2777 Chelveston-cum-Caldecott Parish Council Northamptonshire Minutes of an Ordinary Meeting of the Parish Council (This meeting was held virtually on the Zoom platform) 14th December 2020 Meeting Number 2011 Present: - Councillors: Cllr A.K.Seaman (Chair) Cllr J.Harwood (Vice-chair) Cllr N.S.Chambers Cllr C.Hill Cllr P.A.Mommersteeg Cllr C.C.Parsons Clerk: Mr. M.H.Hunter Public and Guests: Cllrs Pentland (ENC) (from item 5) and Tomas (ENC). No members of the public. 1 To receive Apologies for Absence. Cllr M.Hill had sent her apologies (work commitments). The meeting agreed to accept this apology. 2 To receive Declarations of Interest and requests for Dispensation Grants. None. 3 To allow members of the public to speak on any agenda item. Cllr Seaman asked if anyone wished to speak on any agenda item. The meeting would note the comments made, but would reply at the appropriate agenda item. None. 4 To approve the Minutes of the Previous Meeting. The minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council M2010 – 9th November 2020 had been circulated. The meeting resolved to approve the minutes of meeting M2010 with no amendments. Proposed: Cllr Parsons Seconded: Cllr Harwood Decision: Unanimous 5 To receive reports from the District and County Councillors. Cllr Tomas (ENC) advised ENC has been very busy with preparation for the new unitary Council. He explained that he had voted against the recent Chelveston Energy Innovation Park application, as he was concerned about access to the site. As the ward member he was now involved in the agreeing of the conditions for the site. Cllr Pentland (ENC) joined the meeting. Cllr Pentland (ENC) advised she was incredibly disappointed with the result of the application, as she felt there were strong policy grounds for refusing it. She received legal advice from ENC that she could not take part in the meeting (pre-determination). She welcomed the news that Northants Highways had now agreed to the 7.5t Amenity Weight Limit (AWL) on the Caldecott Road. Cllr Pentland has continued to attend ENC and North Northants Shadow Authority meetings, as well as Cllr briefings on the Covid situation in Northamptonshire. She wished those present a Merry and Safe Christmas. O/2020/113/MHH Chair 2778 Chelveston-cum-Caldecott Parish Council Northamptonshire 6 Notification of executive actions by the Clerk (SO26) since the last meeting. The Clerk advised that he had requested approval for the following – • to respond to the Vistry Group developer led consultation regarding a possible development on the Chelveston Road, Raunds, and this had been agreed. • to receive a grant from WPD and this had been agreed. • to raise a Freedom of Information request and this had been deferred to this meeting. The meeting noted these actions. 7 To receive the Chair’s Announcements. Cllr Seaman advised that “Traditionally the December meeting has been one of reflection and a little less formal, in part due to the gluhwein supplied by Cllr Harwood! Alas virtual meetings means bring your own, and most of the reflections centre on Covid-19 and how this parish has coped. We have had to change how we do some things and we achieved a number of “firsts”, and this meeting is no exception. For the first time in the Council’s 125 year history, the move to on-line banking has allowed our suppliers in November to be paid without the cheque book working its way round the village gaining signatures. This results in our suppliers being paid quicker and another Covid-19 transmission route being removed. 8 To be consulted on Planning and Licensing matters. 8.1 (ENC) 20/01453/OUT- Outline Planning Application for a Sustainable Urban Extension comprising residential development of up to 2,200 dwellings (Class C3), residential institution (Class C2), up to 110,000 sqm of employment development (Classes B2 (General Industrial), B8 (Storage and Distribution), E3 (comprising Office, Research and Development of Products or Processes and Industrial Processes)), two local centres, two primary schools, one secondary school, details of the principal accesses from A6 /John Clark Way roundabout and Newton Road, secondary vehicular and non-vehicular accesses, public open space including Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace, cemetery, allotments, noise mitigation features, drainage, primary sub-station utilities apparatus and associated engineering works, demolition of existing buildings, earthworks and ground remodelling (All Matters reserved except Access) at Rushden East Urban Extension, Liberty Way, Rushden. The Clerk explained the plans, which were mainly for the access arrangements. The proposed vehicle access points were off the A6, at two existing roundabouts (John Clark Way and Newton Road). The employment centre to the north abutted Newton Road, but the proposals included a 5m screening bund, which should limit any future proposals to create an additional access point from the Newton Road. Cllr Chambers commented on the additional traffic on the A6, impeding commuting to Bedford. The meeting agreed to respond highlighting avoiding any additional traffic or vehicle access to the site from the Newton Road, Higham Ferrers. 