Minutes of the Great Staughton Parish Council Meeting held on 16 May 2019 – 7.30pm in the Village Pavilion
Present: R Jewell (BJ) G Brittain (GB) D Moore (DM) N Yates (NY) A Gilbert (AG) J Bowen (JB) W Mumford (WM) L Goody (LG)
Ian Gardener (IG) Darren Tysoe (DT). J Russel (JR) (clerk).
1. Apologies for absence – Helen Glanville (HG)
2. Election of Officers: Chair – BJ, Vice Chair – NY, RFO – JR
3. Residents’ Forum – no attendees
4. Election of sub committees –
Planning – all councillors Playing field – GB, WM, NY, JB, BJ Village Hall – HG, LG, DM Highway Warden/Road Safety – DM Neighbourhood watch – vacancy West Hunts Friendship – JB Parish Charities – JB, AG, BJ Footpaths – HG Life magazine – NY Speedwatch – DM
5. Minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2019– The minutes were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
6. Matters arising:
Ditches – WM has had the go ahead from the relevant landowner and so he will try to carry out this work before the harvest.
Timebank – information was circulated at the PA and BJ attended a seminar. He believes that CCC would probably support a grant application and that would mean receiving half the costs of a two-year period. Costs are estimated at £15k per annum but BJ thinks it will be less as this scheme would encompass three much smaller villages. The cost would be £2.5 – 3k for each parish but the grant would cover half of those costs. There was general agreement at the PA and the church are very interested. BJ asked if there was a commitment to ongoing expenditure and NY agreed it was worth it if the two other villages committed to the scheme. AG believed it was a good idea to help people who are more isolated in the villages. They could get help with shopping, grass cutting etc and would be good for community spirit. It was therefore agreed that the PC was committed to the scheme. We would talk to HW and Perry. Grant submission dates are 1 August and 1 November.
Green Lane potholes – DM will chase CCC.
Broken Fence Beachampstead Road – matter is in progress. DH looking at the most cost-effective option.
Bollards Green Close – JB reported that planters were not a good idea as they are high maintenance and Horticultural Society cannot maintain so we are back to the bollard idea. It tends to be more of a problem in the summer months and cars have been seen speeding in excess of 30mph. Bollards would cost a lot and an LHI bid may not be appropriate and evidence would be required. We could ask Highways to look at this though.
Ridge and Furrow fields – we still await a response from HDC to our enquiry. Email again and cc DT.
Streetlight outside school – the school have agreed to fix this. But JR will chase as it is still not fixed.
Blueline security – people who attended the PA in May were not enthusiastic. It was agreed that this scheme would not be paid for via the Precept as it would be too costly.
Red House Hedge – this is overgrown. NY will talk to the residents.
7. Attendance at other meetings – nothing to report
8. Planning – Applications: Land West Of 69 The Highway Great Staughton (ref 19/00452/PIP) – objections raised as to the number of dwellings proposed. 19/00645/HHFUL 18 Manor Close – no comments 10/00682/FUL 44 Dillington – comments sent to HDC 19/00576/PIP – Land South of 29 The Green – no comments 19/00492/HHFUL – Moory Croft – no comments 19/00343/HHFUL – Crown Cottage The Town – no comments
9. Highways – Speed Limits in The Town – LG reported that people are speeding through that stretch of road and ignoring the 40mph limit. We need to slow the traffic down and portable signs could be funded through a LHI bid. Highways need to come out and look at our ideas to see if they are feasible. DM agreed to set out the proposals in an email which we can then send to CCC. Parking in Beachampstead – this is worse at weekends. AG suggested that the PC remind people about inconsiderate parking. BJ will put a notice in Life and Facebook. Hedges – Little Thatch – JB reported that these need to be cut back as it is growing over the path. Clerk will write to say the PC will have to contact CCC who will charge the resident is they have to cut the hedge. Footpath – DM reported that there had been a complaint regarding herbicide being sprayed on the footpath to Perry which runs at the back of the village. WM said this is not allowed on the footpaths and Clerk will write to Mr Brown asking him to comment.
