Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday 25th April 2024 at 7.15pm
Present: Cllr Mrs Bobbie Coe (in the chair), Cllr Elly Hemmins, Cllr Ben Holland, Cllr Peter White.
Also present: Cllr Tumi Hawkins, SCDC, Mrs Chris Morton, Skylark editor and two
members of the public.
121 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Cllr Mark Howell, CCC, Cllr Barbara Cooper and Cllr Will Bevan.
122 TO SIGN AND APPROVE MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH OPEN MEETING AND
THE LAST PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
The Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 21st March 2024 were proposed by Cllr White, seconded by Cllr Holland and unanimously approved.
123 REPORTS FROM COUNCILLORS
District Councillor Tumi Hawkins highlighted a) The Planning Department is now fully staffed, b) £250K in grant has been obtained from the Department of Levelling-up to improve software at SCDC, c) Housing supply – is 6.5 years to 2029 in South Cambs and empty houses are being located, d) Zero Carbon project grants between £2K – 15K are now available, e) Cambridge-wide Open Day – Business & Life Sciences is 12th June.
124 MATTERS ARISING/TO REPORT FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES (FOR INFORMATION
ONLY) – COUNCIL TO REPORT THE FOLLOWING
a) Speed monitoring: This had been discussed at the earlier Annual Parish Open Meeting. As minuted for that meeting: Cllr Coe offered to undertake all the Speedwatch data submission to the police from any Speedwatch sessions. Noted, that the police will provide the equipment for Speedwatch activities. Also noted that 4-5 further volunteers were needed to get the Speedwatch group up and running, so ideally, groups of 2-3 people could be active in rotation.
125 FINANCE
a) Accounts update – mid-March to mid-April 2024: noted.
b) CAPALC Affiliation 2024/25 £182.12 and Data Protection Officer Membership Scheme £50.00, total £232.12: Approved.
c) Eyelid Productions annual invoice – website hosting, domain name £100.00: Approved.
d) OPUS Energy DD Mar – Oct 2023 – Mar £14.76, Apr £253.20, May £258.24, June £248.76, Jul £256.97, Aug £255.60, Sept £246.88, Oct £132.61: Noted.
e) SSE Energy DD 2023 – Oct £32.22, Nov £95.96, Dec £102.58. DD 2024 – Jan £102.58, Feb £95.96: Noted.
f) OPUS Energy – gesture for inconvenience DC £25.00. Noted.
g) Utility Aid Error Refund for Apr -Sept 2023 inclusive, DC £1,360.87: Noted.
h) Clerk’s Pay and Expenses – mid-Mar – mid-Apr 2024, £244.26. HMRC £55.40: Approved.
Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) 2023/24 and other financial statements:
a) AGAR Section 1 – Annual Governance Statement 2023/24.
b) AGAR Section 2 – Accounting Statements 2023/24.
c) Certificate of Exemption, if agreed by Internal Audit.
d) Analysis of variances.
e) Bank Reconciliation.
f) Other Financial statements: Cash Book, Asset List.
Details of each section of the AGAR were noted and attention drawn to the points for consideration and agreement, in particular, those relating to the responsibilities of the members of LPC in Section 1 – Annual Governance Statement 2023/24 and Section 2 – Accounting Statements 2023/24. Each point of these two sections was agreed.
With the completion of the Internal Audit, it is expected that the Certificate of Exemption can be obtained as a formality.
All the documentation will be published on the Longstowe website as well as the noticeboards, as required by statute.
126 TO CONSIDER PLANNING APPLICATIONS
a) SCDC – Statement of Principles/Policy under the Gambling Act 2005 – review: Noted.
b) SCDC – Street Trading Policy – review: Noted.
127 TO CONSIDER OTHER MATTERS
a) Bus shelters: A number of comments had been received subsequent to the request in Skylark about usage. Agreed the the bus shelters were a useful asset and that the cleaning schedule was to continue as previously.
128 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) Little Gransden Aerodrome Local Consultative Committee draft minutes of 10/4/2024 (circ): Noted.
129 SYKLARK – TO CONSIDER ANY EDITORIAL ISSUES
Items for inclusion in the next Skylark: Fundraising barometer for village sign.
130 DATE OF NEXT PARISH COUNCIL MEETING (ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING)
THURSDAY 23RD MAY 2024, AT 7.15 PM, AT LONGSTOWE VILLAGE HALL:
Signed by Date May 2024
Chairperson