MINUTES OF FULL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 12TH AUGUST AT 8 PM IN THE PAVILION
Present: Mr Dalton, Mrs Glasse, Mrs Handley, Ms O'Callaghan, Mrs Spencer, Mr White and in the Chair, Mr Tebbit.
Cllr Robin Page and Cllr Sebastian Kindersley were also in attendance.
Apologies were received from Mr Dinsdale and Mrs Pritchard,
Public Participation:
1. Mrs Judith Webster applauded the 30mph speed limit through the village but was disappointed with the poor uptake of the 30 mph wheelie bin stickers. Mrs Webster would like to propose that villagers on the through roads be given the stickers as opposed to buying them. She indicated that she would be prepared to deliver to Great Eversden residents.
2. Miss Barbara Sach read the following:
'I have been asked to express to the Parish Council the extreme disquiet felt by Little Eversden residents when learning of the leaflet concerning OSP148 recently distributed to villagers in Great Eversden by Adrian Bridgewater. It is felt that, not only was it factually incorrect, but it was an insult to the residents of Little Eversden who were not included. The exception was Buck's Lane so word spread rapidly by the village grapevine as people living either side of the Meridian line do speak to each other. We would like to question Mr Bridgewater's motive as he spoke at a recent Parish Council meeting stating quite clearly he was not opposed to first time buyer homes. This appears to us to be another delaying tactic with many hopeful buyers/renters being bitterly disappointed yet again. We would like our message to be recorded in the Council minutes please.'
3. Mr Bridgewater, who was in attendance, responded by saying he had no problem with assisted, supported or needed accommodation but would simply like it to be legal.
4. Ms Robb apologised the for the lack of delivery in Little Eversden and explained that her daughter had delivered them and had run out of leaflets.
5. Mr Michael Nicholson raised the issue of the road surface and distinct lack of white lines at the top of Finches Field as well as other parts of the Village. He would like to know when they are likely to be actioned. It was agreed Mr Dalton will email Mr Dennis Vacher at South Cambs with the information.
Approval of 1st July Minutes
6. Mr Dalton pointed out that 'Council' had been omitted from the heading. This was manually added and the minutes signed as correct.
Declaration of Interest
7. The Clerk read clarification from CAPALC on what constitutes a declaration of interest. There were none received.
Matters Arising
8. Eversden/Comberton Cycle Path - It was agreed that the matter would be pursued no further with St Johns. Road planings have been put in the potholes by farmers and Mr Tebbit will ask Mr Banks to place further planings if available.
9. Emergency Planning: Following the resignation of Mr Huddleston it was agreed to ask the new Councillor if they would take on the role.
10. Recreation Ground Opening: Two plans, Option 1 and 2 had had been received from Cambs County Council regarding the new crossing at Bucks Lane. The Clerk will feed back to Mr Belton at CCC that Option 1 was preferred.
11. Standing Orders - Still awaiting from CAPALC
12. Funding for Defibrillators - The Council’s comments and questions were given to Mr Blatch to pass on to Comberton Crusaders. A reply is awaited.
13. Planning: 42 Wimpole Road - Agreed by SCDC.
14. 30 mph Stickers: The Clerk will produce a note to attach to stickers and distribute 4 free bin stickers to residents on the main through roads. It was agreed that a voluntary contribution be requested or that they be returned if not going to be used. Mrs Webster will distribute to residents in Great Eversden and Ms O'Callaghan agreed to distribute some in Little Eversden.
Parish Council Vacancy
15. Following Mr Huddleston's resignation a vacancy had arisen on the Council. The Clerk explained the procedure to the meeting and as no election had been requested via SCDC the Council were able to advertise and co-opt a new member. Ms O'Callaghan said she had received comments that the vacancy had not been advertised. The Clerk confirmed that the vacancy had been posted on all 4 Village noticeboards as well as Eversden On-Line on 12th July.
An application had been received from Kate Green and this was unanimously accepted. The Clerk will contact Ms Green.
New Format of Agenda Notice
16. Mrs Handley requested that the wording 'To All members of the Parish Council' and 'summoned' be removed as it was not inclusive. Mr Dalton seconded this.
17. The Clerk to read out guidance that had been received from CAPALC regarding the new wording and the legislation surrounding it.
18. Mr White suggested the wording was altered to 'ALL MEMBERS OF THE PARISH COUNCIL ARE SUMMONED TO...' Followed by 'AT WHICH MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND'. This was seconded my Mrs Spencer.
19. A vote was held and it was resolved that the wording proposed by Mr White be used.
Recreation Ground: CCTV at Pavilion
20. It was reported that one quote had been received but was costly. It was agreed to await a firm recommendation from the Recreation Committee before further discussion.
Wimpole Road Exit: Hedge Obstruction
21. It was resolved that the Clerk would write to Mr Banks asking for the hedge to be cut.
Local Plan Consultation
22. The Council has until 30th September to comment on the Local Plan Consultation. Plans can be viewed at Red House Farm. Mrs Spencer had seen the Plan and informed the meeting that over 30,000 comments had so far been received. The Plan is set to shape SCDC to 2031.
There are no changes to Little Eversden in the plan, however there is the designation of a field in Great Eversden as a wildlife site.
Mrs Spencer also informed the Council about the new proposed Levy on new developments (Community Infrastructure Levy) e.g., extensions, housing, there were exceptions however, e.g. Affordable housing and charities. Currently the CIL is approx. £100 per sq metre for residential development.
Cllr Robin Page
23. Cllr Page believes it is a feigned Local Plan Consultation and local views will be overridden. Bourn Airfield going against SCDC Policy and will create rat-run. He said that housing is already being advertised as investment properties in London and abroad. He informed the meeting that he attended a workshop where he felt Bourn Airfield was not wanted; this was followed by vigorous demonstrations at the last full council meeting with demonstrators stopped from going into the meeting. He said that once the countryside was gone it was gone forever. Great Kneighton and Trumpington were both extremely worrying and destroying the Environment.
