Bolnhurst & Keysoe Parish Council A Meeting was held on 17th August 2020 Virtual Meeting via Zoom at 7.30pm Present: PCllr M Perry, PCllr S Bates, PCllr M Gossage, PCllr J Stone, PCllr L Barry, PCllr J Browning, Mrs G Wiggs (Parish Clerk), and 15 members of the public. 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE BCllr T Wootton 2. DECLARATIONS OF MEMBERS LOCAL & PECUNIARY INTERESTS IN THE BUSINES TO BE TRANSACTED HEREUNDER None. 3. TO VERIFY THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS PARISH COUNCIL MEETING These were approved. 4. MATTERS ARISING Bottle Bank request – PCllr Browning has now received a reply from Bedford Borough Council. It is not considered necessary to install an additional bottle bank locally, as there are others close by. Green Waste Collection – This has now resumed. Boundary Review information – This has been sent to the resident as requested. Police Precept enquiry – details sent to resident as requested. Material Planning Considerations – PCllr Perry has now combined the documents & circulated it. Councillors will send her any comments before the next meeting. 5. PARISH COUNCIL VACANCY Ian Johnson has resigned leaving a vacancy in Keysoe Ward. Thanks have been sent to Ian for his contributions during his tenure. Bedford Borough Council has been advised of the vacancy. A vacancy notice will be advertised – Action The Clerk 6. OPEN FORUM FOR MEMBERS AND THE PUBLIC TO SPEAK Anglian Water – PCllr Gossage reported that there have been four bursts over recent weeks. He has continued to liaise with them about this. VJ Day – PCllr Stone reported that the event held in the Parish on Saturday was well attended. The last post was played, a wreath was laid followed by two minutes silence. The bells at both Parish churches were rung. She thanked everyone involved. Large Farm Vehicles – a resident raised concern about large farm vehicles driving at speed through the Parish. He accepted that harvest time is very busy for local farmers, but in some instances, he had been forced to veer onto the verge. PCllr Gossage will seek Police advice – Action PCllr Gossage Palmer Sport – A resident reported increased noise from racing cars up until 8pm recently which is much later than usual. He wondered if the facility had changed its operating hours since reopening after the lock down. Little Staughton Airfield – A resident reported noise from a perceived increase in low flying aircraft from this airfield recently. Planning Application New Shrubs Farm – A resident reported that a planning application had been submitted at New Shrubs Farm that the Parish Council did not seem to have been consulted on. It is believed to possibly be inside our Parish boundary. The Clerk will investigate – Action The Clerk 1 Bolnhurst & Keysoe Parish Council Mayors Meeting – A resident asked for any feedback from a meeting he understood was held by the Mayor which Parish Councils had been invited to, to discuss the local Covid response. Parish Councillors were not aware of this meeting. East/West Railway – A resident asked if the route of the railway may impact on this Parish if the northern route becomes the approved option. The Chairman said in his opinion, the biggest impact will be the chosen location for a railway station north of Bedford, if this route option is approved. Assets of Community Value – A resident asked if there was any mileage in considering registering some premises as ACV’s given the potential for local businesses to flounder due to Covid. The Clerk will draft a paper on the topic for consideration at the next meeting – Action The Clerk 7. PLAYING FIELD TO INCLUDE UPDATE ON SKATE AREA There were no issues to report about the Playing Field. An updated report has been circulated about the Skate Area. An application has been submitted to Planning for a Lawful Development Certificate. If this is not permitted, a Planning Application may need to be submitted. Ten local residents have been approached to seek their opinion. Nine supported the idea, & one was not supportive. It was agreed that a list of potentially affected residents would be put together & contacted by the Parish Council if the Lawful Development Certificate application is successful. Three quotes have been obtained as follows: Yates Playgrounds - £24,300 (excluding installation) Jeremy Lucas – £7.6k - £10k for base only Caloo - £39,132 including VAT which can be reclaimed (including installation) Funding options are being explored. Mick George Skips are currently operating a landfill community funding scheme, under this scheme 11% must be funded by other sources, & they will fund the remaining 89%. The Clerk will enquire if the insurance premium will be affected – Action The Clerk 8. CORONA VIRUS: Community Support – there had been one person use the support group recently. Bedford is on the Governments Watch List. It was 10th out of 203 on the infection