Minutes of a meeting of Clifton Parish Council held on Thursday 14 th February 2008 in Clifton Community and Sports Centre, Whiston Crescent , Clifton at 7. 30 pm

Present: Mr B. Livesey (in the Chair)

Mr D. Bullen

Mr A . Burnage

Mr T. Cobb

Mrs I. Cook

Mr M. Ephgrave

Mr S. Fish

Mrs P. Livesey,

Mr S. Melia

Mr I. Pacey,.

Dr R. Puritz

Mr J. Stevens

District Cllr P. Carne : Cllr T. Rogers.

1. Public Forum: There was no Public Forum

2. Apologies , There were none

3. . Minutes : The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 10 th January 2008, a copy of which had been circulated to each member of the Council, were agreed to be a true record and were signed.

4 Matters arising:

4.1 War Memorial : It was noted that Mr Cliff Nott had spoken to Neil Best of Davies Loss Adjusters and would seek more favourable estimates. Mr Cobb reported that he had made enquiries about grants from the sources identified by Mr Fish, but it would be necessary to have estimates before submitting applications . Consequently it was essential that the Parish Council should be kept fully informed of the situation..

.4.2 Memorial bench The Clerk reported that Glasdon had e mailed a copy of the plaque for approval, so a second copy has been requested. When the copy of the plaque has been approved the order will be dealt with.

4.3 Garden of Remembrance : The Parochial Church Council had been advised of £500.00 donation agreed at the last meeting of the Parish Council. The Chairman read a letter confirming a grant of £4,700.00 from the MBDC Cemeteries' Fund to help fund the creation of a Garden of Remembrance for the burial of ashes within the churchyard of All Saints Church, Clifton .

4.4 Clifton Pre-School : Request from Mrs J. Squire .that the Parish Council's promised donation should be put towards the provision of a ramp for the disabled access to the new building. A report on the progress of the new building was also given. It was proposed by Dr Puritz, seconded by Mrs Livesey that this proposal be accepted. It was also agreed that the promised donation should be made..

4.5 Heating in Community Centre It was reported that this had still not been completed. It was considered that this was unsatisfactory and that Mr Harvey should be warned that unless the job was completed within 14 days the Council would seek another contractor..

4.6 MBDC Charity Quiz This had now taken place. The Clifton team came 6 th

4.7 Whitbread Wanderbus donation had been passed to the Treasurer who received it with many thanks..

4:8 Caretakers telephone Mr Melia had obtained details which were approved by Playing Fields Committee. These were confirmed by the Council..

4.9 Overdue account Clifton Cricket Club had now paid the balance of sum owed.

4.10 Litter Campaign Guidelines for litter campaign had been received from Mid Beds District Council. These would be discussed by the Highways Committee.

4.11 Litter bin Mr Rogers noted that he still had a litter bin which had been retrieved from the pond in his possession and he could install this one wherever it was required.

4.12 Conservation Area New lighting : Mr Livesey reported that he had received an estimate for installing new lighting in part of the Conservation Area at a cost of £13,000.00 to complete Grange Street and £9,293.00 for the Church Street between the junction with Broad Street to the War Memorial. It was proposed by Mr Burnage seconded by Mr Stevens that the estimate for Church Street should be accepted subject to two lights being re-positioned.

4.13 It was noted that the order for closure of Stanford Lane for road works had been signed. The District Council is to be contacted about closure of the parking area adjacent to Silverlake Farm.

•  Outstanding Matters: Copies of this list had been circulated and would be considered at the committee meetings.

•  Correspondence :

• Beds CC; Notice of overnight closure of the Carriage House roundabout on the A507 for repairs to the surface.

• BATPC Notice of meeting of the Parish and Town Council Local Area Agreement Reference Group on Friday, 28 th March. The Clerk and Mr Cobb will attend.

6.3 Mr A. Clarke: Letter requesting the grant for the upkeep of the churchyard, consideration of a higher contribution and £100.00 towards the website. It was proposed by Mr Stevens, seconded by Mrs Cook that a donation of £1000.00 be made under the provisions of Section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972 for upkeep of the churchyard and £100.00 for the website.

6.4 Play Area, Bilberry Road . Letter from Clifton Residents Association asking whether the Parish Council would be prepared to adopt the parcel of land designated for a play area. It was agreed that a letter be sent stating that the Parish Council was willing to consider owning the site but that it did not have the resources to take on the ownership of play equipment.

