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

The Chairman noted that quite a lot of the ‘wish list’ he had compiled last year had been achieved.

The Chairman reported that the street lighting scheme was still not completed. However, the Hythe has had a lot of attention; tree planting has taken place around the perimeter of the sewage works, and top soil and grass seed have been laid to provide a better surface over the whole area. Paths have been cut and three bench seats have been installed. We are grateful to Anglia Water who have funded this and to the Environment Agency. Bollards are now in position to prevent use by unauthorised vehicles. Some waterway travellers, whose original ‘short visit’ became too permanent, have been asked to move on by the Parish Council; this was also requested by Anglia Water, who are responsible for the banks of the Hythe.

In the road leading to the Hythe, there is a problem with large tankers which need access to the sewage works making deep ruts in the grass verges outside some of the properties on this road. Some solutions have been put forward, but as yet the residents most affected have not been satisfied with them. This needs to be settled in the very near future.

A Memorial Restoration fund has been started, the initiative coming from patrons of the pub and supported and endorsed by the Parish Council. It is aimed to raise at least £3000 to complete the project of restoration on the War Memorial. To date £1500 has been raised, including £500 from the Amenity fund.

There is also a Devil’s Dyke restoration project implemented with a budget of £35,000 to be carried out over a five-year period. The project will entail returning the Dyke to its original form and removing much of the scrub. The Project management have agreed that the village will be consulted prior to any restoration at the Reach end of the Dyke

We have also implemented a campaign to have a pathway and cycleway around the old railway bridge, because of danger to pedestrians and cyclists who have to cross the bridge.

There is also the Wicken Fen Project by the National Trust, which will have to be monitored carefully by the Parish Council to assess how it may affect Reach in the future.

Thanks were conveyed to all those who do jobs around the village, like grass-cutting; to the Village Hall Committee and the Reach Fair Committee for all their hard work in raising so much money at Reach Fair, which will provide a major contribution to the funding of the new extensions to the Village Hall; to our County Councillor, James Fitch, and our District Councillor, Charlotte Cane, for the support they give to the Parish Council; and to our Parish Clerk, Penny Lang, who unfortunately has given notice of her intention to resign the post. She will be a great loss, after five years of excellent service, and we are sincerely grateful to her.

James Fitch talked about the last year as a year of change. There was a new council of 59 members re-elected. The Council have worked towards a new Constitution – a Leader, Keith Walters, and a Cabinet of 9. There are also Scrutiny committees, Services Development Groups, and bodies who deal with Standards and Development Control.

Council Tax has risen by 9.3%. The bulk of spending is on Education, which takes half the budget. The Council spends money on 255 schools and 71,250 pupils. Last year 54% pupils achieved GCSE A-C level. The target is for two-thirds of primary schools in the area to have less than 30 pupils per class. Bottisham Village College with 1050 pupils, Burwell Primary School with 205 and Burwell Village College with 418 are already close to full capacity. James has asked for a seminar on school admissions in the area over the next five years.

Other services include Libraries, and Police (Mark Hurry and Paul Davis serve this area).

Social Services spend £84m of which £13m provides care at home for 3000 frail and elderly. Queens’ Court, Bottisham, has been sold to Hereward Housing. Some old people over 75 cannot be moved from hospital and are blocking beds. Other costs go to protect the young from abuse, and fostering and adoption – there is a desperate need for foster parents.

Fire and Rescue: There were 12000 emergencies last year as well as the pressure on services during the Autumn floods. Burwell Fire Station is operating temporarily on some land beside the Station, which it hopes to buy eventually.

Environment: Longstanton/Oakington rather than Six Mile Bottom is favoured by the County Council for development as a new town site for 6000 dwellings.

Transport and Roads: Our local bus services with about 20 services a day should be satisfactory, but there are problems in timing from/to Cambridge. Complaints should go to Alex Gee at Shire Hall. Improvements on the A14, like guided buses and extra lanes, are still some way off, as is the Fordham By-pass. Traffic calming is in the process of being introduced in Swaffham Prior and Burwell, and interactive road signs on the A1303 are being used. There are now traffic lights at the junction of the A1303/B1102. Cycleways are in place from Quy to Bottisham and Lode to Swaffham Bulbeck. The next goal is to link the two Swaffhams.

