GREAT & LITTLE GIDDING PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the online meeting held, via Zoom, on Tuesday 18th August 2020
Present: Cllrs Hodson, Pudney and Dear at the Village Hall, Great Gidding and District Councillor Alban joined the meeting via Zoom.
064.20 Cllr Hodson as Chairman welcomed those present
065.20 To receive apologies and reasons for absence:
Cllr Hill – holiday
066.20 Member’s declaration of Disclosable Interests for items on the Agenda – there were none
067.20 Public & Press participation session with respect to items on the Agenda
There was none
068.20 Minutes of the meeting held on 21st July 2020 were confirmed and accepted by Cllr Pudney, seconded by Cllr Dear
069.20 Matters arising from those Minutes that will not be discussed as an agenda item.
Highways Department of CambsCC have displayed a Public Notice throughout the village, notifying residents of the extension of the speed limit area with a 40MPH “buffer” zone. This is part of the LHI Bid project.
The Internal Auditor’s report has been received, following a telephone consultation held with the Clerk. The required audit papers will now be forwarded to the External Audidtor.
070.20 COUNCIL ISSUES TO NOTE:
To receive reports from Councillors:
District Councillor Alban advised that the Small Business Grant is available until midnight on Sunday 23rd August and, if any small businesses were known to require extra funding due to COVID 19, they should be encouraged to apply.
He advised that the Eat out to Help Out scheme was operational during August.
Huntingdon District Council will be revisiting their budget in the near future – difficult decisions will have to be made to reduce spending and he will keep us informed.
Cllr Pudney asked about fly tipping as there had been a spate of incidents recently and was advised by Cllr Alban that, since District Council refuse tips re-opened to the public, the Environmental Enforcement Team had been pro-active and, where information was found regarding the person(s) who tipped the waste, fixed penalty notices and prosecutions were being made.
Cllr Pudney has reported 3 incidents of fly tipping to the District Council in recent weeks.
Cllr Dear reported a limb of an ash tree was damaged in the storm at the weekend. Clerk will contact the field owner to ask them to resolve this as the branch is hanging very close to the road.
Cllr Pudney advised that a tree on the corner of Back Lane has also lost a limb – Clerk will advise the landowner.
Cllr Hodson reminded the Clerk about the parishioner’s request regarding a display of large poppies for Remembrance Sunday.
He advised that, having cleared vegetation from the blocked footpath that runs between Chapel End and Mill Road, the vegetation has again been used to block the footpath and the gate had been tied with string. Clerk has completed another online report to Cambridgeshire County Council (via their website online reporting form) –
Reference: 00344828
Date reported: 12/08/2020
Fault type: Obstruction on path
Address: GREAT GIDDING FOOTPATH 6, GREAT GIDDING
Location: Report no 335958 is the same location – between Chapel End and Mill ,,
Description of fault: This has been reported on 335958, Parish Council has removed the vegetation and untied the rope restricting access on 2 occasions, but it had been replaced. Parish Council has received several reports/comments regarding this blockage of the Public Right of Way
071.20 FINANCIAL MATTERS:
a) to note Barclays Bank statements
b) to note the Budget control statement
c) PAYMENTS AND ACCOUNTS – to approve online payments in respect of the following:
| Who | What for | Amount | VAT | Authorised | Authorised | |
| 23 | J R Trolove | Wages for June–34 hours | £xxx | NONE | JRT | PH |
| 24 | Bradgate Fencing | Grass cutting Invoice no 8204 | 99.66 | 16.61 | JRT | PH |
| 25 | JRB Enterprises | Dog poo bags | 102.60 | 17.20 | JRT | PH |
| 26 | N & C Hill | Refund for safety matting for slide | 32.50 | 5.42 | JRT | PH |
| 27 | T M Trolove | Refund for phone call associated with June Parish Council meeting | 21.08 | NONE | JRT | PH |
| 28 | Information Commissioners Office | Annual Subscription – Data Protection | 40.00 | None | JRT | PH |
d) to approve Clerk’s hours worked between 1st and 30th July ( 32 hours)
072.20 Planning matters:
65 Main Street – removal of hedgerow. The Enforcement Officer for the Planning Department of Huntingdonshire District Council has been out to the site, she is to consult other District Council colleagues, make contact with the land owners and will report back to the Parish Council on 15th September
7 Mill Road – erection of fence, boundary satisfactorily re-instated following a meeting between Cllr Hodson and Mr Craven of Milton Estates but, more recently a planning application has been made to have 2 trees removed that are growing along this boundary. The Parish Council have not been consulted and asked to comment on this application, but it is known that there is a delay within the Planning Department due to lockdown, therefore Councillors discussed and agreed that an email should be sent to Planning Department, advising that the Parish Council is in agreement with removing the smaller of the 2 trees but would request that the larger of the two, an oak, be retained.
