July minutes

MINUTES of meeting of the Parish Council held on 7th July 2008 at the Sports Pavilion, Queens Way, Oakington at 7.30 pm.

PRESENT: A Milton (Chairman), Mr D Reeves (Vice chairman) Mr J Bailey, Mrs Y Graves, Mr P Harradine, Mr R Ward, Mrs A Christie, Coun T Wotherspoon (SCDC), the Clerk and 7 members of the public.

APOLOGIES: Mrs J Sidaway, Mr R Warboys, Coun S Edwards (SCDC), Coun N Bolitho (SCDC)

MINUTES – The Minutes of the meetings of 9th June & 18th June were approved and then signed by the Chairman.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS: None

A14 ELLINGTON TO FEN DITTON IMPROVEMENT SCHEME:
The Chairman welcomed John Clarke (JC), Costain Skanska and Geoff Chatfield (GC), Highways Agency.
GC outlined the current status of the proposals. The preferred route option had already been established (plan displayed at the meeting) and the junction strategy is currently being designed. Costain Skanska had been appointed as the main contractors for the first section from Fen Drayton to Girton with Atkins doing the design work (the remaining 2 sections of the scheme will be retendered to ensure ‘best value’)
The final design will be produced by end of 2008 and then there will be a public exhibition. Public orders will be produced in spring 2009 and it is likely that a public enquiry will take place at the end of 2009. Anticipated that work will start end of 2010 with completion by 2015.
JC stated that they are trying to avoid the need for a public enquiry if at all possible and would hope to be able to satisfy the demands of consultees by taking feedback before releasing the final design. However, they acknowledge that this may not be possible.
He urged the Parish Council to contact him with any concerns/comments/input.
Some questions/comments were raised at the meeting:
Q. How do the Oakington & Bar Hill junctions fit in to the scheme?
A. The proposed ‘strategic route’ will be a 3 lane carriageway (westbound and eastbound). There are no access roads planned at the Oakington or Bar Hill interchanges. Instead, local access roads will run alongside the upgraded A14 (2 lanes on each side)
The Chairman commented that the Parish Council had objected to the HGV compound proposed in the Northstowe planning application and stated that it should be located inboard of the A14 and local roads near Northstowe.
A. Highways Agency is keen to remove as much construction traffic from A14 as possible and is in discussions with Gallaghers as it makes sense to link in their plans to the A14 upgrade scheme.
Q. Drainage issues are a great concern – what plans are there for attenuation?
A. Already agreed that HA must ensure there are sufficient ponds, ditches etc so that water can go into the normal watercourse at the same rate as current water does. There will be consultations with Environment Agency on this too. But, any local knowledge on flooding ‘hotspots’ would be welcomed.
Q. Where would construction materials be brought in from?
A. HA will restrict where they can be brought in from and only A roads will be used. We don’t want to use vehicles on roads if we can avoid it and will haul as much gravel on site as possible. Clay will be excavated local to the work (subject to planning). Hard stone will have to come in from the Midlands (mainly via rail) as it can’t be sourced locally and the necessary railhead permits are already in place. Big ‘one off’ loads will be advertised in advance.
Q. Will there be an increase in road noise?
A. Low noise road surfacing will be used and noise levels will be published as part of the environmental statement. But, we will need to obtain confirmation from our ‘experts’ as to whether noise will increase slightly or remain the same.
Q. (Coun Wotherspoon). Has the environment scoping report being widely circulated as SCDC had found this report useful when considering the Northstowe planning application?
A. No but agreed to send CD-Rom to Parish Council
JC stated that they are keen to ensure that the public is fully involved in the process and they are meeting with as many parish councils in the vicinity as possible as they are seen to be the ‘voice’ of the local residents.
His offer to attend our September meeting to show drawings of the proposals was accepted.

