(The agenda for this meeting is available in a separate post. These minutes are also available in PDF form for offline reading and printing. Minutes are draft until approved, at a subsequent meeting of the Parish Council.)
Those present were:
- Giles Scott, Chairman;
- Nick Ginn, Vice Chairman;
- James Catmur, Parish Councillor;
- Nigel Day, Parish Councillor;
- Andrew Pett, Parish Councillor;
- Vikki Murphy, Parish Councillor;
- Peter King, Parish Councillor;
- County Councillor Stephen Ferguson;
… and 3 members of the public
- The meeting was opened at 7:30 pm with a silent prayer.
- Apologies. Apologies were received from District Councillor Richard West, Parish Councillors Michael Capps and Cathy Davis and the clerk Catherine Fox.
- Declarations of Interest. There were no declarations of interest.
- Minutes of the previous full Parish Council meeting held on the 1st November 2021 and of the meeting of the Planning sub -committee held on 10th November 2021 were approved and signed accordingly by the Chairman.
- OPEN FORUM. The meeting was closed.
County Councillor Ferguson reported on the post of highways officer for St Neots (including Great Gransden) which had been vacant for 5 months. This had resulted in a serious backlog of reported issues in the interim with a total of 611 unresolved cases and 30+ in Great Gransden. The issue was flagged with highways by the County Council and agreement to hasten the search to fill the post let to the secondment of an experienced officer from a neighbouring county and Maciej Adamczyk is now in post. Cllr Ferguson suggested the Parish Council contact the new officer and arrange for a walk around the village to highlight problem areas. Cllr Ferguson offered to attend the meeting, if available.
Waresley Road – some initial drain clearing work was undertaken but problems persist. An issue with the drain infrastructure is suspected, either damaged by tree roots or not able to cope with the volume of water. This has been identified as a persistent wet spot and will be investigated by the County Council who have been given clear instruction to address these persistently wet areas, although no time frame has been given.
Ting bus has been a great success and Cllr Ferguson suggested that the parish may request that the catchment be moved further South to include Great Gransden.
A member of the public spoke on behalf of a number of residents who attend circuit training requesting that the decision not to allow usage of the MUGA for this purpose be reversed. He reiterated points made in a letter to the Parish Council and highlighted that other organisations are also using the MUGA for commercial purposes, including a company who run multi-sports sessions for pupils of Barnabas Oley Primary School. The main issue is within the winter months when the sportsfield becomes water-logged and is not suitable. The sessions, although paid for, are attended primarily by residents of Gransden and Waresley and therefore use of the MUGA is serving the local community. Usage of the facility is sought on Monday, Wednesday, Friday lunchtimes for an hour at a time.
Open forum was declared closed. - Matters Arising
6.1 Neighbourhood Plan. Cllr King gave councillors an update on the progress of the Neighbourhood Plan which is now in a final draft ready to submit to the wider community for a
pre-submission consultation. Specifically, Cllr King highlighted those areas of the plan which would require either support or direct action from the Parish Council, to ensure that councillors were fully informed before adopting the plan. Following this presentation, Cllr King proposed that the Neighbourhood Plan, subject to the minor editing amendments including those discussed at this meeting, be approved by the full Parish Council today for the purpose of publishing the document for a period of formal public consultation under Regulation 14 of the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations (The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulation 2012 as amended). Seconded by Cllr Pett and carried unanimously. The next stage will be a 6-week pre-submission consultation process which is planned to commence in early January and will make all documents available to Parish residents. Parishioners will have the opportunity to comment via a google forms questionnaire (online or in paper format). Posters will be displayed around the village and on various social media channels to highlight this.
6.2 Treeworks (Elm trees Church Street & cemetery trees). 3 quotes had been received for the tree works, all of which were similar. Councillors unanimously agreed with the recommendation from Cllr Capps and the Parish Clerk (circulated to councillors in a report) to accept the quotations from Charlie Vince of £1,760 (ex VAT) for the cemetery tree work, £792 (inc VAT) for the 12 Elm Trees in Church Street and £770 (ex VAT) to fell the Cypress tree in the cemetery. - Recruitment of a replacement clerk. Councillors agreed to wait until after the Christmas period to advertise for a replacement clerk and to use local channels as well as a number of government websites to advertise the post.
- Financial Statement for November 2021. The sheet filed as Appendix No. 1 had been circulated. The statement was unanimously approved and signed by the Chairman. Councillors also noted the budget review as at the end of November 2021.
- Cheques for approval. The following payments were approved:
(Proposed Cllr Scott, seconded by Cllr Catmur)
Payments previously approved and paid since 1st November 2021
SSE £109.44
(DD 16th Nov 2021)
Charlie Vince Tree Surgery £528.00*
(Elm Trees at the bowls club)
Cheques/ Bank Transfers payable December 2021
Clerk’s expenses for November 2021 £24.38
HMRC – PAYE (period ending 5th Jan 22) £155.34
Balfour Beatty (2019-22 Yr 3 Q1) £124.20
FOSSE Contracts Ltd
(Resurfacing of tennis courts) £39,288.00
FOSSE Contracts Ltd
(Resurfacing of tennis courts – colour coating) £4680.00
Human Capital Department £178.80
(Retained HR support)
Caretaker Salary –December 2021 £684.38
(28th December 2021)
Clerk’s Salary – December 2021 £960.74
(28th December 2021)
Automated Payments payable December 2021
DD BT – Broadband Reading Room £30.16
(11th December 2021)
*Paid in accordance with invoice settlement terms. Expenditure previously approved as at item 8 of minutes dated 2nd August 2021.
