Minutes 6th February 2018

MINUTES OF SWAFFHAM BULBECK PARISH COUNCIL
MEETING NUMBER 460

Held at Downing Court on Tuesday 6th February 2018 starting at 7.30pm
Present: Cllr Sue Romero (SR); Cllr Mary Smith (MS); Cllr Gordon Reid (GR); Cllr Nicky Bates; Cllr Lynn Reed (LR); Cllr John Trapp (JT); Cllr Peter Raby (PR); Cllr Robin Sewell (RS);
Members: 9 Quorum: 3
Members of the Public: 1
Clerk: Mrs D Bayliss
C Cllr Mathew Shuter
D Cllr Allen Alderson

Meeting opened at 7.30pm

4404 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Cllr Kay Ballard;

4405 MEMBERS DECLARATION OF INTEREST FOR ITEMS ON THE AGENDA
Cllr Gordon Reid – 4410a) Planning Application The Merchants House (Personal)

4406 OPEN FORUM FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
A parishioner expressed her concern that the village didn’t have the delivery of information leaflets about waste and recycling from ECDC and that people without the internet didn’t know that the dates for bin collections during the holiday period had changed.
The District Councillor explained that unfortunately the District Council ran out of leaflets before they got to Swaffham Bulbeck. He will ask whether there will be any leaflets distributed this year.

4407 TO APPROVE MINUTES OF MEETING 459 9th JANUARY 2018
It was proposed by Cllr LR and seconded by Cllr NB that the minutes of the meeting held on 9th January 2018 are approved and signed by the Chairman.
CARRIED

Cllr PR and Cllr RS abstained from the vote as they were not at the last meeting.

4408 MATTERS ARISING including REPORTS FROM CLERK AND COUNCILLORS
(For information only)
• Mark Deas will be attending the meeting on 6th March to discuss the possibility of creating a Neighbourhood Plan for the village.
• There has been some interest from parishioners in joining the speed watch team.
• A new street light has been installed at the bottom of Pound Way and will be connected by UK power networks within the next 6 weeks.
• The obscured street light on Commercial End has been reported to the County Council and a response is awaited.
• The footpath outside the shop is on the County Council list awaiting consideration for a slurry seal.

4409 COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCILLORS REPORTS
District Councillor
The District Councillors report was distributed before the meeting.
County Councillor
• The County Councillor pointed out that it was incorrect to state that the repairs to the A1303 were being paid for by the EU as they are UK Government funded. The works have not begun as expected as the quotes received for the work were considerably higher than the County Council had expected. New quotes have been sought and it is hoped work will begin in March.
• The next parish forum is being held on 28th February at 7.30pm where the subject of Neighbourhood Planning is going to be discussed. It is considered likely that The Local Plan will be challenged by developers as there is large growth projected for Cambridgeshire. A Neighbourhood Plan may help as it is more difficult for developers to challenge individual plans.
• The County Council have purchased a “Dragon Patcher” which can fix up to 150 potholes per day. 38000 potholes were filled last year and it is expected that up to 50000 will be filled this year. The County Council are constantly looking at innovative ways of repairing and maintaining roads.
• At the full Council meeting held on 6th February it was agreed to raise council tax by 4.99% which includes 2% for adult social care. The money is to be placed into a contingency fund so that it can be used as necessary.
• The Combined Authority has allocated £150,000 towards a review of junctions 35-38 of the A14. A request has also been made to make the A11/A14 junction 2 ways.
• The County Councillor confirmed that he will not be sending a written report to the Council and outlined the reasons for this. The Chairman thanked him for explaining the situation clearly.

4410 PLANNING MATTERS
a) Planning Applications
17/02203/LBC Remove greenhouse, construct single storey extension, reduce chimney stack to create doorway, internal vaulted ceiling to include balcony area, insert French drains and soakaway at The Merchants House, 97 Commercial End, Swaffham Bulbeck for Mr Glynn – No objection however they would like to raise a concern about the potential impact of the large window which is overlooking 103 Commercial End.
17/02201/FUL Remove greenhouse, construct single storey extension, reduce chimney stack to create doorway, internal vaulted ceiling to include balcony area, insert French drains and soakaway at The Merchants House, 97 Commercial End, Swaffham Bulbeck for Mr Glynn – No objection however they would like to raise a concern about the potential impact of the large window which is overlooking 103 Commercial End.
17/02218/FUL Proposed conversion, partial rebuilding and extension at Agricultural Building, Hare Park Stud, Six Mile Bottom, Suffolk for AW Carpentry and Building Services – No objection.
b) Planning Approvals
17/01231/FUM Construction of 19 dwellings with associated parking and amenity space and retention of existing offices on site at Former Hillside Quarry Corner of Quarry Lane and Heath Road, Swaffham Bulbeck for Greensons Properties Ltd.
c) Other Planning Matters
17/01935/FUL New dwelling and associated works at Ivy Green, 79 High Street, Swaffham Bulbeck is to be considered at the ECDC Planning Committee on Wednesday 7th February 2018. The parish council’s comments had not been included on the report, but this has now been rectified following a letter from the Chairman to Rebecca Saunt head of planning services at ECDC.

