Notes  on the meeting of Reach Parish Council held  on  Wednesday 4th February 1998.

Present

Chairman Cllr Robinson, V/Chairman Cllr  Aves, Cllrs  Harrison, Pearson, Lambert, Reed and Davies;  also  C/Cllr Fitch and D/Cllr Cane.

The  Chairman  welcomed  Charlotte  Cane  as  the  new   District Councillor.

Visit

Stephen  Plumb of Anglian Water Services came to talk to  the  PC about  the sewage works at The Hythe. He told the PC  that  Reach has  works  capable  of serving up to  500  people,  it  is  not overloaded  and they have never had a failure. He explained  how the system works and confirmed that Anglian Water has no plans to re-site  but  could possibly help in landscaping the area  as  he agreed the lorries make a mess of the verge. Cllr Davies is to do a  survey re frequency of tanker visits and the best  times  for this.

Reports

County Council

Cllr  Fitch  spoke  about  the  forthcoming  budget  which  would probably  see  an  increase  from 5 to 10%  of  1997.  The  small increase given is heavily weighted towards education.

Transportation - there is to be a loss of £700,000 net this  year which  will affect road surfacing (other than trunk  roads  which the government pays for). It would not affect pothole repairs but things like dropped kerbs would not now be available.

Waste  disposal  - there is be an additional amount of  waste  to dispose of over that anticipated.

Social services - the government has decided Social Services need less  money.  4 homes for the elderly in  Cambridgeshire  are  at risk.  Cllr  Fitch commented that the new  administration  had  a 'dreadful job' finding ways of making savings.

Park  and  Ride - there has been a market survey,  the  two  most popular  being  Newmarket  Road and Madingley.  There  are  major access  problems into Cambridge from the North and East.  It  has been suggested to Cambus that park and ride users to the  Grafton Centre  would  be best served being picked up  at  Napier  Street which would save about 10 minutes journey time.

County  Farms - due to rents being paid on time there has been  a surplus of £2.7m (rents against cost of running the estate).  One sixteenth of this would be going to Peterborough.

There  is  to  be a public meeting about the  Capacity  Study  to discuss where extra housing is to be placed in the County.

Cllr  Fitch had some suggestions about help for making the  Kings public house into a community resource.

A  discussion  took  place about the  Cambridge  green  belt  and industrial development. Cllr Fitch told the PC he is fighting  to keep the site of Smiths in Burwell for light industry and not for more housing.

District Council

Cllr Cane told the PC that she has been appointed to the planning and  licensing  committees and the computer  working  party.  She spoke about the Local plan and the infill only status she will be supporting for Reach.

The  decision to have members of the public at planning  meetings has been deferred. Full councils have said that they think it  is a  good  idea. Cllr Fitch added one person would  be  elected  to speak for all those for or all those against.

Matters arising

The  PC  discussed  the application  for  retrospective  planning permission for a conservatory at the rear of the new houses  next to  Highfield Farm. It was decided to object on the grounds  that there  could be potential problems being so close to the  playing field and that if permission were to be granted it should not set a precedent for the neighbouring houses.

The bus shelter has been repaired and re-stained.

Correspondence

The  Clerk  had  received letters from the  Warden  of  Bottisham Village College, the Assistant Director of Community Services  at County and James Paice MP following a letter declining a donation being given to BVC towards road calming and adult education.  All agreed  with the letter from the PC deploring the need  for  this kind of funding.

Playing field update

The  purchase of the playing field has now been  completed.  Cllr Pearson  has prepared an application for a grant from ECDC.  This is to go towards the price of the land, the cost of a second-hand mower  and the purchase of some play equipment. He said the  sub-committee will now look at the issue of by-laws.

Reach Matters

Landscaping  areas  - Allison Conder  (landscaping  officer)  and Alison  Hodges (map officer at CCC) met Cllr Robinson  to  review suggested sites for landscaping.

Village notice board - the Diocesan secretary at Ely has told the PCC  that  if they are to share a board with the PC  outside  the Church  they  require a Diocesan crest to be at the  top  of  the

board.  PC decided not to proceed with sharing the board as  this suggestion is confusion and inappropriate.

Grass  cutting  -  Clerk  to write asking  for  tenders  for  the cemetery, Fair Green and the playing field.