STAGSDEN PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of Meeting of the Parish Council Held Monday 15 July 2019 in the Village Hall at 7:30pm PRESENT: Joanne Hodson, Esther Dickson, Peter Brown, Ashley Kenlock, Cllr Jim Weir, Julie Betts (Clerk) APOLOGIES: Jim Watson, Tricia Walker ABSENT: Action/Po wer PUBLIC QUESTION TIME Lindy Morrison – Concerns that the resurfacing of the A422 will cover the The Public Stagsden area of A422. The road has not been surfaced for approximately Bodies (Admission 25 years, is breaking up in parts and requires white lining. Lindy asked that to a quiet surface be considered. Cllr Jim Wier to contact Highways to confirm Meetings) extent of work. Act 1960 as amended by s100, LGA 1972 12/19 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence was received from Jim Watson, Trisha Walker. LGA 1972, Sch 12 para 40 13/19 MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The meeting acknowledged that the minutes of the meeting held on Monday LGA 1972, 20 May 2019 were a correct record. Sch 12, para 41 RESOLVED That the minutes of the meeting, held on 20 May 2019, were agreed and signed as a correct record. 14/19 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST As previously declared and as recorded in the minutes. 15/19 REPORTS Minutes July 19 1 Signed (Chairman) ……………… (a) Borough Councillor’s Report, Cllr Jim Weir Roadworks A number of roadworks are underway in and around Bedford, including Network Rail’s reconstruction of the railway bridge on Bromham Road as part of the electrification of the Midland Mainline. This has led to the closure of the bridge from the 24th June, lasting until spring 2020. A diversion is in place via Clapham Road and the A6. Works are also taking place as part of the Council’s Transporting Bedford 2020 road decongestion project with the installation of a new traffic light system and widened roads at Manton Lane and a closure of one lane at Britannia Road adjacent to Bedford Hospital from the 20th July. In addition, works are to begin in late July, lasting until December, to rebuild a one-mile stretch of the A6 at Wilstead. More details of current roadworks can be found via an interactive map on the Council’s website. Search ‘Bedford Council Roadworks’. Black Cat Upgrade and New Bypass Highways England has announced a consultation on its plan to upgrade the Black Cat roundabout and build a new bypass between the junction and Caxton Gibbet in Cambridgeshire. The roundabout is to be reconfigured and will become three-tier, with the A1 passing beneath the junction and the A421 over it. The new bypass will run south of St Neots before turning north to link with the A428. The estimated cost of the project is £810m - £1.4bn. For more information on the consultation, which ends on the 28th July, search ‘Black Cat Highways England’. The Highways England website provides a useful video showing how the junction will work. Statement of Community Involvement Consultation The Council is consulting on its ‘Statement of Community Involvement’ setting out how it will engage with residents and community groups in relation to planning matters. The document provides details of how publicity and consultation will be undertaken, as well as guidance on community involvement in neighbourhood planning. The consultation ends on the 25th July. For further details see https://www.bedford.gov.uk/sci Bedfordshire Police Grant Bedfordshire Police has received an £800k grant to tackle gun, gang and knife crime. This sum will be used to establish a Violence Reduction unit where the Police, councils (including the Borough Council), NHS and community groups will share information to identify the drivers of violent crime. The grant is in addition to Minutes July 19 2 Signed (Chairman) ……………… £1.38m awarded in May and £4.57m in November to address violent crime in Bedfordshire. Mental Health Resource for Children and Young People The Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (BCCG), the organisation responsible for organising local NHS services, and Bedford Borough Council have commissioned a new online mental health resource for children and young people. The service, called ‘Kooth’, offers emotional and wellbeing support to children and young people aged 11 – 19. It provides one-to-one counselling and self-help materials on issues including exam stress and anxiety for 1700 users logging in every day around the country. For more information see https://www.kooth.com/ Ward Fund I / we have now been provided with details of the Council Ward Fund, which will allow us to support community schemes in the Ward in 2019/20. Please do get in touch if you would like to discuss any potential schemes. The following deadlines apply: highways and greenspace – 13th September; litter bins / salt bins – 22nd November, and; projects supporting external organisations – 13th December. ‘Shared Lives’ Initiative In June