Minutes of the Great Staughton Parish Council
Virtual Meeting held on 28 January 2021 – 7.30pm
Present:
R Jewell (BJ) H Glanville (HG). G Brittain (GB)
D Moore (DM) N Yates (NY) L Goody (LG)
A Gilbert (AG) J Duberly (JD) W Mumford (WM)
J Russel (JR) (clerk). I Gardener (IG) D Tysoe (DT)
1. Apologies for absence – n/a
2. Declaration of Interests – DM declared an interest in planning application 20/02408/HHFUL
3. Residents’ Forum – n/a
4. Minutes 19 November 2020 – reviewed and approved
5. Reports from County and District Councillor – Darren Tysoe – in relation to Luton Airport, HDC agreed not to accept the proposals. Query as to why they are moving the stack arrangements over villages where ambient noise levels are low. HDC have also suggested the stack is raised by 1000ft.
The CIL committee is meeting in 2 week’s time and he has been asked to have a chat with any PCs who have applied. BJ will forward our application regarding the replacement of the streetlights.
DT also reported that he has raised HG’s query regarding potentially using HDC land for the 3 Village Heat Scheme. In theory this does not appear to be a problem. There is likely to be a charge payable to HDC for use of the land.
Flooding – HDC are preparing plans for each PC for what to do in the event of local flooding. We can expect a letter from HDC shortly.
Ian Gardener – CCC would like to remind people that if they need help during the pandemic, they should go through the Country Wide hub on 0345 04552.
6. Matters arising
Timebank – on hold for the time being.
Green Close potholes – DM emailed pictures to IG as CCC had said they cannot do any further work at present and the matter would be reviewed in the new financial year. However, IG will now visit with Highways and a member of the PC as soon as possible to see whether this work can be dealt with sooner.
Streetlight Parish Energy Handover IG has asked his colleague to contact the clerk to discuss this issue but to date she has not been contacted – c/f
Playing Field Memorial – the unveiling went ahead in December and this was attended by many in the village.
Replacement of streetlights in the village – the PC has made a CIL application and we are still waiting to hear back from HDC as to whether that is successful or not. However, the PC has agreed to fund this in the event that the application is unsuccessful.
Luton Airport Flight Plan Consultation – on 5th January LG attended an online consultation on the possible flight paths and holding pattern which, if agreed will impact the area. The main part of the consultation was going through the material already available online but there were a number of interesting questions and responses to those questions. Available online are the webinars of the consultations as well as how to take part in the consultation which ends on February 5th. Also available online is a virtual tour of all the information regarding the proposals. All numbers are based on 2019 flights. However, Luton Airport are looking to add a second terminal which will increase flights if they get permission for that. Their aim is to have 24 million passengers by 2024. LG felt like this was a rush job and that they appeared to be more interested in the opinions of larger towns rather than small villages. The local MP is also against the changes. It was agreed that the PC would respond to the consultation to say that it was concerned about the potential increase in air traffic and the disproportionate effect this will have on a rural setting in terms of noise pollution and disturbing local residents and ask for the plan to be reconsidered.
Footpath between Dillington and Great Staughton – emails from the resident requesting this additional footpath have been circulated to the parish councillors for their consideration. An enquiry was made as to whether a footpath could be put in place from Dillington to the village, as more people are walking that way and it can be dangerous. BJ advised that the costs are likely to be substantial and queried whether it would be possible to apply for an LHi Bid. There was a mixed reaction. The main concerns are cost and whether it would be a good use of parish council money in this way. It was agreed that before a decision could be taken then the PC needed an idea of the exact costs involved. It was pointed out that not all of the land was owned by CCC and that it belongs to the frontage of some of the cottages in the village and so that would be an issue too. There was also a concern about vehicular safety and whether there is sufficient space for a footpath without acquiring people’s land. IG advised that we could ask for a highways engineer to visit the area but it would be very expensive. He looked at one in Grafham that was going to cost in the region of £80,000.
Bus services – BJ reported that the 150 bus had now been transferred to the combined authority. The 150 service goes to St Neots. This is a subsidised service and is now a “Dial a Bus” scheme. BJ was concerned that some people will not be able to access this service now and that they like knowing the times of the buses. BJ has asked the combined authority to ensure the PC is consulted as he is concerned that it may be an attempt to discontinue the 150 service.
Tree in Moory Croft – Phil Yates has cut one tree but there is another dead tree. It is going to be removed in the next financial year.
