Minutes of the Great Staughton Parish Council
Meeting held on 21 November 2019 – 7.30pm in the Village Pavilion
Present:
R Jewell (BJ) H Glanville (HG). G Brittain (GB)
D Moore (DM) L Goody (LG) Nicole Yates (NY)
A Gilbert (AG) J Bowen (JB) W Mumford (WM)
Ian Gardener (IG) J Russel (JR) (clerk).
Apologies for absence – Darren Tysoe (DT)
Residents’ Forum – no one attended.
Minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2019– The minutes were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
Matters arising:
Ditches – c/f – the culvert has not been completed yet. WM stated that there is some confusion surrounding the positioning of the ditch, but a previous owner is going to send some photos to WM to assist him.
Timebank – Perry PC do not wish to join the scheme unfortunately. The clerk is to contact Little Staughton PC to see whether they are interested. Another possibility is for GSPC and HWPC to join the St Neots Timebank. BJ will talk to St Neots.
Green Close potholes – these were repaired but have washed away with the heavy rainfall. IG will raise again with Joe Hudson at CCC. JB also reported that the Openreach cover is still not repaired. She has now lodged a formal complaint with Openreach as initially they informed her that this was dangerous and needs to be fixed as soon as possible.
Ridge and Furrow fields – DT advised the clerk to contact the archeology unit at CCC. No response has been received yet, but IG will chase up if the clerk copies him in on her email correspondence.
Red House Hedge – this has now been cut.
Dog on Leads signs – signs have not been put up yet but HDC have confirmed that they will place on the lampposts. JB will continue to chase this up.
Car parking charges St Neots – DT has circulated an email in reply to the PC’s queries but this was not a complete response so the clerk will chase. AG indicated that she had received an email from HDC asking for her views as a business owner. The new machines are very complicated to use.
Pavement outside 71 Beachampstead – this has been reported to CCC who indicated they would visit. Clerk will chase up.
Footpath outside 19 Beachampstead – AW have completed their work here.
Streetlight Parish Energy Handover – concern over whether the PC has been properly consulted about this issue. If the PC has to pay for this lighting cost, then the Precept will need to be increased. Historically the PC has never paid for the CCC lights. IG has asked his colleague to contact the clerk to discuss this issue.
Village hall repair work quotes – Phil Yates has emailed the clerk with the repair quotes. Unfortunately, it is not possible to decide which quote is better as further information is required in order to decide who to go ahead with. HG will discuss with PY and report back to the PC.
Report from District/County Councillors –
IG – the A14 at Ellington will be opening on 9 December and the old A14 at Spittals and Godmanchester will be closed. They will start dismantling the viaduct in the New Year. Brampton Road will see heavy disruption.
Attendance at other meetings – BJ attended the CCC conference in November. This was very informative. CCC are trying to ensure that they are thinking about their local communities. CCC have also asked for the PC’s help in relation to scams and to make people aware of the issue. HG also attended a Finance for Village Halls conference.
Planning –
Applications: 19/01990/LBC – 23-25 The Highway – no comments
19/02141/HHFUL – 85 The Highway – no comments
19/01779LBC – The Manor, The Town – no comments
18/02145/S73 – Land at Top Farm and LS Airfield – no comments
Highways – the PC will find out if their LHI bid has been successful in January 2020.
WM reported that the Anglian Water roadworks had been causing disruption to road users and that the traffic lights still remained in place even after the work had been completed. He asked the clerk to complain to Anglian Water as further works are due in the future.
Correspondence –
Letter received from M. McKnight regarding the fence at Beachampstead. BJ visited this and checked the repair and so this issue has now been dealt with.
We have also received correspondence about streetlights PC4 and PC5. The clerk has reported these faults to Balfour Beatty.
A letter was received from CAB asking for funding. Unfortunately, the PC is unable to assist at this time
Budget and Precept – the clerk had previously circulated the Budget to the Parish Councillors and no comments were received. It was agreed that there was no recurring expenditure that could be reduced or cut altogether.
It was agreed that the PC would provide funds to assist the Village Hall with the repairs necessary and the other large expenditure would be the LHI Bid contribution – should the PC be successful. It was also agreed that the PC would assist with the GSCLT costs. The CLT has been successful in obtaining a grant but funds have not been received yet. It was therefore agreed that the Precept for the next financial year would be £22,000.
Cashbook, Cheques in and out –
Income: £1500.00 – Piglets Rent
Expenditure: – £5671.76
Bradgate – £235.20
Redshoes – £43.20
Clerk Salary £306.58
PKF Accountants – £240.00
Clerk expenses (CLT ICO fee) – £40.00
SLCC – £89.00
St Neots Museum – £50.00
Life magazine – £600.00
GSPCC – £400.00
GSPF – £2000.00
CAS Ltd £896.00
CLT Network – £60.00
J Duberly – £10.00
Eyelid Productions – £160.00
Bradgate – £235.20
Clerk salary – £306.58
Balance in Community Account £4340.45
Balance in Tracker Account. £18525.27
Cashbook was reviewed and approved.
Affordable Housing – BJ reported that all significant issues have now been resolved and Heads of Terms have been agreed in principle. This will hopefully be signed before Christmas and the leases shortly after. The build will hopefully start at the back end of 2020.
Report from:
Village Hall Committee – HG reported that they are hoping to replace work tops and have some repairs to the floors carried out.
Playing Field Committee – NY reported that there is an extra meeting of the committee on 12 December to make a final decision about the skate ramp and to discuss the grass cutting tender. The new treasurer is GB.
Neighbourhood Watch – no report
Speed Watch – no report.
Parish Matters –
NY reported that the lavender bushes outside 5 Manor Close are obstructing the pavement as they are very overgrown. The clerk was asked to contact the owner to ask them to be cut. No one knows owner so the clerk will need to write.
HG reported that a drain was blocked outside 6 or 8 Cage Lane. This is Anglian Water’s responsibility so the clerk will contact them.
BJ – a resident has contacted BJ regarding the spate of burglaries in the area and whether the PC had discussed using Blueline Security. The PC had previously discussed this but decided that this would be too expensive to add to the Precept. BJ asked the clerk to contact he PSCO for the crime statistics. John Harrison is also retiring at the end of March 2020. The PC wished to convey their thanks to him for all of his hard work over many years. They are very grateful. The clerk will place an advert in Life.
Meeting closed at 21.30
Dates of meetings for 2020 – 23 January, 26 March, Parish Assembly 7 May, AGM 21 May, 2 July, 17 September, 19 November