Notice of an Extraordinary Meeting of the Lolworth Village Meeting
1
MINUTES OF LOLWORTH PARISH MEETING
held in Robinson Hall, Lolworth on Tuesday 11th November 2014, at 8.00 pm.
Chairman: J Short Clerk: J.E.F. Houlton Also present: District Councillors Roger Hall & Bunty Waters; 20 parishioners
1. Apologies
County Councillor John Reynolds, Sue Houlton, Debbie Lowther, Sue Smith, Robert Pearson, Pat & Ray Hampton, Dorothy Fisher, Jen Wakefield, Frances Bache, Fiona Corbett, Darren Chamberlain, Adam Williams
2. Election of Chairman
Ged Corbett wished to stand down due to his growing family. He was thanked for three and a half years of great service. Notable achievements during his chairmanship include the refurbishment of the phone box, the construction of the village website, the design & erection of the village sign, a seat on the village green adjacent to the play area, the planting of the community orchard and replacement trees on the green and the Lolworth Community Allotments Play Area.
John Short was proposed as Chairman by John Houlton Seconded by Dame Veronica Sutherland Unanimously elected
3. Welcome to Newcomers
None
4. Minutes of the previous Meeting held on 15th April 2014
The minutes of the meeting held on 15th April 2014 were signed as a true record. Proposed by John Short Seconded by Carol Churcher Unanimously agreed
5. Matters arising
a) Robins Lane drains The Clerk reported he & Robert Pearson had met with Sass Pledger of the Flood & Water Team, and Jonathan Clarke Network Manager, both of Cambridgeshire County 2
Council following the flooding on 8th August 2014. Both short term and possible long term solutions when the A14 is upgraded were discussed and the matter remains on- going.
b) Gate at the end of Church Lane The plaque acknowledging the donation of the gates by William Frost in memory of his parents Richard and Veronica Frost has been added and the project completed.
c) Leylandii in Robins Lane. Following correspondence with Paul Duesbury, the overhanging branches have been trimmed but additional work is required to allow the unimpeded passage of the school bus. The Clerk will write to request further trimming at a greater height. He will also contact other property owners responsible for overhanging vegetation in Robins Lane.
d) Parking on the Green A No Parking sign has been erected at the turning point outside Longley House.
e) Lolworth Sign The Vice-Chairman reported little progress had been made but she was continuing to liaise with the County Council.
6. Youth Report
The junior club has been very active since our April village meeting report. The children have had normal club nights and the annual summer party with a bouncy castle. An exciting addition to our programme was a camping night where the children cooked food on a BBQ, had a campfire and slept out in tents. The club would like to thank Jen and Eric Wakefield for their generous hospitality and help in arranging this successful event. A pizza evening (where children made and cooked their own pizzas), a walk to Boxworth and the Spooky walk for Halloween have all also taken place. Again the children are grateful for all those households that welcomed their visit and offered them goodies.
Thanks for your support
Fiona Corbett
7. Correspondence
SOUTH CAMBS DISTRICT COUNCIL - Non-delivery of the Summer edition of the South Cambs Magazine to some houses had became apparent. Cllr Bunty Waters provided 3
additional copies which were delivered to every property in the village by the Clerk.
Monthly green bin collections will be introduced this winter, in December, January and February only. This Christmas period, collections will be made up until 27 December 2014, break until 5 January and then return back to normal collections.
BELECTRIC
- BELECTRIC Solar Ltd are developing plans for a solar farm on land at Childerley Farm, Dry Drayton. The scheme is likely to consist of up to a 50MW solar farm on a 165 hectare site. A public consultation event was held on Tuesday 17th June 2014 at Dry Drayton Village Hall. We have not received notification of any plans.
CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL - Public Consultation on the future of Park Street Car Park. - Option 1: Repair existing car park - Option 2: Build a new above ground car park - Option 3: Build a new underground car park with residential/commercial development above
CAMBRIDGESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL - Emergency flood response contacts have been provided - The Clerk confirmed Robert Pearson was the owner of the watercourse from Lolworth to Bar Hill, and not the Parish Meeting - The rights and responsibilities of a riparian owner have been outlined - Assets & Commissioning; confirmation of the positions of the street lights was requested by the Street Lighting Contractor, Balfour Beatty. Their information was incorrect – they had no record of the light outside The Cottage in Cuckoo Lane. - Electoral Review of Cambridgeshire to draw new electoral division boundaries.
THE PLANNING INSPECTORATE - Development Consent for the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdonshire Improvement Scheme. The Clerk reported he had responded to the public consultation on behalf of the village.
