Agenda and minutes

Venue: Swansley Room A and B - Ground Floor. View directions

Contact: Patrick Adams  03450 450 500 Email: democratic.services@scambs.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

To receive Apologies for Absence from Committee members.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Henry Batchelor, Councillor Nigel Cathcart, Councillor Bridget Smith, Councillor Peter Topping and Councillor Aidan Van de Weyer.

 

Councillor Peter McDonald acted as substitute for Councillor Henry Batchelor.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

Councillor Peter McDonald declared a non-pecuniary interest as the Local Member for the village of Babraham. He participated in the discussion.

3.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 65 KB

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2019 as a correct record.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2019 were confirmed as a correct record.

4.

Thriplow/Heathfield Boundary Review pdf icon PDF 125 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Development Officer presented this report, which updated the Committee on a potential Community Governance Review concerning the warding of Thriplow and Heathfield regarding representation on Thriplow Parish Council.

 

The Development Officer explained that the current warding arrangement was for 7 representatives from Thriplow and 2 from Heathfield. Thriplow Parish Council were proposing 5 representatives from Thriplow and 4 from Heathfield. Any proposed change to the current arrangements would have to go out to public consultation. The Committee would consider the Terms of Reference for this Review at its next meeting on 3 September. It was hoped that a representative from Thriplow Parish Council would be in attendance at this meeting. It was noted that the Local Member, Councillor Peter Topping, was a member of the Committee.

 

Members of the Committee stated that as the population of Heathfield was larger than that of Thriplow, it was not unreasonable to assume that Heathfield should have more representatives. The Electoral Services Manager confirmed that the number of representatives in wards within a parish did not have to be proportionate. The Development Officer explained that alternative proposals could be made during the consultation process.

 

The Electoral Services Manager explained that Heathfield and Thriplow were separate settlements with different histories and the warding arrangements ensured that both were represented on the Parish Council. In response to questioning he confirmed that the last election to Thriplow Parish Council occurred in 2016, where 8 candidates stood for the 7 vacancies in the Thriplow ward, but only 1 for the Heathfield ward.

 

The Committee NOTED the report.

5.

Sawston/Babraham Boundary Review pdf icon PDF 124 KB

Minutes:

The Development Officer presented this report, which updated the Committee on the status of a proposed Community Governance Review regarding the parish boundary between Sawston and Babraham.

 

It was noted that the proposed new development was closer to the village of Sawston but was in the parish of Babraham. Councillor Brian Milnes, Local Member for Sawston, explained that Sawston had a larger existing population than Babraham and Sawston Parish Council had comparably more resources to accommodate the new residents, than Babraham Parish Council.

 

Meetings had been taken place between representatives of both parish councils. Both Councillor Milnes and Councillor Peter McDonald, local member for Babraham, were optimistic that an agreement could be reached that was acceptable to all groups.

 

The Committee NOTED the report.

6.

Update on Code of Conduct Complaints pdf icon PDF 88 KB

Minutes:

The Deputy Monitoring Officer updated the Committee on the Code of Conduct complaints cases received by the Council. He explained that the Council had decided not to investigate a complaint received about Bourn Parish Council, as only complaints about individuals could be considered. It was noted that in line with standard practice, the complainant and the parish clerk had been informed of the Council’s decision.

7.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Committee will take place on Tuesday 3 September at 10am in the Swansley Room.

Minutes:

The Committee noted that its next meeting would be held on Tuesday 3 September at 10am  in the Swansley Room.