Press were in attendance

150.23 Minutes of the meeting held on 19^th December  2023 were confirmed as a true and correct record by Cllrs Bolton and Maciag.                       

151.23 Reports from Councillors and Clerk:

            Cllr Bolton – Cllrs had agreed, prior to this meeting, not to submit an LHI bid for the current round of assessment and funding.  The details of the next round of 20MPH bid process had been received and Cllr Bolton agreed to resubmit the application  in respect of Church Lane, Little Gidding.

Cllr Hargrave will attend a meeting on infra-red heating (for the Village Hall) on 24^th January.

Cllr Maciag advised that the first draft of the Neighbourhood Plan is on track to be sent to Hunts DC by the end of January.

Cllr Moody had read through the accompanying documents for the recent CambsCC Budget meeting  (Clerk and Councillors had not been available to attend the online meeting).  Her summary was that there were many budget cuts to be made, but nothing that would greatly impact on our residents.

Clerk had corresponded with the developer of the Gains Lane property regarding items left on the roadside – he advised the landscaping of the property is to be completed when better weather arrives, and the former property owner has an outstanding matter to complete.

Gidding News had been distributed at the end of December – so far there have been no responses to questions/requests made.

152.23 FINANCIAL MATTERS:

            a) to note Barclays Bank statements for Parish Council account.

• Parish Council (everyday) Account  – balance as at 4/12/2023 £6048.11 (includes £500 bequest)
  • Parish Council Deposit Account – balance as at 22/12/2023   £26,189.05 (1.85% interest applicable)
  • Defibrillator account – balance as at 4/12/2023 – £247.91

            b) PAYMENTS – the following online payments were approved by all:

• to approve Clerk’s working hours for November       –         total of 31.5.  These hours were approved by all.

Cllr Hodson advised that, after updating the cash flow forecast, the budget figures were all adequate but, due to the various additional issues that had arisen during 2023, the wages budget would be exceeded.

It was agreed that a further £50 should be added to the Website budget to cover any future storage/amendment requirements.

153.23 PLANNING applications and other planning matters:

1. School playground area/School House  – the registration of the area as an Asset of Community Value was unsuccessful.  Contact is now John MacMillan of the Property Team at CambsCC (Jonathan Lewis to leave the employ of the County Council in the near future).

An additional meeting of the Trustees of the Village Hall & Recreation Ground will be held in February, to consider all community assets and the way forward.

• Anaerobic Digester – nothing further heard on 10/1/2024
• Galliford Try/Cornerstone – have  acknowledged the “no objections”  email sent following the December meeting, regarding the proposed telecommunications base station to be sited at Longbrook Farm, Thurning, PE8 5RG

154.23 Roads, footpaths and bridleways:

a) Clerk has obtained a quote for an additional speed camera, to be sited on the second post opposite Manor Site Farm – Cllr Moody proposed the purchase of another unit, seconded by Cllr Hargrave. 

Further road safety measures were discussed for presentation as a future bid for LHI funding.

b) Ian Gardener/Tim Alban/Highways Department – correspondence regarding Milking Slade and Bullock Road potholes – Highways Department had visited and will take action.  District Cllr Alban has also reported the damaged name plate on the sign for Hemington Lodge Road – Clerk had measured the sign and this will be replaced by CambsCC contractor.

155.23 Allotments – it was agreed that the rent should remain at £25 per allotment.  No additional  terms or amendment to the tenancy agreement were required. 
At the next meeting of Gidding Charity Trustees (owner of the allotment site), the water meter/high increase in water charge will be discussed

156.23 Correspondence received since 21^st December 2023:

a) NALC newsletters –NALC events list, Legal update, Consultation to update the Model Financial Regulations, Legal Update (including fire safety for non-domestic buildings)

b) Cambridgeshire County Council –

• Cambridgeshire Matters monthly newsletter INCLUDING
• Traffic Management Centre – reports for incidents in December
• Request for volunteers to join schools admissions panel

c) Huntingdonshire District Council –

• Press release – 4/1 first Community Biodiversity Grant awarded.
• Press release – 8/1 regarding St Neots Town Centre Improvement project.
• Press release – 37 community spaces awarded funding
• Various emails from Emergency Planning Tactical Co-Ordinating Group (TCG) regarding flooding incidents
• Town and Parish Council Newsletter – forwarded on 10/1/2023 prior to meeting
• CAPALC– several emails about the various training courses available, January bulletin forwarded to Councillors prior to meeting, some important changes in fire safety legislation recently following the introduction of the Building Safety Act 2023,

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority –

 Combined Authority Local Transport and Connectivity Plan team

f)Greater Peterborough/Greater Cambridge Partnerships

g) Neighbourhood Alert/ECOPS etc –

News from the Courts emails

Tackling lorry thefts across Cambridgeshire and how to protect your lorry

h) Cambridgeshire ACRE –

i)  Parish Online Newsletter – January

j) email from resident suggesting showing of film “6 Inches of Soil”  – Cllr Hodson thought this should be explored further.  The resident will be requested to provide further information.

k) Gigaclear have forwarded the slides that were used in their December presentation

l) BHIB Councils (Parish Council insurer) have changed name to Clear Councils from 1/12/2023, email regarding hints and tips for dealing with winter weather.

m) North Northants Council advise (22/12/23) on 7 December 2023, the meeting of the Full Council approved the adoption of the East Northamptonshire Local Plan Part 2.  http://www.northnorthants.gov.uk/ENLP

n) from Abigail Benson, Milton Estates, to advise that the Dryer Yard is to be marketed for sale.

o) Cambridgeshire Home Improvement Agency – offer to advise/guide on available grants and products – Cllr Hargrave had expressed an earlier interest in this scheme and it had been mentioned on the December issue of Gidding News.

157.23 Items for next meeting:

            Village litter pick and tidy up tasks

            20MPH scheme for Little Gidding     

158.23 The next meeting of the Parish Council will take place on

Tuesday 20^th February 2024 at Great Gidding Village Hall, starting at 7.30PM

The February meeting will be followed by a Village Hall & Recreation Field meeting.

Meeting closed at 20.35