NORTHSTOWE BOUNDARY OPTIONS PRE-CONSULTATION:
The Chairman welcomed Tracy Mann (TM), SCDC Community Facilities Project Manager and Catriona Dunnett (CD), SCDC Principal Solicitor.
TM stated that SCDC is keen to obtain views of Oakington & Longstanton Parish Councils as to where the Northstowe boundary should be.
The Chairman responded that it had already been agreed by our Parish Council to request the boundary on Oakington side should come right up to the Oakington boundary and Northstowe should be responsible for the green separation in between.
CD offered to supply some maps of the boundaries being proposed by SCDC. Agreed that the Parish Council would respond with comments once these had been reviewed.
Coun Wotherspoon enquired if SCDC would welcome some Parish Council initiated proposals – TM confirmed it would!
The Chairman commented the only thing we would want different from the Northstowe footprint would be the inclusion of some allotment land in our parish.
CD confirmed that SCDC now has the final say on boundary changes.
TM confirmed that the proposed Station Road access to Northstowe would not have any direct relevance to boundary options, even if it were eventually opened to traffic.
She handed the Clerk a copy of The Electoral Commission – Guidance on community governance reviews.

MATTERS ARISING:

Northstowe – nothing new to report.

Parking Bay, Queens Way – Coun Christie confirmed that she had finalised the draft agreement and would circulate it for comment as soon as possible.

A14 Junction Lighting – still not working properly. Noted that two bollards had now been removed!

Parking, Footway Cambridge Rd – continues to be a problem. The Clerk will contact PCSO Ison about it again.

Interactive Signs – agreed Chairman would write to Andrew Lansley, MP about the lack of working signs and point out that they were government funded.

S106 Northstowe – the Chairman had attended the JAG/Parish Councils meeting on 12th June and found some of the SCDC interesting. Coun Ward and the Chairman will attend the meeting this week on drainage.

Ditch, Station Road – the Chairman had written to English Partnerships but had only received an acknowledgement from them to date.
Coun Reeves had emailed Michaela Stoettner re flooding near guided bus track but she had been away – he will follow up.

Saturday Markets – the Chairman had once again written to SCDC Planning Dept as there had been a major damage car accident near the entrance one Saturday morning.

Tomato Farm – the Chairman read out a letter from SCDC confirming that a valuation had been carried out on the mobile homes and they had been assessed as being liable for non-domestic rates with a rateable value of £8,750. The charge for 08/09 would be £4,042. It was noted that it appears that no retrospective charges for the two, or more years that theses mobile homes have been in use.

Play Area – the Chairman had spoken to the CCC archaeologist at Village Day who confirmed that he would agree to the top layer of grass being removed from the play area, a layer of membrane being laid and this being concreted over without the need for an archaeological dig.
Coun Christie reported that there is lots of support in the village for improving the play area and the stall at Village Day had raised approx £3,000 in pledges.
She is still keen to pursue looking into moving the play area to the scout hut site.
The Chairman did not think this would be a good idea due to the poor security due to restricted visibility and the deep ditch located near there.
Coun Christie suggested that the Parish Council could arrange to walk down there and take a look at the aspect before a decision is made. She envisaged a fenced off play area for age 2 – 5 years and an area for ages 6+ integrated into the Recreation Ground (similar to Girton).
The Chairman felt that the existing concrete area would make an ideal base for a basketball court but acknowledged it is not known if there would be sufficient demand for it.
After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that Coun Christie would obtain 3 quotes for improvements to the existing play area and bring them to the next meeting.
She would also come up with a plan for the scout hut area for consideration.

SPORTS PAVILION MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE:
The following draft resolution was circulated prior to the meeting for consideration:
The stated intention is that the Oakington & Westwick Sports Pavilion will be self financing, but at this early stage it is not possible to predict the running costs or the usage rates and income that will come from local village organisations, and others who use the facilities when they are not needed by locals. Importantly, the Parish Council realises that the outgoings will almost certainly not be matched by takings, especially as and when major maintenance work will be needed, and therefore the Parish Council will set funds aside each year to help alleviate the impact of this.

