COPLE PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of Meeting of the Parish Council Held on Monday 15 May 2017 in the Village Hall at 7.30pm PRESENT: David Hughes Chair Lesley Cole Councillor Tony Fisher Councillor David Whitehead Councillor Steve Halton Councillor Jeanne Pope Clerk APOLOGIES: Mike Vacher, Chainie Worrall, Stephen Moon, Sheryl Corp ABSENT: Action PUBLIC QUESTION TIME Joyce Tucker informed Parish Council that as a result of changes to the new school transport policy, all children would be assessed for eligibility for free home to school transport. Transport will only be provided to their nearest qualifying school. As a result children from Cople would no longer be offered free transport to Mark Rutherford school from September 2017, however children from Great Barford would. Joyce has been in contact with Francis Cox & Colin Foster at Bedford Borough Council, along with the Governing Body and Head of Mark Rutherford School. David Hughes asked if Cardington and Willington would be impacted in the same way as Cople. Joyce confirmed that they would both be affected. David Hughes confirmed that Parish Council would do what they could to help and would request the support of Stephen Moon and Sheryl Corp. JP A resident of Water End attended the meeting to seek clarification regarding the public use of the walkway to the park which is on land owned by the Southill Estate, situated next to the Retreat. Lesley Cole stated that this was one of the aspirations raised by residents in the preparation of the Green Infrastructure Plan, regarding the possibility of making this a permissive route. This would be taken forward and if agreed, there would be signage to this effect. Lesley to arrange a meeting with Southill Estate to discuss timescales. LC Sarah Russell stated it would be good to have access to dog field from Grange Lane. Lesley Cole said this was also an item raised in the GI Plan. Steven Smith thanked Parish Council for their work over the past year. He also raised parking at the junction of Grange Lane/Willington Road as an issue. Parish Council were regularly in contact with the local businesses, who in turn were trying to resolve these issues. Paul Blackmore, a resident of Dog Farm attended the meeting. Mr Blackmore stated he and his neighbour, Mr Smith had put forward land for possible development as part of the Local Plan and wished to ask Parish Council for ideas regarding what development was required. Lesley Cole stated that the next stage of the Local Plan was out to consultation. Cople comes under Group 3, 1 Minutes May 17 Signed (Chairman) ……………… which is not forced to have development. However, Cople realise that some small development of up to 20 houses may be required. Lesley Cole suggested that Mr Blackmore and Mr Smith may wish to meet with the Neighbourhood Steering Group. 23/17 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies were received from Mike Vacher, Chainie Worrall, Stephen Moon, Sheryl Corp. 24/17 MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING The meeting was asked to acknowledge that the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2017 were a correct record. RESOLVED That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2017 were agreed and signed as a correct record. Chair Prop: Lesley Cole, Sec: Steve Halton, All in favour 25/17 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS As previously declared and as recorded in the minutes. Note 26/17 REPORTS (a) Borough Councillors Report Children’s Services Inspection At the beginning of April, Ofsted published its report on the Council’s Children’s Services function following an inspection undertaken in January – February. Overall, the Council requires ‘improvement to be good’, although adoption performance and the experience of care leavers was judged to be ‘good’. The Council has produced an action plan in response to the report and is seeking to employ more social workers in the coming years. Special Constables Bedfordshire Police is undertaking a recruitment drive to bolster its cohort of Special Constables. Special Constables are volunteers who have the same powers as Police Constables, including powers of arrest and the ability to stop vehicles. They must volunteer for a minimum of 16 hours a month. There are currently 250 Special Constables in Bedfordshire. For more information call 07590465193 or email [email protected]. Further details can also be found at 2 Minutes May 17 Signed (Chairman) ……………… http://www.bedfordshire.police.uk/recruitment/special_constables.aspx East West Rail A planned consultation on the implementation of the East West Rail scheme has been deferred in the midst of the General Election on the 8th June. A consultation was originally to be held between the 5th May – 16th June on the planned rail link but this will now be held at a later date. The western section of the East West Rail scheme will connect Oxford, Milton Keynes and Bedford. In addition to this, a central section is planned which will extend the line to Cambridge. Mobile