Present: Councillors Hodson, Moody, Hargrave, D’Altilia, and Maciag and the Clerk.
172.23 Cllr Hodson, as Chairman, welcomed those present to the meeting
173.23 Apologies for absence:
County Councillor Gardener – at another meeting
Councillor Sanders – work commitments
Councillor Bolton – not available
174.23 Cllr Hodson declared an interest in agenda item 181.23
175.23 There were no members of Press or Public in attendance
176.23 Minutes of the meeting held on 20th February 2024 were declared as a correct record – proposed by Cllr Moody and seconded by Cllr Hargrave
177.23 Reports from Councillors and Clerk:
Cllr Maciag had attended a meeting with HuntsDC and other members of the Neighbourhood Plan group to discuss the draft policy. They were advised that some re-editing was required, particularly with regard to policies and planning matters. Once this has been completed, the Plan will be re-submitted to HuntsDC.
Also, monies left in the Neighbourhood Plan budget will have to be returned to the Department of Levelling Up after the end of the financial year on 30th March 2024, and then re-applied for in respect of the 2024-25 budget.
Clerk – PCSO Sergeant Martin has accepted the invitation to attend the Annual Parish Meeting.
Clerk has completed an online survey from CambsCC regarding the re-introduction by the Council to spray weeds with chemicals – the request was made to include our Parish in weed spraying schedules.
Clerk had forwarded to Councillors the recently received email about alternative plans for those who have not signed up to the Garden Waste Subscription Service. Larger villages will have a monthly collection, Great & Little Gidding fall into another category where they were offered up to 10 bins to be sited/emptied from Parish Council owned property. Lengthy discussion followed regarding locations and logistics. District Councillor Alban joined the meeting during this discussion, having been at the Folksworth & Washingley Parish Council meeting, where similar questions and observations were made. On the whole it was felt that the District Council was transferring many problems and issues regarding green waste disposal to Parish Councils and the Clerk was asked to compile an email of comments and observations and send to the District Council (cc to Cllr Alban).
District Cllr Alban reminded those present of the District Wide Parish Council meeting to be held on the evening of 20th March at Norman Cross Motel.
Cllr Hodson asked if anything further had been heard about HuntsDC Call for Sites report (Clerk had checked their website and there was no mention) – he will enquire about its progress.
178.23 Financial Matters
a a) to note Barclays Bank statements for Parish Council account.
- Parish Council (everyday) Account – balance as at 4/3/2024 £2323.92 (includes £500 bequest)
- Parish Council Deposit Account – balance as at 4/3/2024 £26,286.99 (1.85% interest applicable)
- Defibrillator account – balance as at 4/3/2023 – £248.84
b) PAYMENTS – Clerks wages and Village Hall payments were approved
* see 182.23 regarding the Microsoft payment.
| Who | What for | TOTAL | Invoice includes this VAT amount | Authorised | Authorised |
| Microsoft * | Purchase of Microsoft 365 annual subscription | £59.99 | NONE | ||
| J R Trolove | Wages for January (31 hours) | *** | NONE | ||
| Village Hall payments | |||||
| Inkwell Printers | Flyers for VH committee members | £40.00 | n/a | ||
| Allied Westminster | Insurance | 856.00 | n/a |
c) Clerk’s working hours for February were approved as a total of 30.5.
179.23 Planning applications and other planning matters
61 Main Street – extension to form orangery.
As this was a resubmission of a lapsed permission, the Parish Council have no objections.
180.23 School playground – proposal from Milton Estates. Cllr Maciag had advised Milton Estates that the Parish Council would not be buying or leasing the School House from them. Milton Estates then asked if the Parish Council would continue with the project to convert the school playground to a MUGA – Councillors agreed that Cllr Maciag should advise Milton Estates that the Parish Council are still interested in this site.
181.23 Allotments – Cllr Hodson requests approval for installation of 8 x 6 shed, to replace an existing shed on his allotment – approved by Cllr Moody and seconded by Cllr Hargrave.
182.23 IT and online storage – Clerk has had issues with the laptop as storage capacity of 5MB was overfull and emails could no longer be sent or received. She has deleted lots of non-essential documents and emails, stored documents on memory sticks and this has alleviated the problem for the very short term, and was grateful for advice from a resident. Part of the problem is due to the expiry of the Microsoft package. Discussion followed about payment for the Microsoft package, now only available online via payment by debit/credit card, which the Parish Council does not have.
Clerk was asked to enquire how other Parish Clerks overcome this.
Clerk was recommended to purchase an external hard drive to increase storage capacity.
183.23 Highways, Byways and Footpaths
Hemington Lodge Road – Temporary Traffic Road Closure mid-April for repairs. Clerk had been contacted by Clearchannel and directed them to CambsCC Highways Dept to answer their specific enquiries.
Chapel End – Temporary Prohibition of through traffic between 12th and 18th March – this was thought to be another water leak issue between the Mill and Gains Lane, but details are not known
184.23 Recreation Ground – application to HuntsDC for bio-diversity grant was unsuccessful. Councillors agreed not to reapply.
185.23 Village Maintenance
Benches in Main Street – one quote has been provided, Cllr Hodson felt this was too high, various suggestions made about how to get this work done and this will be added to the April meeting agenda.
Cllr Moody requested Clerk to enquire of Highways Dept if 2 x 3 seater benches can be sited on the area of grass opposite the shop (intersection on the Luddington Road/Winwick Road).
186.23 Correspondence received since 20th February 2024:
a) NALC
b) Cambridgeshire County Council
- Help at home – care micro enterprises
- www.volunteercambs.org.uk – ways to volunteer and where
- Traffic Management Centre monthly report
- Easter Holiday Activities and Food Programme
c) Huntingdonshire District Council
- Installation of cigarette butt bins in centre of Huntingdon
- Community bio-diversity grant scheme
- Police & Crime Commissioner election on 2 May 2024 – poster re identification requirement
- Festival of Huntingdonshire – slides from the online session
- Reminder that householders can still sign up for Green Bin collection
d) Cambs ACRE – staying in touch, Kirsten Bennett to step down as Chief Executive,
e) CAPALC – March training sessions, selling D DAY 80 Flag of Peace,
f) eCOPS etc – tackling speeding, parking and anti-social behaviour, news from the Courts, Police Community Engagement sessions, Action Fraud
g) Parish Online – newsletter
h) Jon Parsons – email request to metal detect on Parish Council property – Clerk will respond as Parish Council does not own land that can be detected.
i) Barclays Bank – scams and how to avoid them
j) Ian Clarke Dip Arb L4 (ABC) TechArborA, Arboricultural Consultant, S P Landscapes & Tree Contractors Ltd – offer to survey trees in the parish – Clerk will retain this information for the future survey of trees in the Parish.
187.23 Items for next Meeting (including Annual Parish Meeting):
21st May is the date of the Annual Parish Meeting – preparation of annual review
Preparation of Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR)
Appoint an Auditor to carry out Internal review
188.23 The next meeting of the Parish Council will take place on
Tuesday 16th April 2024 at Great Gidding Village Hall, starting at 7.30PM
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