LW and SMB Parish Council Meeting 10th May 2017
Little Wilbraham & Six Mile Bottom Parish Council
MINUTES of the Parish Council Meeting held in St John’s Church, Little Wilbraham at 7.30pm on Wednesday 10 May 2017
Present: Cllr Humphrey, Cllr Clifford, Cllr Stead, Cllr Brunner
Clerk, Hayley Livermore
District Councillor Robert Turner. County Councillor John Williams (from 9:30pm)
7 members of the public
01/17-18 Open Forum:
One member of the public reported that the survey from Flagship Homes which has been delivered to all residents is being done in conjunction with Hill Residential.
Hill residential are aware of flooding problems in Six Mile Bottom.
It is proposed that Little Wilbraham is to be named as an infill village. This is part of the Local plan, however this has not yet been adopted.
Geoff Wood attended and spoke as treasurer of Six Mile Bottom Sports and Social club. The club has tried unsuccessfully to obtain a grant from the PC for the renovation of the club. The clerk stated that Capalc had been sent a copy of the constitution of the club and had advised that a donation is allowed as long as ‘there is no unreasonable refusal of membership’. Geoff confirmed that in his experience nobody had ever been refused membership. It was agreed that the PC will consider a donation at the July meeting.
A member of the public spoke regarding the Greenway cycling route proposed to link Wilbraham and Cambridge more safely. It was suggested to him that an advert was put in the Warbler to form some sort of working party and take this forward. The clerk also informed him that County Councillor John Williams is the person to speak to, who will be attending the meeting later.
02/17-18: Apologies for Absence:
Cllr Carter
03/17-18: Declarations of Interest:
Cllr Humphrey declared an interest in item 08/17-18.
04/17-18: Election of Chairman
Cllr Humphrey was elected as Chairman for the year 17-18. Proposed by Cllr Stead, seconded by Cllr Brunner and agreed unanimously.
05/17-18: Election of Vice-chairman
Cllr Stead was elected as vice-chairman for the year 17-18. Proposed by Cllr Clifford, seconded by Cllr Brunner and agreed unanimously.
06/17-18: The minutes of the previous meeting held on 8th March 2017 were approved and signed by Cllr Humphrey
07/17-18: The following Parish Councillors signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office Book:
Cllr Brunner, Cllr Clifford, Cllr Stead, Cllr Humphrey. Signatures were witnessed and countersigned by the clerk.
08/17-18: Planning application- 5, Manor Close, Little Wilbraham, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB21 5LA Ref: S/1194/17/FL
Planning application as above was discussed. No objections or comments. Proposed by Cllr Brunner, seconded by Cllr Stead.
09/17-18: District Councillor report:
Cllr Turner had left the meeting by the time of this agenda item but prior to leaving the meeting indicated that the report was the same as the one read out by himself during the Annual Parish meeting.
10/17-18: County Councillor report:
- Over the past 12 months there was a further squeeze on County Council frontline services as the council decided by a majority vote not to increase council tax by the full amount allowed by the Government.
- As a result the county was not able to deliver a standard of highway maintenance that is acceptable to me and pressure on adult social care remained extremely high.
- We were however able to reverse planned cuts to rural bus services, street lighting and winter road gritting. With regard to the 18 bus service the departure from Little Wilbraham to Fulbourn has now been extended to Cambridge and I’m hoping I can get the afternoon return journey from Cambridge which currently terminates at Teversham extended to Little Wilbraham giving the Wilbraham’s an off peak service with the city.
- So far as Little Wilbraham and Six Mile Bottom are we have at last seen the arrival of fibre optic broadband to Little Wilbraham (I will not insult you by claiming that its “superfast”) and the publication of a Greenway cycling routes study which brings the prospect of linking the Wilbraham’s to Cambridge by a safe cycle route a bit closer.
- And for Six Mile Bottom I’m hopeful that following discussions with county highways we can see the possibility of a weight ban to stop the heavy lorry rat run along Wilbraham Road.
- But because the highway maintenance budget remains tight it is not always possible to get repairs done and damaged signs replaced as quickly as I and you would like to see. For example it took three years to get a new road sign at the junction of Wilbraham Road and Primrose Farm Road, which is unacceptable to my mind. And we still haven’t had the road markings refreshed at the cross roads in Six Mile Bottom.
John Williams
11/17-18: Parish grass maintenance
Grass cutting resumed in March and the cut in March was done to satisfaction. However the cut in April was not done to satisfaction and the clerk has contacted CGM to discuss this. No reply has been received as yet. Clerk to follow up and discuss with CGM a reduced payment for April due to the cut not being to standard.
Clerk is also in discussions with CGM regarding the contract. The council previously used KH Services who are no longer trading and passed all contracts to CGM. Therefore we do not have a contract with CGM as such. CGM are putting together a contract and will send to the clerk.
