Notes on Reach Annual Parish meeting held on Wednesday
11th June 2003
Present
Chairman Cllr Robinson, Vice Chairman Cllr Aves, Cllrs Summers, Harrison, Pearson, Moseley and Hill; also C/Cllr Fitch and D/Cllr Cane
Reports
County Council (This covered the period up the end of March 2003)
General
· Ian Stewart from Bradford is to be the County’s new Chief Executive. He leads 10,400 staff, 87% of whom are in contact with the general public.
· The CCC had been awarded Beacon status for its coordinated approach to ICT learning, along with ECDC. Cambs contact centres would be opening next year. All council taxpayers would be having explanatory leaflets from CCC, ECDC, and the Police.
· In comprehensive performance assessments, judged by the Audit Commission, the CCC had been awarded a ‘good’.
· Council tax for County had risen by 9.2%, withdrawing from reserves to allowing most services to continue.
Social Services
Cllr Fitch reported that there had been an improvement there was a continuous overspend in social services. More foster parents were coming onboard but this meant an increase in fees.
Education
School in the county were falling short financially, said Cllr Fitch. Bottisham Village College was doing well, key stage 3 was well above the county and national average. In spite of being a Beacon School the school had lost its public library section. This had, however, been started up again, being run by villagers from Bottisham and the surrounding area. The local mobile service was still functioning.
Environment/transport
· Oakington or Longstanton will be the new town in the county, Six Mile Bottom was out of the running.
· Marshall’s airport was deferring building a new passenger terminal.
· There was much opposition to the Burwell to Horningsea power line.
· Fly tipping – it was costing a lot more to dispose of rubbish.
· Mr Woods, Manager from Stagecoach, had said he would try hard to keep buses to the timetable and prevent vandalism.
· The traffic lights at the Quy roundabout had been very successful.
· The highways department had dealt with the snow very well during the winter.
· The route for the Fordham by-pass had now been decided (councillors shown a map of the planned route).
Police
PC Ian Butcher was to be our new community policeman.
Fire
Arson was proving a major problem in the county with 2800 arson fires during 2002/03 and 1350 vehicle fires. Cllr Fitch said over 90% of first time offenders did not re-offend if their families are visited by the authorities to explain the effect their offence causes.
District Council (written report from Cllr Cane)
Thank you for re-electing me as your District Councillor. There was a 41.5% turnout in the ward, which was higher than the average across the District of 31.5% but lower than the turnout for your Parish Council which was over 48%. The result of the election across the District was 18 Liberal Democrat Councillors, 15 Conservative Councillors and 6 Independent Councillors. So no one party has control. The Independents have said they will vote on each issue on its merits, which will make it difficult to maintain a clear strategic direction for the Council. But I hope we will be able to keep delivering good services to local residents.
Recycling
· Joint working on new recycling activities has continued
· DEFRA funding enabled East Cambs to start green waste collection in March 2003, now rolling out throughout the District
· Tonnages from Black Box collections were up by 23% over last year (Feb. 2003 figures)
· Waste Challenge scheme for businesses to promote environmental good practice was launched in March
Cycleways
· The Ely to Witchford cycleway has been completed
· The route from Swaffham Bulbeck to Lode has been completed Community Buses
· First year evaluation of the Newmarket Scheme is underway
· Funding has been secured for Ely and Soham schemes Community Safety
· The Home Office allocated £83,734.00 to the East Cambs Community
· Safety Partnership (CSP) for 2003/04, to be spent on work around drugs issues and creating safer communities.
· After a successful bid for funding, CCTV cameras in Soham and Ely are installed and up and running
Farmers' Market
· Ely Farmers Market achieved certification by the National
· Association of Farmers Markets - one of the first under a new scheme which recognises true farmers' markets where local farmers, growers, bakers andbrewers sell their produce direct to the public. Energy Conservation
· An energy conservation officer has been appointed
· Working in partnership with Fenland on energy efficiency projects
· Working in partnership with energy companies to provide discounted insulation measures to owner occupiers throughout the district
· Campaign in place to grant-aid low income households with grant
· Involvement in scheme to enable low income families to exchange defective fridges and freezers for new at subsidised prices
· Low energy light bulbs are now available to all residents over the age of 60, and to those in receipt of certain benefits.
· Developing a referral network to combat fuel poverty and provide
· affordable warmth to fuel-poor households
· A programme of presentations to over 60s groups, WI and other interested parties is underway.
Dogs
· Villages joining the scheme to combat dog fouling are Witchford, Wicken, Littleport, Mepal and Wentworth.
