Meeting Minutes: 27th July 2023

KIMBOLTON & STONELY PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES of the Council meeting held at 7 p.m. on Thursday 27 July 2023 in the Youth Hall at the Mandeville Hall, Kimbolton.

PRESENT  Councillors P Seabrook; J Gray ; K Hutchinson; Ms C Jessup;  R Gooderham; Mrs R Lloyd; Ms H Bradbury and M Buckley.

 IN ATTENDANCE   County Councillor I Gardener; District Councillor J Gray ; Lionel Thatcher, Clerk to the Council and three members of the public. 

113/23      APOLOGIES  were received from Councillors Mrs D Hellett; Mrs J Stainer and L Farrer.

114/23     PUBLIC FORUM The members of the public present were all expressing concerns over the level of noise generated by HGV’s going over the humped pedestrian crossing.   The problem seemed to be mainly empty vehicles which bounced over the hump.

The Chairman said that they need to take up the matter with County Highways, if they think that the hump is too steep and that there is insufficient warning of the humped crossing.   Councillor Hutchinson said that the table crossing was installed to provide better access to disabled people and that most HGV’s passing through should not be in this area as there is a weight limit of 18 tonnes.  Enforcement is a police matter but the police are unwilling to take any action.

115/23     DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST.   

   None were made

116/23     COUNTY COUNCILLOR  Ian Gardener expressed his thanks to those members of the public who turned up at the Ting roadshow held in the High St recently.

He also mentioned the repairs done to a property in High St some months ago, which had resulted in UK Power raising some stone paving slabs, which they later replaced with concrete ones.   They have been issued with a failure notice and are being required to change those slabs for stone ones.

This Council’s bid to the Local Highways Initiative has been successful and we will be having 40 mph buffer zones installed on Park Lane and the B645 near the Preparatory School.

He said that this year’s bids can be placed between 26 October and January 2024.

Councillor Jonathan Gray joined the meeting

A grant scheme offering up to £40,000 to help improve community assets has been introduced, with applications being required by 24 September.

The Boundary Commission final report has now been published.

The County Council will be cutting back hedges on Main Road Stonely.

Kimbolton School wish to divert the footpath which runs through school grounds and it was agreed to place this on the agenda for the next meeting, for the new route to be considered.

117/23    MINUTES of the Council meeting of 6 July 2023 were read, approved and signed as a true record of that meeting.

118/23  DISTRICT COUNCILLOR   Councillor Jonathan Gray referred to HDC’s Strategic Plan and the recent ‘call for sites’.  He said that there had been 350 applications for consideration of sites for development and these will be assessed next year.  A lot more land has been offered than in necessary.

It has been decided to proceed with the charges for a green rubbish bin.  The charge will be £57.50 per annum commencing next April.  Councillor Gray said he considered the charge unnecessary as HDC has a surplus budget.     It was agreed to place this matter on the agenda for the next meeting with a view to making a formal complaint regarding the lack of consultation.

Council Officers have voted to strike over pay and departments most likely to be affected are refuse collection; customer services and planning.

A new Managing Director has been appointed by HDC.  She is Michelle Saxe, currently working in Lincolnshire.   She will commence work in October.

Councillor Gardener left the meeting

 119/23     MATTERS ARISING

• Pound Lane   Three quotes have now been received ranging between £52000 and £85000.  The Working Party will be meeting to consider these.  The Clerk pointed out that, because of the amount, it will be necessary to advertise the opportunity to quote on the Government Contracts Finder website.
• Cemetery Wall repairs.  Fencing and materials have been placed ready, but work has not started yet.
• MVAS signs  Councillor Gray provided his report and said that about 60% of vehicles exceed the speed limit when passing the MVAS signs.      It was agreed to send the MVAS data relating to the sign by the Prep School to Cambs Police Roads Policing Unit with a request that a mobile camera be sited there from time to time.
• Street Market on 19 August is progressing well and posters are now being placed around the village.
• Christmas Event to switch on the Christmas lights will be held on Sunday 3 December.  The road closure has been approved.
• The Butts.  The Chairman reported that there was a lot of ragwort on the Butts.  Grounds staff will be asked to remove it.   Councillor Mrs Lloyd said that Rotary has agreed to maintain the land and has about 4000 more bulbs to be planted.   They would welcome the donation of plant pots that they could use for seeds.       They will not, of course, be able to cut back grass on the site.
• Statty Fair.  Councillor Gooderham, who acts as the liaison between the fair operator and the village, reported that the fair was in great danger this year of not taking place.   The problem is the increased cost in traffic management brought about by the insistence of County Highways that a full road closure be put in place, rather than the previous system whereby East St was kept open and traffic light control was employed.  County Highways concern was understandable as some buildings had been hit by articulated HGV’s which attempted to traverse East St when they clearly should not have done so.    In fact, they should not be on the roads in this area anyway, as there is an 18 tonne weight limit in force.

