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MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING held on Wednesday 15 th April 2015 at 7.30pm at the
Arkenstall Village Centre, Station Road, Haddenham, Cambs.
Cllr David Lyon, Chairman of Haddenham Parish Council, welcomed twelve members of the public, eight
Parish Councillors and County Cllr Bill Hunt.
1. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING having been provided to all those present were taken as read. Cllr
G Wilson proposed and Cllr Cheetham seconded that the minutes should be signed as a true record of the meeting subject to the following amendment:
Item 6 Stop Berry Fen Wind Farm Group – Mr Ian Bayley should read Mr Ian Bayes.
All those present agreed.
2. MATTERS ARISING
There were none.
3. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE were received from Cllr Bayes for late arrival.
4. HADDENHAM PARIS H COUNCIL CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
As Chairman, it is my pleasure to present my report on the activities of your Parish Council over the past
12 months, which has been an interesting period for us, with some major issues affecting the village coming to the fore.
Many of you will have kept up to date by following the minutes of the Council meetings, but for those who haven’t, I will attempt to give the highlights, keeping things brief!
The year started with a significant loss to the village following the passing of one of its longest-serving
Councillors, David Fairchild. He had served the village over a period of 50 years and his experience and wisdom will be missed by all.
Another of our Councillors, Robert Norman, had also reached the same milestone of 50 years service, and he was presented with a memento of the occasion in thanks.
In July, we co-opted a replacement on the Council to fill the vacancy, with Cllr Steve Cheetham being successful in the ballot.
We prepared for the commemoration of the various anniversaries relating to the World wars by having the War Memorial professionally cleaned, and we are proud of its restored appearance.
In August, I attended the Planning Committee meeting at ECDC in order to put the case against the application to build 100 houses on land at Wilburton Road. This proposed speculative development by
Gladman’s would have been incompatible with our village vision and would have been situated outside the village envelope. We were pleased to see that ECDC agreed with our arguments and voted to refuse the application. Although Gladman’s registered an appeal immediately, we are pleased to hear that it has been withdrawn and the threat of over-development has receded somewhat.
In September, as anticipated, we were consulted on the planning application by REG power to build a wind farm at Berry Fen. The Full Council became our Planning Committee for the purpose of an
Extraordinary meeting, owing to the significance of the proposal. Your Council opposed the development for a variety of reasons and we await the meeting of the ECDC Planning Committee with interest. We believe it will now be held in June 2015, and I will attend to present our concerns.
During the year, we have been contemplating a major refurbishment of the pavilion at the Recreation
Ground in order to make it a more attractive and functional building. As a first step, we retained an architectural practice to develop conceptual drawings for us and we are now moving on to the next stage of engaging with local builders for further exploration of our options and costs. Obviously, there will be full consultation with affected user groups before any final proposals are adopted. Funding will be
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Draft copy to be signed April 2016 APM 2015 largely grant-aided, but there will also be funds available in the form of a percentage of the Community
Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charges, which are attributable to the Parish when any development takes place within our boundary.
Another major project which has been around for a while now, but which looks likely to come to fruition soon, is the proposal to open up the area known as Wayman’s Pits for public use and enjoyment, similar to Fairchilds Meadows. This will require a planning permission for a change of use for the land, but early indications are favourable. We have prepared the way by cutting back the roadside hedge so as to give sufficient room to create an access footpath to the site from the point where the existing footpath runs out at the bottom of Station Road.
In October, the Council suffered the loss of another Councillor, but this time through a resignation.
Again, a co-option process was undertaken and a replacement, Cllr Ian Bayes, was appointed.
It has been good to see how many excellent candidates have put themselves forward for co-option on both occasions, demonstrating that people do still care about the village and are willing to put their personal time into making it a good place to live.
We continue to be very concerned regarding road safety matters, with particular reference to the Station
Road/Hop Row junction, where visibility is often hampered by inconsiderate parking on the double yellow lines near the junction. Last year, we were engaged in discussions with the Police regarding the provision of a CCTV installation to monitor and prosecute offenders, but this now looks impractical. An alternative means of control is being investigated, but in the meantime, we are assured by our PCSO that the police will be more vigilant in ticketing such offenders. We remain concerned at the number of vehicles speeding through the village and continue to support the work of Speedwatch in their efforts to monitor the miscreants.
