Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 19th April
Present: Councillors Hodson, Hargrave, Moody, Maciag and D’Altilia, County Councillor Gardener and the Clerk.
001.23 Cllr Hodson, as Chairman welcomed those present to the meeting.
002.23 To receive apologies and reasons for absence
Cllr Bolton – holiday
District Councillor Alban – another meeting
003.23 Member’s declaration of Disclosable Interests for items on the Agenda
Cllr Hargrave for 009.23B – Planning
004.23 There were no members of the public or press present.
005.23 Minutes of the meeting held on 21st March 2023 were confirmed as a correct record –
Cllrs Hargrave proposed and Cllr Maciag responded.
006.23 There were no matters arising from those Minutes that would not be discussed as an agenda item.
007.23 To receive reports from Councillors and Clerk:
County Councillor Gardener advised that the next meeting of Children and Young People’s committee would take place on Tuesday 25th April. At that meeting there will be a recommendation for Great Gidding school to close at the end of the academic year. He will attend the meeting and express dismay at the closure. Parents of children living in the school catchment area will be offered support for home to school transport (this may be bus/taxi or financial), and there is a grant (amount dependent on chosen school) towards the cost of school uniform. He will report back immediately after the CYP meeting.
Cllr Moody asks that he reinforce the need for support, as described above, for parents.
Cllr Gardener advised that the TING bus has a new operator and will visit Great Gidding on Friday 2nd June as part of a roadshow, to promote the service.
He reminded us that the 20MPH Scheme applications should be submitted by 30th April.
Cambs County Council are suggesting an extension to the guided busway around Madingley, also the referendum, for introduction of a congestion charge to enter Cambridge, was turned down.
Cllr Hargrave enquired about a HuntsDC directive on dogs on leads – Clerk will research.
Clerk asked Councillors who would maintain and download statistics from the speed awareness sign, this information would be of use to the Neighbourhood Plan Group – Cllrs D’Altilia and Maciag will take a look at this.
There were no other reports from Councillors
008.23 FINANCIAL MATTERS:
a) Barclays Bank statements for Parish Council account had been shared prior to the meeting.
b) PAYMENTS – the following payments were approved:
After discussion, Councillors decided that Data Protection cover was not required and £225.49 will be paid for CAPALC’s annual affiliation fee only
| Who | What for | TOTAL | Invoice includes this VAT amount | Authorised | Authorised | |
| J R Trolove | Wages for February ( 40 hours ) | Xxx | NIL | JRT | ||
| Firetext (April) | Messaging Service | 14.40 | 2.40 | JRT | ||
| CAPALC | Annual affiliation fee | 225.49 or 275.49 with Data Protection Scheme | ||||
| Inkwell Printers (Paid prior to meeting) | Spring newsletter | 40.00 | NIL | |||
| SLCC | Annual membership | 36.00 | NIL | |||
| BHIB insurance – hire of Coronation equipment | Additional premium | No charge | NIL | |||
| Julie Trolove (re-imbursement) for the Big Game Hunter | Purchase of games for Coronation event | 247.92 | To be confirmed | |||
| VILLAGE HALL A C Clark | Village hall cleaning | 16.75 | NIL |
- to approve Clerk’s working hours for March – total of 36
- AGAR – Clerk distributed the end of year finance sheet for the Parish Council, this was accompanied by Cllr Hodson’s balance sheet, these figures will be used to complete the AGAR paperwork. Clerk asked for confirmation of the amounts of reserves held, this was discussed and will be reported accordingly.
- It was agreed by all that CANALBS will be appointed as the internal auditor.
009.23 PLANNING applications and other planning matters:
There are no new planning applications as at 14th April 2023
- 62 Main Street – there is an amendment to the approved plan on health and safety grounds, do the close proximity of overhead electrical cables – NO OBJECTIONS
- APPLICATION REF. 23/00557/FUL
Erection of a single dwelling
Adjacent to Church Farm 41 Main Street Great Gidding Huntingdon PE28 5NU
Comments by 6th May
Councillors had studied the revised plans and wish to submit a refusal. Clerk was asked to resubmit the original refusal, pointing out that the proposed property driveway is still too close to No 45, also exit from the property will be too steep at a point on Main Street where it would be dangerous, with insufficient sight lines to pull out onto the road, exacerbated by the curve in the road combined with vehicles having to cross the public footpath. Also, should the property be built as proposed, it would leave Church Farm house with very little surrounding garden which would be detrimental to this property. RECOMMEND REFUSAL
- 65 Main Street – email from resident (dated 11/4) regarding size of window and damage to wall contrary to Planning permission – the resident has written to HuntsDC Planning Department and the Clerk was requested to do the same – the window is much larger than given permission for, and the wall has been cut and is compromised by the building extension.
d) Sawtry Neighbourhood Plan (email 12/4) – the document had been shared with Councillors prior to the meeting, they do not wish to submit a response.
