7th December 2009
A meeting of the Parish Council was held in the Village Hall on 7th December 2009 at 8pm.
Apologies received from Mrs Connolly and Mr Tebbit
Present, Mrs Handley, Mr Huddleston, Mr Blatch, Mrs Pritchard, Mr White, Mrs Hobbs, Mr Kilker, and, in the Chair, Mr Dalton. Cls. Mrs Heazell and Mr Kindersley were also present.
Minutes of the meetings held on 26th October 2009 were approved and signed.
Matters arising from the Minutes
1 Nixon's Hall Tablet. This is still under repair.
2 Land Registration of Parish Property Declaration. This is in the hands of the solicitors.
3 Hedges at 2 Wheeler's Way The Chairman and Mr Kilker agreed to speak to the tenant and then carry out the work themselves.
Hedges near 2 and 4 High Street, Little. Mr Tebbit had cut the hedge between the field and the road.
4 Road at St Helen's Transfer. This is in the hands of the solicitors.
5 Allotment Organisation. Mrs Hobbs reported that the planned area had been cleared but that the wet weather had made it impossible to do the rotovating.
6 Standing Orders. This is still under review.
7 Village Plan Mr White reported he had completed processing 79 out of 165 questionnaires. They could then be analysed.
8 Information FOI compulsory model template has been almost completed.
9. Youth Club Bus. Mr Blatch reported that he was meeting Mr Alan Webb, the project manager on Wednesday and hoped to obtain further information about the operation of such a bus, its costs etc.
New Items
10 Telephone Box, Great Eversden. The phone has been removed. It would be restored only if the Village paid for the running costs. More information is needed about this before a decision can be made. Since the box is listed it will remain and have to be maintained.
12 Cycle Path Eversden to Comberton At present the sub committee are still trying to establish a route to avoid the dangerous bends near the church on the edge of Comberton village. Possible routes are being discussed with farmers. A new footpath being agreed between Toft and Comberton may prove to be useful.
13. Footpath 3. The diversion, which had been approved previously, was confirmed.
14 Affordable Housing It was reported that the ten houses at Low Close had been completed and some occupied. The landscaping and tree planting had been carried out to a very high standard and it was agreed that a letter of appreciation should be sent to Nene Housing Association.
OSP 148 The Chairman reported he and Councillor Heazell had met with one of the planners, Paul Derry to look at the site and consider its potential for development for Affordable Housing.
15 Planning.
Rectory Farm, Little Eversden. Listed building consent for fireplace change.
approved by SCDC
Mr and Mrs Miles Johnson, 46 High Street, Little Eversden. extension.
approved by PC
Chairman's Delegation update. The Chairman's Delegation meetings had been abandoned. Routine decisions will be made by officers under delegated powers. Controversial planning applications will be dealt with by the Planning Committee. The short time scale (21 days) allowed means that both Parish Councils and District Councillors will have to be alert and act quickly.
Parish Planning Forum. 10th December at 17.45. The Chairman hopes to attend.
16 Finance
Precept 2010-2011 This will be circulated and it is agreed will be finalised at the next meeting in January. Any requests for grants should be submitted in writing to the Chairman.
Cheques paid:
IT Support Partners. Webspace £92.00 LGA 1972 s142
17 Cl. Kindersley spoke about the continuing difficulties associated with the guided bus scheme.
He reported that more primary schools are desperately needed in Cambridge City, but that there will be no extra funding from the government for these. There will also be a serious shortfall in the number of secondary places required because of the growth of Cambourne. All school provision in South Cambs is under review and there is grave concern that decisions are being left too late to meet future needs.
In view of the coming shortage of funds for any kind of development he also mentioned a scheme called Tax Increment Funding (TIF) the essence of which was being able to borrow against future tax revenues. He asked for the opinion of this council which was generally unfavourable.
18 Cl. Mrs Heazell spoke about her concern at the waste of money on unnecessary road signs warning of frost and the commissioning of art work in connection with the guided bus scheme.
She also reported the introduction of blue waste bins for paper, plastic and tins.
19. Insurance Mr White said he had received literature about cheap insurance for Parish Councils and it was agreed that he seek a quotation and review it for like for like.
21 Correspondence. In circulation
Date of Meetings
Planning Meeting (if necessary) Monday 21st December at 8.30pm
Full Parish Council Monday 18th January in the Village Hall at 8pm.