MINUTES Parish Council meeting Monday 13th January 2025
Minutes of the Stewkley Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 13th January 2025 at 7.30pm at the Stewkley Village Hall
Cllr Keith Higgins (Chair), Cllr Andrew Arthur, Cllr Brian Bottomley, Cllr Henry Hunt, Cllr Andrew Pryke and Joanna Simonds, Clerk & RFO.
1. To receive apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Cllr Phil Delafield, Cllr Jo Locke and Cllr Gill Morgan. Cllr Virgilio Simeone was absent.
2. To receive any declarations of interest on this evening’s agenda
No declarations were received.
3. Open Forum
There were no members of public in attendance.
4. To receive updates from the Unitary Cllr, on BC matters, and the Clerk on Parish matters
The Unitary Cllr was not present.
The Clerk updated on Parish matters as follows:
- The new Community Board Manager has confirmed an extension to 31st March ’25 for completion of the Commemorative Garden project.
- One faulty streetlight reported since the last meeting, that being PB 005 outside 187 HSN.
- The following crime statistics were received from TVP:
NOVEMBER ‘24
1 x Criminal damage in Dove St;
1 x suspicious vehicle and 1 theft in Orchard Lane;
1 x Wing Road traffic collision;
1 x suspicious Other in HSN.
DECEMBER ‘24
1 x Wing Rd “Suspicious other”;
1 x assault without injury;
3 x concerns for safety;
1 x road Traffic Collision in Mursley Road.
JANUARY ’25 (to date)
1 x suspicious person;
1 x harassment;
1 x stolen Quad Bike from HSN;
1 x road Related Incident.
5. To approve the confidential minutes of the Extraordinary Parish Council Meeting held on 25th November 2024 and the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 2nd December 2024
Both sets of draft minutes were approved and signed as a true record by the Chair.
Proposed: Cllr Arthur / Seconded: Cllr Bottomley / Agreed unanimously
6. Planning
24/03689/APP & 24/03690/ALB – Winsors Farmhouse, 43 High Street North, Stewkley LU7 0EZ
Cllrs resolved to SUPPORT this application
24/03691/APP & 24/03692/ALB – Winsors Farmhouse, 43 High Street North, Stewkley LU7 0EZ
Cllrs resolved to SUPPORT this application
24/03693/APP & 24/03694/ALB – Winsors Farmhouse, 43 High Street North, Stewkley LU7 0EZ
To be consistent with previous planning comments within the Stewkley Parish, Cllrs felt they had no option but to OPPOSE this application on the grounds that the addition of the fifth bedroom requires an extra car parking space to be shown on the drawings. Cllrs also suggest the bathroom ‘dormer’ be redesigned to be ‘sympathetic’ with the house and Bucks CC Design guidelines.
24/03779/APP – 1 Orkney Close, Stewkley LU7 0JF
Cllrs resolved to OPPOSE this application agreeing that (i) the filled in garage door design approach should be reconsidered, and (ii) by losing the garage, potential car parking spaces on site are lost. Given that the house is potentially 3-4 bedrooms, this is not stated, nor are any car park spaces shown, this could lead to parking on the street which is against the Neighbourhood Plan STK 6.
25/00023/COUAR – Upper Dean Farm, Dean Road, Stewkley LU7 0EU
Cllrs resolved to OPPOSE this application on the grounds that the proposal does not show sufficient car parking for the dwellings (6 spaces required), and, the current plan should be part of the application and not a condition, to be consistent with previous applications in the Parish.
24/03544/VRC – Breach Farm, 113a High Street South, Stewkley LU7 0HU
Cllrs ratified their December decision of NO OBJECTIONS to this application.
7. Finance
To approve the January payment run as circulated:
Proposed: Cllr Arthur / Seconded: Cllr Hunt / Agreed unanimously
To approve the Accounts to 31st December 2024 as circulated
Proposed: Cllr Bottomley / Seconded: Cllr Arthur / Agreed unanimously
To agree and approve the 2025/26 PC budget as circulated.
Cllrs resolved unanimously to approve the draft budget v4 with the addition of the £2k renewal fund for the Recreation Ground for major expenditure.
To agree and approve the 2025/26 precept figure as circulated.
Following lengthy discussion, Cllrs resolved unanimously to set a precept figure for 25/26 of £59,753.00 resulting in a 4% Band D increase (£2.50) from £62.36 to £64.86 per annum.
To update member names on the Internal Financial Controls Working Group.
Cllrs resolved to appoint Cllrs Morgan and Simeone (subject to their acceptance) to accompany Cllr Delafield on the Internal Financial Controls Working Group, having historically been members of a similar Working Group some years ago. Then, at the next Annual Parish Council Meeting, in May, it will be renamed the Financial Working Group.
8. City Fibre
Cllr Arthur confirmed that City Fibre have a contract to install fibre across Buckinghamshire and the works in Stewkley are part of this project, with an estimated Q3 ’25 completion in Stewkley. As an installer rather than a service provider, once completed, the fibre network will be utilised by multiple service providers (for example Vodaphone, Virgin, Sky, PlusNet etc.) and residents should be able to choose a service from one of these providers, therefore giving choice beyond the current BT and Gigaclear options with expected speed of up to 2.5GBps, along with future developments with potential capability of up to 10GBps.
Wildlife Reserve noticeboard
Cllrs resolved to postpone this agenda item until there is a quotation for Cllrs to consider.
9. Traffic Working Group
Cllr Bottomley referenced the 19th December letter from our Local MP, Callum Anderson, who is keen to support a 20mph speed limit across Buckinghamshire. Cllrs resolved to support this initiative, and the Clerk was requested to respond accordingly. Action Clerk Related to this, Cllr Bottomley confirmed that the TWF were liaising with Mursley Parish Council to build a TWG alliance with neighbouring parishes.
10. Community Projects
On the Community Garden, Cllr Bottomley confirmed he was submitting an article for the next Grapevine covering progress so far with the building of the wall and defining of the path and looking for volunteers to help with the project and move forward with planting in the Springtime.
Cllr Hunt updated on the Wetlands project that he has obtained prices for fencing and Cllr Delafield has been pricing up trees and is planning a note for the Grapevine to see if anyone in the village would like to donate to the project which is hoped to get going in the Spring once the weather dries up a little.
11. Recreation Ground
The footpath repair job has been completed filling hot tar into the cracks.
The Chair referenced Cllr Morgan’s comment some months ago about the school offering a trial to use the car park for some of the Saturday morning car parking. There were a fair number of conditions, including marshalling, clearing up and opening and closing but ultimately the Chair said the PC would be responsible. The Football Club have come up with some trial dates which will be put to the school, by Cllr Morgan, who is coordinating this trial. To be clear this isn’t visitors parking, just Stewkley parents. Following lengthy discussion, it was agreed that Cllr Morgan, who has the most knowledge of this trial, (rather than the Clerk) should reach out to the insurance company to ensure everything is in order before any trial commences. Action Cllr Morgan
12. To agree the date of the next Parish Council Meeting as Monday 3rd February 2025 at 7.30pm
The Chair confirmed the meeting closed at 20:58
