2024-May-21 DRAFT Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting for Great and Little Gidding

DRAFT MINUTES of the 2024 Annual Parish Meeting of

Great and Little Gidding Parish Council

Tuesday 21^st May, 7.00PM at Great Gidding Village Hall

PRESENT:  Parish Councillors Maciag, Hargrave, Moody, Bolton, Neighbourhood Policing Team Sergeant  Martin and 5 members of the public.

APOLOGIES received from District Councillor Alban and Parish Councillor Sanders

***Parish Councillor D’Altillia and 2 members of the public joined later in the meeting.

Councillor Maciag, as Vice Chairman, welcomed those present to the meeting.

Councillor Hodson was unable to attend the meeting, his annual report (copy attached) was read out at the meeting.

Councillor Maciag gave an update on the Neighbourhood Plan – it has been reviewed by Huntingdonshire District Council and changes and additions are to be implemented before it is returned to Hunts DC for approval.

Sergeant Anna Martin of the Neighbourhood Policing Team gave an overview of police involvement in our rural area, advising that our Parish has a very low crime rate.  She encouraged engagement with the Team through the Cambs Police Website (https://www.cambs.police.uk/), particularly the live chat option for crime reporting.

Questions from members of the public:

• Anaerobic digester – concerns about traffic and transport – no decision has yet been published. As the site is in the neighbouring county, Clerk is continuing correspondence with North Northants contacts.  SB encouraged building a good relationship with the developer to enable future discussions.
• A second speed camera has been installed recently – results are monitored in both directions and act as an advisory measure to drivers. 
• Councillor Bolton advised that a 20MPH limit has been applied for in respect of the lane down to Little Gidding – decision has not yet been made by Cambridgeshire County Council.  SB recommended the Parish Council apply for a 20MPH limit throughout Great Gidding.
• Call for sites – Huntingdonshire District Council have not yet published any decisions on sites.  RG had read on the Hunts DC website that results will be known in July.
• Advertising the Parish Meeting – DU advised that Annual Parish Meeting should have been better advertised.  Clerk advised the notice had been placed on the village website and the Village Hall website, earlier than the required 2 week notice period.  It was felt that new residents were unaware of events/services/facilities in the village and means of communicating with residents should be improved.

The meeting closed at 20.06

Chairman’s report:

Thank you for attending tonight, I am sorry that, due to unforeseen circumstances, I am unable to  attend in person.

The last year has been challenging, rewarding and hugely frustrating.

I would like to thank my fellow councillors for their hard work and dedication to the Parish ( and of course where would we be without Julie, who does a fantastic job as Clerk.)

Just a few of the things we have dealt with in the last 12 months

The Parish Plan – We have a great team working extremely hard to produce a plan which reflects the wishes of our residents, we have more steps of the process to complete, but we are progressing well. A huge thank you to the team 

Call for sites – Earlier in the year the Council asked people to suggest parcels of land that might be suitable for housing, we appreciate that the submission by Milton Estates caused a lot of concern, but as of today, we have not heard back from the Council, we will of course  let you know as soon as we do. Even if a site is agreed as potential development, the owner would still have to apply for planning permission as normal.

Anaerobic Digester – After months of no news at all, the website now says “decided” but does not say, what has been decided. We did all we could and will continue to do all we can to stop this development.

The School House – Now that the school has closed, we considered using the brick school, building as a village community building, but the financial economics just didn’t work, so we have advised Milton Estates that we are not interested in leasing the building from them

School Playground – Again we were considering purchasing this from the County Council, as a village amenity, but the conditions the County Council placed on the sale made the risk too great for us to contemplate 

After several years as Chair, I have decided it’s time to stand down, I will remain on the Council for a smooth transition, but if anyone would like to join the PC please let us know.

By Giddings Clerk on June 28, 2024   /   Great Gidding, Little Gidding, Parish council, Parish Council Minutes   /   1 Comment

Tags: Great Gidding, Little Gidding