MINUTES of meeting of the Parish Council held on 5th February 2007 at the Baptist Chapel, High Street, Oakington at 7.30 pm.
(Meeting had to be relocated to the Baptist Chapel as upon arrival we were unable to gain access to the School. This was duly advertised by means of a notice attached to the entrance door of the School.)
PRESENT: A Milton (Chairman), Mr J Bailey, Mrs Y Graves, Mr P Harradine, Mr D Reeves, Mrs J Sidaway, Mr R Warboys, Mr R Ward, Coun N Bolitho (SCDC), Coun T Wotherspoon (SCDC), the Clerk and 7 members of the public.
APOLOGIES: Coun D Jenkins (CCC)
MINUTES – The Minutes of the meeting of 8th January 2007 were approved and then signed by the Chairman.
MATTERS ARISING:
Countryside Access for Northstowe - nothing new to report.
Pavilion – the Chairman reported that Neil Cook (architect) wants to get on with starting work on the car park as soon as possible. Mr Edgar Stearn (a local resident) of Durman Stearn are willing to do this work and to pass on the benefits of their bulk buying to the Parish Council. According to Parish Council financial regulations 3 quotes should be obtained for any work over £1000. However, Mr Stearn’s, offer more than offsets any possible lower quotations from any commercial organisation. Therefore, it was proposed by the Chairman and seconded by Coun Warboys that Durman Stearn should be awarded the contract for doing the car park. All agreed.
The Clerk has received an email from Jane Thompson, SCDC inviting one member of the Parish Council to attend a meeting on Weds 21 Feb at 2 pm together with Cambridgeshire Horizons and Neil Cook to discuss the pavilion funding. The Chairman and Coun Sidaway both offered to attend.
Guided Bus – nothing new to report. Next liaison group meeting 14th February.
Graffiti, bus shelter Saxon Way – Michael Jones, SCDC Planning Dept had chased Trevor Desborough at Bloor Homes who agreed to ensure work is done.
Coles Lane S106 – nothing new to report.
Bus Project – nothing new to report.
Northstowe Trust – the Chairman and Coun Harradine had attended an initial meeting. A public meeting is planned for Saturday 17th March to talk to residents about the proposed trust.
The Chairman read out a draft letter to the Chief Exec, SCDC stating that the Parish Council is keen to ensure the necessary parish boundaries are formally secured in a timely manner to facilitate the creation of the new Northstowe Parish Council. All agreed the letter should be sent.
Trees, Saxon Way – nothing new to report.
Airfield Road closure – nothing new to report.
Mill Road – gullies are still blocked.
Trees, Westwick – Coun Graves had spoken to the landowner Mr Bull who informed her that the former tree officer at SCDC ( Mr Hellingsworth) had advised that he would not be allowed to replant trees. He is not in a position to do so now anyway.
Vandalism – continues to be a problem.
Vegetation, cemetery – the Chairman had left several message for the Probation Service to contact him.
Coles Lane sign – still not replaced.
Councillor vacancy – still no application.
Fair Rents – no further response from Andrew Lansley, MP.
Mill Road verges – Coun Ward had established that Chivers Dairies were doing the milk round but it had been taken over by Balsham Dairies recently.
Blocked drains – Coun Bolitho had established that the main drains are jetted out very rarely. High Street was last done in 1999 and Coles Lane had never been done (as far as the records go back)!
He suggested setting up a ‘drains hotline’ where residents advise him of any problem drains and he will then inspect them and report the issues to Matt Pickering at CCC.
The Chairman informed him of all the problem areas in the village.
CORRESPONDENCE:
Emma Selywn-Smith – email asking if Parish Council has any plans to pass a motion to support the campaign to save Milton Country Park from closure. It was agreed to write to SCDC in support of the campaign. However, it was agreed that it would not be possible to assist with any funding at this stage.
Coun Bolitho reported that he had been ‘tasked’ to try to raise funds to save the park. A decision about its future would be made in September.
He asked that if anyone is interested in helping to raise funds to contact him.
Circulation
COPE – newsletter Jan 07
Northstowe Trust meeting 10 Jan – minutes
SCDC – Local Development Framework – Adoption of Core Strategy Development Plan Document
D Jenkins, CCC report Jan 07
M Bradney, CCC report Jan 07
PLANNING:
Home Office, Oakington Immigration Reception Centre – erection of 5.2 metre high security fence – no objection.
A Turner, land adj 64 Water Lane – house – amended plan – height of new house reduced and revised shared access instead of new access – no objection.
A Turner, 64 Water Lane – amended extension – flat roof dormer window replaced by two smaller traditional dormers & single access to two dwellings instead of new access – no objection.
