Oakington and Westwick Parish Council
MINUTES of meeting Annual Meeting of the Parish Council held on 17th May 2010 at the Sports Pavilion, Queens Way, Oakington at 7.30 pm.
Mr A Milton, Mr J Bailey, Mr P Harradine, Mr D Reeves, Mrs A Christie, Mrs J Grove, Mr M Barnett, Mrs J Mowatt, Mr L Navarro, Coun T Wotherspoon (SCDC), (for last 10 minutes of meeting), Coun L Harford (SCDC) the Clerk and 4 members of the public.
36. Coun D Jenkins (CCC) and Coun S Gymer (CCC)
37. The outgoing Chairman Mr A Milton explained the meeting procedure.
Mrs Anne Christie was proposed as Chair by Coun Mowatt, seconded by Coun Grove. All agreed.
38. Coun Christie signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office. Clerk countersigned.
39. All other members signed Declarations on Acceptance and Register of Interests forms. These were handed to Clerk for counter signature.
40. The Chair (Coun Christie) stated that there are currently two parish councillor vacancies. Mr Reeves had submitted his re-election papers in plenty of time but SCDC had not received them.
Proposed by Coun Grove and seconded by Coun Mowatt that Mr Reeves should be co-opted on to the Parish Council. No one else put themselves forward for co-option. All agreed that Mr Reeves should be co-opted.
Mr Reeves signed Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
The Chair (Coun Christie) then stated that she was resigning her position as Chair as she felt there was now a more appropriate member of the Parish Council able to fill that role.
Proposed by Coun Grove and seconded by Coun Barnett that Coun Reeves should be elected as Chairman. All agreed.
41. The Minutes of the meeting of 19th April 2010 were approved and then signed by the Chair.
42. None.
43. Proposed by Coun Christie and seconded by Coun Grove that Coun Mowatt should be elected as Vice-Chair. No other nominations and all agreed.
44. The following officers were appointed:
Oakington Charities - Couns Bailey and Grove
Play Area Committee - Coun Christie
Responsible Financial Officer - Clerk
Community Association - Coun Barnett
Connections Bus Project - Coun Mowatt
Pavilion Management Committee - Couns Harradine and Barnett
School Governor - Coun Christie.
Cemetery/Play Area checks - Coun Harradine
45.1 Item Ref 30.3 Pavilion - 3 of the failed panes of glass are to be replaced on 18th May. The Clerk will report the additional pane in men's toilets to the glazier.
The building manual had been received and is located in the pavilion office.
45.2 Item Ref 30.4 Play Area - Couns Christie and Grove reported the following:
• Archaeological test digs had been done on planned play area site at no cost to the Parish Council. As a trade off Duncan Sayer and his team had been permitted to dig elsewhere on the Rec. Coun Grove understood that it would only be necessary to pay for the archaeological report.
• Agreed that digs can go ahead in June/July as planned but a formal agreement will need to be put in place beforehand stipulating agreed dig sites.
• Written agreement will be needed from CCC Archaeology team that the proposed dig sites are acceptable. A member of the Play Area Committee stated that Kasia Gdaniec (Senior Archaeologist, CCC) had confirmed she is happy with the arrangement.
• Duncan Sayer is arranging for actors dressed in Saxon clothing to attend Village Day. He had asked for a £500 contribution towards costs. (June agenda)
• Archeologists had sought permission to place a site hut and tool store on the car park for duration of next dig. Agreed in principle. The Chairman and Coun Grove were given authority to arrange the detail with Duncan Sayer.
• There will be a play area stall on Village Day. Keith Bate, Community Association had kindly agreed that all proceeds from this stall could be kept for the new play area.
• Coun Grove will obtain a quote for the digger and bring it to the next meeting.
(June agenda)
• Coun Christie showed everyone the draft plans consisting of a younger children's fenced in area with an older children's area located next to this. The plans will be on displayed on Village Day. Young people had been widely consulted and made various suggestions including having a zip wire. These had been incorporated into the initial plans.
• Fundraising is going well. Grants will be applied for when the final plan is drawn up. (Noted there is approx 3k in reserves from a S106 agreement). Agreed to consider if any future S106 monies can be allocated to the play area. Noted relevant homeowner (s) has to be consulted. (June agenda)
• Coun Christie has set up a Facebook page - 'A New Playground for Oakington'. Agreed this needs to be discussed further to ensure proper controls are in place. (June agenda)
• Play Area Committee is considering having a 'Giving Wall' which would name major donors. Letters are to be sent to all local business. Letterhead design was approved.
• Agreed that Coun Christie could purchase collection buckets for Village Day - cost approx £60.
45.3 Item Ref 30.7 Allotments - Mr Milton reported that he had not yet heard back from King and Co regarding the Cambridge Road allotments.
45.4 Item Ref 30.11 Station Road Ditch - Mr Milton had not yet heard back from HCA. His offer to follow up on this was accepted.
45.5 Item Ref 30.12 Pavilion Hire - the Clerk had been promised a written response from HMRC within the next seven days. Agreed to await receipt before proceeding further with this. (June Agenda)
45.6 Item Ref 30.13 Blocked Drains - landowners had cleared ditch to rear of Arcadia Gardens.
45.7 Item Ref 30.15 Village Pond - Mr Milton reported that the outlet is completely blocked. Chair will follow up with Pat Matthews, SCDC.