Cllr Pett enquired when the Reading Room Broadband cost will revert to the Reading Room Committee. This will be at the end of the current contract which runs until March 2022. - Approval of budget for 2022/23.
Following discussions around the precept for 2022/23 at the last meeting, the budget for 2022/23, which had previously been circulated, was unanimously approved. Proposed by Cllr Scott and seconded by Cllr Pett. - LHI Bid 2021/22 Traffic Calming Draft Design.
The design for Meadow Road was approved by Councillors with 6 votes in favour and1 abstention. Proposed by Cllr Pett and seconded by Cllr Scott. Cllr Murphy expressed some concern regarding safety of non-vehicle users (notably cyclists) by the design of the chicane which forces them out into the middle of the road.
After lengthy discussion councillors could not reach agreement regarding the calming measure on Middle Street with 3 votes in favour, 3 against and 1 abstention.
It was agreed to defer the measure for a future LHI bid on the grounds that:
• The bid was submitted pre-covid and there is now less traffic and more parked cars.
• Concerns regarding traffic backing up and queuing along Crow Tree Street.
• Concern that this measure would shift the problem to West Street/Fox Street/Church Street rather than provide an absolute solution.
• Doubts that this was not a justifiable use of Parish Council funds at this point in time, especially as peak times precede school traffic.
• Observation that residents would need to park on the other side of the road, currently parking habits in effect create a mini chicane. - Highways.
Councillors reported no new issues but lots of outstanding and ongoing problems. Cllr Murphy to supply a new image of the inspection cover in the middle of Fox Steet/East Street/Caxton Road crossroads to illustrate how the issue has deteriorated. - Correspondence.
13.1 Use of the MUGA. Councillors discussed the impact that commercial use would have on the current protocol for use of the MUGA (free to residents, no booking, first come/first served basis). There were concerns regarding insurance, potential damage, contractual agreements that could not be honoured if hire fees were charged given that there is no booking system, concern regarding potential conflict with village users and concern that this may set a precedent which would undermine the founding objectives of a free facility for all. It was agreed to investigate how requests for commercial use that are supported by and benefit local villagers could be accommodated and consider the matter further at the next meeting.
13.2 Donation Request from Gransden Pathfinder Scout troop. Councillors decided that the request was not within the remit of the Parish Council, suggesting an application could be made to the Poor’s Land Charity.
13.3 Letter from Adlams Re: Cemetery Land Transfer. Councillors noted the delay in the Land Registry transfer but is not an issue as the land is not required in a hurry.
13.4 Speeding vehicles on Caxton Road. A resident had raised a concern about speeding vehicles. Speed-watch currently operates at Audley Close so there is no specific data available for Caxton Road. If parish signs can operate to detect 40mph then it would be sensible to place them on existing poles to collect data. There was also discussion that Great Gransden signs are dated and do not record speeds. It was agreed to investigate if Great Gransden could borrow a sign that will record actual speeds from a neighbouring Parish Council as well as investigating the cost of an MVAS sign that records speed. This would help with the collection of more accurate data to support future LHI bids.
13.5 Fly tipping on Sand Road. A resident had raised a concern about fly-tipping in Sand Road. There is no direct action that can be taken by the Parish Council and the idea of signage would lead to more street furniture. A notice will be included in Roundabout detailing where and how to report a fly-tipping incident. - Consultations.
14.1 Landscape and Townscape SPD: Consultation Draft 2021. (Consultation dates 15th October 2021 – 10th December 2021). Noted.
14.2 Greater Cambridge Partnership Making Connections consultation. Noted.
14.3 Greater Cambridge Partnership Cambridge Eastern Access consultation. Noted. - Dates for Next Year’s Meetings. The following dates were agreed:
Jan 10; Feb 7; March 7; April 4; April 21 for Annual Parish Meeting; May 16; June 6; July 4; Aug 1; Sept 5; Oct 3; Nov 7; Dec 5. - Planning
16.1. PARISH COUNCIL CONSULTATION – APPLICATION REF. 21/02529/HHFUL.
Single storey rear extension and part garage conversion
11 Mill Road Great Gransden Sandy SG19 3AG
Councillors unanimously agreed to recommend ‘Approval’ on the ground that there are no reasons to object.
16.2. PARISH COUNCIL CONSULTATION – APPLICATION REF. 21/02539/HHFUL
Single storey rear extension, and associated external works.
8 Middle Street Great Gransden Sandy SG19 3AD
Councillors unanimously agreed to recommend ‘Approval’. This is a pared back version of a previous application that was approved. There are no grounds for objection and the previous comments regarding distance from the kerb to the gate have been addressed.
16.3. PARISH COUNCIL CONSULTATION – APPLICATION REF. 21/02536/HHFUL
Extension to outbuilding
22 Little Gransden Lane Great Gransden Sandy SG19 3BA
Councillors unanimously agreed to recommend ‘Approval’ on the ground that there are no reasons to object. - Review of HR Policies and Procedures through external consultancy.
In line with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 this item was considered in closed session. - Date of next Meeting
The Next Meeting has been arranged for Monday 10th January 2022 at 7:30pm
This meeting closed at 9.35pm