Library Consultation As a reminder, the Council is currently holding a public consultation on the future of its Mobile Library and Library Link services. The Mobile Library currently visits 40 communities with 182 stops per month. The Library Link service has 20 routes and visits housebound individuals’ homes, residential homes and sheltered accommodation units. According to the consultation page on the Council’s website, a proposed new timetable ‘will mean some stops will be more frequent and some less frequent’. The timetable and further information can be viewed via www.bedford.gov.uk/mobileconsultation. As per the table below, there are no proposed changes to the village’s current timetable: The consultation will end on the 9th June. You can respond to [email protected] or by writing to the Council at: Consulting Bedford, Borough Hall, Cauldwell Street, Bedford, MK42 9AP Local Plan 2035 As a reminder you can still respond to the Local Plan 2035 consultation which is being held from the 24th April - 9th June. For more information see www.bedford.gov.uk/localplan2035. Cllr Stephen Moon – 01234870061 / [email protected] Cllr Sheryl Corp – 07734888988 / [email protected] (b) Neighbourhood Watch No update. (c) Crime Stats The March 2017 Police Crime Statistics were circulated as attached at Appendix A. There were no crimes recorded for April. 3 Minutes May 17 Signed (Chairman) ……………… (d) Bedfordshire Police Rural Crime Meeting – 31 March 2017 Chainie attended the meeting at Wilstead Village Hall. The meeting had good attendance from various Parish and Borough Councillors. Most Parishes have similar issues with speeding. Chainie raised fly-tipping, parking during school drop-off and collection and speeding as issues for Cople. The next meeting was this evening, 15 May 2017 at Bedfordshire Police HQ. Chainie was attending on behalf of Parish Council. 27/17 UPDATE ON CURRENT ISSUES (a) Local Plan 2035 Consultation Parish Council considered the questions raised in the Local Plan 2035 Consultation Paper. Questions 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a, 5a, 6a, 7a, 8a, 9a, 10a the response was ‘Agree’. No response to question 1b, 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b, 6b, 7b, 8b, 9b, 10b, 11 & 12. Clerk to complete the online response form. Clerk (b) Neighbourhood Planning The last meeting consisted of preparing a response to the Local Plan Consultation for approval by Parish Council. Work was in progress with BRCC regarding the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan questionnaire. An application to Groundwork UK would be submitted for additional funding. RESOLVED To approve £200 from Parish Council budget for Neighbourhood Plan (Localism Act 2011 s116) Prop: Tony Fisher, Sec: David Whitehead, All in favour (c) Five Bells PH David Whitehead had studied the previous application. David would make contact with CAMRA and report to next meeting. (d) Defibrillator Additional signage had been purchased. David Whitehead offered to put it up at the Village Hall entrance. Parish Council agreed the defibrillator should remain sited at the Village Hall. Awaiting a date from Donna Small for awareness session as agreed. 4 Minutes May 17 Signed (Chairman) ……………… (e) Bedford Girls’ School Playing Field & Sports Facility As a result of the Green Infrastructure Plan, Lesley Cole met with Jean-Marc Hodgkin to discuss the permissive route which runs North: South from Dog Field to Grange Lane. Jean-Marc stated that the Girls’ School were amenable to this and this was in fact confirmation of Parish Council’s understanding of the permissive route after discussions with them in March 2015. During discussions, Jean-Marc stated they would like to vary the planning condition to include Sunday use between 10am – dusk. This would also enable them to offer Cople Cricket Club an area for cricket nets. RESOLVED i. That Parish Council were pleased to receive confirmation of the permissive route confirming their understanding ii. Parish Council were unwilling to support a variation in the planning conditions without the Girls’ school seeking the views of those residents affected Prop: Lesley Cole, Sec: Steve Halton, All in favour 28/17 PLANNING (a) Planning Considered None (b) Update on Decisions from recent Planning Applications Bedford Borough Council Granted 17/00595/FUL Lilstan, 29 Grange Single storey rear extension with verandah PC no obj Lane 17/00514/FUL 2 Dog Farm Barns, Erection of detached double garage PC no obj Bedford Road 17/00349/FU 1 Dog Farm Barns, Proposed erection of detached double garage PC no obj Bedford Road 16/03544/S73WM Willington Quarry Variation of condition to extend time limit PC no obj 16/02574/DC3 Land adj to Cople Change of use of agricultural land to a new playing Pc no obj (concerns) Lower School, field for Cople Lower School Willington Road Bedford Borough Council Refused None Withdrawn None 5 Minutes May 17 Signed (Chairman) ……………… 29/17 FINANCE (a) Schedule of Receipts and Payments Parish Council received a copy of receipts and payments made.