Great Chishill - Businesses & Organisations - Village Organisations - Parish Council

Present - Cllrs. Murgatroyd (in the Chair) Brearley, Hatt and Scott, Dist.Cllrs. Guest and Trueman, 7 members of the public including Mrs. Jo Shickell (representing the Youth Committee) and the Clerk.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs. Gardiner, Lyster and Wahlich and County Cllr. McCraith.
The Minutes of the meeting held on 3rd July were taken as read, confirmed and signed.
Matter arising
In reply to the Clerk’s letter, Mr. Cooper (Highways) confirmed that white lines will be painted along the edge of the new parking area in Hall Lane. Mr. Cooper also confirmed that he did not consider the small pedestrian accesses, to which his attention had been drawn, were an encroachment on the public highway.
Rabbit Sanctuary. An email from Dist. Cllr. Guest to Cllr. Scott re parking problems in Wallers Close, was read to the meeting.   Copies of correspondence between Mr. Collings, Mr. Gareth Jones (Head of Planning) and Mr. Edward Durrant (Planning) as well as a letter from Mr. Collings to Mr.Murgatroyd, regarding the rabbit sanctuary, had been circulated to Parish Council members.
A general discussion took place in which some residents of Wallers Close took part – the main problem being access to the sanctuary and the parking and activity involved in people visiting it.    After a lengthy discussion it was finally agreed to write to the District Council concerning the right of way of the access to this site via Wallers Close.
Re Proliferation of wild rabbits breeding in a field in Barley Road. The Clerk had written to the resident in Barley Road who rents the field drawing attention to the problem and following enquiries made, it was decided to deal with the problem later in the year.
The Chairman then welcomed Mrs. Shickell to the meeting and asked her to give a brief report on the setting up of the Youth Club.   Mrs. Shickell thanked the Parish Council for the grant of £500, a large proportion of which had been spent on insurance. Mrs.Shickell thanked the Clerk for information regarding grants. She also advised the meeting that the Committee were going through the vetting process required. Their Committee was also getting in touch with other local villages so that the number of young people joining the group would make it more viable. They had arranged for a signing on day on 2nd October and the opening night on 9th October.
Mr. Murgatroyd thanked Mrs. Shickell and her Committee for the effort they were putting in to the project and the Parish Council wished the Youth Club much success and looked forward to hearing news of its progress in the future.
Affordable Housing.
The Chairman reported that the work was progressing well, although wet weather had slowed it up slightly. The Chairman had made several attempts to obtain information about occupancy but without success.
Status of Planning Applications.
Mr. & Mrs. Scott, 1 Barley Road, had applied to erect a greenhouse in their garden. The Chairman and Clerk felt it was unnecessary to circulate this small application to the whole Council, and it had been returned “Approved”.
Financial Matters
Re grant to the village hall. The sum of £2300 was agreed in the budget but as the village hall committee were now paying their own water rates and have other costly expenses, the grant was increased to £3100. This was agreed and a cheque was drawn at the meeting.
Re bus shelter light. The quote for £139.89 +VAT from Rion Design was accepted at the meeting. The Clerk advised the meeting that she had asked Don Leitch to undertake the annual renovation of the picnic tables, seats and benches throughout the village, to which he had agreed.
It was suggested by the Chairman that a replacement seat be sited outside the village hall. He also suggested that perhaps money held on the “Footpath” account could be used but before a decision was made, the Clerk would approach Mr. And Mrs. Brand.
Regarding the ROSPA report which drew attention to the metal freestanding goal posts which should be permanently secured and, in this respect, the Chairman would get in touch with Jeff Gill on the matter.
Village Lock-up. It was decided that some renovation be carried out to prevent further deterioration.
Confirmation of cheques paid since last meeting: - Bus shelter electricity £8.46; trimming of grass verges £160; Computer expenses £300; S.C.D.C. waste collection £63.99 and grant to Youth Club £500.
To discuss Village Plan.
As suggested at the last meeting the Clerk had circulated copies of grant funding information from CALC to various organisations throughout the village.
Cllr. Scott circulated information about the problem of speeding through the village. The most important issue to be resolved is to establish exactly the speeding problem. We are going to do this by police checks, having measuring devices installed and visual observations. When we know the extent of the problem we will then know how to tackle it. A full summary of what the group dealing with the problem suggest can be found on the village website www.greatchishill.org.
Enquiries were being made as to the possibility of establishing a footpath to Barley.
Cllr. Scott gave the RFO information as to how much and where money had been spent on the village plan.
Correspondence
The NALC Conference would be held in Bournemouth on 5-7 October next.
South Cambs Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership Event would be held on 25th September at Cambridge City Airport.
Letter from S.C.D.C. re Draft Licensing Policy – Licensing Act 2003 and the availability of viewing the draft.
Mr. A. Marris of Adams Harrison, Solicitors, had spoken to the Clerk and confirmed that an application for registration of the land in question would be ready shortly and would cost not more than £50.
Any Other Business
The Chairman mentioned that Mr. Andrew Brown, whose property adjoins the playing field , had kindly offered to help with securing the gates to the playing field and Mr. Murgatroyd would have a word with him about it.
The Clerk would remind the Tree Preservation Officer about the removal of the tree on the corner of Hall Lane and Wallers Close.
Date of next meeting. The next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Tuesday, 9th October.