Reason for the Meeting It is unusual for either the Council or the Diocese to recommend consideration of a school closure. However, on 17 January 2023 the Council’s Children & Young People’s Committee agreed that a consultation should take place on the future of Great Gidding CE VC Primary School with effect from 31 August 2023.
Extraordinay meeting held on Thursday 9th February 2023 in Great Gidding Village Hall
the Right Honorable Shailesh Vara, MP for North West Cambridgeshire and resident in the school catchment area,
County Councillors Gardener (Alconbury and Kimbolton Division (which includes Great & Little Gidding parish and the school catchment area)), County Councillor Simon Bywater (Cambridgeshire county council (Sawtry and Stilton) Huntingdonshire district councillor (Sawtry ward), Ross Martin (Huntingdonshire District Councillor (Sawtry ward).
Mr Jonathan Lewis, Director of Education – Cambridgeshire County Council
Ms Clare Buckingham, Strategic Policy and Place Planning Manager – Cambridgeshire County Council
Ms Bryony Goodliffe – Chair of Children and Young People Committee – Cambridgeshire County Council
Ms Fran Cox, Assistant Director, Education Capital and Place Planning – Cambridgeshire County Council
Andrew Read, Director of Education for the Diocese of Ely
Mr Iain Nott, Head of Estate – Milton (Peterborough) Estates Co.
and the Clerk.
Joined by 34 members of the public
Notices had been posted in the village, on the website and shared on social media platforms, advising of the meeting and its purpose. The notice invited written submissions prior to the meeting and, after the deadline, these were shared with the Education Department to enable them to research and respond at the meeting.
At the meeting:
Parish Council Chairman, Paul Hodson, opened the meeting by thanking those in attendance and those that submitted questions and comments prior to the meeting.
Mr Jonathan Lewis, Education Department, gave a background to the process that had led to the consultation regarding the future of the village school.
Parish Councillor Karen Moody read out questions and comments that had been submitted and, in turn, Mr Lewis responded. Later in the meeting there were questions directed at the Parish Council and then to Mr Vara – all were answered.
Mr Vara’s request to address those present was granted.
***The closing date for the consultation on the future of Great Gidding CofE (VC) School is 12 noon on Tuesday 21st February – any further questions and comments can be submitted to that consultation via an online survey – https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/GGconsultation/
+++ the next meeting of the Children and Young People’s Committee will be held on Wednesday 8th March at 2.00PM in the Red Kite Room at New Shire Hall, Alconbury Weald.
The next Parish Council meeting will take place on Tuesday 21st February 2023
starting at 1930 hours in the Village Hall, Great Gidding.
Meeting held on Friday 3rd February 2023 in Great Gidding Village Hall, starting at 5PM to review the submissions prior to the Extraordinary Meeting to be held on Thursday 9th February.
PRESENT: Cllrs Hodson, Hargrave, Moody, D’Altilia and the Clerk.
Final date and time for submissions in advance of the meeting = Friday 3rd February at 5PM.
Items of correspondence had been received from residents of the parish. Each of these was viewed by those present and questions formulated for presentation and discussion at the Extraordinary Meeting.
Copies of the correspondence will be emailed to the Education Department of Cambridgeshire County Council prior to the meeting
Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 17th January in Great Gidding Village Hall
PRESENT: Cllrs Hodson, D’Altilia, Maciag,Hargrave, Moody, County Councillor Gardener and the Clerk. Joined by 6 members of the public at the start of the meeting
The start of the meeting was delayed as members of the public were in attendance who anticipated that there would be an agenda item to discuss the recent notification from the Education Department of Cambridgeshire regarding the future of Gidding School. It was confirmed that discussion of the school was not on the agenda for this meeting, but it was intended to include this on the agenda for the meeting to be held on Tuesday 21st February. This caused consternation amongst the public, but it was explained that County Councillor Gardener had been present at the Cambridgeshire County Council Children & Young People (CYP) meeting which had taken place this afternoon (17th January 2023) and was intending to report on the content of this meeting to Parish Councillors therefore, at that moment in time, the information had not been shared. Members of the public requested that the Parish Council hold a meeting to discuss the future of the school, and the impact on the village should it close.
Assurances were given that this would be considered and members of the public left the meeting.
170.22 Cllr Hodson, as Chairman, welcomed those present to the meeting
171.22 To receive apologies and reasons for absence
District Councillor Alban – personal
172.22 Member’s declaration of Disclosable Interests for items on the Agenda
Cllrs Hodson and Moody for 186.22
173.22 Public & Press participation session with respect to items on the Agenda – see above
174.22 Minutes of the meeting held on 21st December 2022 were confirmed as a correct record by Councillor Hargrave, seconded by Cllr Moody
175.22 There were no matters arising from those Minutes that will not be discussed as an agenda item.
176.22 To receive reports from Councillors and Clerk:
Councillor Gardener had attended the meeting of the Children and Young People’s committee of Cambridgeshire County Council this afternoon. Item 4 on the agenda for that meeting was a proposal to enter consultation on the possible closure of Gidding School. The Chair of that meeting declared that the outcome was not predetermined and this was the first stage of the consultation process. Having taken legal advice, the County Council consultation period will commence on Monday 23rd January and close at midnight on Tuesday 21st February. Education Department representatives are willing to attend a prior Parish Council meeting to enable members of the community to ask questions.
Cllr Gardener answered many questions from Councillors. Cllr Maciag proposed an Extraordinary General Meeting and the date of Thursday 9th February was agreed (Education Department have agreed they will attend).
Education Department will also arrange meetings with staff members, governors and hold individual parent meetings to discuss options.
