KSPC
KIMBOLTON & STONELY PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES of the Council meeting held at 7 p.m. on Thursday 24 April 2014 at the Fire Station, Thrapston Rd, Kimbolton.
PRESENT Councillors P Seabrook (in the Chair); K Hutchinson; R Gooderham; Mrs E Milne; Mrs D Hellett; G Gorham; Mrs J Stainer; Mrs S Hawkes; D Poole and Mrs R Lloyd
IN ATTENDANCE County Councillor P Downes; District Councillor J Gray, C L Thatcher, Clerk to the Council and two members of the public.
53/14 APOLOGIES were received from Councillor L Farrer.
54/14 PUBLIC FORUM was not used.
55/14 DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS. None were made.
56/14 MINUTES of the Council meeting held on 27 March 2014 were read, approved and signed as a true record of that meeting.
57/14 MATTERS ARISING
a) Neighbourhood Watch. Councillor Gorham said that a warning had been issued via ecops about burglaries to outbuildings, garages and sheds.
He confirmed that he was still trying to get Neighbourhood Watch to link up with Countryside Watch.
b) Car Parking. Nothing to report.
c) Local Initiative Bid. The Clerk reported an e mail from Mrs Bonafont of Main Rd Stonely, in which she urged the introduction of ‘gateway’ features in an effort to slow traffic entering the village. Her view was supported by Councillor Mrs Milne.
The Clerk said that we were waiting for the Highways engineer to contact us and arrange to discuss the scheme. At present all that has been asked for is an improvement to slow traffic near the Easton Rd junction and the total funds made available are £8000. It should be possible to consider additional or alternative works, should Council desire to do so and should funds be sufficient.
d) Churchyard footpath. The Clerk explained to Mr Butler of the PCC that we have not budgeted for large expenditure in the churchyard this year and enquired whether the PCC could help with a contribution, should it be wished to undertake the works this year. Mr Butler had said that the PCC has been in receipt of a bequest and it may be possible for them to contribute up to about £1750. This was noted and it was agreed to await the decision of the PCC.
e) Local Joint Committee. The Clerk reported that a letter had been sent to all parishes to the west of the A1 and as far north as Sawtry and to parishes south of St Neots. Some acknowledgments had been received, but responses are not expected until the Councils have had a chance to discuss the proposals.
f) Pound Lane. The Clerk said that members of the Cricket Club have done a lot of work to tidy up the field, but that now leaves the rough area to the north of the football pitch and this is Council’s responsibility. It was agreed to get a contractor to clear the area and to seed it once the bird nesting season is over.
g) Gift for PCSO Corn. This had been discussed at the last meeting and the Clerk asked for confirmation of Council’s willingness to purchase a gift. It was proposed by Councillor Mrs Hellett , seconded by Councillor Mrs Milne and agreed to purchase a painting from Judy Brown in the sum of £50, to be given to Carol Corn.
58/14 STREET LIGHTING. The proposals being made by the contractors acting on behalf of the County Council under the PFI initiative were considered. A major problem was in determining exactly what the effect of the proposals is likely to be, given that we have no idea how bright the new lamps are or how the taller columns will work.
Councillor Downes joined the meeting.
It was agreed to ask the contractors if there are any of the new lights in the locality which we could view. Councillor Downes said there had been few complaints and the new lamps had been installed in Brampton. He conceded that they were much brighter and had been installed on 6 metre high columns.
Councillor Gray joined the meeting.
Councillors Hutchinson said that it was not the role of this Council to consult on the proposals. This should be done by the contractors directly with the public and the leaflets which they had circulated had insufficient detail to enable an opinion to be formed.
Councillor Poole said that he had already discussed the proposals with residents of Aragon Place.
It was noted that there is no mention of Grass Yard in the proposals, though there are County Council streetlights there. Grass Yard is, of course, within the conservation area.
It was proposed by Councillor Mrs Lloyd, seconded by Councillor Gorham and agreed to appoint a Working Party to look at the plan and try to work out any areas of difficulty. Councillor Poole abstained.
It was agreed that the Working Party will comprise Councillors Mrs Lloyd; G Gorham; Mrs Milne and K Hutchinson and will meet at Councillor Hutchinson’s home at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 30 April.
The Clerk will advise the contractors and inform them that it will not be possible to attain the deadline they propose. He will also ask to what timescale they are working and enquire about Grass Yard.
59/14 COUNTY COUNCILLOR
Councillor Downes asked whether there had been any feedback from the Annual Parish Meeting. He thought the meeting poorly attended, compared to others visited by him. He wondered what could be done to improve attendance.
He mentioned the idea of a Community Navigation Scheme, whereby volunteers are trained to ‘navigate’ people towards available services in the area which might be of use to them.
There is to be a Boundary Commission review of electoral boundaries, the last one was 2004/5. This is proposed for 2017 and there is a suggestion that the number of councillor be reduced. Councillor Downes was less than happy with this idea as he felt that it would greatly reduce the councillors’ contact with the populace and, in the case of this area, make it virtually impossible for the councillor to visit parish and town councils, due to the sheer number for which he/she would be responsible. Kimbolton could be in a division of 23 parishes.
He urged that we write to the County Council and express our concerns.
Finally, he mentioned that the consultation papers on the A14 were now available.
Councillor Downes left the meeting.
60/14 PLANNING MATTERS
a) Applications
1400598 Highview House, Station Rd, Kimbolton – single storey side and rear extension with orangery.
It was proposed by Councillor Gooderham, seconded by Councillor Mrs Stainer and agreed to recommend approval.
b) Postal Address.
A letter advising the postal address allocated to the development at Park Cottage, Hatchet Lane has been received.
c) Ongoing Planning Matters.