7. Attendance at other meetings – Parish Council Footprint Tool Virtual Conference – attended by BJ and HG. This enables a Parish Council to gauge their Co2 footprint. HG was not sure how much the data could be trusted though.
8. Planning –
Staughton Moor planning enforcement – 2 residents have contacted BJ about this. They are concerned about the industrialisation of the area and the lack of enforcement about alleged planning breaches. DT has also been contacted by one of the residents and he has liaised with the enforcement department at HDC on his behalf. DT felt that it would be helpful if the PC could write to HDC expressing concerns. HDC are reluctant to visit the site whilst lockdown restrictions are in place but the concern is that some of these alleged breaches are time critical and if enforcement is necessary then it need looking into as soon as possible. It was agreed that the clerk would write to HDC to try to press matters.
Some of the footpaths and bridleway in that area have also been blocked and these areas will be marked on a map and the clerk will then raise with CCC.
20/02408/HHFUL 13 Vicarage Walk -proposed two storey and single storey to the rear – no comments or objections
9. Highways –
LHi Bid 20/21 – IG will chase the highways engineer to see when work might commence.
LHi Bid 2021/22 – IG advised that if we wanted to submit a bid, he thought that the closing date would be June/July 2021.
Pedestrian Crossing Safety ideas – c/f
Drain near Red House – this has now been cleared.
Other drains in the village – BJ has received two complaints. IG indicated that they could meet with the highways engineer to discuss.
Stolen sign The Green – this has now been replaced by HDC.
Hump in road Dillington outside numbers 3 and 17 – IG will visit with a Highways engineer as soon as he can.
Debris in traffic calming area The Highway – CCC have indicated that they do not consider the issue serious enough for them to deal with. WM and GB agreed to deal with this.
Footpath 34 Beachampstead – CCC do not consider this an issue at present and so will not repair. The PC will monitor.
7 Manor Close – CCC do not consider this a problem at present and we will need to monitor to see if it gets any worse.
Damage to the bridge – The Town – when the recent flood happened the works scaffolding fell into the river and caused water damage to the church wall and a house flooded. The river was blocked by CCC work materials. LG reported that someone form CCC apologised but are now saying that they are not responsible. IG said if LG sends him the details, he will look into this for the PC.
10. Correspondence – a letter from HG has been circulated concerning Life magazine finances. It has lost £1300. Not enough revenue is being generated through advertising. The printing costs are £4000 per annum. It was agreed that the PC would double the grant and then mitigate this payment in future years when hopefully things will look better financially when the advertisers might come back.
11. Cashbook – reviewed and approved. The large sum of money received into the account was the Heat Scheme grant.
Income: £10,542.51 (this comprises of solely 3 parish Heat Scheme income)
Expenditure £J Russel306.58Cambs ACRE57.00Bradgate235.20Bradgate235.20P. Yates49.50PKF Littlejohn240.00J Russel668.40Red Shoes45.00CH Brown & Sons378.22HMRC9.60
Balance in Community Account £43,538.38
Balance in Tracker Account. £14,646.93
12. Affordable Housing – BJ reported that we are still waiting for the planning application to be approved. There has been one objection and the adoption of the road needs to be resolved as well.
13. Three Village Sustainable Heart Scheme – HG reported that Element Energy has started the feasibility study.
14. Neighbourhood Plan – BJ has assembled a team of approximately 10 people and they are meeting next week. Great Staughton area is now designated.
15. Report from:
Village Hall Committee – HG reported that the village hall is currently not in use due to the national lockdown. She will apply for a CIL grant to help with the village hall roof repairs which will be in the region of £35-40k.
Playing Field Committee – NY reported that the accounts are relatively healthy due to the recent covid grants. NY and GB have been trying to obtain quotes for some maintenance work to the pavilion. It may be possible to apply to the PC for a grant to finish the work to the playground and BJ mentioned that they could apply to the Parish Charities committee to assist.
Neighbourhood Watch – no report
Speed Watch – no report.
16. Parish Matters –
GB – he asked if the village litter pick would be going ahead when possible. NY confirmed that due to the covid regulations it has not been possible this year to do the litter pick but two Kimbolton School pupils, Ethan Russel and Freddie Spavins, are doing litter picking in the village as part of their Duke of Edinburgh bronze award. The Parish Council expressed their thanks.
BJ – the Parish Assembly is due to take place on 13 May and the council will need to discuss at the next meeting whether this will need to be postponed again or perhaps take place via Zoom.
Meeting closed at 9.55pm
Dates of meetings for 2021 – 4th March, Parish Assembly 13th May, AGM 27th May, 8th July, 9th September, 11th November