Reform of Planning matters – a NALC document had been shared with Councillors regarding the revised legislation that is proposed to streamline the process and make planning matters simpler. The Clerk will forward any updates and revisions and this matter will be discussed at the September meeting, and the questionnaire completed.
073.20 NALC website accessibility statement requirements. Catalyst Design have been consulted and requested to quote for the work, initially devising a template to advise that steps are being taken to ensure the Parish Council website pages are compliant.
Cllr Hodson – it would be an advantage to be able to update the website ourselves, to ensure that Minutes are shown in date order and to remove and update policies. Clerk had contacted Catalyst (prior to lockdown) to request a training session.
Clerk has asked the Internal Auditor’s advice regarding the amount of information that should be retained on the website. Auditor felt that documents dating back to the last election would be sufficient.
074.20 Recreation Ground Update:
Cllr Dear has been approached by the tenant of a field adjacent to the Rec Ground who was concerned about children throwing rubbish and vegetation from the Rec Ground into the field she was renting. She had been trying to block access between the tenanted field and the Rec Ground – it was agreed that she should contact Milton Estates to secure the field she was renting.
Replacement safety mat has been installed by Cllr Hill at the top of the slide.
Wooden steps to slide were found damaged, Cllr Hodson carried out temporary repair – new steps needed
Wobble board fixed by parishioner
Springy play equipment – algae and mould scrubbed off by Clerk
Multi Use Games Area – there was nothing further to report at this meeting.
Jubilee Wood /Orchard updates:
The seating area is now complete and in use by parishioners/visitors to the Wood
A parishioner has offered to replace the gate posts at the entrance with metal posts during the coming months.
Cllr Hodson has made a Grant application to the Earl Fitzwilliam Charity for a donation towards the orchard project – copy of the application is attached.
075.20 Resolution to register the Great Gidding Charity as a separate body with the Charity Commissioners with individuals as Trustees.
The Clerk outlined the thinking behind removing the Great Gidding Charity from the “umbrella” of the Parish Council – report is attached. Cllr Hodson proposed the Parish Council are removed as sole trustee of the Charity. Cllr Pudney seconded and Cllr Dear agreed. The Charity Commissioner will be advised to enable the process to be actioned.
076.20 Co-option of Parish Councillors – there have been no applications received. The Clerk had drafted a letter to be sent to individuals, inviting them to become a Parish Councillor, she had also drawn up a list of parishioners (with input from Parish Councillors) who could be asked to join the Parish Council. It is hoped that this form of direct request may yield results. Councillors agreed that this was the next course of action and letters will begin to be delivered this week.
077.20 Volunteering Policy and opportunities for volunteers within the Parish:
The Clerk has written a volunteer policy and, in addition, has drafted a handout to go to each household within the parish, a copy is attached. This handout takes the form of a list of one-off and occasional tasks that need to be carried out around the parish. It is hoped that, if residents do not wish to commit to becoming a Parish Councillor or a member of the Village Hall committee, that they might willing to volunteer to take on a lesser commitment within the villages.
078.20 Correspondence received since 21st July 2020 (other than that discussed in agenda items above).
Clerk: NO letters have been received since the last meeting. Due to COVID 19 restrictions emails have been shared almost immediately.
079.20 Items for decisions at next meeting:
Website accessibility and update
Planning Policy reform and completion of questionnaire
Huntingdonshire District Council updates on planning matters and footpath report
Prepare for Co-option of Parish Councillor
080.20 Date of next meeting – Tuesday 15th September 2020,
starting at 1930 hours in the Village Hall, Great Gidding, unless we are still restricted to holding online meetings.
Meeting closed at 20.41
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