· Work continues on persuading more parishes to join the dog bins scheme
· In November, 100th dog was registered with the Council on the Dog Registration Scheme
ICT Learning Centres
· Beacon status awarded for provision of 24 ICT centres throughout the District, giving access to internet facilities in under provided-for communities
· Over 2000 learners have acquired ICT skills
· Funding for a further two years has been secured enabling expansion of the scheme
Youth
· Annual report presented to Council on 4th February
· Strategy plan for 2003/04 approved
· The Think Country Child Conference held at The Maltings in May 2002 focused on how we can address such issues as how to improve the safety and security of our young people, how can we learn the views of the young people of our community and what projects or opportunities we can introduce to ensure our children grow up safe, secure, well-balanced individuals
· The Chairman's Awards for Young People rewarded youngsters for a wide range of tasks including helping a disabled neighbour, regular cleaning of their neighbourhood area, fund-raising events for the benefit of local children, and gardening for elderly people
Village/Community appraisals
· Wicken and Haddenham have formalised their Action Plans after consultation
· Cheveley and Ashley are now ready to move to a Parish Plan in 2003
· A final report on the 3 year programme is being prepared by ACRE
· An adapted plan is running in the new housing west of Ely and questionnaires have been distributed and analysed.
Jubilee Gardens
· The vandalised trees have been replanted in modified locations
· The Bandstand has been completed
· The water feature will be in place on May 12 2003
· Childrens play area plans finalised and expected to be in place by middle of May
Sportsdec
· There has been a measurable improvement in performance in all
· The Year 2 programme is now underway
Work in the Community
· E space South has exceeded its target occupancy levels through the year.
· Occupancy levels the e-space north at Littleport have risen steadily
· Work on a third e-space is at the feasibility stage, funded by £40,000 from the Greater Cambridge Partnership
· E-space north is the first of the Council's Business premises to enjoy the benefits of a full broadband Internet connection. Funded by East of England Development Agency, the new service will be of tremendous benefit to the tenant firms and will help to attract new business to the building.
Structure Plan
· The Examination in Public of the Structure Plan was completed in December 2002
· Longstanton/Oakington were identified as preferred site for new settlement in Structure Plan
· The Annual Monitoring Report was received by the Strategic Development Committee in June
Heritage Regeneration Schemes
· We secured £30,000 for 2003/4 with similar sums for the following two years - a total of around £90,000 - (which the Council will have to match-fund at £30,000 each year) from English Heritage to be used to renovate derelict buildings in the conservation area - using upper floors over shops and renovating shop fronts - in Soham
Arts
· City of Ely Community College enhancements completed
· Design work for Littleport Leisure centre completed, and the scheme has gone out to tender
· Around £100,000 for a three-year programme, including commissioning up to four digital artists to produce web-based art which will only be accessible on the internet, has been secured from the Regional Arts Lottery Programme
(RALP) to provide a parallel programme of student workshops, a student internet facility, plus remodelling the gallery to enable daylight exclusion for digital art, projections and video installations.
Health
· The Healthy Living Initiative was launched at the Maltings in October 2002
· The first two newsletters have been distributed
· The website for the initiative has gone live 11 projects are up and running in this financial year
· Year 2 plan for the Healthy Living Project has been completed
· The legal documentation involving ECDC, Littleport Parish Council, and the General Practice Investment Corporation, required for the new eagerly awaited Doctors Surgery to go ahead in Littleport, was finalised
· A Mandarin and Cantonese Food Hygiene Course was held in the Council Chamber for 17 delegates employed within local restaurants and takeaway premises
· Over 7,000 users of the Healthy Living Projects in its first year. Housing
· The Government Office for the Eastern Region informed us that the Council's Housing Strategy 2002 has been assessed as 'Above Average'.
Care and Repair
· Care and Repair East Cambridgeshire scooped a top prize of £1,000 in their section from Cambridge Evening News Community Challenge Awards to expand the service
Access Officer
· There have been difficulties in recruiting an Access Officer to take forward the work of the Access Group, which seeks to promote the interests of disabled people, but it is likely that the post will be filled shortly
Council for Voluntary Services
· Plans for a new CVS to be taken forward by a Steering Group with support from the Council. The new organisation will help to strengthen and support the local voluntary sector and build its capacity, enabling voluntary organizations to play a full partner role in the design and delivery of services.
Implementation of Best Value
· The District Audit Management Letter gave unqualified report on Best Value Performance Plan for 2002
· The Comprehensive Performance Assessment of the Council is scheduled for March 2004.
Opening up Council Business
· June's Overview and Scrutiny Committee was held in Stetchworth
· We began a campaign in libraries to encourage the public to vote, using the different methods available, and to take part in Council and committee meetings.
District Newsletter
· March 2003 edition of Connexions issued
Information Technology
· Website phase 3 has been launched
· The Council's web-site has been awarded •content +• status in the latest
'Better Connected' survey of all local authority web-sites. This is the 2nd highest award within the survey and only 10 authorities out of the total 508 surveyed were awarded the higher ranking of •fully transactional•.