Last summer saw the completion of the Aldreth play area refurbishment, with new equipment and safety surfacing being provided. This has been something we have been planning for a long time and it was good to finally achieve it. We are pleased with the positive feedback we have received from the residents and user community in Aldreth.
In November, we saw the introduction of the new replacement 106 bus service, which has been called the Zipper. This was the culmination of a lot of effort by ourselves and Cllr Bill Hunt to preserve a bus service for the village and it deserves to be a success. We now enjoy a more frequent service at more logical timings, allowing commuters to and from Ely to use it rather than their car.
During the autumn, we went out to tender for a new three year contract for our grounds maintenance, and we were pleased to re-appoint the incumbent contractor, Fergusons. The new contract has just commenced on 1 st April and we look forward to a continuation of the good service they have provided over the last three years.
In January this year, we became accredited at the Foundation Award level of the new Local Council
Award Scheme, which recognises and celebrates the successes of the very best local councils. This demonstrates that you have a local council that is up there with the best in terms of good practice and continuous improvement.
Since February you will have noticed the work done by Balfour Beatty, on behalf of the County Council, in upgrading the street lighting throughout the village. This has been done as part of a Countywide initiative to improve the lighting stock and bring down energy costs. It was not totally without some errors, but BB have been very proactive in correcting any small issues in conjunction with us and we feel that overall, it may turn out to be a major success, once all the final connections are made in June.
Financially, your Council continues to exercise prudence in the management of its affairs and the draft accounts will be published as usual in the June issue of the Village Voice. Our balance sheet is healthy and in line with commonly accepted norms. The precept has been increased this year by 2.19%, and amounts to just under £81,500. We believe this will give us the requisite level of funding to provide the parish with the service it requires from its Council.
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We have a risk management plan in place, which is reviewed regularly, and I am pleased to be able to report that all significant risks are being actively managed.
Finally, and as usual, I would like to place on record the Council’s appreciation of the work done by our
Clerk, Mrs Jenny Manning, without whom the Council would not function as effectively.
David J Lyon
Chairman
5. DISTRICT & COUNTY COUNCILLOR REPORTS
District Cllr Pauline A Wilson:
We have had a busy year helping many local residents who come to us with all sorts of problems including Planning Applications, Financial issues, Homelessness and Sanctuary housing issues and
Anglian Water problems to name but a few. We hope that after May 7th we will be able to continue helping others.
We have continued to help residents through the process of planning, including consulting with planning officers at ECDC and attending planning meetings to speak either for or against the planning application on their behalf.
I am now only a substitute on the Regulatory & Support Committee and have only attended one meeting, which was on 13 th April. The Council is setting up a new appraisal system to improve the speed of staff appraisals. We heard from the HR Champion, Cllr. Jeremy Friend-Smith that staff morale was still very low following many redundancies last year and staff feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope with extra workloads.
The Ely Country Park is expanding and is well worth a visit. Section 106 and CIL money for communities are available and we discuss the grants at this committee. Aldreth Play Park has now been refurbished using Section 106 money and a grant from Awards for All. The next area Gareth wants to improve by getting new play equipment is the Pocket Park at the end of Newtown Road and soon Gareth and I will be consulting with the residents there.
The recycling rate following the introduction of wheelie bins has gone from strength to strength to over
50%. East Cambs also supply grants to the district wide leisure centres and I hope this will continue.
Dial a Ride used to receive a grant from the Commercial Services Committee, but funding was cut 5 years ago and with County Council cuts too, Ely & Soham Dial a Ride eventually found it impossible to continue without funding and told members they would close on 31st March. At the AGM it was decided to transfer the Charity’s Assets to Fenland Association of Community Transport (FACT), Gareth proposed an amendment to the resolution to say that ESDAR would not close before the new Dial a Ride service was in place. We did not want the elderly and disabled left with no transport. ESACT are now running the new Dial a Ride service for Ely and Soham area.