8.2 Update on previous applications. The applications for the rear extension at Gardenfields, Raunds Road and the erecting of a new farmyard on the Upper Higham Lane had both been granted. The application for the hybrid development in Higham Ferrers and the CRE Park had been granted by the ENC Planning Management Committee (PMC), voting 7-4 in favour. Cllrs Seaman and C.Hill had spoken at the meeting against the application. Of the two ward Cllrs, Cllr Pentland was conflicted out and could not vote, and Cllr Tomas voted against. O/2020/113/MHH Chair 2779 Chelveston-cum-Caldecott Parish Council Northamptonshire For the change of use of the barn replacement at Manor Farm, Bidwell Lane, Northants Highways require a passing place to be constructed on the Bidwell Lane if HGVs will be using Bidwell Lane to the west of the site. The applicant has agreed to accept a condition the traffic will only travel on the Bidwell Lane to the east of the site (i.e. to the Caldecott Road). The application for the 6 chicken sheds in Newton Bromswold parish has not yet been determined. 9 To approve Financial Transactions. 9.1 The invoices listed below were due for payment. The meeting resolved to approve these payments, and authorised the online payments, cheques to be signed and card payments to be made. Proposed: Cllr Harwood Seconded: Cllr Parsons Decision: Unanimous. 9.2 A full list of the Clerk’s expenses was included with the agenda. The meeting resolved to approve this payment, and authorised the online payment to be made. Proposed: Cllr Parsons Seconded: Cllr Harwood Decision: Unanimous. 9.3 The bank statements for the month of November had been received and reconciled. 9.4 As agreed at the last meeting (M2010.16), a cheque from the Chelveston Allotment Association for £468.50 has been forwarded to the UTB account. Opening Balance for the meeting £14,758.13 Receipts since last meeting Number Sender Description Method Amount 2020.066 NCC Grass cutting S136 grant BACS 546.88 2020.067 Gigaclear Ltd Daffodil bulbs grant BACS £50.00 2020.068 HMRC VAT refund (2019-20) BACS £4,139.41 2020.069 NWB Interest (November 20) Bank £0.13 Total Receipts this meeting £4,736.42 Payments to be made since last meeting Number Payee Description Cheque Amount 2020.070 Mower Shop Mower parts Card £43.30 2020.071 Creatifica Associates Grass cutting (Nov 20) less refund BACS £115.26 2020.072 Aylesbury Mains St Lt Repairs (x3 BACS £197.64 2020.073 Aylesbury Mains St Lt Repairs (x2) BACS £105.00 2020.074 A.Banes Allotment plot shed refund 001473 £30.00 2020.075 M.H.Hunter Clerk Expenses – M2011 BACS £20.00 Total Expenditure this meeting £511.20 Closing Balance for this meeting £18,983.35 10 To receive reports on Standing Items and Projects. 10.1 Highways Issues. Caldecott residents had reported a NF&RS fire tender being towed though the village by Crouch Recovery on Sat 28th Nov and ENC had been notified. NF&RS have apologised. Cllr C.Hill commented that he had just seen a Crouch Recovery vehicle passing by, but was unsure what was being recovered, so was unclear if the HGV routing applied or not. O/2020/113/MHH Chair 2780 Chelveston-cum-Caldecott Parish Council Northamptonshire Northants Highways have agreed that a 7.5T AWL and also directional signs for the approved HGV route to the CRE Park would be sensible, including the destination name on the signs. Their engineering team will be looking at this in a bit more detail very shortly, and they expect to have the designs completed in the next month or so. A driver has reported unauthorised 40 mph signs on the B645 near Lancaster Farm, and Northants Highways will remove them (FixMyStreet report 2420232). The existing Northants Highways contract with KierWSP will be managed by WNC after vesting day, on behalf of both Councils, with new contracts for WNC and NNC due to be awarded in autumn 2021. 10.2 Grounds Maintenance The Gigaclear sack of daffodil’s for Caldecott have now all been planted. 10.3 Street Lighting. The Clerk advised that Lamps 13 (by 29 Duchy Close), and 42 (Disbrowe Court) have been repaired by the contractor. SOX lantern failures were running at 22/56 (39%) this year. 10.4 Ditches. FixMyStreet report 2331590 (Raunds Road, near Pretoria Cottages) NCC had sent a letter to the landowners and the ditches had been cleared. No reports of problems. 10.5 E-Government. The website news page included the Innovation Park being granted, a Covid-19 message from Lucy Wightman (Director of Public Health for Northants), the opening of Raunds Community Trust library, the Visty Housebuilding consultation, the Christmas waste bins collection dates and the Rushden SUE consultation.