Notes on the Annual Reach Parish meeting held on Wednesday 13th June 2001

Present Chairman Cllr Lambert, Vice/Chairman Cllr Robinson, Cllrs Summers, Harrison, Pearson, Aves, and Moseley; also C/Cllr Fitch.

Chairman Cllr Lambert welcomed parishioners to the meeting.

Matters arising

Cllr Moseley reported that the cul-de-sac off Great Lane had been repaired by the County's highways department. It was hoped that this would solve the problem of flooding.

Reports

Chairman's report

Cllr Lambert spoke about the partial completion of the enhancement scheme; new streetlights had been installed on one side of Fair Green. It was not known when the second stage of the scheme would be implemented.

The play area had been re-surfaced with bark; Cllr Lambert thanked the District Council for their help in giving us a grant towards costs.

The Reach book had been published and had been warmly received. The Chairman thanked Grahame Miller for his hard work in editing the book.

A plaque to mark the 800th anniversary of the granting of the Charter for Reach Fair had been unveiled by the Mayor of Cambridge City Council, followed by a reception in the village hall. Thanks were given to Mr and Mrs Ernie Cole of Hill Farm who had given permission for the plaque to be put on the wall of their house. Sadly Ernie, at one time a Chairman of the Parish Council, had died recently. A minute's silence was observed in his memory.

Following complaints about people driving past the end of The Hythe and over the grass to reach The Point, it had been agreed to install deterrent posts. The project was nearing completion.

The Parish Council was trying to improve the procedure of planning applications to bring it in line with that of the District Council.

The Chairman thanked Councillors and the Clerk for their help over the year. Cllr Lambert remarked on the work Councillors did on other committees, which was not necessarily realised by parishioners. Cllr Pearson was thanked for cutting the grass. Cllr Lambert said other villagers should be encouraged to participate in village life so the burden was shared.

Finally, Cllr Lambert thanked Cllrs Fitch and Cane for their dedication and caring; their presence at practically every meeting during the year was much appreciated.

County Council report

Cllr Fitch said he wanted to look into the future as well as review the past year. As there had just been a local election Cllr Fitch told those present about the structure of the new council. Council tax had risen by 8% for the County; however, this was still 'at the bottom of the pile' said Cllr Fitch. There was to be no area cost adjustment but County had been promised a review.

Education

The LEA had received a good OFSTED report. Cllr Fitch spoke about how the LEA operated and how well Bottisham Village College had done over the year, being made a `Beacon' school. Swaffham Prior Primary School also received praise for the way it had come out of special measures under the headship of Brenda Wilson. Libraries were starved of cash, according to Cllr Fitch, but were now all connected to the Internet. Social Services had received an encouraging report. Queens Court had been sold to Hereford Housing. There were plans to increase its size and rebuild accommodation. There was a shortage of families for fostering and adoption.

Transport

The A14 report is expected soon after a two-year study. 27 people had been killed on it in the last five years. The Fordham by-pass is past the planning stage, building is expected to start soon. Speed checks have been carried out in Burwell and Swaffham Prior; too many people are driving faster than 50 mph.

Buses - the District Council is financing the loss arising from the diversion of buses through Reach. The Park and Ride system in Cambridge is to receive a national award for its success.

Cycle paths - Cllr Fitch is still hoping for a path around the old railway bridge in Reach. Structure plan. There are still 2-3 years to go before the new plan is ready.

Housing

Cllr Fitch spoke about the proposed 14,000 housing development at Six Mile Bottom. He felt it would not help the housing situation for young people in and around Cambridge, and could just be a dormitory town for Stansted airport. There is to be a public enquiry.

Waste disposal

The cost for this has gone up by £9m since 1991 and is now a major problem costing the District Council £10m a year.

Police

There had been a few problems locally with the departure of PC Davis. Cllr Fitch spoke about his replacement, PC Hurry. Although violent crime had increased, the crime rate generally is down. Vandalism in Burwell is currently a problem. The Neighbourhood Watch scheme is to be revitalised.