Shape Your Place was a website set up to take the place of Neighbourhood Panels, but now has also ceased, due to Cambridgeshire County Council cutting the funding for this service. Shape Your Place was a community based web forum, which provided a one-stop-shop for people to talk to all public agencies about issues concerning their neighbourhoods, and provided a platform for groups and places to promote themselves. Since it was launched in April 2012 the website received in excess of 246,000 visitors. The Parish Conference met on 2 nd April in Burwell and the conference report was due to be discussed at the Commercial Services meeting on the 14 th April, but this meeting had to be cancelled due to staff illness.
District Cllr Gareth Wilson:
The Coalition Government has offered a Revenue grant to East Cambs equivalent to 1 percent council tax increase so long as council tax was not increased. This year this was accepted so there will be no increase in the East Cambs portion of your Council tax.
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We have tried very hard to stop Ely & Soham Dial a Ride from closing down on March 31 st . However the stopping of the East Cambs grant and the threat to stop the County Council grants caused the Board of
ESDAR to wind down the organisation. In order to ensure that the Dial a Ride service was not lost to the elderly and disabled people of East Cambs I was elected onto the board and took up the Treasurer ’s responsibilities to make certain that the service would continue under new management. Ely and Soham
Association of Community Transport (ESACT) have taken up the service from 1 st April. Hopefully they will be able to provide an even better service.
I have continued to represent East Cambs DC on the Haddenham Drainage Board. The clerk to the
Drainage Board retired last month and instead of appointing an individual it was agreed to appoint the
Middle Level Drainage Board Commissioners to provide the cl erk’s duties.
Haddenham’s village vision along with those visions of all the villages in East Cambs has been inserted into the East Cambs Local Plan. This has now been to the Government Inspector and has been approved. The East Cambs Full Council meeting on 21 st April will approve it and then it will become our
District-Wide Plan and all planning applications will be judged against it. However it will need to be regularly reviewed and revised as necessary. This should prevent developers such as Gladman trying to ignore local wishes and dumping massive developments on our local villages.
East Cambs was successful in obtaining a government grant of £5million, which was used to provide wheelie bins and the vehicles to use them for recyclable waste and green waste. The new system seems to be working well. East Cambs recycling has risen from 34% to 55%.
I am a member of the East Cambs District Council Planning Committee, which meets on the first
Wednesday of each month. I am therefore able to assist people with advice on how the planning system works and what is likely to be accepted or rejected, but I leave it to Pauline to fight a case because if I either support or oppose an application I would not be able to vote if the application comes to the
Planning Committee.
County Cllr Bill Hunt:
The first year under a " Committee System" at the County Council has finished and has raised questions
regarding slower decisions, more cost and more democracy.
Railway Improvements during the year have included Soham Station (and dual track from Soham to Ely),
Cambridge Science Park Station, reopening of the March to Wisbech line and more trains from Kings
Lynn to Cambridge.
The Ely Southern By-Pass, improvements to the A14 and a dual carriageway link on A428 from Caxton
Gibbet to A1 (Black Cat) all have the go-ahead. My goals are to reduce traffic on A1123, introduce a
weight limit for HCVs at Earith and downgrade A1123 to a "B" road.
The new Secondary School at Littleport will allow increases in "A" Level offering at the City of Ely 6th
Form Centre.
The new "Ely Zipper" Bus service started on 23 rd November and provides an hourly service to Stretham
Hub, Ely Station and Ely Centre. It requires good use to ensure it will be retained. "Use it or lose it".
1000 streetlights in Haddenham Division are being replaced and there are many issues, which with the
co-operation of Parish Councils and tolerance of residents are being resolved.
Successful Joint Highways improvements in Witchford (Path and speeding) and Wilburton (Path in
Broadway) have been possible due to good co-operation between Parish Councils and County Highways.
County Archives together with jobs and the Cambridgeshire Collection will open at the soon to be vacated
"Strikes" site.
There are no changes planned to the gritting regime and Household re-cycling centre at present.
The County Council has made a £90,000 fund for community transport and made a grant of £20,000 to
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Draft copy to be signed April 2016 APM 2015 the Dial-a-Ride replacement organisation as the value of the service they provide is completely appreciated and understood.
