MINUTES OF THE HILTON PARISH COUNCIL MEETING 02-06 HELD ON MONDAY
6 MARCH 2006 IN THE VILLAGE HALL
Present: Cllrs Barradell (Chairman), Randall, Shardlow, Stott, and Wright.
In Attendance: Mr Thomas, Clerk to the Parish Council and three parishioners.
1. To note Apologies for Absence. Cllrs Ashby-Swain, Fleming, Potter and Ward
2. To Approve the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 6 February 2006. Approved unanimously: RESOLVED
3. Parishioners Open Session (10 minutes).
The Chairman closed the meeting
Dr Salam explained that he would be prepared to undertake cutting of the cricket pitch for the coming season at a price of £340. This subject was discussed at Agenda Item 14.
The Chairman reopened the meeting
4. Declarations of Interest. No issues were raised during the meeting.
5. To Authorise the Payment of Accounts.
a. £ 882.28 Street Lighting
b. £ 100 Neighbourhood Watch
c. £ 1638.8 Clerks Salary
d. £ 199.38 Clerks Expenses
e. £ 76.44 Clerks Salary adjustment
f. £ 31.79 Handymans Salary February
g. £ 15.23 Handyman Salary Adjustment
h. £ 103.27 Village Web-Site start up costs.
i. £ 152.75 Moore Stevens audit charge
j. £ 12.50 CPRE Planning Course
Payment of the above accounts was proposed by Cllr Shardlow, seconded by Cllr Stott and approved unanimously. RESOLVED.
6. Review of A14 Consultation Process.
The Chairman confirmed that the arrangements were in place for the meeting between Mr Djanogly MP and residents to be held on 10 March. Cllr Wright, on behalf of the A14 Action Group, advised that the meeting was being extensively publicised.
7. Village Web Site.
Preparation work for the launch of the Hilton Web site is almost complete and the site is expected to go live within the next month. Village organizations will be asked to populate their allocated pages. Cllr Shardlow proposed, Cllr Stott recommended and approved unanimously that the Clerk should prepare a cheque ex committee for up to £10.40 to cover domain registration and to have the transaction endorsed at the next meeting. The Clerk explained that set-up costs were slightly above forecast but are explained by the decision to use a more capable host site than originally planned. Assuming VAT can be reclaimed, the total net cost would be within the £100 ceiling.
8. Planning Matters
a. Report of Planning Meeting held on 8 Feb 06. The Planning Meeting held on 8 March had recommended approval of Application 0600314 for a Gazebo at Oak Tree Farm but had recommended rejection of Applications 0600162 for change of use of land at The Grange, and 0600184 for the erection of Flats at Roselea Church Lane.
b Application 0600494 extension to Electrical sub station St Ives Road. The meeting recommended approval of this application on the grounds that there was no detrimental impact on neighbouring properties and that the upgrade was needed to meet increasing power demands in the local area.
9. Independent Huntingdonshire Primary Care Trust
The Clerk was to write a letter supporting the campaign to retain an independent Primary Care Trust for Huntingdonshire.
10. Report of the F&GPWG held on 28 February 2006
Cllr Stott summarised the discussions held in the F&GP WG held on 28 Feb 06 as follows:
a. Damage to The Green. The Clerk was to seek costs for the repair of the current extensive damage. In addition, for future consideration by the Council, the Clerk was to seek information about a range of traffic measures to limit damage caused by vehicles.
b. Section 106 Money. The meeting discussed a number of options to spend the S106 money and had further asked, through Spectrum, for further suggestions from residents.
c. P3 Grant. The F&GPWG had identified a number of possible candidates for the P3 grant but further work would be needed before a decision could be made.
d. Visiting Scheme for the Elderly. The Clerk was to write to Mrs Robinson wishing her well in her plans to start a visiting scheme for the elderly and asked to be kept informed of progress.
e. Miscellaneous. Other items discussed at the F&GPWG had been referred to the Parish Council and are discussed at Agenda items 13 and 15.
The report of the F&GPWG was accepted by the Council.
11. Village of The Year Competition The Council accepted Cllr Potters recommendation not to participate in this years Village of the Year Award and further agreed that the aims of the competition would benefit from close examination in future years.
12. Clerks Salary The meeting considered the recommendation made in the F&GPWG on 4 October 2005 to increase the Clerks salary to Spine Point 19 to reflect competency but mutually agreed with the clerk that despite a considerable rise in workload over the past year, to limit conditioned hours to 10 per week but to be more flexible in time off and the dates of meetings. Proposed by Cllr Wright seconded by Cllr Randall and approved unanimously. RESOLVED.
13. Registration of Council Interests with The Land Registry.
The Clerk briefed that registration of The Green with the Land Registry would help safeguard ownership interests. Costs were expected to be some £350 including solicitors fees. The Council considered registration to offer long-term benefits and the Clerk was to seek confirmation of likely costs and report findings to the Council. The meeting emphasised that careful scrutiny of the documentation would be essential as a pre-requisite for registration.
14. Grass Cutting
Cllr Stott proposed, Cllr Randall seconded and the meeting approved unanimously that Dr Salam should be asked to cut the cricket pitch throughout 2006 at a cost of £340 for 17 cuts. The Clerk was to inform Dr Salem that his generous offer was accepted.
The Clerk informed the meeting that JCS Services had signed the contract for grass cutting services over the next three years.
15. Parish Plan
Cllr Stott advised that a number of recommendations within the Parish Plan had been completed or were close to finalisation. These were: refurbishment of village paths, establishment of a youth scheme (PARC project) and the establishment of a village web site. A full report on progress with the Parish Plan would be made to the Annual Village Meeting.
16 The Clerks Report on Parish Matters.
a. Crime Report. There had been no crimes reported since the last meeting.
b. HDC Summer Roadshow. The planned date of 25 July now clashed with Feast Week. Clerk was to discuss a new date with HDC.
c. Rutland Green The Clerk advised that HDC intended to patch-repair the roads in and around Rutland Green during 2006 and to undertake more extensive repairs next year.
e Clerks Training The meeting agreed that the Clerk should attend a CALC run course on election procedures at a cost of £12.
f. Tithe Lane Ditch. The Clerk was to establish which body had responsibility for the ditch along Tithe Lane and then to request maintenance.
g. Planning Application 0600184 Apartments at Roselea Church Lane. The meeting agreed to hold a Planning Meeting on Wednesday 15 March to discuss a number of planning applications.
h. Miscellaneous. The Chairman agreed to organise a working party to remove surplus gravel from the footpath running between The Grove and the High Street and the Clerk was to obtain a price for draining the damp patch at the SW corner of the Churchyard. In addition, the Clerk was to establish the possibility of HDC/CCC fitting additional street lights at selected sites throughout the village.
17. Councillors Items
a. Town Trust. The Chairman advised that the Clerk to the Town Trust had confirmed that the Council could appoint a trustee from within the village.
b. Grass Outside The Grange. The Clerk was to speak to the householder and remind them that the grass to the West of Wraggs Row was part of the Parishs management scheme and that grass cutting of the area would be undertaken by the Council contractor.
c. Feast Week. Cllr Wright advised that there would not be a Ball during 2006 and confirmed that the Feast Week Committee was aware of the need to keep the Parish Council advised of their plans
G M Barradell
Chairman of Parish Council 3 April 2006