Bassingbourn-Cum-Kneesworth Parish Council

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Bassingbourn-cum-Kneesworth Parish Council

Annual Parish Meeting

Minutes of the meeting held at 7.30pm on Tuesday 19th April 2011

at Knutsford Road Community Room

Present:

Mr Hallett (Chairman)

District Council: Mr Cathcart

Mr Nickson (Neighbourhood Watch), Mr Bidwell (Kneesworth House Hospital) Mr Crow (Conservation Group) Mr Johnson (Elbourn Memorial Housing Trust), MrsBrown (Bassingbourn Bowls Club), Mrs Harrigan (Bassingbourn Womens Institute) Mrs Lord (Heron BookGroup), Mr Webb (Book Cafe and Cricket Club), Mr Freeman (Football Club), Mr Roope (Youth Football Club) .

Members of the Public: 10

Apologies for absence: Rev McFadyen, Mr Hudson (Bassingbourn Village College), Mr Clarke, Mr Nicholls, District Cllr McCraith, Ms Gladstone (Bassingbourn Childrens Centre), Major Irvine (Bassingbourn Barracks)

CHAIRPERSONS WELCOME AND REPORT

Mr Hallett stated that with the Parish Council Annual General Meeting taking place in May and the Annual Parish Meeting in April, the parish council year in many respects runs from May to April. So now was the time to look back over the events of the past year. It had been feared that increasing costs would lead to the need to cut services and the support that the Parish Council gives to the community. So far this had not been necessary although the full impact that the cuts at the District and County Council levels would have was not yet clear. Street lighting on footways, the play areas and open spaces, the Recreation Ground, the war memorial, verges and public footpaths had all been maintained as before. Voluntary effort by some Parish Councillors had helped avoid unnecessary expenditure and Mr Hallett stated that he would like to recognise their efforts and those of the main contractor in keeping the village in good condition. Financial support had continued to the Book Café and the Village Voice and further support had been promised to the Youth Club. Representations made by the Spring Lane Action Group and the Parish Council were successful in getting the proposed Gypsy and Traveller site in Spring Lane rejected. The Parish Council had agreed to represent the views of residents when consultation on the A1198 site takes place in the autumn. The Parish Council had an involvement with the District Council and the housing association in the development of the affordable housing site at Windmill Close and it was pleasing to see the completion and occupation of these houses. Looking further back, the Village Appraisal and the Parish Plan had already set out what the people of the village wanted and as parish councillors live in the village they already had a good appreciation of village concerns. But now the localism agenda moved the process a step further and encouraged closer engagement between the Parish Council and the community. There would be some formal mechanisms available in due course but much would take place at a less formal level and this has already started with the consultation process on High Street traffic issues. To conclude Mr Hallett thanked the parish councillors, the clerk and more particularly all those individuals and organisations who contributed to the success of Bassingbourn-cum-Kneesworth.

MINUTES OF 2010 ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

Minutes of the meeting, held on 26th April 2010 were circulated amongst members and parishioners prior to the meeting. They were agreed a true record and signed by the Chairman following amendment to MATTERS ARISING ASHWELL STRET which should be ASHWELL STREET and the addition of Mrs Hamdoroff to attendees.

MATTERS ARISING

ASHWELL STREET HEDGING –The Chairman advised that the Parish Council were unable to proceed any further with the request for replacement hedging due to the District Council being unwilling to take enforcement action.

LIMES SCHOOL ROOM–An application had been submitted by an individual, to English Heritage, for listing of the building. The Parish Council had sent a letter of support.

PAVILION HIRE FEES –There was a small increase to the fees agreed but as the Pavilion was not in very good condition a larger increase could not be justified.

SPEED RESTRICTION –Funding for 20mph signs outside the primary school had been agreed by the Parish Council but when the County Council came back with a different costing, which escalated to above £10,000, the decision was changed.

STATISTICS –The County Council statistician had been advised of the comment made at the last meeting, regarding the impact the Barracks was having on unemployment in the village.

TREE WORK –Following the concerns raised by Mr Crow at the last meeting, Mr Cathcart had taken this up with the District Council Tree Officer who confirmed that they did try to consult with the parish but had to sometimes make a judgement as to how quickly the work needed to be carried out. Most important trees were covered by a TPO. Mr Crow again reiterated that the Parish Council should know before the work actually happened. He still felt that it was a very poor issue.