6.5 Clifton Residents Association: Letter detailing various concerns and complaints received by the Committee. These were discussed and relevant action determined.

6.6 Ms C. Jury: Letter requesting the re-location of the basket ball court. + 2 nd letter giving the reasons for the request. After discussion it was agreed that the costs involved made this impossible to agree to do so and Ms Jury should be informed. Mr Stevens reported that Pc Busby had been consulted and was endeavouring to patrol area whenever possible.

6.7 Audit Commission -Letter giving notice of the appointment of BDO Stoy Hayward LLP as external auditor to the Parish Counci for a period of 5 years commencing with the2007/2008 accounts

6.8 MBDC: Letter notifying that Council Tax Base for 2008/09 is £1144 expressed as a Band D equivalent.

6.9 Health and Safety at Work Report

Rural Housing Trust

Beds RCC: The Playing Field Winter 2007

Invitation to Information Day Play Area Management Sat 1 st March at Shuttleworth

Commentree

MBDC Forward Plan

: 7. Community Centre and Playing Fields Management Committee:

The report of the meeting held on Wednesday, 16 th January, a copy of which had been sent to each member of the Council was presented and discussed. It was noted;-

7.1 Heating: It was noted that Mr Harvey intended completing the work shortly when the hall was not booked during Saturday/Sunday possibly during the weekend of Jan. 19 th /20 th .

7.2 Dog fouling Guidance on possible future measures had been received from Defra. The Chairman outlined the various options which might be taken to control dogs on the playing field.. He undertook to set down the steps necessary to achieve the exclusion order, the agreed option, and circulate them .

7.3 Referees Changing Room : Some work still remains to be done.

7.4 Redecoration of interior and damage to doors It was agreed to seek estimates for partial redecoration. The doors will be re-painted with sadolin and appropriate measures to avoid damage caused to the walls at a low level by chairs will be considered. .This item would be included in projects for the coming financial year. It was noted that there had been a complaint about the doors being damaged by not opening the double doors whilst bringing equipment in on a trolley. The Parent and Toddler Group had been spoken to about this matter.

7.5. Section 106 Agreement – Stockbridge Road Development : The Chairman reported that he was consulting with a group of teenagers to get their input. Mrs Tiney reported that Mr Burbridge was proposing to hold meetings with.both older and younger age groups to find out what was needed. Notices would be put up in local schools and it was hoped that the meetings would take place in mid February .

7.6 Fencing: Mr Granger had been authorized to go ahead with the installation. Since prices of supplies and transport had risen sharply since the original estimate a new quotation would be submitted.

7.7 The locking plate on the back gate on the back gate needs attention. Mr Granger had been asked to attend to this when he installs the new fencing

7.8 A replacement clock for the main hall of the Community Centre had been obtained.

7.9 Hall Floor The Numatic TT3450T Mains Scrubber Dryer is now in operation. At the Parish Council meeting it had been suggested that replacement accessories should be obtained. Mr Stevens would supply the Clerk with the necessary part numbers for ordering from the manufacturer

7.10 Youth Club The Clerk had written to Mr Burbridge. It was reported that he was awaiting confirmation of assistance.

7.11 Caretaker's telephone; Mr Melia presented a proposed O2 business tariff. Dr Puritz proposed, seconded by Mrs Cook that the proposed terms be accepted. This was agreed.

7.12 Safety Checks PAT Testing was booked for 18 th January. Firex are to be contacted to arrange a new date for the testing of fire equipment .

7.13 Mr Stevens reported that Raj was prepared to advertise the Community Centre in the Clifton Cuisine. Mr Stevens would prepare the advertisement.

7.14 Football Matters Mr Oliver was welcomed as representative in the place of Mr Mackay. It was noted that the Football Club was owed £8.00 for marking out the pitch for Shillington last month. Mr Oliver also noted that measures were being taken to curb bad language following various complaints from nearby residents.

7.15 Finance (a) Mrs Yarwood's, Mr Ansell-Carter's and Mr Ferguson's accounts had been authorised.

(b)The balance sheet showed a balance of income over expenditure of £1626.52. It was noted that the Cricket Club had still not paid the account. The Clerk had banked the £50.00 deposit and the balance of £30.00 would be pursued. The other outstanding account was Clifton Cuisine. It was agreed that from April 2008 monthly accounts would be presented to regular users of the Community Centre

(c) The Forward Plan was presented and the contents noted. No electricity accounts had been presented despite the meter having been read. .

