Notes from the Parish Council June Meeting
Chairman John Covill chaired the meeting with 7 Parish Councillors and 2 members of the Public.
Approval of Minutes - Meeting 14th May 2009: These were agreed.
Reports:
CCC: Cllr David Brown as newly-elected County Councillor introduced himself to the meeting and gave a brief report.
ECDC: Apologies for absence -written report read to meeting.
Correspondence Received:
Andrew Carauna-Traffic Technician - Mill Hill, Swaffham Prior - JFMHI 2008/09
Andrew Carauna-Traffic Technician - Jointly Funded Minor Highways Improvements -20010/11 Bidding Round.
Mark Vigor, Head of Strategic Planning - Planning Permission for School mobile classroom
Ashley List, County Play Strategy Project Officer - Cambridgeshire Play Pathfinder Project -Year Two
ECDC
Cathy White, Senior Trees Officer -approval of tree works at The Old Vicarage, 72 High Street.
Cathy White, Senior Trees Officer -approval of tree works at 1 Station Road.
Daniel Schumann, Active Communities Officer - Launch of East
Cambridgeshire Community Fund and District Analysis of Community Facilities.
General
Equality and Human Rights -Public Sector Duties
CPALC -Briefing Note "Power of Well-Being"
COPE -Newsletter No.55
Cambridgeshire ACRE -COMMA (Community Aggregates) Fund 2009-10
CPALC -Outreach Training -New for 2009-2010
School - Newsletter
Minutes Arising from Previous Minutes (for information only)
View of Church Clock: Cathy White, Tree Officer for ECDC, inspected the trees blocking the view of the Church Clock and said that she would not approve any cutting back or removal work. Andrew Camps told the meeting that The Churches Conservation Trust had been approached for their support to have the offending tree cut back/taken down. The views of residents from the Village had been invited at the Annual Village Meeting and generally it was felt that people should be able to see the clock from the road. Following on from this, the Clerk was asked to write to ECDC in support of having the work done.
Play Area - repairs to fencing: Following the recent vandalism to the back fence of the play area, estimates for repair works were invited. Following consideration, it was agreed to ask Simon King to carry out the work to replace the fencing and small gate.
Play Area -RoSPA annual inspection report: The report was very good this year with only minor items of repair/refurbishment noted. Jointly Funded Minor Highways Improvements -2010/11 Bidding Round: Geoffrey Woollard outlined for Cllr Brown the traffic calming work carried out on Mill Hill to-date. Following discussion it was agreed that a further application should be submitted for additional work on Mill Hill and also a speed reduction to 30mph.
Maintenance work to Village Car Park/Driveway: GeoffreyWoollard sprayed with weed killer the outer edges of the car park. Eric Day had filled in the potholes in the driveway and said he would continue to do this. Two contractors were invited to give estimates to cut back the vegetation on the driveway but both declined. It was suggested that a working party could do this. John Jordan said he knew of a charity based team that might carry out the work and said he would pass contact details onto the Clerk.
Repairs to The Pound, Cage Hill -meeting with Conservation Officer: Rosie Burton met with the Clerk to inspect the wall around the Pound. RB was concerned about the leaning/cracking of the left-hand front corner of the wall and asked that the Parish Council seek the advice of a Structural Engineer before any work went ahead. She confirmed that, subject to application, funds would be available for the work. She agreed to review once the Structural Engineer's report was received.
Planning Applications Received including:
28 High Street -demolition of existing barn and rebuilding. Ref: 09/00360/CAC: This followed on from a full application considered at the May meeting. There were no objections.
The Cottage, 32 Mill Hill -two storey extension to form kitchen and bedroom. Ref: 09/00381/FUL: There were no objections.
New Gant Farm, Swaffham Prior Fen -(Retrospective) extension to dwelling to include additional bedroom, entrance area, rear porch and living accommodation created within the garage space (amendments to application 04/00498/FUL), menage, stable block and shed for personal use within the residential curtilage. Ref: 09/00279/FUL: There were no objections, although the meeting considered it was unfortunate that this was a retrospective application and asked that the Clerk recorded this when replying to ECDC Planning.
Accounts for Payment: These were agreed.
Clerk's Report:
New direction sign -Lower End/Rogers Road: A meeting was held with Paul Butcher and Andrew Carauna of CCC to confirm the site, etc., for the new 'traditional'sign made by Jonathan Cook. Preparation work was agreed and once this has been done, the new sign will be installed.
Dog fouling: This continues to be a problem and following discussion with the Dog Warden at ECDC, the purchase of dog bins is currently being looked into. Under an ECDC pilot scheme, if the Parish Council purchased these bins, ECDC would put them up and be responsible for emptying them.
Overhanging hedges, shrubs, etc. Complaints have been received about this annual problem. The Parish Council would welcome residents help in checking their property boundaries and dealing with any overhanging vegetation to ensure that pavements, footpaths and rights of way are kept clear.
Parish Councillors'Reports:
Geoffrey Woollard and Peter Hart attended the 'Rural Crime Issues'meeting organised by the Police on the 2/6/09. They agreed this was a useful meeting highlighting issues such as hare-coursing and the theft of diesel. It was emphasised by the Police the need for people to report crimes, however small!
Open Question Time:
General discussion.
The next meeting will take place on Thursday, 9th July 2009 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.
All are welcome to attend.