24. Mr Tebbit asked if Mr Page felt that the Parish Council should be writing to SCDC expressing our dismay at Bourn Airfield, Mr Page agreed.
Cllr Sebastian Kindersley
25. Mr Kindersley had circulated a report earlier, which has been circulated to the Parish Council and is available for parishioners by requesting it from the Clerk.
26. Cllr Kindersley explained that from a sustainability point of view, Northstowe is the better option for residential development as it already has the Guided Bus Route.
27. Carter Jonas have recently undertaken an economic report at CEMEX, as well as a review for residential development, once again this met with heavy opposition.
28. Cllr Kindersley urged the Council to respond to the Transport Strategy Consultation, also with a deadline of 30th September. He suggested that the more ambitious transport proposals, such as the restoration of the railways, would never be implemented.
Village Hall Extension
29. Mr White explained at currently the Village Hall had no storage facility and regular users would like to store equipment. The proposed extension will be at the rear of the village hall. Mr White has spoken to Ely Diocese as they own the back field and they have no objections. Carter Jonas, as the Agent for the Diocese had no problem in principle but were interested in how much space and costings. South Cambs Planning and Conservation had also been approached and both had no objections initially. A local architect is drawing up plans by the end of the week. Mr White indicated that if the plans are given the go ahead this will be a major fundraising project.
A603 Speed Limit Reduction
30. Mr Dinsdale was unable to attend the meeting but circulated this report:
'A meeting with David Lines (Highways Policy officer) was held at the Wheatsheaf on 4th July,
with myself, the chair of Harlton PC, Cllr Kindersley and A. De Simone attending.
31. Speed limit reduction application: The joint application from Eversden and Harlton PCs for a 50mph speed limit was discussed. Mr Lines thought the proposed speed and the extents were reasonable - extents long enough to be enforceable whilst allowing overtaking on the national speed limit sections either side - and would be supported by Highways.
32. Mr Lines agreed to provide details of statutory consultees, which he later did, and I have written to them, including recent speed survey data in the submission to the Police.
33. No objections have yet been received, but I await confirmation from the police, and I will shortly be contacting Mr Lines to see if he is in agreement that we can move forward.
34. Harlton PC has agreed to fund 50% of the costs.
35. Other matters: Various other matters were discussed regarding junction safety, Mr Lines informed us that design services are no longer available from the council due to budget cutbacks but various avenues were suggested for the future. A few simple (i.e. hopefully cheap and non-controversial) idea were sparked by the discussion.
36. Harlton PC are not supportive of a refuge, I have indicated that we would not proceed with any scheme without their full involvement. Lighting was mentioned, but Mr Lines indicated that the costs for this would probably be prohibitive and there is now extra complexity with the contracting out to Balfour Beatty.
37. Cllr Kindersley was very helpful and his 'networking' skills may be very useful in the future - I would like to thank him for his time and valuable help.'
38. The Council recognises all the hard work put in by Mr Dinsdale and would like to thank him for his efforts.
OSP 148
39. The current situation is that the planning application was approved then halted due to an incorrect survey. Mr White has tried to contact Gary Duthie at SCDC but he is away until Thursday 15th so we were unable to obtain an update. Mr White then contacted Accent Nene, unfortunately the contact is away until 24 August. We are expecting a new application to be submitted which will go back to planning and through the process again.
40. Mr Bridgewater said that he had heard rumours that there was no point in submitting Planning Permission for other sites, as the Parish Council wants OSP 148. He thought that the Village should widen its views on different sites and that he would be willing to put up a plan for the land opposite his property for consideration. When asked if he had given this information in the Village survey he said he had not.
41. Mr Page said that in his view SCDC had handled the situation badly and had kept him out of the loop. The site should not be developed and be kept as a conservation area as it was the wrong place for housing of this nature. Mr Page continued that the Council needed to look at the situation of the land and that the development should be on a Brown Field site. He indicated that Mr Tebbit should put forward his land of the old pig farm site. Mr Tebbit responded that he had noted Mr Page's suggestion made some time ago but had not considered putting this site forward. He pointed out that no site could be considered unless made available by the owners. Mr Page said that in his view there was a majority of both Great and Little Eversden residents that did not want the development of OSP 148.
42. Mr White informed Mr Page that they had been overwhelming support for the development in both Great & Little Eversden
Great Eversden Little Eversden
44% GE - in favour/strongly in favour 39.8% LE in favour
15.38% not in favour 20% not in favour
*Figures from 2010.
43. Mr Tebbit informed the meeting that the matter is currently outside the Parish Council’s hands and with Accent Nene and SCDC.
Finance
44. All agreed.
Clerks Salary £414.32 LGA 1972 s.111(2)
Tailcorn Funding £250.00 LGA 1972 s.142
Brass Workshop £201.00 LGA 1972 s.145
On behalf of Tailcorn, Mr Dalton thanked the Parish Council for the funding.
River Cam Workshops
45. The Council had received an invitation from Cambridge Past, Present & Future regarding a workshop to create a strategy for the River Cam and its tributaries. Mrs Glasse expressed an interest in attending and also Ms O'Callaghan. The Clerk will contact the organisation and put forward both names for attendance if possible.
Correspondence
46. As most correspondence is now received by the Clerk via email, Councillors were asked to inform the Clerk if they wished to receive the Correspondence envelope. This was circulated at the meeting to a reduced circulation list.
Next Meeting
Monday 2nd September & Monday 16th September Planning at 8:30 pm if necessary
Monday 30th September Full Parish Council at 8:00 pm.