45.8 Item Ref 30.16 Tomato Farm - noted that leylandii is even more overgrown. Coun Harland will follow this up with Highways Dept.
45.9 Item Ref 30.17 Cemetery Hedge - Coun Grove agreed to look into cost of chestnut paling fencing.
45.10 Item Ref 31.1 Accounts 2009/10 & Annual Return - the internal audit was completed on 12th May.
The Clerk read out the issues raised on the report:
1. Fidelity Guarantee cover on insurance is still very low at £30,000. Bank account balances currently stand at approx £90,000. Agreed the Clerk should obtain a quote from Aon Ltd to cover balances held and for a 50% increase.
2. Clerk's and caretaker's pay scales/hourly rates should be confidential. Agreed these details would not be included in future minutes.
The annual return will be sent to external auditor (Moore Stephens) on 27th May.
45.11 Item Ref 33.1 Immigration Reception Centre - noted that the centre would be closed down earlier than June 2013 if work on Northstowe starts before this date.
45.12 Items Refs 35.1-35.5 Highways Issues - Coun Harland offered to remind Coun Gymer (CCC) to follow up on these.
46.1 Dogs on Recreation Ground: noted there were some good suggestions from residents at the AGM on how to tackle the problem. Agreed to discuss in full at the next meeting. (June agenda)
46.2 Allotments - noted that there is still interest in allotments. No progress to report.
47.1 South Cambs DC - Northstowe Parish Forum, Mon 24th May - Chairman, Coun Mowatt and Coun Grove will attend.
47.2 South Cambs DC - Planning Parish Forum, Mon 14th June - no one available to attend but Clerk will seek feedback on agenda item 3. Community Orchards.
47.3 Circulation
County Councillors - April report
Histon Neighbourhood Panel update
Connections Bus Report - Jan - March 10
COPE Newsletter, May 10
Highways Agency - A14 to Fen Ditton Public Enquiry
Clerks and Councils Direct - May 10
48.1 Dr B Hodgskiss, 36 Days Meadow - raising roof and insertion of dormer window Ref S/0581/10/F - plans circulated at meeting - no objections raised.
49.1 Approval of outstanding accounts as follows:
| Aon Ltd | annual insurance renewal | 2982.55 |
| NALC | Local Council Review annual subscription | 13.50 |
| Dent Security Systems Ltd | annual maintenance on Pavilion CCTV | 176.25 |
| The Alarm Company | annual maintenance of Pavilion fire alarm system | 293.75 |
| LGS Services | internal audit fee 09/10 | 205.63 |
| Towergate Coverex | Village Day insurance | 215.75 |
| P Harradine | refund re weed sprayer for play area | 19.99 |
| A J Milton | Chairman's allowance 2009-10 | 110.00 |
| J Milton | refund re hard drive and parts for light sensor | 112.73 |
| T Leadley | Pavilion caretakers salary April 10 | 132.00 |
| L Lawrence | Clerk's salary 20.4.10 - 17.5.10 | £315.00 |
| + phone allowance | £30.00 | |
| + travel expenses | £20.43 | |
| + Pavilion admin | £10.50 | |
| + Refund gifts for retiring councillors | £99.17 | |
| £475.10 |
Direct Debits
British Gas Business - Pavilion Gas 1.4.10-30.4.10 115.50
British Gas Business - Pavilion Electricity 1.4.10-30.4.10 199.35
5052.10
It was proposed by Coun Harradine and seconded by Coun Grove that these bills be paid. Agreed.
50.1 Coun Harradine suggested obtaining a quote to have existing play area weeds dealt with.
50.2 Coun Mowatt reported that the Saxon Close bus shelter graffiti had been painted over and looks much better.
50.3 Coun Christie would like the Parish Council to adopt a 'more positive approach to young people' as outlined in the recent survey undertaken by Andrew Lansley, MP.
50.4 Coun Christie congratulated Coun Barnett on the 'unofficial musings of a parish councillor' in the community newsletter.
50.5 Coun Navarro would like the Parish Council to pursue the issue of poor Broadband speeds in the village. Coun Barnett will bring some suggestions to the next meeting. (June Agenda)
50.6 Some residents had asked why the Yesteryear Road Run vehicles had not diverted though the village to the Rec this year. The Chairman stated that the organisers had established a preferred route in advance as they had experienced problems last year getting the vehicles past parked cars.
50.7 Coun Grove reported that the overgrown woodland area on the Histon footpath is to be dealt with by Andrew Grimmer (Tree Officer, SCDC).
50.8 Coun Wotherspoon (SCDC) had nothing new to report.
50.9 Mr Milton reported the following:
• He will hand the Cemetery documents etc to the Clerk. Agreed that he could work with her to explain procedures.
• Pothole near crossroads has been filled in but is already starting to form again.
• He asked Coun Barnett to put the new Parish Council contact details in the next newsletter
• He thanked everyone for their help and support over the past years.
There were no other questions/comments from members of the public.
The meeting closed at 9.05pm
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