Having considered how neighbouring villages administer the day to day affairs of their sports pavilions and learned that they experience serious problems with them, the Parish Council concludes that it is best that we establish arrangements that best suit the needs and aspirations of our own village community, with safeguards to ensure that overall control remains with the Parish Council, including the necessary powers to intervene in a timely manner and take back control of matters that it has entrusted to others, if and when any such need arises.

There is universal recognition that any group of people will do its very best to develop, nurture and protect things for which they have full responsibility, whereas when there are shared responsibilities, avoidable, serious deficiencies, disfunctionality, shortcomings and problems tend to develop. Accordingly, the Parish Council judges that in this case the users of the Sports Pavilion and the Parish Council will both benefit significantly from an arrangement that places the responsibility for all aspects of the day to day running of the Pavilion with the Oakington & Westwick Sports Pavilion Committee, which is independent of the Parish Council, and has a formal constitution that provides for the inclusion of two Parish Council members on its management committee. This frees the administration from the strict regime under which a sub committee of the Parish Council would be duty bound, and thereby solves some of the problems reported by others in similar circumstances.

The Parish Council will initially assume responsibility for all charges by providers of utility services etc, and will provide the Oakington & Westwick Sports Pavilion Committee with the funding for the necessary staffing costs. The hiring and firing of staff will be the responsibility of the Oakington & Westwick Sports Pavilion Committee, with the proviso that at least one of the Parish Council members is involved, on the basis that persons can reasonably expect, and certainly work best when there is one reporting line, and not multiple or split ones.

In the early stages the MUGA will not be available for use, and as this is expected to be a major source of income, the Parish Council accepts that the Oakington & Westwick Sports Pavilion Committee will not receive sufficient income to pay the Parish Council in full for its outgoing costs. Nevertheless, they will be expected to pay a substantial, proportionate amount of the running costs to the Parish Council in good time for inclusion in its 2008/2009 financial accounts.
It was proposed by the Chairman that this resolution should be passed. Seconded by Coun Reeves. All agreed. There were no amendments.

Coun Bailey reported that permission would need to be obtained from the Parish Council for any pavilion keys to be copied, thus ensuring there are controls in place re security etc.

SCOUT HUT BUILDING & SITE:
This matter was discussed under ‘Play Area’.
It was agreed that the building must be demolished as part of the planning consent and a decision regarding the site would need to be made at a later stage.

INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT:
The Clerk had met with the internal auditor on 19th June and reported the following
• Audit inspection period ended on 30th June and annual return had been submitted to Moore Stephens
• We can expect some further questions from Moore Stephens as we are ‘intermediate’ this year and will need to provide examples in support of responses
• S137 – we have the power to pay for the Connections Bus visits under misc provision 1976 s19 ‘Public Entertainment’
• Asbestos in bus shelters is noted on the assets list but not on insurance policy. Clerk will inform Allianz Plc.
• Assets list/ insurance policy total does not ‘add up’. Agreed this is due to the £17,000 ‘other surfaces’ insured (tennis courts/car park). Noted that these should be added in to assets list
• Role of RFO was discussed. Proposed by Chairman and seconded by Coun Graves that the Clerk (Laura Lawrence) should take on this role. All agreed.

CORRESPONDENCE:
CCC – Post Office Closures – announcement due 8th July (public consultation until 26th August). The list of proposed closures had been ‘leaked’ in the Cambridge Evening News and thankfully did not include Oakington PO.

Sarah Shepherd, Countryside Access Team – email offering more road planings to complete the path behind the cemetery. Agreed to accept offering but confirm it would be subject to finding a contractor to lay them. The Chairman will ask Edgar Stearn.
Sarah also enquired if there are any other suggestions for countryside access improvements as further funding had been obtained for Northstowe area right of ways.
It was agreed that we ask for a new bridleway starting on Dry Drayton Road immediately opposite the recently constructed one that links with Wilson’s Drove. This could lead on to Osmoor Drift and provide off road access through to Cambridge Road, by the allotments, with the possibility of connecting through to Girton.