The option of having extra cuts was discussed. Each extra cut will cost £220 + VAT. It was agreed to discuss this again at July meeting once the issues of the contract and unsatisfactory cuts are hopefully resolved.
It was suggested that highways contribute towards grass cutting costs. Clerk to investigate.
It was agreed to compensate Peter Turner for fuel for the cutting of the village green in Six Mile Bottom on receipt of an invoice each time. Proposed by Cllr Clifford, seconded by Cllr Stead.
12/17-18: Road Team reports
Document was previously circulated to all councillors. A meeting took place 4 weeks ago with Evan Laughlin of Highways. Repair work at Six Mile Bottom was discussed as this is in a poor state.
The amount of HGV’s travelling along Wilbraham Road was discussed with Evan and he suggested a bid to the Local Highways initiative to have a weight limit on Wilbraham Road introduced. The clerk reported that the closing date for applications to the LHI is October and a minimum of 10% of the total cost can be offered. However the higher the offer of funding from the PC, the more favourably the application will be viewed. To be discussed again at July meeting.
13/17-18: Defibrillator grant and costs
Cllr Humphrey submitted an application to the Cambridgeshire Community fund for the cost of 2 defibrillators. A grant has been approved for £2500 which will cover the cost of one defibrillator and it was stipulated by CCF that this should be for Six Mile Bottom.
The defibrillators in Great Wilbraham and Six Mile Bottom will not be close enough, therefore it was proposed to purchase one for Little Wilbraham. It was proposed that this will be located in the phone box which is in the process of being adopted by the council from BT. Clerk to follow up on this.
Purchase of defibrillator proposed by Cllr Humphrey, seconded by Cllr Stead and approved unanimously.
14/17-18: Village Fete
Cllr Brunner raised the issue that a village fete is unlikely to take place this year as nobody has volunteered to organise it. Cllr Brunner felt that some sort of gathering of villagers was important to the community. It was suggested that Little Wilbraham and Six Mile Bottom take turns to host the event each year. Cllr Brunner to place an advert for help in the Warbler and discuss with Cllr Carter.
15/17-18: Update on Village noticeboard maintenance
Clerk has been in discussion with Mike Barnes at Greenbarnes LTD who is in agreement that water getting into the rails of the noticeboard and then subsequently either overflowing into the interior or evaporating within the board is the most likely cause of the excessive condensation. The simplest and most practical solution would be to fill the triangular gaps with a silicon sealer. Mike is sending a colleague when in the area to complete the work.
16/17-18: Advice from Capalc on donations to private members clubs
It was agreed following discussion at the Open Forum that the council are in a position to consider a grant to Six Mile Bottom Sports and social club and this will be an agenda item for the July meeting.
17/17-18: PC Contribution to churchyard grass cutting
Deferred to July meeting
18/17-18: Finance
It was agreed to approve the payments of the following outstanding invoices and the cheques were approved and signed by Cllr. Humphrey and Cllr Clifford.
| 609 | Capalc | Membership | £186.76 |
| 610 | CGM | Grass cutting | £219.60 |
| 611 | Playsafety Ltd | Rospa Inspection | £79.80 |
| 612 | H Livermore | Clerk Salary | £279.86 |
| 613 | H Livermore | Expenses | £13.98 |
19/17-18: Audit and Annual return update
Clerk is in the process of getting information needed together for the internal audit and this will take place in June. A short meeting will be needed in June to sign off the accounts statement and annual governance statement.
20/17-18: Insurance renewal
Insurance renewal is due on 1st June. Clerk has been sent a quote of £503 for one year, a rise of £10 from the previous year. It was agreed to proceed with this quote.
21/17-18: Rospa Playsafety Inspection report
The Rospa Inspection report highlighted that the BMX track has insufficient signage. It was discussed whether to level and remove the BMX track or to invest in signs and it was agreed that councillor Brunner will investigate the costs of the signs and Cllr Humphrey to investigate costs of levelling and removing the BMX track and report to the council.
22/17-18: Councillor Vacancy
The clerk has notified SCDC of Paul Lambton’s resignation and the period during which residents can call an
election is now running until 16th May. If after this time an election has not been called we can advertise the vacancy. Notices will go up on the boards with a closing date of end of June as well as an advert in the Warbler. Co-option can take place at the meeting on 12th July
23/17-18: Items for next meeting
Grass cutting
Councillor vacancy
Six Mile Bottom sports and social club application for grant
Local Highways initiative bid
24/17-18: Next Parish Council Meeting: Wednesday 12th July 17
The meeting was closed at 22:20pm
Signed __________________________________________ (Chair)
Date _______________ LITTLE WILBRAHAM & SIX MILE BOTTOM PARISH COUNCILLW and SMB Draft Mins 10 May 2017