Fire service

Cllr Fitch sits on this authority, which he feels is particularly important as he has two fires stations in his area. Cambs fire authority had received a good report from the Auditor. Arson and hoax calls were down this year.

Rural post offices

Cllr Fitch spoke about losing local post offices and the vulnerability of those remaining. He and Cllr Cane had wanted to go Westminster with a petition but the relevant minister had declined a meeting.

Cllr Fitch closed his speech by saying that he realised there had been a lot to get through, but that he felt it was important for the public to know how the county's money was spent.

District Council

In her absence Cllr Cane's report was circulated. After thanking the PC for their patience during the first few months following the birth of her son, Cllr Cane had made the following points:

Jubilee Gardens Ely

Archaeological work on this site was now completed. During the dig a television programme had filmed progress; tapes are available for local schools and libraries. The site is now to be landscaped and opened as gardens in mid-2002.

Council tax etc.

ECDC had increased the precept for a Band D property to £64.21 for the coming year. This works out at around £1.25 per week for the district's essential services.

A new Executive Director of Finance is to start in September. The council is to seek public views over how it delivers it services. It will probably have to increase the precept next year in order to maintain its current level of services.

Political management

The council have set up alternative arrangements of a modified committee structure, following the Government's acceptance of the fourth option. There are to be four policy committees that will take most of the decisions about how the council is run, once full council have set the budget and policy framework. A Standards Committee will set a Code of Conduct for Parish and District Councillors and carry out enquiries into any accusations that a Councillor had broken the Code. Representatives of Parish Councils are to be asked to sit on this committee.

Information technology

This has been introduced into council offices. It has greatly improved council business as officers can now communicate with each other and the wider public, particularly through email. There is now a District Council website. 15 ICT learning centres are to be set up over the district using a grant of £500,000 from DfEE and the National lottery. It is proposed that one of these centres should be in the Dykes End pub in Reach. Foot and mouth epidemic There have been three requests for rate relief, including a pub, holiday property letting agency and an equestrian centre.

Farmers' markets

The markets are now back to normal, following the foot and mouth epidemic, with meat farmers again selling produce.

Village/community appraisals

Four appraisals are being carried out which are to assist communities in developing a vision and action plan for future developments/communities which they wish to see in their village, and help them achieve it. The project is led by Cambs ACRE, in partnership with the PCs and with the support of the ECDC, both through finance and officer backup.

Market town initiatives

Ely City Council and ECDC have agreed a `health check' procedure. 21 market towns in the region were invited to a launch of the scheme which will analyse the state of the towns at present, e.g. footfalls, number of vacant and used shops, as well as within the hinterland. The Countryside Agency will also run a course on the Health Check system.

Implementation of Best Value

All reviews for 2001/02 are completed and a new 5-year plan agreed. The inspection of waste management said the council was providing a good service; the inspection of development control is due to start soon. The Best Value Performance Plan is available for anyone who wants to see what the council is providing.

Planning

The Cambridgeshire County Structure Plan Review officially ended its consultation in April. There had been a proposal of a development at Six Mile Bottom. However, all involved had to be consulted which was going to take some time.

Upgraded telephone system

The council had improved its telephone service. All officers now have a direct dial number.

Environment

A Local Agency 21 strategy was set up in December 2000 following almost a year of consultation and discussion with local people.

Community buses

All were being delivered through outside partners. The Newmarket scheme is already in place; ECDC are now looking at ways of further subsidising this scheme to make it cheaper for users.

Swaffham Prior Primary School

Isabel Hill reported that the school had now been out of special measures for just under a year. In March the school had been presented with a Special Achievement Award for improvement by the DfEE; the award consisted of a sizeable monetary amount to be paid to the school and distributed between the staff.

All staff were currently participating in ICT (Information Communication Technology) courses and the school had recently purchased five new computers for classroom use; bringing the total of computers in school for pupil use to 16, in line with recommendations.

There is to be a change in teaching staff in September as Mrs Lee in class 2 is leaving. She will be replaced by Mr Pinhey, who will be working part-time alongside Mrs Tidman.