· Local Land Charges are the next phase for implementation under the CAPS/ GIS Project
· The Council was awarded a further £200,000 for 2003/04 to progress egovernment targets
· A Public Access `Kiosk' is now in situ and working within the main reception area at the Grange
· The ECDC bid to introduce a wireless broadband service across virtually the whole of East Cambridgeshire passed the first hurdle after EEDA endorsed the Council's first stage application and invited us to submit a detailed second stage bid.
Members' Allowances
· A new independent panel was convened in the Autumn and is expected to report in Summer 2003
Political Management
· A further review of the Constitution began in September 2002
· Changes to the Overview and Scrutiny arrangements - particularly the appointment of a permanent Chairman - were agreed in December
Council Administration and Management
· Spray taps and light sensors installed in toilets in The Grange, to cut waste and expense
· The Planning Department has been streamlined into an applications processing team and a customer services team to facilitate the integration of Planning with Building Control
· The Department for Work and Pensions' performance league tables for local authorities for the speed and accuracy of processing claims for Housing Benefit for the first half of this year showed that East Cambs.' is in the top quartile for 5 of the 6 indicators covered by the survey.
· East Cambs received an exemplary Audit report on the Council's Performance
Management and Service Delivery arrangements.
· A Race Equality Scheme was adopted by full Council in May 2002
· Service improvements and savings proposed by Committees enabled us
· to meet our promise to keep Council Tax increase at 5% in 2003/04.
Swaffham Prior School (Written report by Isabel Hill, Minor Authorities Governor)
Summer Term 2003
During February the school was inspected by Ofsted, the inspectors were very positive about the school which is excellent news. Their report highlighted that the school is an effective school with some very good features, the overall quality of teaching is high and the school offers an interesting curriculum with a good range and quality of learning opportunities.
The building work on the new entrance, staff room and office, funded by the LEA is now complete; it offers more space and added entry security.
The school financial year runs from April to March. As with many other schools in the country, the school will only receive a modest increase in its base budget this financial year, existing costs have increased, and some grants have been decreased, this means that the school has less money than last financial year.
Various ways are being looked at to reduce expenditure on general items, but from the next academic year recorder tuition will have to be sourced from other areas of teaching possibly with parental help. To assist the financial situation the Head
Teacher Joanna Lakey is now teaching in Class one on Fridays. This financial year will be tight, but with careful monitoring, and hopefully a small increase in pupil numbers, the school should be back on track by April 04.
The school continues raise funds from outside events, the Barrel of Booze at Reach fair successfully raised over £800.
The children at school are now creating their own termly newsletter, which includes the children’s own items on news and events for the term. The children also now have their own school council with representatives picked from each class.
The School Summer fair is on Saturday 5th July all are welcome.
There followed a discussion about the school budget, which was £12k short of what was expected. Budgets could now be crossed over so that money set aside for play areas could be spent on books etc. Small schools had been badly hit by government budgets. Cllr Pearson spoke about the school’s building improvements, the new head, and the hope for the future.
Village Hall Committee
2003 had been a very successful fair, said Cllr Harrison, with a profit of approximately £8,500. The VHC committee were applying for grants to build the village
hall extension.
Swaffham Prior PCC
Cllr Robinson reported that letters from the Clerk to the PCC regarding the constitution of the charity still went unanswered. Clerk to write to Stephen Earl and the Diocesan Board at Ely.
Police Liaison Committee
Cllr Summers reported there had been a few incidents in the village over the past year, including some criminal damage recently when a few cars on Fair Green had almost been destroyed by vandals.
The Police held meetings throughout the year, said Cllr Summers, at which the public were thrown statistics. He could not see the benefit of such meetings – the public wanted action.
Asked what influence the county council had on the police force Cllr Fitch replied, ‘very little’.
Chairman
Cllr Robinson said the Reach War Memorial restoration was a credit to the village and those who donated to the scheme.
The Hythe was now being used by the Great Ouse Boating Association, who had made a donation in exchange for the grass being cut.
Broadband had reached the village – thanks to the efforts of Ian Hill and Dave Summers.
The Chairman thanked those who helped with Reach Fair and the grasscutting; also Cllrs Fitch and Cane; all the parish councillors, and the clerk.
Reach Matters
Historical monument
Clerk reported that she had alerted John Selby, conservation officer at ECDC, about the poor state of the St Etheldreda’s arch. He was to inspect.
Broadband in Reach
Cllr Hill said his company Drakken (an internet provider) wanted to make Reach Broadband a self-contained entity. Funds were needed to help install a higher aerial.
Councillors discussed funding from the village amenity fund (Cllrs Hill and Summers abstained from this discussion). It was agreed to look at the amenity fund bank balance and if viable to permit the funding.
Dykes End pub
Cllr Pearson told councillors that the pub would be changing hands on the 16th June.
Public forum
Helen Platt asked if the broadband mast would affect the environment. Cllr Hill said it was less powerful than a mobile phone.
She also wanted to know who maintained the Reach wood, as there was a lot of ragwort.
She was given the name of the contact at the Woodland Trust.