rate list, although levels have come down considerably recently. A new walk in test centre is opening at Prebend Street car park. 9. PLANNING PLANNING DECISIONS: 20/00092/FUL & 20/00093/LBC – Permission granted for conversion of existing open garage & internal alterations. New outdoor swimming pool with decking area, erection of wall & new parking area – The Granary, Brook End Farm, Riseley Rd. 20/00632/LDE – Permission refused for LDE for Carriage hire business & groom accommodation – Carriage House, Wybridge 20/01203/FUL – Permission granted for single storey rear extension – The Fox, Keysoe Row West 2 Bolnhurst & Keysoe Parish Council 10. BEDFORD BOROUGH COUNCIL LOCAL PLAN REVIEW This review provides for growth beyond 2030. PCllrs Barry, Gossage & Stone have attended briefings on the topic. As the 2030 Plan has only just been adopted, most of the policies with that Plan will not be revisited as part of this review. The numbers of new homes needed are uncertain at the moment, as the government is currently amending the calculation formula. However, it is expected that there will need to be an additional number of homes in the Borough somewhere between 9,000 – 21,625 by 2045. As usual, a Call for Sites has taken place, which closed on 14/8/20. The options in the review are: • further regeneration within the Bedford/Kempston urban area brownfield sites. • expansion of the Bedford/Kempston urban area. • expansion of other urban areas such as Rushden and St. Neots. • development along the A421 corridor between Stewartby & Great Barford. • development around a potential East West Rail northern station (location to be determined). • new settlements in locations with good accessibility. This includes the potential option for a new village at either of the following: Thurleigh Airfield (which B&KPC raised concerns about previously), Colworth, Wyboston, Twinwoods, & new added proposal at Wymington (which includes a railway station). Previously Colworth had been identified as the preferred site for a new village, when it had included a railway station, however the railway station fell through. • dispersed development throughout the borough. Bletsoe Parish Council are considering appointing a Planning Consultant, & have invited 21 other Parish Councils to share the cost. This could be a problematic approach as Parishes are most likely to want to focus the Consultants attention on the proposals that most affects their own parish, & to get 22 Parishes to agree the same views seems unlikely. Given that most of the proposals we are aware of at this stage are not close to Bolnhurst & Keysoe, it is probably not good value for money for this Parish. The Thurleigh Airfield option is likely to be the one to cause the greatest impact on this Parish. Once the sites have been short listed by the Borough Council, we will have a better idea. The public consultation on the review closes on 4th September 2020 link - https://www.bedford.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning-policy-its-purpose/local-plan-review/ It was RESOLVED that Councillors will consider putting forward any comments to the Clerk by 31/8/20, so that a submission can be made. Councillors can also make their own personal submissions. TO APPROVE THE FOLLOWING PAYMENTS: Bank Account Reconciled 6/8/20 - £24,162.34 Payments approved: Worboys – grass cutting £420.00 P Heming – handyman £60.00 G Wiggs – Clerks account £516.47 Beds Pension Fund £162.68 HMRC – Income Tax £49.40 11. HIGHWAYS & RIGHTS OF WAY PCllrs Stone & Gossage have met with the ROW Officer to go through the list of actions. There is also a possibility that a volunteer group can be put together to deal with some of the minor defects. 3 Bolnhurst & Keysoe Parish Council 12. COMMUNITY SAFETY PCllr Gossage reported that PC Kerry Jones should be returning to work soon. PCSO James Dancer has been a welcome addition to the team & he attended the VJ Day event in Keysoe on Saturday. A new PC has just been appointed. Reported crime has been low. 13. SPEED REDUCTION PCllr Browning reported that the survey has been issued to all homes within the Parish asking for the views of all household members over the age of 10 years. (some children are upset by speeding traffic and feel unsafe, and so it was felt they had a right to make their opinion known). The survey gives Parishioners options to consider, but obviously it is hard to be too prescriptive when seeking views. Equally giving too many choices on a survey of this type is not manageable when trying to interpret responses. However, it is hoped that this survey will give an indication of the current views of residents. The survey captures details of where Parishioners live, which will help identify any commonality relating to different parts of the Parish. The survey was kindly printed by PCllr Bates and was attached to the Parish Newsletter, and has been publicised on social media.