Meeting Minutes: 28th October 2021

KIMBOLTON & STONELY PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES of the Council meeting held at 7 p.m. on Thursday 28 October 2021 in the Youth Hall at the Mandeville Hall, Kimbolton.

PRESENT  Councillors P Seabrook; K Hutchinson; D Poole; Mrs C Jessup; Ms S Mugglestone; Mrs R Lloyd ; Mrs J Stainer; L Farrer; Mrs E Milne and R Gooderham..

IN ATTENDANCE   County Councillor I Gardener; District Councillor J Gray ; C L Thatcher, Clerk to the Council and 2 members of the public.

176/21  APOLOGIES  were received from Councillor Mrs D Hellett.

177/21  PUBLIC FORUM  was not used.

178/21  DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST.   

No declarations were made

179/21  COUNTY COUNCILLOR

Councillor Gardener confirmed that, despite reminders, no news was forthcoming on the final cost of the pedestrian crossing.  Milestone, the contractor, did provide an update yesterday to the effect that an on-site meeting was hopefully to take place tomorrow afternoon.  Councillor Hutchinson commented that the time this has taken is very bad and the fact that little or no response has been received from anyone, including the Chief Executive, is poor.

There will be a meeting with Huntingdonshire DC on 10 November regarding their promise of funding and the delay.

The next County Council meeting will be held on 9 November at St Ives.

The new on demand bus service , Ting, started last Monday.      He said he would ask whether the promotional bus could visit the Street Market, though being on a Sunday this might not be possible.

The Queen’s Green Canopy Scheme has been launched with the idea of planting trees next season.

Highways England are asking for responses to consultation on the upgrading of the A14 between Ellington and Thrapston.

All Highways Officers have now changed.

Councillor Farrer said that the practice of leaving road closures in place when no work was being undertaken, was bad and should be reviewed.

180/21  DISTRICT COUNCILLOR

Councillor Gray said that he would work with Councillor Gardener to ensure that the money offered for the crossing remains in place, despite the delay.

He said that Huntingdonshire DC, in common with others, is now in the budget season.  Service demands are increasing and money is tight.

He mentioned the amenity land off Hunters Way which , at one time, appeared to be of little interest to the Medical Centre, but now plans have been received which show an intention to enlarge the practice and the car park and include that land.

181/21 MINUTES of the Council meeting of 30 September  2021 were read, approved and signed as a true record of that meeting.

182/21  MATTERS ARISING

• Neighbourhood Watch.  No report
• Pound Lane  The Chairman said the Working Party had met and had considered the plans provided by John Lightfoot and an alternative layout had been suggested, which had been agreed by the Working Party.  The agreed course of action was to ask John Lightfoot to apply for planning permission and it is understood the cost will be between £650 and £700.  It was also agreed to confirm that we would wish to erect a sports hall on the site at a later date, subject to funds becoming available.
• Twinning.   No action to be taken during the pandemic.
• Pedestrian Crossing   Reported above
• Cemetery Wall repairs.  It was agreed to defer this item

 f) Street Market  The Working Party had met and Councillor Ms Jessup has agreed to source the stallholders, assisted by Councillor Mrs Lloyd, who will leaflet the stallholders at Oundle market.  So far, nine stallholders had agreed to come.     Councillor Gooderham asked if the sum of £350 could be paid to the owner of the fairground roundabout, who has agreed to attend.  This was approved.

Councillor Mrs Lloyd agreed to oversee the advertising of the event.

The Clerk raised the question of lighting the stalls, since we will be expecting them to continue trading in the dark.  It was thought that some may have their own lighting, but David Watson might be able to help.

The road closure must be advised to residents in advance together with the request to remove vehicles from the High St for the day.

Contact has been made with the Kimbolton School Parents’ Association and it is hoped that we will be able to work with them, to mutual advantage. 

     g)  Flood protection.  The Chairman said that he and Councillor Farrer had met the Environment Agency representative, who, it was revealed, had a key to the container for sandbags in Stonely.  The same key fits the residents’ flood gates.    One problem is    that the flood arches at Carnaby are blocked preventing the free flow of water towards the 3m fall onto the flood plain beyond Stonely.  The ‘drying ground’ should have a channel for flood water through it, but this appears to have been blocked when the river was cleared and spoil was dumped there. Natural England are looking at it.  Permission to clear this area will be required from the Environment Agency, but an estimate of cost has been obtained in the sum of £1500.  It was proposed by Councillor Gooderham, seconded by Councillor Mrs Lloyd and agreed to do the necessary work, subject to permission.  The cost of digging the channel was given as c £5000 and it was proposed by Councillor Mrs Lloyd, seconded by Councillor Ms Mugglestone and agreed to proceed with this work once permission is given.

h) Remembrance Day parade.  The Clerk reported on the arrangements and that the Chairman will lay a wreath for the Parish Council at the war memorial and Mrs Dawn Gooderham would lay a wreath at the airfield memorial.   The School CCF will parade again this year, though their numbers might be slightly depleted as some cadets have been invited to attend the Albert Hall for the Festival of Remembrance and to be at the Cenotaph for the parade.   Members were delighted to hear that Kimbolton School cadets had been chosen for this honour.

On a domestic front, our staff will tidy around the war memorial and as far as possible, clean gutters in the High St as well as removing the bollards prior to the day.

i)  Piaggio replacement.  The Clerk said that replacement was becoming urgent and it was suggested that small pick-up trucks such as the Suzuki Carry and Diahatsu would be ideal.  Secondhand ones may purchased for around £8000.  It was agreed to authorise the purchase of a suitable vehicle at a price of between £8000 and £9000.