The Governors set up an Achievement Award scheme in September 2000. All children participate and are divided into four'houses'. Points are awarded to children each week for a variety of achievements. At the end of the year a cup will be presented to the house with the most points.

A new school sign has been erected in front of the school after the school's name change early this year to Swaffham Prior Church of England Primary School. The purchase of the sign was aided by support from the trustees of the school.

Village hall committee

Tony Jordan, Chairman of the committee, spoke about the proposed extension to the village hall. This would include a community room which would have access to the Internet. There followed a discussion of how the extension would be funded. It was hoped that a grant would help towards the cost. This year's fair had been a tremendous success. The park and ride system (put in place because of the foot and mouth epidemic) had been welcomed by the public who enjoyed walking from the park and ride site to the fair. Mr Jordan pointed out that money from the fair benefited the whole village, not just the village hall. 25% of takings are put into the village amenity fund. Mr Jordan said the hall is used every day, not just in the evenings, which is good to see.

Cllr Lambert spoke about the strength of the committee, which he said was most commendable. Mr Jordan said he would like to see more young people join the team.

Swaffham Prior PCC

Cllr Robinson said that lowering bank interest meant less money in the funds for payouts at Christmas. The PCC would be reassessing the situation. He reminded everyone about the grants which could be given, e.g. to students for books etc. The highlight of the year had been the opening of the new houses at Pulpit Corner, at the top of Cage Hill, which Cllr Robinson said were of a very high standard. Cllr Fitch asked how rents were assessed. Cllr Robinson said the land agent assessed them -last year they had been put up because they were too low.

Police liaison committee

Cllr Summers said the committee had quarterly meetings. If he was unable to go they were covered by Cllr Fitch. The Neighbourhood Watch is trying to link the villages; if there is any trouble they had a phone link through the villages. Swaffham Prior had been less keen on the organisation lately but it was hoped they would re-join. Cllr Summers stressed that the Neighbourhood Watch is not the police, it is just there to pass on details to them.

Reach matters

Cllr Summers spoke about a proposition to put a CCTV camera on Fair Green. He called for more comments on this, saying he needed more feedback. It may be necessary to hold a referendum in the village to get more opinions.

Cllr Lambert commented that councillors and the clerk often got phone calls regarding things which should really be dealt with by the police. The phone number of the local police is in the Out of Reach and should be used in these circumstances.

Cllr Lambert spoke about the PC's `wish list' for things they would like to see happen in the village, and itemised it for the benefit of villagers present.

Grahame Miller asked if there had been any further development regarding the development of The Hythe, e.g. mooring posts. Clerk spoke about the report from Roger Handford of the environment agency, which had spoken about the possible high cost, and the problems of risk assessment involved.

The `unsuitable for long vehicles' sign has been stolen from the Upware/Swaffham Prior crossroads.

The PC accounts were presented to councillors and agreed upon.

Phil Vincent, landlord of the Dyke's End pub had asked if he could put a sign up on Fair Green to make customers aware of the location of the pub. Although there were no objections to this some councillors thought it unnecessary. Mr Vincent also asked if he could use part of the green as a car park when he held his `mini beer festival' in August. Councillors had no objection but pointed out that he had to have public liability insurance for the day. Finally, Mr Vincent had offered to raise money in the pub to refurbish the war memorial. It was agreed that Cllr Robinson would get a quotation for the work from Ivett and Reed and liaise with Mr Vincent.

Councillors discussed the new roadworks on Burwell Road (outside Tilden House). Enquiries had been made which confirmed that the road is wide enough to satisfy highways regulations. It had also been amended to give adequate clearance of the telephone post.

Cllr Pearson had arranged to borrow a large roller to flatten Fair Green (following the fair traffic) when enough rain had made the grass soft enough.

Public forum

Tony Jordan is still unhappy about a light near the old chapel, which he feels is not in keeping with the enhancement scheme, as it has retained its yellow coloured bulb. Clerk to bring the plans of the scheme to the next meeting.