THE CAUSEWAY SECTION 106 AGREEMENT –The Chairman advised that there was no money forthcoming from the agreement for the affordable housing development on The Causeway. The Parish Council were being pushed to get an approval so that the development could go ahead. Mr Saggers was very anxious to stall the decision but this may have resulted in the loss of the funding. The District Council has recognised that there was a problem with Section 106 Agreements and had now appointed a dedicated officer. Mr Cathcart added that these agreements should be finalised at a much earlier stage.

HUCKLE TRUST –The Chairman advised that the Trustees were currently negotiating the change to the aims of the Trust with the Charity Commission. The existing aims were extremely narrow and it was hoped that once changed the money would be used for recreational purposes.

FINANCIAL REPORT 2010/2011

A copy of the income and expenditure report was circulated to attendees. The Chairman invited questions.

The donation to the Heron Scheme was questioned. It was advised that this donation to the car scheme was made following a request from the organisation. Mrs Lord believed that they had lost a volunteer driver due to the poor rate of reimbursement. The Chairman explained how the Section 137 power worked and invited applications from groups for small amounts of funding.

Mr Crow then queried the rate of interest being paid on the ring fenced open space money. He was concerned that this money was invested for the interest received to pay for the open space upkeep. The Clerk advised that due to the economic downturn, interest rates were poor everywhere. There was also only certain accounts parish funds could be invested in.

The Clerk was asked why the figure for the VAT paid was different to the VAT refund amount. She advised that VAT was reclaimed every six month and so the refund received related to October 2009 –March 2010 and April 2010 – September 2011.

REPORTS

BASSINGBOURN BARRACKS

The Chairman advised that Major Irvine was unable to be at the meeting. He had copied his report to attendees. In the report the Major had highlighted the future of the barracks. All five training regiments around the country were to be examined with recommendations made. There was a possibility that Bassingbourn may close as a training regiment, but this decision would not be announced until the Summer. If the decision was to close then it was likely that a Field Army unit, currently based in Germany, might move to the site. There would though be considerable infrastructure work and financing to allow this to work fully. Another point reported was the County Council’s decision to pull the funding from the bus service provided to transport children to Bassingbourn primary school. An appeal was ongoing with a decision expected within 2 months. The Chairman added that the Parish Council had supported the appeal as this would have an effect on the High Street. The County Council had also agreed a speed reduction on the A1198 passed the barracks to 50mph. The change was supposed to have been implemented around Christmas 2010 but was still awaited. There would be a half marathon organised using the barracks on 12June 2011. The charity event in aid of ‘The Soldiers Charity’ was being organised by a local running club.

KNEESWORTH HOUSE HOSPITAL (Mr David Bidwell)

Mr Bidwell introduced himself advising that he was the hospital manager. The hospital had now completed their first year since the management changes took place in March 2010. This saw the hospital become part of the East of England Region in conjunction with the Learning Disability Services based in Norfolk and Suffolk. There were now three new members to the senior management team who were a new medical Director, a Director of Nursing Services and a Referrals and Quality Manager. The Eastern Regional Director of Therapies had also been welcomed to the team. The monitoring of the business to ensure appropriate services and standards was being provided and had continued to develop throughout the year. In October 2010 the Care Standards were replaced with new measurements called Outcomes. There were twenty six of these in total with sixteen particularly relevant to Kneesworth House. The new regulation compliance concentrated on looking at evidence that they were providing safe patient centred appropriate care and treatment. In addition to the changes the hospital was still visited regularly with unannounced visits. There was currently an initiative developed which would enable patients to have a more significant part in planning their own care programme. The hospital again had taken part with entries into the Koestler Awards with a very successful set of results. Patients also continued to be involved in vocational opportunities in the locality and continued to support a number of charities. Last Christmas the parish senior citizen lunch was held again and judging by the feedback the vast majority of attendees thoroughly enjoyed their day. Mr Bidwell then welcomed questions.

Mr Bidwell was asked the average number of patients at present. He confirmed that there were currently 115.

Mr Catherall then asked whether there was any communication between the hospital and village as at a previous meeting this did not seem to be happening. Mr Bidwell advised that as a result of that particular meeting, the Parish Council were approached by representatives of Kneesworth House. There were now two links from the Parish Council. The increase in the size of the committee had been beneficial. There was also a good school contact.

Mr Bidwell was then asked about the building application which had been started. He advised that there was evidence of roman activity on the site, although not a major settlement, so artefacts were being logged. Fencing was erected around the excavated area but it was not satisfactory. The area had now been back filled and would be dug out again when the building work progressed.

The final question for Mr Bidwell related to catchment and he confirmed that patients came from across the UK. The purchasing authority tried to home patients as close to their families as possible to help develop the relationship. The hospital also had some specialisms and some patients would be placed for that reason.