Cllr Gardener confirmed that the Diocese was represented at the meeting held today.
Cllr Gardener advised that a critical question put to the CYP committee today was to ask if the closure could be delayed until the new school at Sawtry is open.
A meeting will be held by representatives of the Education Department at the School on Tuesday 31st January, start time of 7PM, everyone is invited to attend.
Cllr Gardener advised that this is one of several stages in the procedure to close a school and any outcomes from the consultation will have to be presented and approved by the Department of Education.
Cllr Gardener also advised that the District Council are meeting this week to consider re-writing the Local Plan, which could have an impact on small villages – families – children, no further details are known at this time.
Cllr Gardener will send through his notes on other County Council matters and had to leave to attend another Parish Council meeting.
There were no further reports from Councillors.
Clerk – update on Parish Councillor vacancy and Vice Chairman role – held over to next meeting.
Recommendations for speaker or activity for Annual Parish Meeting in April – held over to next meeting.
177.22 FINANCIAL MATTERS:
a) Barclays Bank statements for Parish Council account were shared prior to the meeting
b) PAYMENTS – the following online payments were approved:
Who
What for
TOTAL
Invoice includes this VAT amount
Authorised
Authorised
J R Trolove
Wages for November (34 hours)+ backdated salary
Xxx
NIL
JRT
Firetext
Messaging Service
12.00
2.40
JRT
Milton Estates (Peterborough) Ltd
2 x Annual rent in respect of Rec. Field access path
2.00
~
JRT
Clerk’s working hours for December, a total of 30, were approved
Grass cutting contract – Bradgate had submitted a quote for the contract for 2022-23, there has been a price increase – 12 cuts over 6 months @£180+VAT per month – this was approved by Cllr Hodson and seconded by Cllr Moody.
178.22 PLANNING applications and other planning matters:
There are none as at 13th January 2023
179.22 Training opportunities for Councillors and Clerk during February
Councillor Training (online via ZOOM) – 3 split sessions in evenings
Allotment management training
180.22 Review of Parish Council Policy Documents and consideration of additional documents and policies required – this item held over for a future meeting.
181.22 Neighbourhood Plan update – Minutes of the meeting held on 3 January 2023 were shared
Cllr Maciag proposed Great Gidding joining with the parishes of Hamerton and Steeple Gidding and Winwick – it will be known as the GWH Neighbourhood Plan – this was agreed by all Parish Councillors
Cllr Macaig shared the budget that had been drawn up for the Neighbourhood Plan, there were suggestions for revising some of the figures.
182.22 Recreation Ground:
a) review of grass cutting contract – see 177.22(d) above
183.22 Communications with Parishioners
Spring 2023 Gidding News – Clerk had drawn up a draft and shared prior to the meeting, there are some further additions to be made, including a request for people to join a Coronation events meeting, advising that a sum of money is available, ALSO mention of the school meetings.
“What goes on in Great & Little Gidding parish” – Clerk and Cllr D’Altillia had met prior to the meeting to consider this information sheet for residents, drawing up a list of contents, for distribution to every household in the Parish.
Clerk had the idea to distribute this as a “souvenir” of the King’s Coronation.
Clerk had obtained an “outline” estimate from Inkwell printers, which based on the outline given, indicated the price would be less than £1 per household.
Cllr D’Altillia proposed that this project be commenced and funded by the Parish Council, this was seconded by Cllr Hargrave.
Cllr D’Altillia and Clerk will commence information gathering and compilation and bring back to a future meeting.
184.22 Preparation for the Coronation of King Charles III
Street Party licence applications deadline is 10/3/2023
Highways Event licence applications deadline is 10/2/2023
An item will be added to the next issue of Gidding News asking parishioners to join a group to plan events
185.22 Proposal to accept NALC’s Civility and Respect policy – details shared with Councillors prior to meeting – this was proposed by Cllr Moody and seconded by Cllr Hargrave.
186.22 CONFIDENTIAL – members of the Public and Press will be asked to leave the meeting for this discussion. See separate Minute
187.22Correspondence received since 21st December 2022:
a) NALC newsletters – dated 27/12+3/1+10/1 NALC events, 5/1 letter from NALC chairman,
b) Neighbourhood Alert/ECops etc – 21/12 Police Commissioner seeking views on Police funding, 21/12 Community Policing Survey and meeting dates, 4/1 neighbourhood watch, 4/1 news from the Courts, 5/1 Fraud beware, 6/1 Drink drive crackdown, 9/1 Ecops January update, c) 9th and 10th January – various emails regarding proposed closure of Great Gidding School
d) CAPALC email dated 29/12 Special General Meeting to be held on 25 January, 7PM, via ZOOM
e) Cambs CC email – Traffic Management Centre invite to training session on 17th January, 12 noon online – one.network. 9/1 visits available for Waste Recycling Centre,
f) Hunts DC email – 22/12 + 5/1 + 12/1 Business Newsletter, Town and Parish online engagement meeting to take place on 25 January, 13/1 information on Shared Prosperity Fund.
i) Combined Authority Cambridgeshire and Peterborough –community led housing in Cambridgeshire, meeting for Parish Councils – 17th January, 7PM online, online event re. Community Led housing, 12/1 have your say on the Bus Strategy,
188.22 Items for next meeting:
School – review of the meeting held on Thursday 9th February with representatives of the Education Department. The consultation period will end on the evening after the meeting.
Coronation – events planned and update
Neighbourhood plan – events planned and update
189.22 The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 21st February 2023
starting at 1930 hours in the Village Hall, Great Gidding.
