1

Minutes of the Meeting of Old Weston Parish Council held on Tuesday 10th November 2020, 7:35pm via zom video conferencing

Present: Cllrs F Wing (Chairman), D Costura, E McKenzie, D Tebbit, L Ellis (Clerk), County Cllr I Gardener and District Cllr J Gray

Members of the public: One

Key: CCC – County Council HDC – District Council PC - Parish Council PCC – Parochial Church Council

1 Chairman’s Welcome The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting.

2 To receive apologies and reasons Cllr M Stenson (other commitments) for absence 3 Member Declarations of Pecuniary None. Interests 4 Public and press participation The resident present stated that they had attended the session with respect to items on meeting to listen to the Council’s discussion on item 11 – the agenda Luton Airport arrivals. 5 To confirm and accept minutes of The minutes were unanimously agreed and were then duly the remote meeting held on 8th signed and dated by the Chairman. September 2020 6 Matters arising from the minutes The Swan Inn: The Chairman reported that with Cllr Stenson they were working as residents with the owners of the premises. There are provisional plans to re-open for a one off trial over the 2nd week-end in December. Council supported this approach. It was noted that the COVID rules and regulations have been followed and that risk assessments had been undertaken.

OWPC website: Cllr Costura reported that with the Clerk work to tidy up the website had been undertaken. Councillors to review the website and provide feedback. 7 Communication from District & D.Cllr Gray reported that unfortunately the leisure centre County Councillors which had been open has now had to shut down. HDC are losing a lot in revenue. It is hopeful that it may open on December 3rd. HDC are helping vulnerable residents and where required are providing food parcels. Following on from the work started by the footballer Marcus Rashford, HDC has received Government funding to provide free school meals to those in poverty during the school holidays. This is a County led scheme. PCs can help by signposting this information to those in need.

Signed………………………………………………………………………………………………. Dated……………………………………

2

HDC are working with the Mayor of Cambs/ to look at what help they can provide to failing town centres who are trying to revitalize themselves. It is a big piece of work helping to redevelop the towns into becoming vibrant places again. Currently there isn’t an update on the Weston Park MX planning application. It was also reported that HDC Planning Department were under pressure with the high number of planning applications being received, Officers are struggling. It was noted that there was a shortage of Town Planners in the public sector.

C.Cllr Gardener stated that CCC will continue to support people who need it during the pandemic especially those families who are not eligible for free school meals, they should contact the Countywide Hub on:- 0345 045 5219. The weekly rate of Coronavirus cases in Cambs was 79.4 cases per 100,000 population, this is below the national average of 228.5 cases. The London Luton Airport arrivals consultation period runs until Friday 5th February 2021. It is about the proposed changes to the flightpaths of aircraft arriving at the airport. Current LLA and Stansted arrival routes are shared, the proposal is to separate the two arrival routes into Luton & Stansted. If nothing is done the intensity of air traffic control workload may become unsustainable in the longer term. The proposals seek to establish a new airborne hold or stack for LLA arrivals at 8,000ft, centred over Grafham Water. From the new holding area, the method air traffic controllers would use to bring arrivals to the runway would be similar to now ie providing each aircraft with heading, descent and speed instructions, manually managing each flight known as vectoring. This reduces complexity and minimises the change from today’s flightpaths at lower levels. This is known as Option 1. Option 2 has the stack in the same location, from the hold area would still use the vectoring method to descent to the runway. However, there would be a number of predetermined arrival flightpaths to the runway which aircraft could fly automatically without intervention by controllers. These predetermined arrival flightpaths would reduce air traffic complexity even more than the first option, thus making this the preferred option. During 2019 there were 70,274 arrivals, the average per day was between 157 & 218, peak months being June to September when daily arrivals rose to 248. The CAA state that aircraft noise can be less distinguishable at altitudes higher than 7,000ft depending on local circumstances. Aircraft coming into LLA will descent from the Cruise phase of the flight down to a minimum height of 8,000ft the minimum height over our area. If there is no requirement to go into the new holding stack over Grafham Water, air traffic controllers can bypass the hold area and route the aircraft direct to the Signed………………………………………………………………………………………………. Dated……………………………………

3

runway. HDC will be responding to the consultation. C.Cllr Gardener reported that he was working with MP Shailesh Vara to look at what safety measures could be implemented on the A14 between Ellington and the County Boundary, to increase safety for local road users. The MP is writing to the Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps to press the case for major improvements to this section of road. A meeting is hopefully going to take place with Highways . CCC agreed in May 2019 to make a declaration of a Climate Emergency and through its collaboration policy research exchange programme with Cambridge University produced an evidence base of carbon emissions across the county. The Council used this evidence to develop its draft Climate Change and Environment Strategy and a vision to deliver net zero carbon emissions for Cambs by 2050 in partnership with all its stakeholders. 8 Communication from Parish The Chairman reported that a resident had reported dog Councillors fouling to him, it was agreed that additional poo bags and signage be purchased. He further reported that he had attended the Remembrance Day services in Leighton Bromswold.

9 Planning application Councillors ratified the decision agreed on 22nd October 2020 to 20/01250/LBC fully support the application. The Swan Inn, Main Street, Old Weston Replacement tiles on main building to concrete double pan tiles 10 Neighbourhood Plan update Councillor Costura provided Council with an update on the NHP. Councillors agreed the mission statement:-

Old Weston will continue to be a picturesque small settlement village, supporting a high quality, vibrant and inclusive community. Old Weston will celebrate and protect areas of conservation and biodiversity while promoting sustainability and renewable energy. Any development must be respectful of the historical and agricultural heritage of the Parish and be suitable for it’s residents and their changing needs while retaining the rural amenities enjoyed by all.

It was noted that the grant received recently needs to be spent or work commissioned by the end of March 2021. 11 Changes to London Luton Airport This item was reported by County Councill Gardener (item 7) arrivals The response link will be included in the quarterly newsletter.

12 Correspondence received Duly noted.

Councillors were concerned at the resident’s email regarding how long it was taking HDC to validate planning applications. It was agreed that the Chairman and Clerk would draft a letter to HDC raising their concerns. Signed………………………………………………………………………………………………. Dated……………………………………

4

13 To agree the 2021 meeting dates Council agreed the meetings should continue to be held every two months on the second Tuesday:-  January 12th  March 9th  May 11th  July 13th  September 14th  November 9th 14 Finance a.Payment of accounts:- All paperwork prepared by the Clerk was checked and £344.26(100409) Clerk’s salary and countersigned by Cllr Tebbit. misc £100.00 (100410) DAC Services – install defibrillator £14.39 (100411) F Wing - zoom subscription £40.00 (100412) Information Commissioner – annual subscription

b.To note the current bank The current account balance was duly noted. account balance

c.To agree the 2021/22 budget It was agreed that the budget would remain unchanged at £6,400. The Clerk to notify HDC accordingly.

15 Items for discussion at next Neighbourhood Plan meeting Bank mandate documentation Parish Councillor co-option Annual Parish Meeting date (APM) 16 Date of next meeting Tuesday 12th January 2021.

The member of the public, County Cllr Gardener and District Cllr Gray left the meeting at this juncture.

EXEMPT BUSINESS Under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and accredited representatives of newspapers be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act by virtue of the paragraph specified against the item.

17 To select a Parish Councillor for Councillors considered the summaries prepared by the 3 co-option (replacing Richard Smith) candidates. It was agreed that Ian Brennan be co-opted as a Parish Councillor at the January meeting. The meeting then closed at 8:48pm

Signed………………………………………………………………………………………………. Dated……………………………………