Minutes of the online meeting held, via Zoom, on Tuesday 16th February 2021
Present: Cllrs Hodson, Hill, Cotton, Maciag and Pudney, County Councillor Gardener and District Councillor Alban and the Clerk
162.20 Cllr Hodson welcomed those present to the meeting.
163.20 To receive apologies and reasons for absence – there were no absences.
164.20 There were no Declarations of Interest.
165.20 No members of the Public & Press were present.
166.20 Minutes of the meeting held on 19th January 2021 were confirmed as a true and correct record. Cllr Hill proposed, Cllr Cotton seconded
167.20 There were no matters arising in respect of the minutes of the January meeting.
168.20 TO RECEIVE REPORTS FROM COUNCILLORS:
District Councillor Alban advised the District Council budget meeting would be held next week and a 0% increase was to be proposed in respect of Council Tax.
He was working alongside District Councillor Simon Bywater to address flooding concerns and pot hole issues.
He has emailed the Planning Enforcement officer regarding the enquiry for land adjacent to 21 Mill Road, particularly the sewage issue. Cllr Hodson thanked District Cllr Alban for his ongoing support with this matter.
County Councillor Gardener advised that the Council Council budget meeting had agreed an increase of 1.99% for Council Tax.
There would be an increased in funding for Transformation and £20 million has been set aside for Highways footpaths, in addition £2.3 million has been allocated to flood prevention. Cllr Gardener is now part of the HuntsDC flooding group.
There is a project being undertaken in respect of a Responsive Transport Scheme for West Hunts area.
Local Highways Initiative bid – as a member of the Committee, Cllr Gardener is unable to vote on our Parish submission, but he offered to present the application should Cllr Hill be unable to join the meeting via ZOOM (this meeting to take place on 24February).
*** County Councillor Gardener left the meeting.
There were no further reports from Councillors
169.20 FINANCIAL MATTERS:
a) to note Barclays Bank statements
b) to note the Budget control statement and the cash flow forecast – it was noted that the planned works associated with the LHI bid are unlikely to take place until April, therefore the purchase of the speed awareness camera is likely to be part of 2021-22 budget.
Cllr Maciag enquired about the Planning Application fee for the Recreation Ground project – this will be funded by the Village Hall account.
c) PAYMENTS AND ACCOUNTS – to approve online payments in respect of the following:
| Who | What for | Amount | VAT | Authorised | Authorised | |
| 59 | J R Trolove | Wages for December – 23 hours | £xxx | NONE | ||
| 60 | J R B Enterprises | Dog waste bags x 4 | 133.80 | 22.30 | ||
| 61 | Wicksteed Leisure (this invoice received after agenda sent out and prior to meeting) | Inspection of playground equipment | 72.00 | 12.00 |
d) to approve Clerk’s hours worked between 1st and 31st January ( 27 hours)
Agreed by Cllr Hill and Cllr Cotton.
170.20 Planning matters:
a) Ref: 20/00243/ENTRÉE 65 Main Street – removal of hedgerow (Andrea Dollard, Enforcement Officer at HuntsDC) – replacement hedging still to be planted, weather and COVID are causing delay (Jan 2021). Clerk asked to check who is being asked to replace the hedge.
b) Report no 34428 (Zaria Bettles) Blocked public footpath (No 6) between Chapel End and Mill Road reported online – Parish Clerk has given details of field owners to Footpath Officer to enable her to pursue this matter. Footpath Officer on Jury Duty, returns 15th February 2021.
c) 2 Gains Lane – aerial removed, conservatory still in situ – remains the same at the date of the meeting.
d) land adjacent to 21 Mill Road – ongoing case Enforcement Office has been unable to contact resident (Jan 2021). Photographs or the entrance gateway, with name and address of resident applied to the postbox – sent to Enforcement Officer
e) planning application for a MUGA to be sited on the Recreation Ground – Cllr Maciag enquired if there is a preferred size, according to the sport to be played – it was agreed that the application should be submitted based on a tennis court size. Cllr Maciag will now forward the application to HuntsDC
171.20 Recreation Ground Update:
Safety report and maintenance requirements – Wicksteed annual report has been received, items were discussed. Cllr Hodson advised that he felt the slats on the bench could be replaced – Cllr Maciag will take a look at the requirements of refurbishing the seat.
*** District Cllr Alban left the meeting.
172.20 Bins – litter and dog waste bins/bag stores update – Notices had been attached adjacent to all bins asking for volunteers to contact Parish Clerk
Clerk advised that a volunteer has taken on the maintenance of the bin near Chapel End Pond, and another resident has offered to act as backup.
Dog waste bins at the Main Street End of the Jitty and on Jubilee Wood have been removed as no volunteers came forward to offer help. Bag dispenser will remain at Jubilee Wood. Cllr Hodson advised that there were Hunts DC bins opposite the Fox and Hounds Pub and outside the School, these were regularly emptied by the District Council, and could be used for all types of waste/rubbish.
Cllr Hodson asked Clerk if the cost of a further bin was known. Clerk advised that there is an online application form, this sets out the needs/requirements of a waste bin and, no cost/prices appear on the website, but it would appear to be assessed on the need.
*** Member of the public joined the meeting.
173.20 Gidding News – Clerk thanked Cllr Hill for his work on the layout and edit of the various articles for the next newsletter. Cllr Maciag recommended that, in view of the decision about size of MUGA, this item should be reworded. Cllr Hill will make the final change and the Clerk will then forward to the printers.
174.20 Pond – opposite Recreation Field. FWAG had advised that as the surrounding vegetation is mature, this provides an important wildlife habitat and therefore the pond would not be considered for the scheme.
175.20 Local Highways Initiative Bid:
a) to discuss and approve changes to the proposal – the dragons teeth at the entry to the 40 MPH zones would not be part of the 2020-21 scheme as the available budget had been exceeded. Cllr Hill had advised Highways Dept of Cambs CC to proceed on this basis. It is hoped this work will be implemented in Spring 2021.
b) to discuss and approve the Parish contribution to the 2021-22 LHI scheme. In order to reduce the cost of the Mill Road, and Luddington Road works it had been decided to remove the high viz white gates from the scheme.
176.20 Roles and Responsibilities of Parish Councillors – the list had been shared with Councillors prior to the meeting, many of the categories are not applicable to our Parish
Cllr Hodson – Allotments and Recreation Ground.
Cllr Maciag – Planning
Cllr Cotton – Community buildings (the Village Hall)
Cllr Hill – Highways and Traffic calming
177.20 Grass cutting contract – request has been sent to existing contractor regarding terms of contract and pricing for 2021/22, nothing heard at time of meeting and this was not discussed – hold for March meeting.
178.20 Correspondence received since 19th January 2021 (other than that discussed in agenda items above). Due to COVID 19 restrictions emails have been shared almost immediately.
There was none.
179.20 Items for decisions at next meeting:
Request to Parish Council from the Great Gidding Charity Trustees in respect of rental of village Allotments on an annual basis
Grass cutting contract
Annual Parish Meeting – ideas for event (subject to COVID restrictions) or online meeting
Social Media (regarding road closure)
180.20 Date of next meeting – Tuesday 16th March 2021,
starting at 1930 hours ONLINE via ZOOM
Meeting closed at 20.39
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