Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday 15th January 2026 at 7.15pm
Present:
Cllr Mrs Bobbie Coe (Chairperson)
Cllr Ben Holland
Cllr Peter White
Also present: Christine Morton, Skylark editor.
84 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
County Councillor Lucy Nethsingha and Parish Councillors Will Bevan and Barbara Cooper.
85 OPEN FORUM
No items were raised.
86 MEMBERS’ DECLARATION OF INTEREST for items on the agenda
None.
87 TO SIGN AND APPROVE MINUTES OF LAST MEETING
The Minutes of the last Parish Council Meeting were proposed by Cllr Holland, seconded by Cllr White and approved.
88 REPORTS FROM County and District COUNCILLORS
Written reports had been received.
County Councillor Lucy Nethsingha:
a) Ref. the further lorry accident in Longstowe by the Home Farm entrance / Wayside and the adverse camber: Cllr Nethsingha will take up the issue with Highways.
b) CCC Budget 26/27: here are rising costs and demands especially in children’s services. There will probably be an increase in council tax by the maximum of 4.99%.
c) Changes to the Tiger bus service: asked whether this had had an impact on Longstowe residents. Noted that no information has been received about the change to the service, but as Longstowe residents had such an unusable bus service for some years they had had to make and would mostly rely on their own provision (car / neighbours). Further, although the Tiger bus is useful to go to immediately local villages it does not take people to Comberton where many Longstowe children are at senior school, or to Cambridge, St. Neots or Royston which are all places of focus to Longstowe residents.
District Councillor Tumi Hawkins: highlighted amongst other points:
a) Local Government Reorganisation (LGR): SCDC supports the creations of a unitary authority for Greater Cambridge (South Cambs. and Cambridge City) and a second for North Cambridgeshire including Peterborough and Huntingdonshire.
b) Local Elections: These may be postponed due to LGR also requiring elections in 2027 A government decision is awaited. If District Council elections are postponed and not those for Parish Councils significant election costs will pass to parishes.
c) Greater Cambridge Local Plan consultation – open to 30/1/2026.
d) Food Waste collections: This is now a government requirement and will be extended to the
whole of Greater Cambridgeshire by the end of 2026.
89 MATTERS ARISING/TO REPORT FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES (FOR INFORMATION ONLY) – COUNCIL TO REPORT THE FOLLOWING
None.
90 FINANCE
a) Accounts update – mid-Nov – mid-Dec 2025 previously circulated to councillors: Noted.
b) Wayleave – Openreach, post on the Pound, DC £10.00: Noted.
c) Annual invoice for 2025 bus shelter cleaning, M. Murden, £150.00: Agreed.
Agreed, the quote for 2026 bus shelter cleaning for £175.00.
Accepted with thanks, the offer from Michael Murden to restain the bus shelter woodwork on a volunteer basis.
d) Village Hall hire – Parish Council 2025/26 £150.00: Agreed.
e) Clerk’s Pay and Expenses – mid-Dec – mid-Jan 2025 £267.24 and HMRC £43.80: Agreed.
91 TO CONSIDER PLANNING APPLICATIONS RECEIVED
None.
92 TO CONSIDER OTHER MATTERS
a) LHI 2025-26 update:
Noted, the request has been made to Highways for the two priority locations as a minimum, but also to request discussion with technical staff on all suggested locations, in order to make an informed decision.
b) Councillor email addresses / website – options research update: Cllr Coe provided an update. Further information will be sought from Cloud.net which already hosts the Parish Council website.
c) Village Hall update: The hirers for New Years Eve had left the hall in a bad state requiring work on the heaters and 3 ½ hours to clear the mess.
There are two regular hires for January only.
93 CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED
A list of correspondence for discussion at the Parish Council meeting is printed in the Agenda; details are available from the Clerk:
a) GCCP – Draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan consultation – responses by 5pm on Friday 30/1/2026: Agreed that Councillor Coe would circulate a draft response for finalisation by the deadline.
94 SYKLARK – TO CONSIDER ANY EDITORIAL ISSUES
The first of the reduced size / bi-monthly Skylarks will be produced for the beginning of February.
To be included the next issue of Skylark: Volunteer Car Drivers Scheme working with Caxton.
95 DATE OF THE NEXT PARISH COUNCIL MEETING: THURSDAY 19TH FEBRUARY 2026 AT 7.15PM, AT LONGSTOWE VILLAGE HALL.
Signed by Date February 2026
Chair