the Council promoted its Shared Lives scheme which sees volunteer carers provide short or long term support for individuals with adult learning disabilities. The aim is for the carer to share their everyday life through activities such as going to the cinema, a football match or community event. For more information search ‘Bedford Shared Lives’, email [email protected] or call 01234 228426. An allowance is payable to carers. Over 70s Exercise Classes The Council is running a programme of exercise classes for over 70s during the summer. The sessions, covering sports such as archery and table tennis, cost £4 each and will be held at the Athletics Stadium, Bunyan Centre and Bedford Central Library. For further details call 01234718835 or search ‘Bedford Council exercise classes’. Councillor Rigby reported that there were plans to improve traffic around the town by carrying out improvements to junctions. One of those junctions was the Shakespeare Road/Bromham Road junction. Planning Application 17/02242/MAO - Land at Stagsden Road - Minutes July 19 3 Signed (Chairman) ……………… Outline application with all matters reserved except access for the erection of up to 80 dwellings with garaging was due to go to the Planning Committee in July. A planning application for Land at Bromham Road, Biddenham had also been submitted and would be received by Parish Council for consideration. Councillor Funding available this year. Councillors to consider requirement. 16/19 UPDATES ON CURRENT ISSUES (a) Police/Crime Report There was no crime reported for Stagsden. JB Report Dogging and Flytipping to Police. (b) Vacancy/Elections Stagsden Parish Council still have one vacancy, the Clerk will continue to advertise. (c) Speedwatch Clerk to book Cllr Hodson, Cllr Walker and Lindsay McGuire onto the Speedwatch training. A Speedwatch session had been carried out in the previous week. Of 21 vehicles 4 were reported for speeding – speed was between 34 – 37 mph. (d) Neighbourhood Planning Peter Brown declared an interest Members of the Parish Council had written to the clerk to ask that the matter of Neighbourhood Planning be reconsidered. Councillors concerns were as follows: Minutes July 19 4 Signed (Chairman) ……………… 1. Stagsden’s Allocation is 0 2. There is a huge amount of work to be done and has already been done 3. Voting mechanism not fair – group doesn’t always represent the village, independence of work? 4. The Neighbourhood Planning situation is changing all the time, i.e. politically – if government changes they may cease? 5. We are not planners -are we doing the work for Bedford Borough Council – and taking all the flack! 6. Not qualified and don’t have the time to work on the details of planning i.e. which stone finish 7. Division of village 8. fear of vulnerability – do we need a plan? 9. Can we use a consultant? We have some paperwork to work from? 10. Should we have a plan but without allocating sites? 11. Independence is a problem on the Stagsden plan 12. We could use the work done to produce a report on the village views on development? Margaret Hakim said the group had lost momentum and volunteers. The group agreed with the points raised by Councillors and agreed that if the plan was discontinued they would like to use the data collected for a Vision Statement for the village. Councillors recognised the work that had been carried out by the Neighbourhoold Plan Group including past members and thanked them. RESOLVED (1) To discontinue work on the Neighbourhood Plan. (2) To use data collected for a Vision Statement for Stagsden. (3) To review the decision on Neighbourhood Planning in 5 years. Prop: Joanne Hodson., Sec: Esther Dickson, All in favour (Cllr Brown did not vote) (e) Village Hall Minutes July 19 5 Signed (Chairman) ……………… Cllr Hodson reported that there was no key available for her Village meeting. Luckily there was no hire in the main hall and she was Hall able to use this. (f) Allotments Peter Brown declared an interest. Working parties had been organised, plots were looking tidier already. Replanted Sun Flower plot for August Social (19 August) June social was cancelled due to lack of numbers Had a stall at Open Farm which helped create conversation with visitors Stevington Newsletter had attracted one new member 7 September 2019 Pudding Club evening £15.00 each (g) Street Lighting Work not done, Cllr Kenlock to chase. (h) Ward Boundaries Cllr Weir informed the meeting that the Boundary Commission were looking at Electoral Boundaries. The most likely outcome would be that the Kempston Rural Ward would be split into 2: Turvey/Stagsden/Kempston Rural 3352 Great Denham 3153 Either 2 Councillor Ward or 2 separate Wards. Councillors to let Cllr Weir know of any comments. Minutes July 19 6 Signed (Chairman) ……………… (i) Village Green/Spring Lane Development Martin Page had confirmed the Heads of Terms for the Village Green/Spring Lane Develoment S106: 1.