7.16 Correspondence : (a) Application from J. Roscoe Milne Partnership to hire the Community Centre on Friday 14 th March 2008. The Committee was happy to accept this booking and application forms should be sent.

(b) The Clerk reported that she had been contacted by Mid Beds District Council to arrange a Health and Safety check. No date had yet been fixed.

7.17 Any other Matters; (a) Confident Communities . The Committee had previously agreed that PCSO time was required. After further discussion it was suggested that the time most needed would be early in the morning or at weekends. 10 – 14 hours a month was thought to be desirable

(b) Glare from the upper windows in the hall was commented on and it was asked if it would be possible for anti glare film to be put over them. Mr Stevens undertook to look into the matter.

The report was then adopted.

8.Highways Committee: . The report of the meeting of the Highways Committee on Thursday, 17 th January, a copy of which had been circulated to each member of the Council, was presented and discussed. It was noted:-

8.1 War Memorial: A report from the Loss Adjusters received in December advised the Parish Council that it was under-insured and any settlement would reflect this. The figures supplied as an estimate of possible costs had been queried by the Parish Council. Mr Livesey had been in touch with Cliff Nott who had contacted Neil Best of Davies Loss Adjusters and undertaken to get a revised quotation from Dawsons for the stonework, get quotes for the rebuilding of the woodwork, get approval of the proposed works from Mid Beds and arrange with Allianz to settle the bills directly..

8.2 Drain by the War Memorial: The County Council had been asked to report what measures they intend to take to remedy the problems. It was noted that this was due to be investigated in December. ( Works no.50762) To date there had been no report. It was agreed that Mr Rogers is to be contacted to seek further information on this and also on the bollards (Item 3.3)

8.3: The bollards on the splay of the AdmiralPH needed replacing to prevent parking on the verge. There had also been a recommendation that bollards should be installed on the verge by mthe junction of Broad Street and New Road . Mr Rogers is to be asked to intervene on the Council's behalf.

.8.4 New Trees Mrs Livesey reported that this was all in hand.

8.5 Confident Communities: The Council should use the allocation to fund time of a PCSO in particular on Fridays and at the weekend. The time of visits should be flexible and the exact number of hours to be decided in consultation. It was agreed to allocate £4,000.00 towards providing PCSO hours and the remainder to be used to provide a second VAS sign. The cost of the latter is estimated to be £5,250. Of that cost £4000.00 could come from the Confident Communities allocation and £1000.00 remained in the Town and Parish Council Highways Agreement allocation

8.6 Litter bin : The order for a litter bin by the butcher's shop had been placed with Mid Beds District Council. 8.7 Bilberry verges The Clerk reported that Mr Granger had been informed of Aragon 's reply, but reiterated that it was not possible to use the large mower. It was agreed that the County Council should be informed of this and asked to resolve the matter.

8.8 Litter Campaign: Mid Beds had been contacted to ask for guidelines. Mr Pacey would provide the details for entries for the proposed poster competition

8.9 Road signs: It was reported that the recently replaced road sign at the Joint had been vandalised again and there were other missing signs around the village

8.10 Correspondence (a)Mr Hutson, 37 Yew Tree Walk: Letter complaining of yew trees from 6a Clifton Housse Close overshadowing his property. The Clerk reported that she had contacted the Highways Helpline about this. It was agreed to notify Mr Alderman and to write to Mr Hutson informing him of the action taken

(b) Notice about temporary closure of Stanford Lane . It was agreed that this should be put on the notice boards.

(c) Beds County Council: Highways Annual Maintenance Survey.: This was completed.

8.11 Traffic Calming Survey The Chairman presented his report which had previously been circulated. The purpose of this was to consider measures to reduce the numbers of speeding vehicles through the village with a view to gaining more regular police speed checks and the submission of preferred traffic calming features to Amey for discussion and pricing and subsequent public consultation. The Committee then considered the village street by street and made recommendations for cost effective measures in each case. These should then be presented to the Parish Council.

8.11 Other matters : (a) Mrs Livesey reported that the new Pre-School building was being brought on site by a different route from that previously planned and the builders had taken out trees which should not have been removed. She was making a list of those trees which should be replaced.

(b) Cars parking on the verge: Mr Livesy had written a “polite” note designed to be put on the windscreens of cars parking on the verges throughout the village.