.k)  Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebration.  The Working Party has yet to meet so there is no report.   The Clerk reminded members that at the 2012 Jubilee we were able to borrow chairs and tables from the Mandeville Hall, but these are no longer available.  It was suggested that Dave Maltby might be able to help with these.  It was also agreed to seek the advice of Phantom Power regarding staging music and Councillor Ms Mugglestone said that she would help arrange the Traffic Order.

l) ) Coronavirus Update.  A number of elderly local people had become unwell with coronavirus recently but thankfully, none appear to be seriously ill…

183/21  PLANNING

The following application was considered –

21/01958  8 Grass Yard, Kimbolton – extension to former garage and use as permanent dwelling.    The Clerk read objections received from neighbours.

The applicant was present and the Chairman permitted him to speak.  Councillor Hutchinson explained the concerns which centred around this property becoming a separate dwelling under different ownership at some time in the future.  He thought that a unilateral undertaking that this would not happen is fundamental to the consideration of this application.    He went on to say that he didn’t know if it was possible to ‘revoke’ a permission that has been implemented, but you can undertake not to complete the development.     He thought the application would be an acceptable scenario so long as the unilateral undertaking was signed before approval was given. It was proposed by Councillor Poole, seconded by Councillor Mrs Lloyd and agreed to recommend approval subject to a unilateral agreement being signed before planning approval is granted.

Councillors Ian Gardener and Jonathan Gray left the meeting at this point.

184/21  REPORTS

Allotments.     Councillor Mrs Lloyd presented the report.  

Playpark. The Clerk reported that the new latches put on the gates had already been torn off.

Dog fouling.  This continues to be a problem.  It was confirmed that dogs should be on leads in the village environs but may be off leads, providing they remain under control, on fields.

Mandeville Hall   No report

Kimbolton Trust.   Will be meeting in two weeks.

Kimbolton School Governors. No report

185/21  PURCHASE OF PLAY EQUIPMENT   It was agreed to defer this until a future meeting due to the absence of Councillor Mrs Hellett.

186/21  PROVISION OF TOILET FACILITIES IN HEARSE HOUSE     Our present staff member lives in the village and is therefore able to go home to use the toilet, but should someone from outside the village be employed then that would not be practical.  In any case, it was thought that we should provide such facilities for staff and the Hearse House, being the staff base, seems the ideal place.    The Clerk reminded members that we have a major problem in the shape of the hearse and would have no-where to keep that if a toilet was built inside the building, as there isn’t enough room for both.  He also asked who would be cleaning any toilet provided. 

It was decided to go ahead and seek listed building consent in the hope that somewhere will be found to keep the hearse.  It was therefore proposed by Councillor Jessup, seconded by Councillor Gooderham and agreed to ask John Lightfoot to seek approval at an estimated cost of £300.

187/21  THRAPSTON ROAD STREET LIGHTING      This matter was again raised by Councillor Farrer and he was reminded that when last considered there was an objection from a resident to having a lamp outside his home and furthermore, there is a lack of an available power supply, making installation very expensive.       It was agreed to seek the price of a solar powered lamp and Councillor Farrer will speak with the resident and see whether his view has changed.

188/21   PUBLICISING COUNCIL ACTIVITIES / FACEBOOK COMMENTS.      Councillor Mrs Lloyd explained how she had been concerned at some of the comments left on the local Facebook site and thought that the council should be making known what it does.   She used to write a precis of meetings and she agreed to reinstate that and place this summary on the Facebook page.

Councillor Ms Mugglestone left the meeting

189/21  CORRESPONDENCE    

• Queen’s Green Canopy Project.      This project, urging the planting of more trees by next spring, had been circulated to members.  The Chairman wondered whether the lighting of a beacon at 9.15pm on 2 June 2022 is something which should be done in this parish.
• New ‘on demand’ bus service (Ting)    This service has now commenced and residents can phone and order a bus when needed.
• Dog owner playing ball with dog in churchyard.  A churchyard resident has forwarded a video of a man throwing a ball for a dog in the churchyard.   Unfortunately, the man was not recognised.  It was agreed to place ‘dogs on leads’ signs at entrances.
• High Sheriff’s invitation to Evensong on 21 November was noted.

190/21  ACCOUNTS

• The following were approved for payment –

K & M Lighting.               Streetlight maintenance                 £128.15

J Whitehead                   Misc repairs                                     £30.00 

Glasdon Ltd                    Litter bin                                         £303.04

Fishers                            Sundries                                          £75.96 

Grafton Projects              Stationery                                      £146.06

HJ Hellett & Son             Hedge cutting                                £360.00

Payroll costs                   Pay, PAYE, NIC October             £2244.77

C L Thatcher                   Postage stamps and fuel                £65.05          

191/21  HIGH ST CAR PARKING

          No report

192/21  MEMBERS’ POINTS OF INFORMATION

Councillor Mrs Stainer said that the street lighting in the High St had been complained about as being poor.

Councillor Gooderham asked that the churchyard yew trees be cut back hard.     He also pointed out that the paint on some of the names on the war memorial was peeling off .

Councillor Mrs Stainer said that our meetings are too long and should be time limited.

193/21  IT WAS RESOLVED to exclude the Press and public from the next item in accordance with the provisions of the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960.

194/21  STAFFING MATTERS

The Working Party recommended that the vacancy now be re-advertised and it was proposed by Councillor Gooderham, seconded by Councillor Mrs Stainer and agreed that the rate of pay of both this new post and that of our present Grounds Keeper be increased from SCP 2 to SCP 5 with effect from 1 November 2021.

195/21  NEXT MEETING

The next normal meeting of Council  will be held on Thursday 25 November 2021 in the Youth hall of the Mandeville Hall commencing at 7pm..

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 2155 hours.