(Written report submitted by Cllr Cane)

1. A Healthy and Responsible Environment

2. A Pleasant & Safe Environment

3. An Environment for Work

4. An Environment for Communities

£500,000 has been given to ECDC from DfEE and the lottery over three years initially to set up 15 computer learning centres across the district, in villages without libraries – Reach has a computer at The Dykes End, and there is one at the Hereward Housing Association, Downing Court, Swaffham Bulbeck

During the year some £3,378,000 was attracted to the District to fund initiatives which we would otherwise have not been able to afford, including funding for the regeneration of Littleport, money for the Active Sports Programme and funds for a major healthy Living Project for East Cambs.

Village/Community appraisals at Sutton & and Swaffham Bulbeck had been completed by Christmas.

The Economic and Community Development Strategy has been completed, and projects include East Cambs on-line (ECOL) Training project.

A series of leaflets for young people has been produced on Council Services such as housing and leisure.

Ely has been chosen to host the national Action for Market Towns Conference later this year.

5. An Environment for Leisure

Several hundred young people have been involved in a series of sports coaching sessions and competitions organised by the District Council.

Sportsdec is an initiative to work together with the District Leisure Centres and is already paying dividends with improved business performance already evident.

Through our arts development service (AdeC), we have been able to invest in more and better events.

6. The Built Environment

We implement conservation area enhancement schemes and grant-aid the renovation of historic buildings across the district.

We have successfully completed the joint District/English Heritage HERS scheme at Littleport, enhancing the central area.

Planning decisions involving section 106 agreements are generating

community facilities and infrastructure e.g. education, affordable housing, open space, transport, and town centre improvement schemes.

 

7. An Efficient, Inclusive Council Environment

We have taken some Council meetings to other parts of the District and introduced a public question time.

We continue to publish the District newsletter `Connexions’ twice a year.

We upgraded the telephone system so members of the public find it easier to contact officers about council services whilst officers can work more productively.

We have secured a £200,000 capital grant award for IT, to be spent within the Council on new IT projects which directly contribute to the Government’s target of 100% e-enablement by 2005.

We implemented an independent panel’s recommendation of Members’ Allowances.

We have put the Council’s financial management on a firm footing by developing a more robust system for budgeting and monitoring spend which will be implemented through this year. And by setting a sustainable budget, although this did require us to increase the precept for a Band D property by 73p per week. Even with this increase we continue to charge less Council tax than 189 of our 238 fellow District Councils.

.All Best Value reviews for 2001/02 have been completed with results that reflect the dedicated work that our staff put into delivering Council services

Swaffham Prior School

(Written report submitted by Isabel Hill, Minor Authorities Governor)

Summer Term 2002

This term school has 101 children on its role, with 18 children due to join reception in September.

Mrs Pinhey from class 2 has safely delivered a baby girl, called Emily Rose on 1^st May. Her classes are being covered by Mrs Harris a supply teacher.

Keystage 1 and 2 SATS are taking place this term for years 2 and 6.

Yet again the barrow of Booze was successful at Reach Fair raising £890 for the school.

The children are busy preparing displays around the school for their Golden Jubilee celebrations on 31^st May, parents, governors and friends are invited into the school on that day to talk to children about their childhood and join the school for a picnic in the afternoon. If anyone would like to come in and join the celebrations on that day please contact Brenda Wilson.

The school is planning to set up a school council for the next school year.

Plans are being drawn up to extend the staff room and school entrance area.

Village Hall Committee

Cllr Lambert reported that meetings had been well attended. The quotations for the building work for the extensions have been opened this week, and some quotations were too high. The building would commence this summer. The cost looked likely to be near £50,000. We could draw on Village Hall Funds and Grants and the Lottery Fund to finance it. Reach Fair had gone very well due to the hard work of the Fair Committee. There had also been a Rounders competition, Reach Sports Day, Carols, Football, and Darts day. It was felt that the Village Picnic in Reach Wood could become an annual event.

Police Liaison Committee

Dave Summers had attended some of the Police Liaison meetings. These meetings, which had taken place around the country, have emphasised statistics rather than listening to the general public. There had been a change to all-day meetings at Tesco’s. Reach has had its share of crime, including a break-in at one of the houses, when it was felt that the police should have contacted the Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator. A lot of unlicensed cars were being driven around illegally.

Reach Matters

Clllr Robinson felt that some of the pathways were in a very bad state, especially in front of the Village Hall. There is still a lot of flooding in Great Lane, which needs attention. The wall in front of the Village Hall is getting into a dangerous state. It was debated whether it should be removed, but this may cause danger to the playgroup children.

Public forum

Nobody raised any matters.