Notes on the meeting of Reach Parish Council held  on  Wednesday 30th September 1997 (October meeting).

Present

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

Apologies

Cllr Lambert.

Visit               

Alison  Condor  from  CCC  explained that she  is  one  of  three countryside officers  and looks after East  Cambridgeshire.  She explained how Parishes can apply for free trees and hedging.  The Parishes work with local private landowners using her as a  link. She  can  feed the PC into a grant mechanism and  currently runs about  300 planting schemes each year. The scheme can be used  to re-plant dead planting. There are two options - 100 trees or  100 metres  of hedging but it is possible to have smaller numbers  of plants for central planting. The PC discussed possible sites.

Reports          

Cllrs Robinson and Pearson had been to the Parish Forum  run  by CALC. It was agreed there should be more input from PC's to  ECDC re planning procedures but opinions varied as to the best way  to achieve this. The Planning Department were now sending copies  of the  reports their committee receive prior to  planning meetings and this was considered a favourable move.

District Council         

D/Cllr  Shulver reported that Reach had been included in the  new 3-year  round of works in the Enhancement Scheme of  Conservation Areas. The replacement of street lamps around Fair Green and  the buying  of overhead cables in Great Lane have been granted.  Cllr Shulver  has been nominated to be the ECDC representative on  the Bottisham  Sports Centre Management Group. She had  attended  the Prospect  Trust open day at Snake Hall Farm and also the  meeting re  Devil's  Dyke. Here the Cambridgeshire Linear  Sites  Project informed  the public of their intentions to restore  the  Devil's Dyke   if  a  National  Heritage  Lottery  Fund application   is successful.  Cllr Shulver told the PC that they can apply  for  a grant to purchase a mower to cut the Playing Field as it is a new project - it could not be used for other purposes.The Draft Local Plan  is on deposit until 13th October and Cllr  Shulver  pointed out that she had a lot of support for her views even if they were not those of the PC.

(Question)  A  discussion  took  place  about  D/Cllr   Shulver's representation  of the views of the Parish.  Several  councillors had  received  phone calls from parishioners  worried  about  her apparent  conflict  of opinion with the PC over the Draft  Local Plan designating Reach as 'infil only'. Cllr Shulver spoke  about the need for homes for the elderly; in reply Cllr Robinson  said Swaffham Prior Charities kept getting turned down when they tried to  acquire land for homes for the elderly. He also  pointed  out that  there  are  more old people in  Reach  than anywhere  else locally.

Cllr  Davies  thanked Cllr Shulver for her help  in  getting  the requested items for the enhancement scheme.

County Council

The new Chief Executive is Alan Barnish.

The Princess Diana Memorial Fund has been launched at Ely.

Cllr  Fitch  reported  that he is to sit on  a  committee  to  go through  the recommendations of the Nolan Committee on  behaviour of officers and members of particular bodies. A fund of 83m.  has been  made available nationally for capital projects that can  be paid for by the 31st March 1998. Swaffham Bulbeck Primary School if successful could be sharing 200,000 with Leverington  School. At  the County level 750,000 has been moved from  one  fund  to another to look after special education needs. A further 800,000 has  been released from reserves (therefore one-off) for  schools in this area. Parents are being consulted about the beef ban.

Transport - The Fordham by-pass have asked for private  financing to  contribute to the building of the road. The CCC are  using  a new economical system of road surfacing. The new Park and Ride at Newmarket  has  a new weekly ticket. The PC commented  about  the design of the road entering the Park and Ride.

Correspondence

The Clerk told the PC that Chris Brown, the assistant Director of Environment and Transport at CCC, was coming to discuss the legal status of Barston Drove with the Clerks and Chairmen of Reach and Swaffham Prior.

The Village Centre had written to ask if the Parish Council would allow the Fair to extend onto the Playing Field next year.

Playing field update

Cllr  Pearson reported no progress had been made on the  purchase of the playing field.

Reach Matters

Current  planning  applications:-

16,  Swaffham Road have been granted Planning permission  for  an extension.

High Cloud Stud - the owners have asked permission to change  the timber house to a 2-story brick dwelling.

Old  Burial Ground:- the PC discussed the benefits of owning  the burial ground. Costs had been halved after they had been  queried so it was agreed to go ahead with the purchase.

Parish mowers:- Cllr Robinson had found some spare parts for  the mowers and is to enquire about prices.

Jubilee Tree, Fair Green - as a child had fallen out of the  tree its  safety was discussed. It was agreed that the  proposed  seat would not assist in climbing as it will not have a back to it.

The  question  of the building of stables was brought  up  as  it appears  some people in the village are putting them  up  without permission.  Cllr Shulver is to raise the issue to  stables  with the Planning Committee.