10. Report from District/County Councillors – DT – he reported that the Local Plan had been adopted. He has also received a lot of correspondence about the planning application at 69 The Highway. He doesn’t believe that this application is going to the planning committee and that there seemed to be a lot of problems with the application. The HDC Portal is now up and running. BJ mentioned that the St Neots office of the district council was closing and that the PC had objected to this previously. DT said that unfortunately the numbers do not stack up and visitors of 4-7 per hour cannot justify the costs of keeping the office open.
IG has been re-elected to the Highways Committee and he is Vice Chair of the Planning Committee and Pensions Committee. It is the 50th anniversary of Grafham Water on 27 May and a number of activities are planned at an Open Day to celebrate this. We will advertise on village Noticeboards. CCC plan to be Carbon Neutral by 2040. IG is meeting with the Highways Engineer next week so he will organise for him to visit GS with DM. He can then advise what is practical. We will let IG know our ideas before 23 May. Regarding the Community Heat Scheme discussed at the PA, IG will also ask Sheryl French to attend the CLT AGM in September.
11. Correspondence – SENT March – Derek Suckling/Tracey Stokes Blueline/Three Shires March – David Francetti Little Staughton Solar Farm March – Ashley Smith 69 The Highway Development March – Mark Saunders Speeding/Parking issues March – HW and Perry clerks Timebank April – Balfour Beatty Streetlight The Green April Emma Fletcher – Swaffham Prior CLT
RECEIVED
March – Tracey Stokes Blueline March – David Francetti Little Staughton Airfield Solar Farm March – Derek Suckling 3 Shires Security March – PKF Littlejohn AGAR 2018/19 April – Ashley Smith 69 The Highway development April – Mark Saunders Speed limits and parking issue April – HDC CIL payment April HW Clerk – Timebanking May – Roger Harding Red House hedge
12. Cashbook, Cheques in and out –
Income: £21,680.77
Expenditure: – £4365.54 Clerk Salary – £245.38 Red Shoes accounting – £43.20 HMRC – £184.00 Arthur Ibbotts – £93.46 ROSPA Play Safety – £177.00 CAS Ltd – £297.15 CAPALC – £336.63 CLT Network – £350.00 Clerk Salary – £245.38 J Bowen – £34.63 J Harrison – £266.21 D. Hoenig – £37.50 Bradgate Ltd – £235.30 Anthony Collins – £1800.00
Balance in Community Account £21949.13 Balance in Tracker Account. £18,506.81
Cashbook was reviewed and approved.
13. AGAR Forms – 13A – Annual Governance Statement 2018/19 approved and signed. 13B – Accounting statements for 2018/19 approved and signed.
14. Affordable Housing – RJ provided an update. The recent meeting with Luminus had not gone well and they have reneged on a number of agreements. The CLT Board are meeting next week to discuss the next steps. DT offered to assist, and BJ is to send him the details as he has a meeting with the head of the Council coming up and he will raise this.
15. Report from: Village Hall Committee – have an issue with rising damp. Estimate that the repairs could cost £6k. VH has £2k in the bank. PC will need to fund the rest. There will need to be an engineer’s report and 3 tenders for the work. Playing Field Committee – Gala Day will be on 6 July. NY is hoping to arrange a quiz night to raise funds to book a band on the day. Neighbourhood Watch – no report Speed Watch – DM reported that Speedwatch are running training courses on 15 June in Cambourne and 22 and 29 June in St Neots. LG expressed an interest in attending.
16. Parish Matters – Website – there is an issue with the notifications which Dianne Palmer is sorting. JB raised the issue of dogs being off their leads. HW have signs asking people to keep their dogs on leads and the clerk will enquire where they came from. Some of the trees need pruning. David Hoenig can do this. John Bashford cannot do this on his own and a new tree warden will also need to be appointed. GB reported that the list of Parish Councillors needs updating in Life.
Meeting closed at 9.15pm.
Dates of meetings for 2019:
Parish Assembly 2 May, AGM 16 May, 4 July, 19 September, 21 November.