COMBERTON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held in

the Old Village Hall on Wednesday 8 June 2005 at 7.30pm

Members present:

Councillors:

Mr A Bailey

Mr M Bennett

Dr B Burton

Mr D Charge

Mr A Hollick

Mrs S Hyde

Dr J McCabe,

Mrs D Morison

Dr H Roscoe

Miss C Westgarth (Chairman)

In attendance: Cllr S Harangozo, Cllr D Baldwin, Mrs G Stoehr (Clerk) and 3 members of the public.

1. To approve apologies for absence

Mrs A Webb (social engagement) Mr R Rowlands and Dr C Chambers (work)

2. To approve the minutes of the last meeting on 11 May

On a proposition by Mr Bennett, seconded by Mr Bailey the minutes of the meeting and also the confidential minutes were approved as a true record with the following amendments:

· delete ‘a little’

· delete ‘incite’ replace with ‘insight’

The minutes were signed by the Chairman.

3. Matters arising or carried forward from the meeting

3.1 Youth Neighbourhood Watch

On a proposition by Miss Westgarth, seconded by Mrs Morison the Parish Council gave its agreement in principle to support Mr Christopher Fisher setting up a youth neighbourhood watch scheme in Comberton and provide a start up grant of £500. This was subject to satisfactory references being received from both the Police and Whaddon Parish Council, that there was good liaison with other village youth groups and that scheme did not sap children from other groups.

4. County Councillor and District Councillor reports

4.1 County Councillor

On a proposition by Mr Bennett, seconded by Mrs Morison it was unanimously agreed that the Parish Council accepts that the current layout of the Barton Road traffic calming scheme needed some modification and thus had already raised its concerns to Mr Lines about the roundabout and the vehicles parking in Barton Road. However it was unanimous in that the central islands in Barton Road (Barton end) should not be removed and understood that any proposed modifications would need planning permission and that if this was the case it looked forward to receiving the plans. It was also unanimously resolved that the Parish Council no longer had the funding in place to fund the interactive sign.

4.2 District Councillor

Cllr Harangozo reported on the proposal to transfer the housing stock to a housing association and the associated implications including whether or no another ballot was necessary. The Parish Council expressed its concern that staff at the District Council would be made redundant and as that a large area of District Council office space would become vacant.

5. Parish Plan

Mr Bennett reported that the group was scheduled to meet later this month and that Ms Cook at CVC had informed him that she had recruited a female youth worker.

It was agreed that an opening ceremony for the skateboard park should be arranged and it was noted that the facility would be having its District Council building inspection to fulfil the terms of the grant.

6. Finance

6.1 To receive the financial report[1] and to approve the payment of bills

The financial report was received and considered. On a proposition by Mrs Morison, seconded by Dr McCabe it was agreed that the payments as listed in the financial report plus Scotsdales £314.82 should be paid.

Playground Management	£104.58
MD Landscapes	£1157.38
Powergen	£73.04
Connections Bus Project	£337.00
SCDC	£75.54
LGS Services	£895.74
LG Stoehr	£139.22

It was agreed that Mr Gristwood’s invoice should be queried and until clarification on ‘special projects’, ‘mileage’ and ‘petrol’ included in his time sheet was received to reduce the amount of payment to £559.07. It was also agreed that he should be reminded to submit his invoice as per his contract so that any queries could be clarified before the meeting.

6.1.1 It was noted that notification had been received that small business rate relief had been awarded on the pavilion which equates to a saving of £893pa. Thus the rate payments reduce from £194 to £75.54pcm

6.2 To approve the accounts for FY ending 2005 and complete the annual return and supporting statement of assurance

On a proposition by Dr Roscoe, seconded by Mr Bennett the accounts were approved by resolution of Comberton Parish Council and the statements in section 2 of the annual return were all answered ‘yes’. The Chairman signed sections 1 & 2 and the supporting accounts on the Parish Council’s behalf.

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

7.1 Planning[2]

Dr Roscoe’s report was taken as read.

7.2 Village Hall representative and Steering Group representatives

It was noted that as the Parish Council was partly funding the proposed new village hall then the Council’s financial regulations regarding open tender apply.

7.3 Recreation ground including vandalism and tennis court fencing

The Groundsman’s report was received and considered. It was noted that the tennis courts fencing had been damaged due to youngsters climbing over to retrieve their ball and that Mr Gristwood would find a more appropriate position for the goals. Recent fires on the recreation ground were noted. The Police had been informed.

It was noted that there had been an incident of vandalism on the camp site and that this had been caught on CCTV.

8. Watts Wood

The Parish Council was pleased to hear that its solicitor finally had received the Watts Wood transfer papers. On a proposition by Dr McCabe, seconded by Mrs Morison it was resolved that the Chairman and one other member be delegated to sign the transfer when ready and that a cheque could be written for the Land Registry and £1 released for the transfer without reference back to the Council.

9. To consider matters arising out of correspondence/communications received including

9.1 CCC disabled parking bay in Fox’s Way[3]

The letter from Mr Thulborn, County Council and accompanying residents’ letters objecting to the proposed parking bay were considered. On a proposition by Miss Westgarth, seconded by Mr Bennett it was agreed that:

· Parish Council supports the application for a disabled bay to be installed outside 31 Fox's Way.

· There is garaging to the rear of the property but the Council was uncertain how far this was from the dwelling and therefore Mr Thulborn might wish to clarify this with the applicant

· When the Parish Council first considered this matter 12 month plus ago it was satisfied that there was a need for the parking bay to be installed. Nothing has come to light that makes the Parish Council change its original stance.

· To clarify with Mr Thulborn if the parking bay can be allocated specifically to 31 Fox’s Way or of it would be available for any disabled person to park in it.

There was no item 10. Item 12 was taken before item 11.

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

None.

11. Recreation ground extension

At 9.03pm 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 and Councillor Harangozo were invited to remain.

At 9.36pm the meeting was declared re-opened to the public. None returned to the meeting.

There was no further business and the meeting closed at 9.38pm

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