The new cycle route from Wentworth to Witcham Toll is to be opened in the near future and I understand there is a need for something similar from Little Thetford to Stretham.
6. GUEST SPEAKERS
Arkenstall Committee
Mrs Ann Biggs, Chairman of the Arkenstall Committee spoke about the Arkenstall Centre, which is managed by a committee of trustees made up of representatives from member groups, members of the public and co-opted members. There are three sub committees, Operations /Maintenance, Fundraising and Executive. The toilet refurbishment was organised and overseen by a dedicated group of volunteers and the work has been very successful. A new water boiler has been fitted in the kitchen and there are plans to replace the old gas cooker. New hiring rates have been introduced because the old arrangement was not entirely fair to all. Two rates have been introduced, member and non-member, together with some discounts and no peak period at weekends. It has been agreed that a chairman will only serve a 3-year term and therefore a new chairman will be appointed in May 2016. The panto is still the major fund raising event for the Centre with smaller more frequent events such as quizzes, table sales, garage sale, cake stall and others being organised throughout the year. Ann wished to thank the
WI for their hard work in looking after the garden areas around the Centre, which always look very nice.
The Centre is well used by the regular dance, art, keep fit, dog training, WI, Brownies and Over 60s groups. Auctions are held quite frequently plus larger theatrical events on the well-equipped stage. The hall is also regularly booked for private parties, weddings, funeral teas, conferences and blood donor sessions.
Ann also wished to place on record her thanks to everyone who helps at the Centre to keep it running smoothly.
Haddenham Surgery
Dr Stuart Findlay has been at Haddenham Surgery for 26 years and he spoke about the Practice going into the new Primary Care system. They have a new nursing assistant who is a big asset to the practice.
An online system for prescriptions and some appointments is also being developed. A triage system has been introduced to try to cut down on the number of people being seen by the doctors if a problem can be solved by speaking to them over the telephone, however, if a patient needs to be seen then they will be given an appointment. Dr Findlay explained some of the problems facing the GPs with regard to income going down as expenses rise and the practice is now coping with 7300 patients between 5 doctors, some of who are part time. They have been advertising for a new partner for 2 years but no one has applied. He had recently attended a Local Medical Committee meeting when the future of local surgeries in the whole of Cambridgeshire was discussed.
Police
PCSO Annie Austin introduced herself and PCSO Jo Andow. Annie has been the PCSO for Haddenham
& Aldreth for almost 5 years but due to a staffing re-shuffle she is now moving on to look after Littleport and Jo will take over as the part time PCSO for Haddenham & Aldreth, which are part of her West
Villages patch (15 villages). In 2008 there were 24 PCSOs based at Ely but due to massive budget cuts there are now only 8 and no replacements are being recruited. Over the past year the priorities for
PCSOs have changed to safeguarding vulnerable and elderly people, anti-social behaviour, neighbour disputes and parking issues. Annie feels that the talks being given in schools have helped to change the attitude of youngsters towards under age drinking and there are significantly less incidents of confiscating alcohol. Although resources are less they are still providing the same cover and being provided with a tablet enables them to do their paperwork out on the beat instead of returning to the station. Jo explained that she has 8 years experience as a PCSO working in Cambridge City then moving to Ely. She is going through a handover period with Annie at the moment and is aware of issues such as parking and drug dealing that need to be worked on. She was pleased to report that the crime rate in Haddenham is very low, although two performance cars had been stolen recently. If any member
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Draft copy to be signed April 2016 APM 2015 of the public needs to contact her they can leave a message via 101 and if reporting a vehicle crime registration numbers and as much information as possible would be very helpful.
Cllr Lyon thanked all of the guest speakers for giving up their valuable time to attend the meeting.
7. OTHER REPORTS
Aldreth Community Association
Activities for the year were restricted as the Community Association felt it should support the fund raising activities of the Group campaigning to fight the Berry Fen Wind Farm development. This decision was taken after a poll of the Village revealed that only 1 resident was in favour of the project with 96% against. The Community Association remains positive and supportive of the Stop Berry Fen Wind Farm group and the Parish Council in the fight to stop this threat to the tranquillity of our village.
