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Minutes 15th February 2022

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PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
held on Wednesday
15th February, 2022
in the Village Hall, High St.
Present: Councillors; J Holdich, OBE (Chairman), R Johnson (Vice Chairman), D Batty, Mrs C Bysshe, D Lane, G Kirt, R Randall, and Mr JV Haste (Clerk). One members of the public was also present.

MINUTES OF MEETING

588. Apologies for Absence – Cllr. Spendelow apologised for his absence recovering from a broken hip and granted leave of absence by the parish council. Apologies from Cllr. P Skinner recovering from a hip operation.

589. Members Declarations of Interest – None declared.

590. Public Participation – Mr David Cowcill spoke in support of the agenda item relating to the wish of residents to take over the maintenance and wildlife cultivation of the green space between The Willows and Clarendon Way. He also shared his hope that the issues of correct equipment and funding would not stand in the way of the success of the scheme

591. Minutes of the previous meeting –

We RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 21st December, 2021
Proposed Cllr. Randall Seconded Cllr. Kirt

592. Matters Arising from Minutes of Previous Meeting – None

593. Planning
a. Status of current planning applications – An update report on applications previously considered by the parish council had been circulated with the agenda and the content was noted. We were also advised that since the preparation and publication of that report the planning authority had refused application reference 21/01310/FUL relating to demolition of a garage and construction of a 1 and half storey Chalet Bungalow at 28 Peakirk Road.

b. 22/00047/CTR – 9 The Green – T20 – Leyland cypress – continuous row of trees – reduce height to c. 5m. Cut back branches to reduce spread and retain appearance of a hedge. We have no objections to make in respect of this application but would support any legitimate objections by neighbours if any were to be made.

c. 22/00066/CTR – 9 The green – T8 (Apple) – Remove dead, diseased and overly congested branches. Cut back overly long shoots; T9 (Apple) – Remove dead, diseased and overly congested branches. Cut back overly long shoots; T17 (Apple) – Remove dead, diseased and overly congested branches, especially on side growing towards 9a drive as tree is hollow to reduce wind rock. Cut back overly long shoots. We have no objections to make in respect of this application but would support any legitimate objections by neighbours if any were to be made.

d. 22/00128/CTR – 8 Peakirk Road – Fell Silver Birch Tree S1 We have no objections to make in respect of this application. We note, and applaud, the undertaking to replace the tree with another of a native species but question the wisdom of selecting Ash given the preponderance of Ash Die back disease

594. Community Matters

a. Community Centre Working Group – Cllr. Kirt reported a brief summary of the results of the consultation exercise regarding the future provision of village hall / community centre. The consultation closed the day before our meeting and there had been a 28.4% response. This was slightly down from the response to the Neighbourhood plan consultation but was still over a quarter of the village and considered to be a reasonable response. 55.5% of the respondents favoured retention or upgrade to the present village hall compared to 44.5 % favouring construction of a new community centre. We agreed to Cllr, Kirts suggestion that we publish the results of the consultation exercise and consider how best to proceed with the current Village Hall. If residents showed any real enthusiasm for provision of new facilities we should be willing to reconsider how to proceed.

b. Climate Change –
i. David Cowcill had circulated information on the previous work on the Glinton and Peakirk study. Cllr. Kirt reported that the next meeting of the group is to be held on Monday 21st February and that the information provided by would be considered at that meeting. At his suggestion we deferred further discussion of the topic to the March meeting of the parish council in order to consider feedback from the meeting on 21st February.

ii. We considered the request of a group of residents take over responsibility for the maintenance and wildlife cultivation of the open space between The Willows and Clarendon Way. We noted that the land in question is owned and maintained by Peterborough City Council. We also noted the comments of David Cowcill earlier in the meeting. We were minded to give support in principle to the group and wish them well in discussions with the city council. We advised the Group that they would need to have detailed plans of their intentions for the parcel of land and gain a high level of support from residents in the area around the parcel of land in question

c. Rural Cinema – Cambridgeshire ACRE -Village Hall networking session. The chairman drew our attention to a presentation on ZOOM planned for 10 -12 am on 1st March and invited councillors to consider attending that session. The Clerk undertook to book places and obtain access links for any one interested in attending the session.

d. Vandalism. The Chairman reported complaints and comments received from residents and we are concerned at the continued occurrences of anti-social behaviour impacting on residents. We asked the Clerk to notify the police of our concerns and to urge that these incidents be investigated

595. Reports of Councillors attending meetings with other bodies. – None reported to the Clek prior to this meeting

596. Governance Matters –

a. Cemetery
i. Maintenance – We were advised that Dave Grierson had been persuaded to reconsider his intention to terminate the maintenance contract. We considered his request to recognise the additional work undertaken outside the confines of the Cemetery and the need to cover his planned absence in the Autumn of 2022. Cllr. Kirt offered to provide the one-off cover required. We unanimously RESOLVED to increase the monthly payments under the contract to £210 with effect from March subject to confirmation that Mr Grierson withdrew his notice to terminate the contract.
Proposed Cllr. Johnson seconded Cllr Lane

ii. Wall – Cllr. Johnson reported that the issue with the Gate not closing properly was the result of failure in the structure of the wall as a result of the absence of engineering bricks at the base of the wall. We asked the Clerk to obtain competitive quotes for the reconstruction of gate pillars and that section of the wall to the south side of the gate pillar

b. Banking Arrangements – The clerk reported further progress with Metro Bank and provided forms for the completion by himself and other signatories for the deposit account. We were also informed that signatories would be required to attend metro bank premises for signature and ID checks to be concluded. Cllr Johnson withdrew himself from the list of signatories. The Clerk also provided information on the current interest rates applicable to business notice deposit accounts.

On consideration of the information now provided we RESOLVED to open a 95day notice deposit account and to appoint the Clerk, J Haste and Cllrs JFW Holdich OBE, D Lane and G Kirt as signatories to the account. All Payments out of the account to require the signature of the Clerk and any two councillor signatories.
Proposed Cllr Holdich Seconded Cllr. Johnson.

WE anticipate that the sole purpose of the account will be the secure deposit of funds not required in the short term for the proper function of the parish council and that the only payments to be made from the account will be to the current account held in Unity Trust Bank at such time as those funds may in due course be required.

597. Official Notices and Correspondence – The Clerk reported that he had , today, received notice from the Glinton Community Association the AGM of the association will be held on 4th March at 10.00am in the Village Hall.

598. Highways Matters –

• We noted with gratitude that the step up to Jubilee footbridge over Maxey Cut had been repaired.

• We noted that at the previous meeting we had been advised that the city council were examining the obligations of the contractors for the works by Network Rail and the National Grid in respect of Mud on road. We asked the Clerk raise this long outstanding matter again with the city council

The following outstanding matters were also raised by parish councillors
• Bad State of Mile Drove for some 300 yards from the Junction with Lincoln road in the vicinity of nine bridges
• Similar state of North Fen Road approaching the old bridge
• To again request consideration of extending the yellow lines on the East Side of Beech Road from the junction with Helpston road to the 1st house on Beech Road.
• Reinstatement of white lines, marking out the footpath in North Fen Road, their absence considered to be a safety issue for pedestrians

599. Item for next agenda – Cllr Lane requested that parking Issues on Helpston Road and beech road be on the agenda for further discussion.

600. Date of Next Meeting – The next scheduled meeting of the parish council is Tuesday 15th March 2022.

Meeting closed at 8.16pm