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WIMPOLE PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Parish Council Annual General Meeting held at Wimpole Village Hall on Wednesday 13th May 2015 Present: Councillors Mr I Hack –Chairman (IH), Mr S Gwynn (SG), Mrs A Williams (AW), Mr G Damant (GD) District Cllr Van de Weyer, County Cllr Kindersley Mrs S Walmesley (Clerk) and retiring Chairman Mr D Hollands

Mrs Williams, Mr Damant and Mr Hack signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office

7.30pm PARISH COUNCIL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

1, ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN Mr Hollands, the retiring Chairman, opened the meeting and asked for nominations for Chairman. Mr Damant proposed Mr Hack which was seconded by Mrs Williams. There were no other nominations. Mr Hack was elected Chairman. He thanked Mr Hollands for all his work over the years.

2. CO-OPTION OF COUNCILLORS There was one application for co-option from Mr Gwynn. On a proposal by Mr Damant, -AW & seconded by the Chairman, Mr Gwynn was co-opted. He signed the Declaration of Clerk Acceptance of Office and joined the meeting. Mrs Williams suggested the remaining vacancy be advertised in the Church magazine and agreed to forward the contact details to the Clerk who would investigate.

3. ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN Councillors agreed not to appoint a Vice Chairman.

4. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND DECLARATIONS UNDER THE CODE OF CONDUCT All councillors were in attendance. There were no declarations made.

5. PUBLIC QUESTIONS ON AGENDA ITEMS AND FOR DISCUSSION AT FUTURE MEETINGS There were no issues raised. 5.1 District Councillor Report Mr Van de Weyer was congratulated on his recent South Cambridgeshire District Council election result. He then advised that due to the elections there was not a lot happening district wide at the present time. The Annual General Meeting was to take place the following week. The CEMAX planning application was now scheduled for the June planning meeting. 5.2 County Councillor Report Mr Kindersley reported that the Annual General Meeting of the County Council had taken place the previous day where he was elected the Chairman of Cambridgeshire County Council. He was congratulated by Councillors. Mr Kindersley then reported on the proposals for the electoral boundaries where the Gamlingay division was proposed to remain with a loss of a couple of parishes but a gain of the Mordens, Tadlow and Shingay-cum-Wendy. The divisions would reduce from the current 69 to 61, A public consultation was to take place and Mr Kindersley urged the Parish Council to respond. He then advised on a series of public consultations for three new solar development sites in Steeple Morden, Tadlow and near Wrestlingworth. The Clerk confirmed that Wimpole Parish Council had not been formally notified of the exhibitions but she had details if Councillors were interested. The District Council Planning Committee had met and unanimously refused a large scale planning application for Foxton which was outside the village boundary. This was a positive sign for other speculative developments.

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A discussion took place between Mr Kindersley and Councillors over solar farms and links to the grid. The Chairman reminded the meeting that the Parish Council were going to organise a visit to Hoback Farm once the solar panels were up and running. Mr Damant confirmed that the planting on the site had taken place.

6. TO APPROVE MINUTES OF 3.1 The Parish Council Meeting held on 30th March 2015 On a proposition by Mr Gwynn, seconded by Mr Damant, the minutes as circulated were taken as read and then approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

7. FINANCES 7.1 To receive the financial statement and to approve the payment of bills The invoices were available for checking. On a proposition by Mr Hack, seconded by Mr Gwynn the following payment was approved: CAPALC Membership 2014/15 £159.12 MAJESTIC GARDEN SERVICES Verge grasscutting 1st & 25th April 2015 (inc. £36.00VAT) £216.00 BASSINGBOURN PARISH COUNCIL Contribution towards stationery £ 11.63 MRS S WALMESLEY Annual Parish Meeting Refreshments £ 44.47 MRS L NEAVES Internal Audit 2014/15 £ 30.00 TOTAL £461.22 7.2 Internal Audit 2014/15 The Internal Audit had taken place with no issues raised. 7.3 Annual Audit 2014/15 –Agreement of Accounts and Statement of Assurance It was agreed that the Statement of Accounts was correct and the Governance Statement could be signed with all sections showing Yes. The Chairman signed the forms which would be forwarded to the External Auditor by the 8th June 2015.

8. ADOPTION OF STANDING ORDERS AND FINANCIAL REGULATIONS It was agreed that the Mandatory Standing Orders be adopted. It was also agreed that the Model Financial Regulations 2014 be adopted.

9. MATTERS ARISING FROM ANNUAL PARISH MEETING 22ND APRIL 2015 9.1 Proposal to reduce speed through village

9.1.1 Cambridge Road 9.1.2 Southern Road Parishioners in attendance at the Annual Parish Meeting agreed that a reduction in speed be investigated on both the roads. It was suggested that the National Trust be

asked to contribute towards the cost of changing the speed limit as there had been an increase in traffic resulting from more visitors to the Wimpole estate. 9.1.3 Suggestion of a Questionnaire It was suggested that before the Parish Council started the process they send out a -SG & IH questionnaire to all parishioners so that all were aware of the proposal and Councillors would then have a clear mandate. Mr Gwynn and Mr Hack would prepare a draft for agreement at the next meeting. 9.1.4 Concern over excess Ambulance speeds

It was suggested that the speed of some of the ambulances through the village was dangerous. Mr Damant advised that when they came through the village at speed their lights gave a warning. Councillors and the Clerk had been told by ambulance drivers that they only used blue lights and sirens in a life threatening emergency. Councillors

agreed that there was nothing they could do adding that supermarket delivery vans were more of a problem. 9.2 Future Projects Purchase of Speedwatch equipment and the resurfacing of the village hall car park

were projects for 2015/16. It was suggested that the Village Hall Committee might want to suggest something. The Clerk advised that they had been approached with the offer of Wi-Fi a few months ago which they declined. Councillors discussed how this -Clerk Wimpole Parish Council AGM Wednesday 13th May 2015

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could help promote the hall. After further discussion the Clerk was asked to write to the Village Hall Committee Secretary again to see if they had reconsidered the Wi-Fi offer

or if they had any other ideas for projects. 9.2.1 Additional Street Lighting in Wimbridge Close This had been spoken about with a costing of around £1800 -£2000 for a new column -Clerk which was considered a lot of money. The Clerk was asked to investigate an updated

quote for a new column for discussion at the next meeting. 9.2.2 Planting of Bulbs/Trees on Cambridge Road To see if planting was possible the County Highway Officer would be asked to meet in -Clerk the village to look at possible sites. Clerk to arrange.

10. COUNCILLORS ITEMS FOR INFORMATION AND REQUIRING THE URGENT ATTENTION OF THE CLERK

10.1 Retirement of Mr Hollands Councillors were aware that Mr Hollands had served on the Parish Council, both as -Cllrs Councillor and Chairman, for a number of years. They wanted to mark this and would discuss options.

10.2 Cleaning of Traffic Signs Mr Damant advised that the speed limit and flashing signs needed to be cleaned. As -GD this work was no longer carried out by the County Council it was agreed that he would obtain a quotation for the cleaning for discussion at the next meeting, 10.3 Notice Board varnish The Chairman reported that one of the boards was in need of revarnishing and needed smartening up, Mr Damant agreed to look.

11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING –Monday 1st June 2015

There was no further business and the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 8.40 pm

Signed……………………… (Chairman) on………………………..(Date)

Wimpole Parish Council AGM Wednesday 13th May 2015