COMBERTON PARISH COUNCIL

 

Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held in

the Old Village Hall on Wednesday 8 December 2004 at 7.30pm

 

Members present:

Councillors:

Mr A Bailey

Mr D Charge

Dr C Chambers

Mr A Hollick

Mrs S Hyde

Dr J McCabe

Mrs D Morison

Mr R Rowlands

Dr H Roscoe

Mrs A Webb

Miss C Westgarth (Chairman)

In attendance:       Mrs G Stoehr (Clerk) and 5 members of the public.

 

1.         To approve apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Dr F Hughes also from Cllrs R Martlew and S Harangozo.

2.         To approve the minutes of the last meeting on 11 November 2004

On a proposition by Dr McCabe, seconded by Mr Rowlands, the minutes were approved as true records and were signed by the Chairman with the following amendment in item 7.4 to read ‘Barton Road between Long Road and Horizon Park reduced to 30mph it was agreed to present a village petition to the South Cambridgeshire Area Joint Committee’.

3.         Matters arising from the last meeting

3.1       Street trading licence Green End – update

It was noted that the terms of the new licence issued by the District Council were:

•     A probationary licence to expire on 31st March 2004

•     Trading days restricted -- Mondays to Saturdays

•     No trading on Sunday

•     Hours of trading restricted 6.30pm to 11.00 (Monday - Thursday)

•     Hours of trading restricted 6.30pm to 11.30pm (Friday and Saturday)

•     Trader must be off site within 40 minutes of close of trade

•     The trader will clear the site and surrounding area up to the duck pond

•     Waste products including fat/oil and water will be put in a container and taken off site for disposal.

3.2       Interactive sign and Barton Road highway matters – update

As no reply had been received to the Parish Council’s letter this item is to be carried forward to the next meeting.

3.3       Other

3.3.1    The Chairman reported that she had met with Mike Cooper and the dropped kerbs would be installed at the sensory garden.

3.3.2    It was agreed that the traffic calming outside Comberton Village College and the reasons that it was not installed as anticipated would be discussed further at the next meeting when the County Councillor was present.

4.         County Councillor and District Councillor reports

Cllr Harangozo’s report(1) was noted.

5.         Parish Plan

5.1       PCSO funding

Further to the decision made at the February meeting and with new information to hand regarding potential costs for a PCSO, on a proposition by Mr Bennett, seconded by Dr Chambers it was agreed that Comberton Parish Council would not contribute £6000+ in exchange for only 25% PCSO time. It was agreed to consider how the money put aside for this financial year would be considered at a future meeting.

It was also agreed that the Parish Council will continue to follow the initiative for PCSOs and should an opportunity occur in the future whereby a PCSO could be obtained at a more reasonable cost, perhaps with some Government, County or District match funding Comberton would consider this matter further.

On a proposition by the Chairman it was agreed to vary the order of business to take item 10 at this point in the meeting.

10.       Driveway access across Parish Council land – Highcliffe Properties, Land to the rear of 111 Barton Road including public meeting report

The report from the public meeting held on 16 November(2) was received and considered. The proposal by Mrs Morison, seconded by Miss Westgarth that in this particular instance and in view of the outcome of the Public Meeting held on Tuesday 16 November 2004 the Parish Council do not sell, lease or grant right of access across its public open space, was carried by seven votes in favour, four votes against and one abstention.

6.         Finance

6.1       To receive the financial report and to approve the payment of bills(appended 1 to these minutes)

The invoices and bank statements were checked. On a proposition by Mrs Morison, seconded by Mr Rowlands, the expenditure as listed in the financial report and monthly financial statement plus Powergen £43.59, N Gristwood £630 and Herald Contract Services £305.50 were approved in accordance with its powers:

SCDC (pavilion rates)

£176.00

Cambs ACRE (affiliation fee)

£25.00

Ridgeons (Groundsman's materials)

£50.11

St Mary's Church (planning application)

£75.00

Valuation Office Agency Administration (Valuation)

£276.13

Royal Mail (PO box)

£106.00

LG Stoehr (salary)

£143.40

LGS Services (admin support & expenses)

£617.06

ESPO (3 bins & 1 dog bin)

£497.03

ESPO (gr/socket goal)

£43.00

It was noted and/or agreed that:

·       a sign with the recreation ground bylaws had been ordered (in accordance with financial regulations) following a complaint from a resident that they did not know what people could or couldn't do on the recreation ground.

6.2       To review the budget and consider the Budget for FY ending 2006 including the baseline budget, S137 payments (requests for donations)

The Parish Council considered the budget review(appended 2) detailing income and expenditure to date against the agreed budget and the report(appended 3) from the RFO detailing money in the reserves, the baseline budget and items to be taken into consideration when setting the budget for the forthcoming year.

On a proposition by the Chairman, seconded by Dr Chambers it was agreed that a working group be set up to consider this further and to bring a clear recommendation to the next meeting. It was agreed that Miss Westgarth, Dr McCabe, Dr Chambers and Mr Bennett should be on the working group and that the Clerk should also attend.

6.3       It was noted that the Parish Council’s half yearly internal audit had been completed and that the Internal Auditor had written ‘I find everything in order. The year end audit should pose no problems.’

Moore Stephens had written requesting further information to enable them to conclude their audit and this had been provided.

7.         To receive reports and consider recommendations contained in the reports

7.1       Planning(3)

Taken as read.

7.2       Village Hall representative and Steering Group Representatives

Dr Chambers’ resignation as the Parish Council’s New Village Hall Steering Group member was received. The Parish Council thanked Dr Chambers for his hard work and commitment whilst the Council’s representative. It was agreed that the appointment of a new representative would be discussed at the next meeting.

The draft minutes of the recent Steering Group(4) meeting were noted.

7.3       Other

It was noted that work had been undertaken to a tree near The Causeway and that the Parish Council had not been consulted. Mr Hellingsworth is to be asked to send through information on the works.

8.         Allotments Long Road

The Chairman reported on her meeting with Mr Scott and Mr Walsh. Regrettably Mr Matthews, Land Drainage Manager at the District Council had not attended. It had been agreed between the parties that the ditch to the north of the allotments would not be dug out and that Mr Walsh would monitor the water level and Mr Scott would speak to Mr Banks an adjacent land owner.

9.         Website www.comberton.org.uk

Mr Bennett’s report(5) on the background to the website was noted. Mr Bennett was thanked for all his work and efforts to date and it was acknowledged that additional help and more community involvement was required if the website was to be kept up to date.  It was noted that a parishioner, Dr Crichton, had offered some free software which could make it easier for groups and community members to update the website themselves and that Miss Westgarth had offered to transfer all the existing information to the new system.

On a proposition by Miss Westgarth, seconded by Dr McCabe it was agreed that Mr Bennett, Miss Westgarth and Dr Crichton should meet to discuss this and the hosting of the site further.

On a proposition by the Chairman it was agreed to take item 12 before item 11.

12.       To consider matters arising out of correspondence/communications received since the last meeting

12.1     It was noted that a letter had been received from Mr Banyard and it was agreed that this should be considered further at the next meeting once all members had had an opportunity to read it.

13.       Urgent matters brought forward with the Chairman’s consent

None.

11.       Recreation Ground extension – T&B negotiations

At 8.50pm on a proposition by the Chairman, carried unopposed, in accordance with S1(2) of the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960 in view of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, that is negotiations for land acquisition, the public were temporarily excluded from the meeting and were instructed to withdraw. The Clerk was invited to remain.

At 9.05pm the meeting was declared re-opened to the public.

 

There was no further business and the meeting closed at 9.06pm

 

 

Signed ……………………………Chairman    ……………………date.