ANNE WEDD - Has offered a couple of 20 kg sacks of C2 seed stock “Carlton” Daffodils. 4
It was agreed to accept this offer and form a “planting party” to plant them on the left verge of Robins Lane as you enter the village.
8. Planning Applications
S/0704/14/FL Conversion of attached garage to living accommodation ancillary to the main dwelling “Empshill” and the erection of a detached double garage/store/workshop. Consent granted
S/2008/13/OL Permission refused for erection of buildings to form garden centre together with access and car parking and provision of World War 1 living museum at Hackers Fruit Farm, Huntingdon Road, Dry Drayton, Cambridge.
A consultation meeting was held on 25th July 2014 to consider plans for a new house as part of the pre-planning process on behalf of Mr & Mrs Horsford. The Senior Planning Officer of SCDC had advised the application would be resisted on grounds that the site lies outside the village envelope. The majority view at the meeting was a concern that breaching the village envelope would set a precedent.
9. Financial Report including setting the precept for 2015/16
The Financial Report was presented by Ged Corbett. Adoption was seconded by Becky Pointon and approved unanimously. The cost of street lighting has risen from £152 last year to £264. The Chairman will seek an explanation. Parish Insurance has been agreed with Zurich for £280.93 with a 3 year tie-in. A like for like policy with Came & Company through Aviva cost £410.36 in 2013/2014.
The current precept of £2250 is one of the lowest in SCDC – due in large measure to the generosity of individuals in the village who give of their time without payment, as well as providing materials free of charge. The contributions of the Clerk, Michael Fisher (internal auditor), Brian & Yvonne Nelson (grass cutting), Paul Silvester & Darren Chamberlain (grass cutting & general maintenance) and Robert Pearson (general maintenance) were acknowledged.
The Chairman proposed a precept of £2,250 for 2015 -2016. The proposal was seconded by Jo Archer and approved unanimously.
10. Tree Officer’s report 5
Carol Churcher reported one tree in the community orchard needed replacing but the others had performed well in their first season. Next year a working party will be required to prune them. All of the trees planted recently on the village green were doing well.
11. Town Acre Charity No report received. The allotment gardens will be registered as a Local Green Space in the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan. This allows local communities to rule out new development other than in very special circumstances. It was suggested some of the rent from the allotments might be expended on cutting the adjacent hedges and grass.
12. County Councillor’s report No report received but excerpts from the October report include: Low income families can apply for free school meals Change in free childcare eligibility Guided Busway Defects. BAM Nuttall are thought to be responsible for approximately £31 million of defects Ely Southern Bypass plans have been approved
13. District Councillors’ report District Cllr. Bunty Waters congratulated John Short on his election and mentioned there were grants of up to £1500 from the SCDC Community Chest gave which are not match funded.
District Cllr. Roger Hall described further cost saving measures SCDC are undertaking. These include shared waste services and a restructuring of the bin collection, shared IT and legal services. Other points included: - grants of £2000 had been given to further sporting careers - there has been a successful prosecution of those responsible for fly tipping - the final decision on the City Deal which proposes 44,000 new jobs and 33,000 new homes will be taken in Jan 2015 - an interactive World War One centenary map is available
District Cllr. Roger Hall concluded by stating he had been selected as a candidate for the forthcoming DC elections
14 Future Events - Xmas Bazaar; Robinson Hall, Sat Nov 22nd at 11.00 - Carol Service All Saints Church Sun Dec 21st at 15.30 - Village Show in 2015 – date to be determined 6
15. Any other Business
Millennium Footpath
Bryon Bache asked that someone take over his role of looking after the footpath. He was thanked for his efforts over the last 15 years. In the short term it was agreed to purchase further planings and to investigate compacting them. To consider the longer term future of the path, it was agreed to form a subcommittee of the Clerk and Chairman, Carol Churcher, Ed Coe and Robert Pearson.
Defibrillator In the light of new information regarding the operation of these units, it was agreed to ask Adam Williams to investigate the cost of a community defibrillator. District Cllr. Bunty Waters reported Bar Hill had recently obtained one free of charge.
Broadband Derek Hill reported that the anticipated completion date of sometime in the last quarter of 2014 had been revised since the Highways Agency will not grant access to BT Openreach until the end of March 2015 due to current resurfacing works. It was agreed Derek Hill will draft a letter for the Clerk to send to The Hon Edward Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries and to Mr Andrew Lansley CBE MP.
16. Date of the next meeting Tuesday April 14th 2015 at 8.00 pm
There being no other business, the meeting closed at 9.35 pm
Signed Date