The problem is that the weight limit can only be enforced by the police and they refuse to do so.  Many requests for action by them have been ignored and even when full details of infringing vehicles, including photographs, have been provided to the police, nothing happens. They are utterly useless.

Members were very concerned that a tradition which has been in operation since the 1200’s should be lost because of the actions of a few drivers and the inaction of the police and there was a long discussion as to what action could be taken.

It was ultimately agreed that the Council did want to secure the continuance of this historic event and it was proposed by Councillor Buckley and unanimously agreed to contribute to the additional traffic management cost up to a maximum of £2000.

Councillor Jonathan Gray left the meeting

• Grass Cutting.  The Clerk said that the new mower had now been received and put into use. It is proving to do a good job but it is taking some time to catch up with the lack of cutting over recent weeks, particularly with the current weather which is encouraging growth at a very fast rate.   The grounds staff are following up with the strimmer but a smaller mower would still be needed to enable those areas where the large mower cannot go, to be mown.  Our old Hayter is not really up to the job.
• Website.  Councillor Ms Bradbury said that the working party was meeting and had discussed the format with the web provider.

120/23    PLANNING

The following application was considered –

23/01284   69 Main Rd Stonely –  demolish and erect 4 bed dwelling.  This application was received too late for inclusion on the agenda for this meeting so will appear on next month’s agenda, though members could see no reason for refusal.

Future Planning

Councillor Hutchinson referred to the government announcement via Mr Gove that the intention is to make changes to the law that would automatically permit the conversion of retail premises to residential.

121/23  REPORTS

Allotments   It was reported that the catch on the allotments gate needs repair.

It was also agreed that the former bonfire area needs clearing and it will be necessary to provide a skip and possibly hire a JCB.  

Playpark.  Members agreed that the play equipment was ‘dated’ and agreed to look at upgrading the equipment both in the playpark and at Pound Lane.

Mandeville Hall.   Councillor Hutchinson reported that a meeting had been held and a leak in the roof reported, which might require the removal of a solar panel to rectify.

Kimbolton Trust.  No report

Kimbolton School Governors  No report.

122/23  FLOOD FORUM  No report as yet.  Councillor Mrs Lloyd enquired who was responsible for the culvert outside the Prep.School.   The Chairman said that he believed it was the School.

123/23a  PURCHASE OF CORONATION BENCH.   Members agreed that it would be nice to do that and that Stonely Green would be a good place to site it, but they did not like the style of bench proposed and asked that other designs be considered.

123/23b  PURCHASE OF OAK TREE     Councillor Ms Jessup proposed that the coronation also be commemorated by the purchase of an oak tree, to be planted on The Causeway.   Council agreed to do so and to spend up to £150.00.

124/23  CORRESPONDENCE   

A receipt had been received from the Mandeville Hall for the £500 donation given in lieu of rent of the room for meetings.

125/23  ACCOUNTS

• The following were approved for payment –

Hunts DC                 Fitness instructor fees                    216.00

Zurich Municipal     Mower insurance premium              185.96

Fishers                     Groundsman sundries                     58.46

Arthur Ibbett         Purchase of mower                         8648.00

Adaptainer Ltd      Purchase of container                     3306.00

H Brace                  July work                                         560.00

Payroll costs          Pay, PAYE,NIC                              2977.89

C L Thatcher          Petrol for mowers                            113.98

126/23  HIGH ST CAR PARKING  no report

127/23  MEMBERS’ POINTS OF INFORMATION

Councillor Buckley drew members attention to the steel security door which had now been fitted to the empty Saddle pub.  It was agreed that this alteration to a listed building required planning approval.

128/23 NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the Council will take place on Thursday 31 August 2023, commencing at 7pm in the Youth Room at the Mandeville Hall.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 2200 hours.