The Chairman thanked Mr Bidwell for his report.

ELBOURN MEMORIAL HOUSING TRUST (Mr Richard Johnson)

Mr Johnson explained the history of the cottages which were exclusively for people in need. The Trust started the year with an excess of income over expenditure of around £2,000. During the year £4,000 was spent on the removal of the Red Cross Hut which had become dangerous. The only income received was that from the tenants. There were currently seven Trustees and new Trustees were always being sought. Mr Johnson urged anyone interested to contact them. During the year two of the cottages had been refurbished. This was the first work carried out since they were built nearly 60 years ago. It was hoped that the remaining cottage would be refurbished in September 2011. Also during the year one cottage became vacant. This was advertised widely throughout the village with a lot of response. This made the Trustees think very seriously about developing the site behind the cottages and once the economic climate improved this would be investigated.

Mrs Lord asked if the Trust was eligible to obtain grants through the Councils. Mr Johnson advised that the Trustees had applied in the past without success as the grants seemed to go to larger projects. When a decision was made on developing the site this would be looked at again.

Mr Webb asked if the Trustees would consider using their space to help with the parking problems in the High Street. Mr Johnson stated that the Trustees liked to cooperate with the village but were wary that this could be an inconvenience to their tenants. He also felt that the area was too far from the shops.

The Chairman thanked Mr Johnson for his report.

HUCKLE TRUST

A brief update on the position of the Trust was given by the Chairman under Matters Arising. The Clerk advised that the current bank balance stood at £3308.82.

BASSINGBOURN PARISH CHURCH BASSINGBOURN CHURCH CHARITIES- Mr John Simpson

Mr Simpson reported that there were two areas which the Church was involved with. The first to provide spiritual needs, working with the United Reform Church. The other area was the social side with included the Big Village Gig and working with the transition village market. The Church also ran a small group monthly for people with learning difficulties. Mr Simpson then advised that the memorial to the late Viscount Knutsford had recently been restored. The current Lord Knutsford attended the ceremony and passed on a copy of his biography. Other graves repairs were progressing with the help of volunteers from Kneesworth House. Mr Simpson thanked the Parish Council for their cooperation.

Mr Simpson then reported on the two Church Charities, Fordham and Storton, which were for the poor of the village. There were very few rules which had to be adhered to. There hadn’t been many grants awarded and this was due to the lack of requests. There was liaison with the primary school to enable students to join in school trips if their parents were unable to contribute to the cost. Mr Simpson asked to be advised of any requests for help.

The Chairman thanked Mr Simpson for his report.

UNITED REFORMED CHURCH

A report was available from the Clerk.

WOMENS INSTITUTE –Mrs Harrigan

Mrs Harrigan reported that since the last meeting two new members had joined. It had been another varied year of speakers and activities. Mrs Harrigan then listed them. Several members attended various outings and activities including visiting the Dearborn Waste Management plant, Colchester Museum and Beth Chatto gardens, the Scott Polar Museum, four of the London trips, the Hilton village walk, the dance workshop, Autumn break in Glasgow and Autumn, Spring and Summer lunches. Two of the members were successful in being entered into the Tea Trivia competition draw, by Taylors of Harrogate, for a weekend in Harrogate but unfortunately they did notwin. Mrs Harrigan thanked everyone, on behalf of the committee, for supporting their meetings and the various activities.

The Chairman thanked Mrs Harrigan for her report.

BASSINGBOURN VILLAGE COLLEGE

The report was available from the Clerk.

BASSINGBOURN COUNTY PRIMARY SCHOOL & BASSINGBOURN PRE-SCHOOL

Reports had not been received.

BASSINGBOURN CHILDRENS CENTRE

A report was available from the Clerk. It was confirmed that the centre was financed through Cambridgeshire County Council.

BASSINGBOURN SPORTS CENTRE

The Chairman advised that the staff of Melbourn Sports Centre were taking over the running of this centre. Mr Simpson stated that the tennis courts at the Village College did not have any nets and Mr Webb confirmed that he had raised this with the Principle last year. Mr Sappol added that there was also a tennis club formed but due to the charges levied by the Village College it had been disbanded. Mr Cathcart agreed to speak to the District Council about the centre as they were a major finance source for the building.

HERON BOOK CLUB –Mrs Hazel Lord

Mrs Lord reported that the club was formed in 2002 and over the years there had been many members coming and going. The group was self organised and met in members homes on the third Wednesday of the month. Each month one member chose a book for discussion. There was currently a membership of nine and anyone was welcome to join. It was very interesting and broadened horizons.