Circulation
English Partnerships – increased signage on land boundaries re no public right of access
JAG email ref Cambridge Partnerships
COPE newsletter July
D Jenkins, CCC June Report
M Bradney, CCC June Report
Pre-Pavilion Comm. minutes 10 June
Clerks & Councils Direct July
Connections Bus Project newsletter
Community Action Summer 08
LCR – July 08
A Lansley MP – A14 lorry parking facilities
Cycling 2020
Histon & Impington PCs – Northstowe S106 input
Sports Pavilion Committee minutes – 27 June
Green Playground Solutions brochure – Coun Christie


PLANNING:
No new applications or decisions had been received.

BILLS FOR PAYMENT:

Firm Quality Ltd, balance of pavilion kitchen units
(cheque signed 25 June) 2564.43
Dentons – vinyl flooring pavilion kitchen
(to be reclaimed from WREN grant) 564.00
Peter Fernando Plant Hire – mini digger for telecom trench, pavilion 470.00
Speedy Hire Centres Ltd – hire security fencing, pavilion 1.6.08-17.6.08 218.03
Oakington C of E Primary School – hire of hall 7.1.08 – 10.3.08 24.00
Print-Out – photocopying for AGM 16.00
CoverEx International – insurance for Village Day 210.00
British Gas Business, pavilion electricity 1.5.08 – 31.5.08 103.04
R Bell – street lights & cleaning 10.6.08 – 7.7.08
4 weeks @ £51.50 206.00
L Lawrence – clerk’s salary 10.6.08- 7.7.08
30 hours @ £9.57= £287.10
+ telephone allowance = £30.00
+ travel expenses = £18.97 336.07 4711.57

It was proposed by Coun Reeves and seconded by Coun Harradine that these bills be paid. All agreed.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:
A resident of Days Meadow had asked Coun Christie why there was no play equipment there, and commented that it was understood that some money had been handed over to the Parish Council for this purpose. The Chairman explained the original S106 included provision for a children’s play area, but the developers subsequently offered to pay the equivalent amount of money to the Parish Council for use in connection with the sports pavilion project, and the Parish Council had gladly accepted this offer.

Concern raised (on a health & safety basis) about holes near pavilion being covered by pallets. Noted that they are waiting for lampposts but the Clerk will contact Neil Cook to ascertain when they would be installed.

Tree branches cut back at crossroads by CCC had been left on the verge. The Clerk will contact Matt Pickering.

There is no clock, No Smoking or CCTV In Operation signs in the pavilion.

A meeting needs to be arranged for key holders to be shown how heating, alarm etc work. The Clerk will contact Pavilion Committee.

Coun Ward reported that the drains in Mill Road are full of sludge. The Chairman stated that there wouldn’t be a proper flow of water, and hence no end to the silting problem, until the ditch in Station Road is cleared out. There also needs to be some drains installed part way up Mill Road to divert some of the heavy silting of the existing ones at the Water Lane end.

Coun Reeves kindly offered to cut back the vegetation at the bus shelter opposite Midfield Lodge.

The Chairman stated that a hearing loop needs to be installed in the pavilion function room. He will check with Neil Cook if this is in hand but otherwise it was agreed that he could arrange it.

A member of the public reported that the hot water from the taps in pavilion is extremely hot.

Another member of the public reported that the white lines have not yet been replaced in Cambridge Road since the resurfacing works.

Coun Wotherspoon (SCDC) reported the following:
• He had been re-elected as Chairman of the Northstowe Joint Development Control Committee
• He would forward a copy of SCDC responses on Northstowe road applications to the Clerk
• There is a risk of the Northstowe development slipping a bit due to a downturn in the housing market

The meeting closed at 9.45 pm