Parish Council minutes for 10th November meeting

Written by Parish Clerk on . Posted in Parish Council, Parish Minutes

HASLINGFIELD PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting held on Monday November 10th 2014

Present – Bob Branch, Trina Backhurst, Tony Adcock, Lucian Hatfield, Jenny Jullien, Christine Kipping and Sue Watson.  County Councillor Sebastian Kindersley and District Councillor Robin Page were in attendance.  There were four members of the public present.

  • Apologies for absence – John Offord, Ron van der Hoorn and Julie Coxall

Declarations of interest – Bob Branch declared a connection with the 75 New Road application, which could affect a near neighbour’s property.

Open Forum for public participation – A Haslingfield resident, Jonathan Wells, gave a short presentation about the possibility of converting the red phone box, near the village shop, into a book exchange. At present it is only available for use with a phone card. The Parish Council would have to enter an agreement with BT to adopt the phone box and pay £1 to take it over.  JW proposed that he would maintain it once a week and collect the books.  As it is an active phone box and would need money spending on maintenance, it was decided to consult residents before any decision is made.  Christine Kipping suggested using the phone box to house a defibrillator, which is is estimated to cost £2,000 with a grant of £500 and is available through Community Heartbeat.

Philip Golden and Donna Peck, from Haslingfield Village School, requested financial support for an outdoor play facility in the school, called a Play Trail.  This would include an obstacle course and traverse wall.  The outdoor facilities at the moment are in complete disrepair and not fit for purpose. £8,000 is being sought towards the cost.  Trina Backhurst suggested making it more widely known throughout the village by publicising it on the website, through Church & Village magazine, and the village shops and noticeboards.  Sebastian Kindersley suggested trying a list of possible grant giving organisations such as the Community Chest facility, which could release a grant of £1,500.  The use of Section 106 funding was also discussed, and although it was initially rejected by SCDC, it will be pursued further.

Action RB/FL

 District Councillor’s Report –Robin Page came to discuss the street light outside 37 Chestnut Close, where the residents are elderly and infirm. He feels we should look after our old people, who would be seriously affected by the removal of the light, and proposed to keep the street light going at a cost of £60 per year to the Parish Council.  Proposed:  TA,

Seconded:  JJ.  Approved nem con.

 

  • County Councillor’s Report – Sebastian Kindersley reported that the BikeBus Explorer is a great success and has been well used. CCC are asking all community services, including Police and Fire stations, to save as much money as possible.  Street lighting is to be switched off late at night, and road gritting is to be cut by 40% and will be restricted to main roads only.  There are many more government cutbacks planned over the next 5 years.

 

  • To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of September 8th 2014 – approved and signed. Proposed TA, Seconded TB.

 

  • Matters to be reported from these minutes – TB suggested a change in format for future minutes with Actions and initials typed in bold.

 

  • Planning applications and decisions:

 

From 29/09/2014 – S/2115/14/FL – Grove Farm, Church St; Proposed replacement 1½ storey dwelling and detached outbuilding following demolition of existing dwelling and Dutch barn outbuilding – recommended approval

S/1911/14/RM – Former Bayer Cropscience Site, Cambridge Rd, Hauxton

Application for approval of reserved matters comprising: layout, scale, appearance and landscaping in respect of phase 1 (201 dwellings) of the development approved under outline planning permission ref: S/2308/06/O – no objections. Approved by SCDC 24/10/2014.

From 03/11/2013 – Ref:  S/2365/14/OL – CEMEX CEMENT WORKS, Outline application for the demolition of all existing buildings and structures, and redevelopment – An extension of time granted to comment until the end of 2014 and there will be a Public Consultation on 01/12/2014. Ref:  S/2343/14/FL – Cantelupe Farm, Cantelupe Road Proposed Extension to Existing Stable Yard for Private Use – no objections.

From 10/11/2014 – S/2420/14/FL – 75 New Road; Construction of timber garden studio – recommended approval,  S/2329/14/FL – 6 Trinity Close; Single storey extension to side and rear of property – recommended approval, NATTRAN/E/S247/1599 – Town and country Planning Act 1990 – Section 247, Proposed stopping up of highway at Cantelupe Road – abstained from comment.

