Minutes of the Great Staughton Parish Council Meeting held on 15th November 2018 – 7.30pm in the Village Pavilion
Present: R Jewell (BJ) H Glanville (HG) G Brittain (GB) L Goody (LG) N Yates (NY) A Gilbert (AG) J Bowen (JB) W Mumford (WM)
Darren Tysoe (DT) Ian Gardener (IG) J Russel (JR) (clerk) Ashley Smith (AS)
1. Apologies for absence – D Moore (DM)
2. Residents’ Forum AS attended to raise objections to the planning application for 7 dwellings to the rear of 69 The Highway. He has concerns both for the village in general and from a personal perspective as he resides at 73 The Highway, which is located in front of the land proposed for development. The general objections are – the size of the development is not suitable for the village; the additional properties will create a traffic issue with more vehicles coming out onto The Highway and allowing this application will set a precedent for more infill development on meadow land. The personal objections are that the building on plot 1, according to the plans, will be positioned 2.3 metres from the rear garden of 73 The Highway which, as a two-storey house will block sunlight from the garden, which also includes an annexe building and a conservatory that are not shown on the plans. The property will be overlooked leading to a loss of privacy. A tree located near to the boundary will potentially suffer root damage. In addition, the plans submitted with the application is not accurate as it seems to include a corner of the garden that forms part of 73 The Highway and thus is not in the ownership of the applicant. AS is also pursuing a challenge against planning permission that has already been granted for a single dwelling on the same land on the basis that he was not notified by HDC and therefore had no opportunity to raise comment. AS has made these representations directly to HDC.
3. Minutes of the meeting held on 27 September 2018 – The minutes were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
4. Declarations of interest – NY declared an interest in the planning application for an additional warehouse at The Paddocks, Moor Road.
5. Matters arising:
Adoption of Standing Orders, Safeguarding policy and Equal Opportunities policy – subject to minor amendments suggested by JB (as per her annotated copies) these documents are adopted. Parking on grass verges on The Highway – the problem has recurred since the last meeting. Notice in Life magazine to be repeated, clerk to write letters to the houses in the vicinity to advise not to part on the verges and to request the PCSO to visit the addresses in the locality next time he is in the village. BJ will check the addresses to be written to and let the clerk know the numbers to write to. Ditches – Clerk will now send a letter to the relevant landowner. Missing County sign – Clerk has again reported as it has still not been replaced. But CCC report that matter is being dealt with and the works ordered. Time bank – BJ has made the grant application to the Innovate Fund to set up the scheme. It is hoped the scheme could work in collaboration with the St Neots Timebank. PC Website – this will be publicised shortly on Facebook and in Life. Green Close potholes – carried forward to the next meeting. Bridge on Footpath 3 – this is now been fixed. Speed limits in The Town – carried forward to next meeting. GDPR Councillor email addresses – BJ has set up his new email address for the chair. Weight Limit the Town – The clerk is still awaiting a response from Highways. Lorries are regularly seen in the village. AG suggested that details are taken and then the police can speak to the relevant companies. IG will see if he can find details of the agreed route for HGVs. The parish councillors suggested that if anyone sees unauthorised lorries in the village then if possible, can they please take details so that the appropriate action can be taken. Broken Fence Beachampstead Road – this will be fixed shortly. Bollards Green Close – JB was asked by residents to raise this issue. They have seen cars and motorbikes using this cut through and it is unsafe. The last occasion was on 10 November. The path is not built to take traffic. One suggestion was to place planters there instead of bollards and JB and BJ will speak to the relevant residents to see if they are in agreement. Then the PC can fund the planters. Vacancies on committees – WM and GB will join the playing field committee. There is still a vacancy for the Neighbourhood Watch and WM may know someone. Leaning electricity pole – the electricity company have reported that this is fine, and no action is required.