(c) It was reported that since the Parish Council was now cutting more grass in the village an increase in the grant had been applied for.

The report was then adopted.

9. Planning

The under mentioned plan has been returned to Mid Beds with no objection raised:

07/02132/FULL Single storey front and first floor rear extensions at 37 Manor Close (Mr and Mrs A. Holland)

Mid Beds approved the under mentioned applications: 07/01684/FULL: Dormer window to front elevation of Quadrant House, Stanford Lane , Clifton (Mr and Ms Cumming)

07/01811/FULL: Covered Walkway and Parents' shelter at. All Saints Lower School (Head Mistress)

07/01771/FULL: Renewal of previously approved permission for the erection of three detached dwellings and garages following the demolition of the existing petrol station (Mr and Mrs B. Bradley)

Notice of Approval of Reserved Matters has been received for:-

07/01592/RM: Erection of 1 no. 2 bed dwelling on land adjacent to 8A New Road

Notice of Approval of details has been received for:-

05/01707/FULL Land at Highways Depot, Stockbridge Road . Condition no. 2 (Materials) attached to Permission 05/01707/FULL has been discharged.

It was noted that the Appeal lodged by Mr Daniels following Mid Beds refusal to grant planning permission for a bungalow off Hitchin Lane had been dismissed.

Mid Bedfordshire Local Development Framework: Site Allocations – Issues and Options Consultation: : It was agreed that a meeting of the Planning Committee with an open invitation to the whole Council should be held in order to look at the document and meet at regular intervals thereafter. It was noted that Mid Beds was to hold a series of Consultation exhibitions open to the public. The Clerk was asked to find out whether it was proposed to hold a meeting in the village.

10 Reports (a) Clifton Lower School: Mrs Livesey made a short report. She also mentioned that Samuel Whitbread Community College were conducting a feasibility study concerning the future use of the erstwhile caretakers' houses.

(b) Mid Beds District Council: Councillors Carne and Rogers made short reports.

(c) Beds CC: Councillor Rogers made a report

11 Finance

:Current bank statements at 31.01.08 . show:-

Community Account £1,319.89

Business Premium Account £17,770.27

Business Reserve account £69,234.12

The Village Improvement Fund stands at £71,676.10. £20,000 is earmarked for the cost of lighting, £771.90 was used for grass cutting which has exceeded estimated expenditure.

Outstanding accounts :The following outstanding accounts were reported :- Clifton Cuisine £300.00: Clifton Badminton £216.00; Beds CC £211.00 (Spraying)

Receipts: The following receipts were reported; : Mrs J. Attenborough Hire on 11.1.08 £50.00; Mrs M. Scorah: Hire of Centre on 9.2.08 £40.00; Mr I. Flack (on behalf of Ms C. Conde´) Hire of Centre 10.3.08 £40.00; Clifton Cricket Club £80.00; Henlow Village Badminton Hire of Centre Jan – March £180.00. Mr B. Padgett: Hire of Centre in Dec. £12.00 Biggleswade and Sandy Lions £25.00

Payments Payment of the following accounts was authorised

J. Ferguson 1 Months Litter collection £55.00 (Ch 101380 )

Mrs J. Yarwood: Wages forFebruary (less tax and NI ) £580.19 (Ch 101381/2)

Adrian Crawley: Playing Field maintenance in Jan £280.83 ( Ch101383 )

I. Ansell Carter; Wages forFebruary (less tax) £85.89 ( Ch101384)

Herts CC Cleaning materials £16.02 (Ch101385)

D. J. Granger Landscapes Ltd : Supply and install palisade fence by tractor shed + VAT £1345.38 ( Ch101386)

Southern Electric: Electricity supply Nov. – date + VAT £921.03 (Ch 101387)

D. A. Woolgar: PA testing + VAT £76.81 (Ch101388)

* All Saints PCC: Churchyard maintenance/website contribution £1100( Ch101389)

* Clifton Pre School : Contribution towards new building £500.00 (Ch101390)

The Clerk was authorised to transfer £4000.00 from the Business Premium Account to the Community Account

12. Date of next meetings : Thursday 13 th March 2008 at 7.00 pm followed by Annual Parish Meeting at 8.00 pm

Thursday, 10 th April 2008

Thursday ,8 th May 2008

* Section 137 payments

Thurs 8 th May 2008