Permissions reported by SCDC: S/1994/14/FL – 12 The Elms; two storey side extension following demolition of existing garage – Approved 10/11/2014.  S/2039/14/FL – 29 Barton Road; change of use of light industry workshop to residential garage – Approved 21/10/2014.  S/2021/14/FL – 72 High Street; single storey side extension to incorporate wet room and entrance porch – Approved 04/11/2014.

 

  • Additional matters for discussion – It was agreed to order a new stainless steel, Badcock Memorial Plaque to mount on the wall of the Village Hall. It will have similar wording to the original memorial, now considered beyond repair.  Proposed TB, seconded CK.  Action FL

It was agreed to look into getting a large new noticeboard by the village shop and post office, with half of it to be locked.  The Clerk is to find out costs of wooden and metal noticeboards. Action FL

 

  • Committee and Working Party Reports;
  1. Environment – A meeting has been arranged with Clive Blower to discuss maintaining the millennium pond area.  Sam Bowden is to start tree work on the Elms and Lilac Close areas in January 2015.  RB is to do a winter prune and re-stake or replace some community orchard trees in the Wellhouse Meadow.  He will email Rebecca Ridley for further advice.  Action RB

Parking on the Wellhouse Meadow for village events is to be approved on a case by case basis by the Parish Council in future, as this is a protected site.  HPC will act for the time being to keep footpaths and related verges tidy, using paid staff to do the jobs needed, in the absence of effective action by CCC.

  1. Village Hall – Refurbishment work will start on 5th January 2015.
  2. Allotments – Nothing to report. RH sent apologies.
  3. Trumpington Meadows – CK unable to attend recent meeting.
  4. Play Area – Nothing to report. JC sent apologies.
  5. Website & C&V – LH suggested having an extra mechanism for circulating reports of people in the village and their achievements. He recommended an item about village people in the next Newsletter and Church & Village magazine, or possibly setting up a Haslingfield Facebook page.  Action LH
  6. Tennis Club Planned Developments – FIT have approved the new Lease and it was signed on 3rd November 2014, as previously authorised.
  7. Parish Emergency Plan – TA circulated copies of the latest plan. The data therein will never be totally up to date as people are moving in and out of the village all the time.  TA will update it once a year.
  8. Skate Park – Clever Curves will repair and replace damaged equipment in the Skate Park in January. Proposed TA  Seconded JJ
  9. Traffic Calming Measures – RB expects to get the go ahead for the proposed work from a CCC Committee by the end of November 2014.

 

  • Correspondence – Emails were received from two residents in Lilac Close and the Hemlocks, after a recent rear break-in and burglary. They would like the footpath between Lilac Close and the Hemlocks to be lit. RB reported from his site visit the view that lighting on the footpath would not have been likely to help prevent the reported event and that the short path appears clearly visible from both ends, compared with some other paths.  The Council noted that no footpaths are lit at present, except for the Elms.  A letter is to be written to the residents concerned.  Action FL 

 

  • Badcock Charity Trust – All Parish Councillors are Trustees of the BCT, with the Village Hall Committee looking after everything on site. The Annual Return is based on the Village Hall Accounts. We should look at the present formal arrangements with a view to formalising annual meetings and reports in future.   Action FL/RB

 

  • Standing Orders – Motion to update – Agreed unanimously to defer discussions until the next meeting.

 

  • Financial Regulations – Motion to update – Agreed unanimously to defer discussions until the next meeting.

 

  • Status Report on HPC Service Contracts, Licences and Bids – Grass cutting contracts to be revisited at the next meeting. These should include a Withdrawal from Contract Clause if work is not up to standard.  A list of specifications is to be brought to the next meeting.  Action FL

 

  • Cycle Path from Haslingfield to Grantchester – LH felt putting a cycle path on the bridleway between Haslingfield and Harston could be dangerous as it is not a straight path and has many blind bends. Follow up discussions at the next meeting.

 

  • Finance – Proposals for inclusion in the Draft Budget should be received from Councillors’ and Committees by the end of the month, for preparation of a draft budget and precept to be considered and confirmed at the next meeting. Action all Councillors.

 

Resolution to pay outstanding accounts – Proposed TB, Seconded LH

Date of next meeting Monday 8th December 2014 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall

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