Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Tuesday 16th January 2024
Present: Councillors Hodson, Bolton, Maciag, Moody, Hargrave, D’Altilia and Sanders, and the Clerk.
146.23 Cllr Hodson, as Chairman, welcomed those present to the meeting
147.23 Apologies and reasons for absence were received from:
County Councillor Gardener – attending another meeting
District Councillor Alban – attending another meeting
148.23 Member’s declaration of Disclosable Interests for items on the Agenda were made by Cllr Hodson in respect of 155.23 – Allotments
149.23 No members of Public & Press were in attendance
150.23 Minutes of the meeting held on 19th December 2023 were confirmed as a true and correct record by Cllrs Bolton and Maciag.
151.23 Reports from Councillors and Clerk:
Cllr Bolton – Cllrs had agreed, prior to this meeting, not to submit an LHI bid for the current round of assessment and funding. The details of the next round of 20MPH bid process had been received and Cllr Bolton agreed to resubmit the application in respect of Church Lane, Little Gidding.
Cllr Hargrave will attend a meeting on infra-red heating (for the Village Hall) on 24th January.
Cllr Maciag advised that the first draft of the Neighbourhood Plan is on track to be sent to Hunts DC by the end of January.
Cllr Moody had read through the accompanying documents for the recent CambsCC Budget meeting (Clerk and Councillors had not been available to attend the online meeting). Her summary was that there were many budget cuts to be made, but nothing that would greatly impact on our residents.
Clerk had corresponded with the developer of the Gains Lane property regarding items left on the roadside – he advised the landscaping of the property is to be completed when better weather arrives, and the former property owner has an outstanding matter to complete.
Gidding News had been distributed at the end of December – so far there have been no responses to questions/requests made.
152.23 FINANCIAL MATTERS:
a) to note Barclays Bank statements for Parish Council account.
- Parish Council (everyday) Account – balance as at 4/12/2023 £6048.11 (includes £500 bequest)
- Parish Council Deposit Account – balance as at 22/12/2023 £26,189.05 (1.85% interest applicable)
- Defibrillator account – balance as at 4/12/2023 – £247.91
b) PAYMENTS – the following online payments were approved by all:
| Who | What for | TOTAL | Invoice includes this VAT amount | Authorised | Authorised | |
| J R Trolove | Wages for November (30 hours) | Xxx | NIL | |||
| Inkwell Printing | Printing of newsletter | 40.00 | NIL | |||
| Catalyst Design (invoice awaited) | Additional storage for website | 48.00 | 8.00 | |||
| Cameo Print & Display (for Neighbourhood Plan) | Display boards | 279.72 | 46.62 | |||
| Cambs ACRE | Annual subscription | 60.00 | 10.00 | |||
| Village Hall & Recreation Ground Payments | ||||||
| A C Cleaning Services | Village Hall cleaning-December & January | 22.50 | N/A | |||
| Fenland Fire | Annual inspection of appliances | 134.82 | N/A | |||
| British Gas Light | Electricity DIRECT DEBIT | 79.24 | N/A |
- to approve Clerk’s working hours for November – total of 31.5. These hours were approved by all.
Cllr Hodson advised that, after updating the cash flow forecast, the budget figures were all adequate but, due to the various additional issues that had arisen during 2023, the wages budget would be exceeded.
It was agreed that a further £50 should be added to the Website budget to cover any future storage/amendment requirements.
153.23 PLANNING applications and other planning matters:
- School playground area/School House – the registration of the area as an Asset of Community Value was unsuccessful. Contact is now John MacMillan of the Property Team at CambsCC (Jonathan Lewis to leave the employ of the County Council in the near future).
An additional meeting of the Trustees of the Village Hall & Recreation Ground will be held in February, to consider all community assets and the way forward.
- Anaerobic Digester – nothing further heard on 10/1/2024
- Galliford Try/Cornerstone – have acknowledged the “no objections” email sent following the December meeting, regarding the proposed telecommunications base station to be sited at Longbrook Farm, Thurning, PE8 5RG
154.23 Roads, footpaths and bridleways:
a) Clerk has obtained a quote for an additional speed camera, to be sited on the second post opposite Manor Site Farm – Cllr Moody proposed the purchase of another unit, seconded by Cllr Hargrave.
Further road safety measures were discussed for presentation as a future bid for LHI funding.
b) Ian Gardener/Tim Alban/Highways Department – correspondence regarding Milking Slade and Bullock Road potholes – Highways Department had visited and will take action. District Cllr Alban has also reported the damaged name plate on the sign for Hemington Lodge Road – Clerk had measured the sign and this will be replaced by CambsCC contractor.
155.23 Allotments – it was agreed that the rent should remain at £25 per allotment. No additional terms or amendment to the tenancy agreement were required.
At the next meeting of Gidding Charity Trustees (owner of the allotment site), the water meter/high increase in water charge will be discussed
156.23 Correspondence received since 21st December 2023:
a) NALC newsletters –NALC events list, Legal update, Consultation to update the Model Financial Regulations, Legal Update (including fire safety for non-domestic buildings)
b) Cambridgeshire County Council –
- Cambridgeshire Matters monthly newsletter INCLUDING
- Traffic Management Centre – reports for incidents in December
- Request for volunteers to join schools admissions panel
c) Huntingdonshire District Council –
- Press release – 4/1 first Community Biodiversity Grant awarded.
- Press release – 8/1 regarding St Neots Town Centre Improvement project.
- Press release – 37 community spaces awarded funding
- Various emails from Emergency Planning Tactical Co-Ordinating Group (TCG) regarding flooding incidents
- Town and Parish Council Newsletter – forwarded on 10/1/2023 prior to meeting
- CAPALC– several emails about the various training courses available, January bulletin forwarded to Councillors prior to meeting, some important changes in fire safety legislation recently following the introduction of the Building Safety Act 2023,
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority –
Combined Authority Local Transport and Connectivity Plan team
f)Greater Peterborough/Greater Cambridge Partnerships
g) Neighbourhood Alert/ECOPS etc –
News from the Courts emails
Tackling lorry thefts across Cambridgeshire and how to protect your lorry
h) Cambridgeshire ACRE –
i) Parish Online Newsletter – January
j) email from resident suggesting showing of film “6 Inches of Soil” – Cllr Hodson thought this should be explored further. The resident will be requested to provide further information.
k) Gigaclear have forwarded the slides that were used in their December presentation
l) BHIB Councils (Parish Council insurer) have changed name to Clear Councils from 1/12/2023, email regarding hints and tips for dealing with winter weather.
m) North Northants Council advise (22/12/23) on 7 December 2023, the meeting of the Full Council approved the adoption of the East Northamptonshire Local Plan Part 2. http://www.northnorthants.gov.uk/ENLP
n) from Abigail Benson, Milton Estates, to advise that the Dryer Yard is to be marketed for sale.
o) Cambridgeshire Home Improvement Agency – offer to advise/guide on available grants and products – Cllr Hargrave had expressed an earlier interest in this scheme and it had been mentioned on the December issue of Gidding News.
157.23 Items for next meeting:
Village litter pick and tidy up tasks
20MPH scheme for Little Gidding
158.23 The next meeting of the Parish Council will take place on
Tuesday 20th February 2024 at Great Gidding Village Hall, starting at 7.30PM
The February meeting will be followed by a Village Hall & Recreation Field meeting.
Meeting closed at 20.35
Leave a Reply