PC Meeting: Monday 18th January 2016
FULL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING ON MONDAY 18th JANUARY 2016 AT 8 PM IN THE VILLAGE HALL
Present: Mr Dalton, Mr Dinsdale, Mrs Hoar; Mrs Glasse; Ms O’Callaghan, Mrs Pritchard, Mrs Webster and, in the Chair, Mrs Handley
Apologies: Mr Prince and Mr Tebbit.
The minutes of 14th December 2015 were agreed as a true record. The 4th January, planning minutes were correct with the addition of Mrs Pritchard as absent and the correction of “principal” to “principle”.
Open Forum for Public Participation
Mr Kerr, owner of The Hoops since 2003, introduced Mr Chowdhury as the new Manager of the business. Mr Chowdhury informed the meeting that he ran a small business in Norfolk and The Hoops was his second business in the catering industry. He said that we wished to continue serving the best quality food and service however, due to website constraints, he needed to change the name of the establishment. Currently trading as The Hoops Tandori he would like to change the name to Cam Spice at The Hoops to keep the tradition of the name and the central focus for the Eversdens.
The owners informed the meeting that they had redone the gardens and would provide more outside seating in time for the summer as well as submitting a planning application for a back extension. Residents were welcome for just a drink without the need for a meal. There will a grand opening on February 29th with a George Michael Live Tribute act.
Mr Kerr asked for the Council’s input with his business rates. Mrs Handley said unfortunately our hands were tied as this was the remit of the County Council.
Mr Roux addressed the meeting. Having recently moved into Harlton Road he was horrified at the speed of vehicles through the Village. Ms O’Callaghan informed Mr Roux that the speed limit had recently been reduced from 40 mph to 30 mph. Rev Fraser was in the public gallery and informed Mr Roux that we do have a speedwatch team and that leaflets were shortly being distributed to all houses in the Village asking for more volunteers. Ideally we need at least a further 6 volunteers, members can work in pairs but it is recommended that volunteers work as a trio.
The Clerk said that Harlton had deferred discussing the option of purchasing a Speedwatch KIT to share with ourselves until their February meeting.
There were no Declarations of Interest.
Matters Arising
Mr Huddleston had agreed to be trained as a grit spreader if the County Council required a volunteer. The Clerk will check.
Land to South of St Helen’s Church, Little Eversden
The Chair reported that following our comments on the amendments to the silo development, Mr Tebbit had visited Mr Banks to discuss our suggestion. Mr Banks was content to consider moving the development to the East of the site, but it was thought that English Heritage was strongly opposed to this .
WEEE Recycling
The next collection is proposed for Wednesday 27th January. We have not received payment for the last collection and the company has indicated we will not receive payment for the January collection as the price of scrap has fallen. Mrs Glasse proposed that the collection proceed despite receiving no remittance. This was seconded by Mrs O’Callaghan.
Defibrillator
The Clerk reported that we had been successful in our application for a defibrillator, cabinet and training pack. It will be delivered within the next 6 weeks.
Eversden Car Scheme
Mrs June White, the Coordindator of Eversden Car Scheme, attended the meeting. She explained that it is an essential service for a small number of residents in the Villages, however currently the scheme is very short of volunteer drivers. The task is not an arduous one with a total of only 38 trips last year, predominately to the Doctors’ Surgery, Post Office and Addenbrookes.
Volunteers have to be under the age of 80, inform their insurance company and receive 15p per mile from the County Council and a further 30p per mile from their passenger. They do not have to make a commitment to a particular day or time. Mrs White will request more volunteers via Tailcorn and Eversden online. As a driver herself, Mrs Webster, will keep the Council posted on developments.
Speedwatch
Discussed under Public Participation.
LHI Bid
The Clerk reported that Mr Dinsdale would attend the LHI Panel Meeting on Monday 25th January at 4:30 pm to discuss our recent LHI footpath bid.
Stop B.A.D Update
Mrs Glasse updated the Council on the meeting on 6th January that she and Mr Prince had attended. Stop B.A.D had drafted a letter in response to the local plan modifications.
There was concern expressed at the loss of Green Belt and the proposal to use Bourn Airfield as a container depot.
Cllr Kindersley informed the Council that Wincanton had been given notice to quit by Alconbury Weald and had accepted outside storage at Bourn airfield for 2 years. However, as an airfield Bourn is already designated a brownfield site. It is understook the lorries will access via the Broadway entrance and not the Childerley Gate roundabout.
Mrs Glasse reported that Stop B.A.D’s position was that a new settlement was still unsustainable and that this had not been addressed within the amendments. Infrastructure should be addressed first and foremost and this could be in the form of a spur off the A428 to link directly to the M11.
Cllr Kindersley said that the only comments would be on the issues that the Inspector had suspended the plans on, the original plans were almost correct with only minor alterations to the the Green Belt land to the south of the Addenbrookes Campus.
It was resolved, with 7 in agreement and one absention, that all 4 points highlighted in Stop B.A.D’s letter would be supported.
Request for Funding from Eversden Brass Band
Following the request for funding Mr Dalton proposed that we give a £200 donation to the band for their workshop. The Council voted six in favour with two absentions. The motion was carried. It was agreed to postpone a decision on providing an annual grant to support the valuable work of the Band.
2016-2017 Precept and Budget
The Clerk had previously circulated the budget and explained each alteration year on year to the Council. The Recreation Committee requested a further £500 which was incorporated into the budget.
Mr Dinsdale proposed that the Council accept the budget and request a precept of £26924.00, this was unanimously accepted.
Finance
Connections Bus (Sept-Dec) £2750.00 LGA 1976 s.19
Clerks Pay £395.31 LGA 1972 s.112(2)
Correspondence
Correspondence was circulated by the Clerk prior to the meeting.
Report from Councillors
Cllr Page was not in attendance and no report had been received.
Cllr Kindersley started his report with Council funding. In recognition of South Cambs being one of the 15 Councils with the lowest taxation in the County they are being offered an additional 2% increase in Council tax. The higher tier would enable it to ask for extra 2%, ring-fenced for adult social care plus the 2% trigger – therefore 4%. However the Council is debating whether to accept the additional 2% (equivalent to £4.8m) as the Conservatives, the largest party plus UKIP, are not keen to accept the offer.
Cambridgeshire County Council had thought it had to make £41 m in savings, however it is worse than they were led to believe and the figure is now £46 m. All service committees are now tasked with deciding where cuts will fall in their respective areas.
Buy to Let landlords are currently experiencing an 18% increase in their costs and are therefore trying to offload their properties with vacant possession, giving notice to quit to tenants on low income and benefits in the process. This is resulting in finance diminishing and less property to rent and an increasing need for social housing. There are currently 1700 on the South Cambs waiting list with only Band A being offered.
Cllr Kindersley stated that in view of the strong local need it had regretfully been unable to offer additional provision for migrant refugees
Asked if Demand Responsive Transport and Dial a Ride were different he explained they were and Dial a Ride was for residents with a disability, howerver they all helped within the Community.
Regarding the precept for the Eversdens, Cllr Kindersley said there is no indication or reason for a desire to cap parish council precepts.
Next Meetings
Planning on 1st February and 16th February (if required) at 8pm
Full Parish Meeting on Monday 29th February 2016 at 8 pm.