A Hornby, Martindales Unit 1 & 1A Oakington Business Park – insertion of 8 new windows at first floor – no objection.
Miss Moore, 47 High St – reduce height of crab apple, cockspur & eucalyptus in rear garden – no objection.
CgMs Ltd, land & buildings Oakington airfield, - continued use as an Immigration Centre – refused
A A Collins, White Horse – domestic garage – approved
A Maskall, St Andrews Church – shed – approved
Scallywags Day Nursery – extension and alterations to nursery – application withdrawn.
BILLS FOR PAYMENT:
Charles Tallack - provision of draft design re sports pavilion
(interim invoice) 1175.00
Cambridgeshire County Council – street lighting maintenance/energy
13 columns 2006/07 423.93
Connections Bus Project – 14 visits from Sept 06 to Dec 06 840.56
R Bell – street lights & cleaning 9.1.07 – 5.2.06
4 weeks @ £46 184.00
L Lawrence – clerk’s salary 9.1.07 – 5.2.06
30 hours @ £9.02 = 270.60
+ telephone allowance = £30.00
+ travel expenses = £5.44 306.04
2929.53
It was proposed by Coun Harradine and seconded by Coun Sidaway that these bills be paid. All agreed.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS:
Coun Sidaway had reported the discovery of a blue bike opposite her house and one by the scout hut. The police advised they would be sending someone round to pick them up. She suggested that if anyone knows of any more abandoned bikes, they contact the police.
The lights on the ‘one-way’ signs in Mill Road are not working.
The verge on Dry Drayton Road near to where lorries turn out of Welney Farms is breaking up badly.
The contractors who did the bridge work have left one broken barrier behind near the crossing and some debris in one of the gaps to the field. Also, there are two areas of footpath at Westwick that need to be repaired.
There is a lot of litter in the ditch, Station Road. It was agreed to contact English Partnerships as they are now the owners of the airfield land.
The Chairman suggested arranging a village walkabout with Matt Pickering, CCC Highways Dept.
Coun Reeves enquired about maintenance of the three martyrs graves. The Chairman suggested contacting English Heritage to see if they would be interested in taking on ownership of them.
The Chairman reported that he had recovered the barrier near the scout hut from the nearby ditch. Both the locks and pin are missing.
The Chairman had drafted the annual newsletter and will circulate for comments.
The Chairman and Coun Warboys had visited the new bridge after the recent heavy rains and were pleased to report that the water was flowing fine with some 2ft of clear headroom.
The Chairman raised the matter of the adverts re Conservation Areas etc. that SCDC place in the Cambridge Evening News on a Tuesday. These are now in very small print and it is very difficult to read them without magnification, indeed even with magnification it is not possible to read them when the printing process is less than perfect. He made the point that if SCDC are supposed to be complying with a statutory requirement, then effectively they are non compliant, on the basis that they cannot be readily read by the average man in the street. Coun Wotherspoon offered to look into this.
The Chairman had received a request from residents of Queens Way that the seat near the scout track is removed as ‘problem’ young people congregate there. A former Parish Council chairman, Geoffrey Prior, donated the seat as a gift to the village in memory of his mother, who was Parish Clerk for many years. It would also be difficult to move due to the concrete base. Therefore, it was agreed to leave it in place for the time being.
Coun Harradine reported that more slats had been damaged on the seat by the village sign and it is now in a dangerous state.
The Chairman reported that Nick Harrison had hoped to attend the meeting this evening. He is keen to preserve a small bit of the old railway line and had contacted the contractor Edmund Nuttall. A meeting had been organised for 6th February with the contractor, Cambs County Council and Railway Preservation Society. The Chairman is planning to attend.
After some discussion, it was generally felt that a small piece of track complete with sleepers should be retained, preferably by somehow incorporating it into the proposed new guided bus stop at Oakington. The other suggestion of locating it near the children’s play area was considered to be a potential safety hazard.
Coun Wotherspoon reported that the Minister had agreed the revised Development Control arrangements. Personally he is not happy about the political make-up of the committee and is trying to see if there can be a more local representation.
The SCDC Corporate Governance inspection report is due to be published on Thursday and is likely to be rather critical.
He also reported that there had been a lot of changes at SCDC and Simon Edwards had been appointed as deputy leader. The Chairman offered congratulations on behalf of the Parish Council for attaining this high position after less than two years as a District Councillor.
Coun Bolitho had attended a Standards Board seminar. It was stressed that the Monitoring Officer should be kept updated on any changes to Parish Council membership. The Chairman stated that we do this as a matter of course.
There were no questions/comments from members of the public.
The meeting closed at 8.45 pm.