Councillor Gray said that, regarding the Ashfield fence, agreement had been reached in January and work should have been undertaken by the end of April. An extension to the end of May has been requested and he will check mid-May as to progress.
So far as the Serpentine Walk at Stonely Cottage is concerned, there had been no change since 2012. The Council cannot now require the replacement of the walkway, so it is suggested that this Council writes to the owners asking them to replace it. This was agreed.
The Enforcement Officer is looking again at the works at London Rd tomorrow to check that nothing has changed and he will then write to the owner.
Councillor Hutchinson pointed out that the application for the house at The Orchard Pertenhall had not, in fact, been withdrawn so presumably will appear on the next Development Management Panel meeting.
The Chairman reminded members of the difficulty in speaking about applications made when the applicant was in the room and wishes to have this debated at the next meeting. It will be placed on the agenda.
61/14 REPORTS
a) There were no reports from Working Parties.
b) There were no reports from Outside Bodies.
c) The Clerk reported that the Mandeville Hall Committee wished to know who is to be this Council’s representative on their committee for the coming year. It was agreed that Councillor Russell Gooderham should again represent this Council.
62/14 DEFIBRILLATOR
The Clerk reported that Conquest Oil Ltd had kindly donated £600 towards the cost of a defibrillator. A member wondered whether the s106 money could be used for this, but it was agreed to retain that for exercise equipment.
It was therefore proposed by Councillor Gooderham, seconded by Councillor Mrs Lloyd and unanimously agreed to provide a defibrillator for public use and that this be placed in a cabinet, attached to the wall by the notice board on the High Street The Clerk has spoken with The Bursar and he forsees no problems. The likely cost for the machine is c£900 and the cabinet c £300.
63/14 CORRESPONDENCE
(i)A letter of thanks for the gift has been received from Carol Corn.
(ii)A circular from Jonathan Djanogly regarding the A14 upgrade. It was thought that a ‘rat run’ could be created during construction if the upgrade to the A428 is not completed first.
(iii)A circular from the Prime Minister urging employers to make use of the new employment allowance for national insurance contributions. Parish Councils, however, are excluded from the Scheme.
(iv) Letters of complaint from residents have been received regarding a new telegraph pole in Grass yard. These letters are copies of letters sent to BT and a reply is awaited. This Council has written to HDC enquiring whether these works are permissible without notification in conservation areas. No reply has yet been received.
(v) RoSPA Playground Safety Report received and circulated.
(vi) Allotment holders have requested the use of the spare half allotment to the right of the vehicle entrance for fruit, as the roots from the hedge make the plot unusable by tenants.
It was agreed to permit this, but the fruit must be soft fruit in accordance with allotment rules, so as not to cause problems with roots into the adjacent plot.
64/14 USE OF s106 MONEY
It was agreed that it would be beneficial to provide exercise equipment in Halls Meadow and that the s106 money being held for this Council by HDC could be used for that purpose, subject to HDCs permission.
The Clerk will enquire and will bring brochures regarding the equipment to the next meeting.
65/14 ACCOUNTS
The following were approved for payment:
K & M Lighting Services Streetlight maintenance 112.79 inc VAT
Grafton Projects Ltd Paper, ink cartridges etc 169.31 “ “
E-On Streetlight energy 1415.50 “ “
Playsafety Ltd RoSPA playground inspection 156.00 “ “
ICCM Annual subscription 90.00 no “
Judy Brown Watercolour painting 50.00 “ “
Robinsons Repairs to Piaggio 66.78 inc “
BT Phone 85.58 “ “
G R Dixon Internal audit fee 60.00 no “
Payroll costs Pay, PAYE,NIC 1748.33 “ “
C L Thatcher Cables for Piaggio 52.66
Key cutting 8.29
Rose food 5.83
VAT 13.35
______80.13
66/14 DISTRICT COUNCILLOR
Councillor Gray said that Huntingdonshire District Council has been in talks with South Cambridgeshire District Council – not with the intention of merging, but for staff to work together and share services where possible.
There is currently consultation on the update for the SPD on Windpower. It was agreed to place this on the agenda for the next meeting.
All District Councillors are having new email addresses which will be ‘outside’ the Council domain. They are also receiving iPads, but have to pay for those themselves.
The review of staffing at the top end of the Council has been completed and next month they will be recruiting for various ‘top end’ jobs.
67/14 MEMBERS’ POINTS OF INFORMATION
Councillor Mrs Lloyd said that in view of the World War I commemoration it would be nice to plant poppies on the verge at The Butts.
Geoff Besant will be speaking on the windfarm at the Enquiry on 17 June.
Councillor Mrs Milne said that she had managed to get the missing wood on the village sign made and replaced. The Chairman thanked her for arranging this.
Councillor Mrs Hellett said that she hoped that the pavement in Hatchet Lane by Park Cottage will be reinstated by the builders.
She also mentioned that Kimbolton School would be prepared to cut the grass on The Causeway.
Councillor Mrs Hawkes said that the ‘Blackwell Farm’ sign by Stow Rd was obscured by creeper and asked that the Groundsman attend to it.
She said that a streetlight on The Butts was out.
Councillor Poole asked about the barrier for the cemetery extension and the replacement of the elephant in the playpark and the seat at Pound Lane. He urged that these works are completed as a matter of urgency.
The Chairman expressed his thanks to Sue, the Groundsman, for so quickly clearing up all the newsprint spread over Stonely Green.
68/14 NEXT MEETING
It was agreed that the next meeting of Council, which will be the annual meeting, will be held on Thursday 22 May at the Fire Station, commencing at 7 pm.
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 2215 hours.