4411 PARISH COUNCIL WEBSITE AND EMAIL MATTERS
d) The new website has been ordered and the process has started, beginning with the transfer of the domain name from the previous provider.

4412 FINANCES INCLUDING APPROVAL OF PAYMENT OF OUTSTANDING ACCOUNTS
a) It was proposed by Cllr GR and seconded by Cllr JT that the bank reconciliations for January are approved.
CARRIED

b) It was agreed that the council will renew Clerks & Councils Direct and purchase the Local Councils Update for one year after which they will review what benefit it has been to the Council.
c) It was proposed by Cllr NB and seconded by Cllr MS that the February accounts are paid including an additional £100 to Communicorp for the Local Councils Update.
CARRIED
Cheque No; Payee Item Net VAT Total Power
Payments Since the Last Meeting
BACS Mrs D Bayliss Clerk’s Salary £501.90 £0.00 £501.90 LGA 1972 s112
Payments for Tonight’s meeting:
BACS HMRC Tax & NI £125.40 £0.00 £125.40 LGA 1972 s112
BACS Mr J Sugg Handyman Payment £105.00 £0.00 £105.00 Open Spaces Act 1906 ss9 & 10 LGA 1972 s214
BACS Mrs D Bayliss Travel/Telephone £61.48 £0.00 £61.48 LGA 1972 s174
BACS JCS Bookkeeping Payroll £17.00 £3.40 £20.40 LGA 1972 s112
BACS Optimum Card Petty Cash Top Up £400.00 £0.00 £400.00 LGA 1972 s 50
300186 Communicorp Clerks & Councils Direct £12.00 £0.00 £12.00 LGA 1972 s 50

Grand Total>>> £1,222.78 £3.40 £1,226.18

4413 DENNY AND GUTTERBRIDGE WOOD MATTERS
Gutter Bridges Working Group Report
• Two trees need to be felled in the Gutter Bridge Wood. Cllr MS will obtain the tree report from the National Trust in order that quotations might be sought for the work.
• It was agreed that Cllr RS will attend the forthcoming tree seminar as long as the date, yet to be decided, is convenient.

4414 DENNY AND PLAY AREA MATTERS
a) • Cllr RS carried out the play area inspection and noted three jobs which might be carried out by the handyman.
• Fenland Leisure Play have completed the new surfacing around the table tennis table and in front of the gazebo.       Clerk
b) Black bags of rubbish are consistently being placed next to the parking area at the Denny during the course of the       week. A letter will be sent to the occupants of the adjacent property to see if they can shed any light on the matter.

4415 HIGHWAYS MATTERS
a) As Cllr KB was not in attendance discussion about the possible uses for the telephone kiosk will be deferred until         the next meeting. Clerk
b) It was agreed that some temporary signs will be made to try and dissuade owners from allowing their dogs to foul       the verge in Abbey Lane. A notice will also be placed in the Bulbeck Beacon. Clerk /SR
c) A concern was raised by a parishioner about some tree felling at 100 Acre Drove. The matter was raised with the          tree officer at ECDC however the trees are not protected by a TPO and are not in the conservation area. It is likely        to be work that has been requested by the Environment Agency in order that the can manage and maintain the            watercourses. This response will be passed on to the parishioner and no further action will be taken.

4416 CEMETERY MATTERS
It was agreed that some temporary signs will be made up and placed in the cemetery to try to discourage dog owners from allowing their dogs to foul the area. The matter will also be included in the Bulbeck Beacon.

4417 CORRESPONDENCE/MATTERS FOR INFORMATION ONLY
a) Invitation to CAPALC AGMEOM Noted
b) CAPALC Bulletin
A number of councillors expressed an interest in attending the GDPR Training to be held in March.
Cllr NB will attend the GDPR training on Thursday 15th March (pm).
Cllr SR/ will attend on the Friday 16th March (am).
Cllrs GR/MS/LR will contact the clerk if they are able to attend. Noted
c) Cllr SR is no longer able to attend the meeting with the Police and Crime Commissioner at Burwell Parish Council on Monday 12th February. Cllr JT will attend in her place and the clerk will notify Burwell PC. JT

4418 DATE AND AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE NEXT MEETING
March 6th, 2018
March 6th, 2018 – Pavilion Charity Meeting 7pm
April 10th, 2018- Date changed owing to Easter Holiday period.

Any business and payments, to be considered at Parish Council meeting must be delivered to the Clerk for inclusion on the agenda at least 7 days prior to the meeting.

The meeting closed at 9.16pm