010.23 20MPH scheme for Little Gidding – Cllr Bolton’s had advised prior to the meeting that he was in the process of compiling the paperwork. Cllr Gardener has confirmed his support of the proposed scheme.
011.23 Great Gidding CofE (VC) Controlled School – once the decision is known, should it be for closure of the school, the Parish Council will request a visit to the school to view the premises.
Cllr Hodson made the following addition to the Minutes:
We agreed that we would look to get support from our County and District councillors and our MP to lobby for the playground to become a village amenity. We then agreed that as a separate matter (which is really a VH committee decision) is that we would ask to visit the school building at some point, but being mindful of the teachers personal situations, that this could be delayed for a while.
012.23 GWH Neighbourhood Plan update – initial consultation period ended 21st March 2023
Minutes from the meeting held on 22nd March were shared prior to the meeting. There is a delay in the release of funding being allocated by the Government’s Levelling Up Department, via HuntsDC, and Cllr Maciag requested that the Parish Council fund the printing of documents so that the project could continue without delay – this will be an item for decision on the May agenda.
013.23 Annual Parish Meeting, starting at 7PM on 16th May
The notice has been displayed on the noticeboard and will be added to the website.
Speaker from Neighbourhood Plan Group will address the meeting
014.23 Preparation for the Coronation of King Charles III
Clerk advised that there is slow progress on residents signing up for events, but there is progress. Councilors made offers of assistance for the weekend.
Cllr D’Altilia’s draft of the information booklet had been shared prior to the meeting, it is hoped that this will be printed and distributed prior to the Coronation weekend.
015.23 Recreation Ground – damage to wooden play equipment had been reported by a resident. Cllr Hodson had made safe the item of equipment and recommends that, as items are deteriorating, quotes are sought for removal. In addition the slide steps require some work, seek quotes for replacement of these.
016.23 Correspondence received since 21st March 2023:
a) NALC newsletters – dated 22/3+28/3+5/4+12/4, Chief Executives Bulletin 24/3+31/3+6/4+14/4, 28/3 +4/4 NALC events,
b) Cambridgeshire County Council – 28/3 Cambridgeshire Matters, 30/3 Temporary Road Closure of Milking Slade Lane between May and August (but for short periods of time), 3/4 Traffic management Centre report and invite to training, 13/4 Highways list of roads for resurfacing (nearest is Stilton),
c) Huntingdonshire District Council – 27/3 call for sites consultation for the Local Plan, 29/3 Draft Settlement Hierarchy Methodology Consultation (ends 10 May), Consultation for Call for Sites Spring 2023 for Local Plan (ends 7 June)- also poster for display 12/4, Draft Land Availability Assessment Methodology, , 31/3 funding for Health & Wellbeing sessions, 30/3 Huntingdonshire Futures Place Strategy announcement, 3/4 Polling Station Questionnaire, 13/4 request for information about Coronation events,
d) CAPALC – March newsletter
e) Economic Development Huntingdonshire DC invest@huntingdonshire.gov.uk – weekly Business News – 23/3+30/3+6/4+13/4
f) Cambs Acre – 31/3 Staying in touch newsletter, 4/4 Rural Housing,
g) Combined Authority Cambridgeshire and Peterborough –
h) Parish Online newsletter
i) Neighbourhood Alert/ECOPS etc – News from the Courts email 22/3+27/3+3/4+11/4, 27/3 WhatsApp scam alert, 27/3 newsletter from Police & Crime Commissioner, 27/3 catalytic convertor thefts, 3/4 newsletter, also brazen thief , 5/4 how to protect your home, 10/4 Emergency Alerts information
j) North Northamptonshire Gypsy and Traveller Local Plan Consultation
k) cpft NHS – 11/4 Dementia Support Worker with the Dementia Carers Support Service.
l) 11/4 Emails from Cllr Bryony Goodliffe, Shailesh Vara, Tim Alban, Ian Gardener re. the future of Great Gidding School
223.22 Items for next meeting:
Annual Parish Meeting – to start at 7.00PM
Annual Parish Council meeting, to follow on from Annual Parish Meeting
Parish Council meeting:
Neighbourhood Plan funding requirements
Further information regarding Great Gidding School, following CambsCC decision
Recreation Ground equipment
224.22 The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 16th May 2023
The Annual Parish Meeting will commence at 7.00PM, to which residents are invited to attend, followed by the Parish Council meeting. Both take place in the Village Hall, Great Gidding.
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