6. Attendance at other meetings – n/a
7. Planning –
Solar Farm – Grafham Water – GSPC is not a statutory consultee, but it was agreed the clerk would raise the issue with Perry PC to see if a joint meeting should be held between Anglian Water to obtain more information. The clerk is awaiting a response from Perry regarding meeting dates. 18/02071/FUL – The Paddocks Moor Road – no objections. 18/02095/FUL – 69 The Highway – 7 dwellings – objections were raised by AS which the PC agreed with. The PC agree that the plot is not large enough to hold 7 dwellings and that if possible, it should be reduced so that the development does not impact on the existing homes. The PC were also concerned about parking issues in the area. It was agreed the clerk will write to HDC setting out the council’s objections. 18/02145/S73 – Land at Top Farm, solar farm – no comment/objections 18/02314/HHFUL – 19 Beachampstead extension – no objections
8. Highways – Parking issues Lauras Close – IG explained that he had attended the area with an engineer from CCC along with DM in order to look at possible solutions. The engineer expressed concern that putting yellow lines will only move the parking problem elsewhere in the village and if cars were parking towards the bend this would be a real concern and safety would be an issue. He also said he thought it would shift the problem to the other side of the road. The costs of such a scheme was also a real concern. The projected costs are in the region £10,000 and this is a very large sum of money to spend which would be of benefit to 2 or 3 houses when the PC had limited funds and had to think very carefully about spending which would benefit the whole of the parish. IG also thought that any application for yellow lines under the LHI Bid scheme may not conform to the ethos of the scheme as this usually takes into account, for example, a route for children walking to school etc. Members of the council pointed out that there has been no complaint from other residents regarding parking in this area and they had been no accidents. The engineer also mentioned that putting yellow lines in the area would be detrimental to local businesses and it was also noted that at the Parish Assembly no other residents indicated that they wanted yellow lines. Both IG and DT informed the PC that they felt the PC had explored all avenues in order to resolve the issue. It was therefore agreed by the PC that yellow lines were not appropriate. Although not a policing priority unfortunately, ultimately if people are parking in the area illegally then this is matter that needs to be enforced by the police.
9. Report from District Councillors – IG said that CCC were starting to look at the budget. They have additional funds from the government for social care. The solar farm at Soham has generated 5% more green energy than expected. The Judicial Review for the Fire Authority has been granted. This is to stop it be taken over by the PCC. There is also plenty of rock salt for the roads this winter. DT said the Local Plan will be adopted by May 2019. GS is no longer a Local Service Centre. There is a planning forum run by HDC on 26 November at 7.30pm if anyone from the PC wished to attend.
10. Correspondence – SENT Ian Gardener – Lauras Close CCC Highways – Missing sign Perry clerk – Timebank HW Clerk – Timebank K Buchanan – Weight limit The Town R Ellis – Speed Limits A resident – inconsiderate parking Jo Challis – Weight limit The Town M McKnight – gate at Beachampstead J Hudson CCC – Bollards Jo Challis & A Caddy – Lauras Close Perry clerk – Anglian Water re Grafham N Orchard -Dillington street light issues Balfour Beatty – Dillington street light issues HDC planning – Land at 69 The Highway a resident – inconsiderate parking D Chapman – Lauras Close Kate Merrell – dead tree M McKnight – bollards at Green close
RECEIVED J Abell – Timebank J Hudson – Bollards I Gardener – Lauras Close parking A Caddy – Lauras Close parking B Crabb Balfour Beatty – Dillington street lighting N Orchard – Dillington street lighting Perry Clerk – Anglian Water – Grafham a resident – Inconsiderate parking on The Highway Kate Merrell – Dead tree near The Vicarage Melanie McKnight – gate at Beachampstead Melanie McKnight – Bollards Green Close D Chapman – Lauras Close parking
11. Cashbook, Cheques in and out – Income: £1500.00
Expenditure: Clerk September salary – £245.18 J Duberly – car park rent – £10 Cambs ACRE – payroll fees – £43.20 K Fisk – village hall works – £480.00 Village hall – grant for insurance – £500.00 CAS – PC Insurance – £1188.56 Clerk November salary – £245.38 Bradgate – grass cutting – £117.60
Balance in Community Account £2250.36 Balance in Tracker Account. £18,488.37
Cashbook was reviewed and approved.
12. Budget – this had been circulated prior to the meeting and was approved. It was agreed that the Clerk would apply for the precept of £19,000 for the next financial year.
13. Affordable Housing – RJ provided an update. The land is now registered but it still needs to be valued. A meeting is being arranged with Luminus to discuss the allocation policy and types of houses to be built. The Housing Needs Survey is now complete. There is a meeting of the full CLT membership on 9 December where the members will agree the Allocation Policy and number/types of houses to be built. It is hoped that the planning application will be submitted before Christmas and the leases signed.
14. Report from: Village Hall Committee – HG reported that the VH having trouble with funds. BJ suggested that HG prepare an income/expenditure projection, so this can be discussed at the next PC meeting in January 2019. Playing Field Committee – Gala Day next year will be on 13 July. The skate park is unfortunately proving too costly to maintain and so reluctantly this will need to be dismantled. Neighbourhood Watch – no report Speed Watch – no report
15. Parish Matters – NY – litter pick will be on 23 February 2019.
Meeting closed at 10pm.
Dates of meetings for 2019:
24 January, 21 March, Parish Assembly 2 May, AGM 16 May, 4 July, 19 September, 21 November.