Minutes of the meeting held at Great Gidding Village Hall on Tuesday 20th July 2021
Present: Cllrs Hodson, Hill, Maciag, Bolton and Pudney, and the Clerk.
042.21 Cllr Hodson, as Chairman, welcomed those present to the meeting
043.21 Apologies were received from:
County Councillor Gardener – attending another meeting
District Councillor Alban – attending other meetings
Councillor Cotton – holiday
044.21 There were no Declarations of Interest.
045.21 No Press or Public were present.
046.21 Minutes of the meeting held on 15th June 2021 were accepted.
Proposed by Cllr Hill and seconded by Cllr Pudney.
047.21 Matters arising that will not be discussed later in the meeting:
Cllr Hill – Signage associated with the LHI bid has been erected at either end of Main Street, the speed awareness sign is ready to be installed and the batteries charged – the sign will be in operation in the near future.
Cllr Bolton enquired about the 40MPH sign that was facing the wrong way on entering the village from Glatton. Cllr Hill advised that this had been “caught” by farm machinery, Jo Challis of Highways Dept has been informed and advised that the sign may be too close to the road – she has responded that this will be addressed.
It was noted that the white gate adjacent to Townsend Pond now necessitates walkers to step out into the road, as the grass verge is now “blocked”, and a suggestion was made to make a footpath inside the post and rail fence (see 056.21a).
Cllr Pudney thanked Cllr Hill for all his work on the LHI projects.
048.21 To receive reports from Councillors and Clerk:
Clerk advised that CambsACRE have a new website and will share the new password via email.
Cllr Hodson advised that another allotment may become available. Cllr Pudney enquired about allotments that were tenanted by people from outside the village – Cllr Hodson advised that this dates back several years when no one came forward to take on vacant allotments and, when someone from another village enquired, they were offered an allotment and later took on a second, it was at this time that the Orchard project was proposed too. It is only in very recent times that a waiting list (currently 2 households) has been necessary.
049.21 FINANCIAL MATTERS:
a) to note Barclays Bank statements
b) to note the Cashflow spreadsheet
c) PAYMENTS AND ACCOUNTS – the following payments were approved for payment
| Who | What for | TOTAL | VAT | Authorised | Authoriseded | |
| 20 | Bradgate Fencing (No 100) | Grass Cutting | 199.32 | 33.22 | JRT | PH |
| 21 | J R Trolove | Postage stamps | 13.02 | NONE | JRT | PH |
| 22 | WAVE/Anglian Water | Water rates for Rec. Field | 26.68 | NONE | Direct Debit | |
| 23 | J R Trolove | Wages for May | Xxx | NONE | JRT | PH |
d) Clerk’s hours worked between 1st and 30th June ( 33 hours) – approved.
050.21 Litter Picking in the Parish – District Councillor Alban had forwarded an offer from Sawtry Litter Pickers offering to attend a future meeting to discuss setting up a litter picking programme in the Parish – it was felt that the occasional and individual efforts to remove litter from the Parish were adequate. Cllr Hodson remarked that even after the removal of waste bins (due to no volunteers coming forward to empty them) there had been few incidents of litter being found around the Parish.
051.21 Planning Applications
a) Planning application to be considered : 21/00393/FUL – MUGA installation at Great Gidding Recreation Field. – HuntsDC granted extension for response. Approval was recommended as all Councillors were in favour feeling that this would be an asset for the village, improving sporting and recreation activities for all ages which is greatly needed in a rural village.
b) CambsCC – provision of signage for a disabled parking space – 30 Main Street – there were no observations or objections made.
052.21 Training for Parish Councillors and Clerk – no suitable training available at present.
053.21 Recreation Ground Update:
MUGA planning application – Planning Department of HuntsDC had asked for more detail regarding materials to be used in the construction – after discussion it was agreed that it would be a green playing surface of asphalt/concrete with green netting, the door being in the corner nearest the entrance to the Rec. Field entrance. There would be no encroachment on current football pitch areas and no lighting would be installed. The storage container would be moved further along the Field boundary
A biodiversity report will be obtained and, to mitigate any loss of habitat, the spoil from the MUGA will be used to form an earth bank which will be planted with wild flowers.
On the evening of 11 July between 8PM and 11PM, the Octopus seesaw spring toy (purchased in January 2014 for £520) was set alight and destroyed, other than the metal framework, graffiti was added to the roundabout, storage container and toilet unit. This took place during the football cup final and, whilst young people were heard on the Rec Field, nothing was seen by local residents. The matter was reported to Police the following evening by the Clerk (Incident reference number is: INT/35/VHTP/1272021). Clerk will obtain and complete a claim form to replace the item. Cllr Hodson had purchased graffiti removing liquid and was spending time in removing this. The question was raised whether a toilet was needed on the site now that there were no regular activities on the Rec. Field and only very occasional use by the School, as this was not the first time that it had been vandalised, although it could be used more frequently when the MUGA is installed – this will be added to the agenda for further discussion at the August meeting.
054.21 Discussion of renewable/clean/green energy projects for the Parish – Cllr Hill had been advised that, through the website www.energyhub.org.uk, funding is available for residents/businesses/individuals through the Combined Peterborough and Cambridgeshire Authority. This information will be added to Gidding News.
055.21 Gidding News – add an item with link regarding energy initiative.
056.21 Correspondence received since 15th June 2021 (other than that discussed in agenda items above). Emails have been shared immediately with Parish Councillors
a) Email – Cambs CC – Local Highways Improvement applications for 2022/23 – this will be discussed at the August meeting.
b) email – Hunts DC – consultation on licencing for Hackney Carriages and Private Hire Policy – no observations were made
c) Information Commissioners Office – Data Protection Fee – this will be paid at the August meeting
d) Milton Estates Ltd – Forestry works in Chapel End Spinney – noted
e) Broxap Ltd – order for replacement bin – due 9th August.
g) SBA – pfk Littlejohn – AGAR – acknowledgement of exemption
057.21 Items for decisions at next meeting:
Recreation Ground toilet unit – to keep or to remove
Local Highways Improvement Bid – ideas for submissions – deadline 30th September 2021
Prepare for Co-option of Parish Councillor
058.21 The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 17th August 2021
starting at 1930 hours in the Village Hall, Great Gidding
Leave a Reply