Parish Council Meeting

Those present were Chairman Cllr Lambert, V/Chairman Robinson, Cllrs Summers, Harrison, Pearson, Moseley and Aves; also C/Cllr Fitch.

The X11 bus service is under threat as it is not used enough to justify the cost. Stagecoach has intimated that it wants to save money by cutting evening and weekend services on other routes. Alex Gee is the contact for bus services at County. Drummer Street bus station is to be re-constructed.

Cllr Fitch showed councilors a survey detailing, amongst other things, the number of under-18 pregnancies in the ward.

Cllr Fitch said that Bottisham Village College was functioning with a tight budget. The college was to have new mobile classrooms and the main hall had been refurbished.

The Fire Service had produced a leaflet about deep-pan fires.

A debate on the future and state of Cambridgeshire showed the fenland as an area of unrealised potential. There had been a growth of hi-tech industry, which with its feeder suppliers employed a lot of people.

Alysoun Hodges from County was carrying out the 4-yearly survey of the state of the county’s footpaths between May and October. Anyone interested in helping should contact her.

Cllr Robinson commented that footpaths were for people and not for people riding bicycles.

The Highways department are to provide better drainage in Reach.

Cllr Lambert proposed discussing this while Cllr Fitch was present in order that he might clear up any points raised.

Cllr Lambert went over the Code in detail and Councillors decided that they would all sign to say they would abide by it. Councillors had now to register their interests and send them to the Monitoring Officer at Ely.

Cllr Moseley said that the school budget, although tight, had been approved and adopted. There would be 18 children in the reception class for the new school year. The date of the next OFSTED inspection still wasn’t known.

Cllr Summers reported underage children driving unlicensed cars locally on the road, and also in Reach wood where they were spoiling the grass and trees. The police had been informed.

Councillors decided to decline an invitation to join the Calor Gas Village of the Year 2002.

Wicksteed Leisure had sent a reminder for the playing field’s annual inspection. It was decided this was a requirement for insurance and so should be done.

Planning permission approvals – 27 Great Lane (conversion of garage to living space); 22 Fair Green (two-storey extension).

The Clerk to Lode Parish Council had written asking for Reach PC to support their opposition to a proposed installation of an electricity transmission line across Lode Fen. This was agreed.

The clerk tendered her resignation from the Parish Council. It was agreed to try to find another person to take on the job and discuss at the next meeting.

A sub-committee had discussed ideas for celebrating the forthcoming Jubilee celebrations.

Cllr Aves pointed out that the bus shelter near Ditchfield was still not repaired.

Notes on the meeting of Reach Parish Council meeting held on Wednesday 1st May 2002

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

Chairman – Keith Lambert

Vice-Chairman – Cllr Robinson

Village Hall Committee – Cllrs Lambert and Robinson

Swaffham Prior PCC – Cllr Robinson

Tree Officer (honorary post) – John Reed

Police liaison committee – Cllr Summers

Swaffham Prior Primary School – Cllr Moseley

Cllr Fitch said it had been a quiet month at County. The recent local elections had not affected CCC.

Two youths from a travellers’ camp at First Drove, Burwell had been causing some problems.

In order to limit access to fields by hare coursers it had been suggested that Health Road (Burwell, Swaffham Prior and Swaffham Bulbeck) be turned into a byway. It would then not be accessible to 4-wheel drive vehicles.

CCC had been given a Green Apple Award for the efforts in preserving grass and chalkland. 220 km of hedging had been planted in the last 2–3 years.

Slight changes in the bus timetable had not affected Reach but Cllr Fitch said he could follow up any problems. Buses were still subsidised by EDCD and there was no guarantee that the present level of service would continue.

There had been a slight delay in completing the cycleway but it was nearly finished.

The traffic lights at Quy roundabout were to be working soon.

Cllr Fitch said a seminar was needed on school admissions. He thought that there were more students needing places than was realised at Shire Hall. Parents were under pressure as getting their child into the school of their choice, even if they lived in the catchment area, was not a foregone conclusion.

It was hoped that the number of mobile classrooms in use would go down from 313 to 150.

Libraries were short of a quarter of a million pounds. Staff leaving might not be replaced in the future.

Re hare coursing: Cllr Robinson commented that some people seemed to be allowed to put up gates/dig trenches etc. as a deterrent while others were not.

Cyclepath: Cllr Lambert asked if the cyclepath was still within budget. Cllr Fitch confirmed that it was.

Cllrs discussed the car that had been dumped in Barston Drove. As Cllr Summers knew the owner’s name it was agreed that he write and ask him to move it.

David Groom from the Highways Department was to have another think about how to tackle the problem of lorries mounting the pavement in The Hythe. A previous suggestion about narrowing one pavement to allow cars to park on it had been dismissed as it was thought they might damage the foundations to a nearby wall.

The OFSTED inspection date is still not known. Children were doing their SATs.

Cllr Lambert reported that quotations received for the village hall extension were considerably higher than budgeted for.

Celebrations for the Queen’s Jubilee did not seem to have much support in the village, according to a survey posted through letterboxes.

Swaffham Prior PCC

Cllr Robinson voiced some concern that if he was not able to attend meetings of the PCC there was no representation from Reach. He is to push for two people from the village to attend.

Following advice from ECDC it was decided not to have Wicksteed Leisure inspect the swings this year as they were relatively new and had been looked at regularly by a councillor.

Chairman reported little luck in finding a replacement for the clerk. It was agreed to advertise the post in the Newmarket Journal.

Cllr Robinson said he would get some wood to repair the bus shelter at Ditchfield.

Donna Radley of English Nature had written thanking the PC for inviting her and Stephen Macaulay to a meeting. The Restoration Project had appointed a Project Officer, James Fisher, who would be making a full presentation to the village at a later date.

Planning permission had been given for a conservatory at 9b Fair Green.

A Public Consultation on Stage 3 of the Cambridge Core Traffic Scheme is to run from May 20^th until June 17^th. This will address problems in Silver Street and Regent Street. Final decisions on what measures are implemented are expected to be taken in January 2003.

A parishioner had written complaining about the increasing number of boats moored up at The Point. Some of the boat owners attended the meeting and were invited to put forward their point of view. A resident of The Hythe said that as there were now several boats they were causing quite an impact on the area. It looked ‘like a permanent settlement’ and inhibited the casual ambience of the area. He was also concerned about the effect of the boats on a pair of nesting swans. The owners of the two original boats said they would like to spend the summer in Reach. However, Anglian Water owns the bank and they were looking at the legalities of the boat owners mooring here. A representative from the Environment Agency had been to see the boats and was also looking into the situation. He was concerned that the boats did not seem to be licenced.

Parish Councillors agreed that while they did not see a problem with two or three boats any more was too great an impact on the area.

Penny Lang