The Annual Village Picnic in August continued to build on the previous year with a good 100+ residents enjoying a sunny and social afternoon. This is an event that is now a firm annual favourite
The Christmas Carol Concert with its mix of traditional and quirky participants was held as usual with mulled wine and mince pies to follow.
We continue to manage our finances through our regular and ad-hoc hirers and have managed to maintain our hiring rates in difficult economic circumstances.
It was sad to see the Tinderbox pre-school group close in June after 25 years at the Village Centre. We had helped as much as we could with the waiving of nearly £2,000 in rent but still a sad day. The good news is of a Tindertots mother and toddler group starting for 2 hours on a Monday morning and the
Haddenham Scouts starting back at the Centre.
We strive to keep the Village Centre in a welcoming and well-maintained condition and with help from the Parish Council’s precept have just replaced all the cupboard doors in the schoolroom.
My thanks to all the committee for their hard work this year and also to all the other volunteers that have contributed to the work of the Community Association.
Mike Wells
Chairman
Haddenham Library
The Library staff continues to pick up books from the County Store, which is now in Cambridge. We are still accepting good quality donations from the public either to replace old copies or for re-sale during fundraising, but have had to purchase some adult general fiction of late to supplement the shelves.
The recent bequest has been used to purchase more local studies books about Haddenham and the surrounding area.
Improvements to the children’s area are expected to go ahead shortly.
Rosemary and Barrie and their members from the Local History Group continue to catalogue new archive material from an ever-growing amount of new photos and information received by donors.
Barrie has again made up several Memory Boards over the year. Recently, these have included a montage of material regarding weddings of local families.
Last year, due to no Blossoms and Bygones, staff opened the Library for the Garage Sale. We held a book sale to gain some funds, with the Local History Group holding a display of WW1. Volunteers will be having another bookstall table at the AVC Table Sale on Saturday.
HARP continues with several members each month, reviewing both new and older novels.
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Eighte en children completed last year’s Reading Challenge. Many of the children were much younger again, ranging from 3-9 years old. They did really well. The challenge finished with a party at the end of
September with medals and certificates being presented to the successful children, followed by activities and refreshments. Parents are always very appreciative of the work library volunteers put into this challenge.
We had two applicants offer their help for Saturdays recently. One has already started and the other one will start shortly.
On behalf of the Friends and Volunteers I would like to thank Haddenham Parish Council for their support.
Moira Goddard
Chairman/Coordinator
Guppy’s Pond Management Committee
The committee has met six times during the year, as planned, to review the status of Guppy's Pond and its associated area.
Once again we had several discussions about illegal fishing at The Pond. There were several instances when evidence of fishing was found. In one particularly concerning incident, 3 children walking their family dogs came across a group of 3 young men with 2 dogs, apparently fishing and were warned to go away as one of the men 'had something sharp'. It was not clear whether this was a warning or a threat, but it caused sufficient concern that the police were alerted and they promised to regularly check the area. Shortly after that one young village man alone was 'caught in the act' and given 'advice and guidance' by two members of HCS. There have been no further instances reported.
A new observation area to the water was opened up in May and a simple bench made from railway sleepers was made to make the area comfortable for relaxation and viewing the area, especially the water. This seems to have been appreciated by many locals. It is important to note that the materials for the bench and its construction were courtesy of a local trader who prefers to remain anonymous.
The annual boating day was held on 7 September. The weather was glorious and the event was a considerable success with around 20 visitors. Wildlife including kingfishers were spotted and everyone went away happy. Refreshments were provided by Wendy and Brian Lanman.
A work party was held on 7 September, to clear a fallen willow. This was a bigger job than expected and serves as a warning that we need to inspect regularly and carefully for such occurrences. The kingfishers' nesting hole that we created in a previous year was inspected for signs of nesting activity, but none were found. Nevertheless the hole was cleaned out and we hope may be used in the future.
On 31 January during a period of frosty weather, the hedges along Hinton Hedges Drove were cut back professionally by flail mower. This was long overdue, as the width of the drove had narrowed considerably due to the lack of severe pruning. Consequently the width is now restored and light pruning will now suffice for several years. Inevitably the appearance of the hedges has suffered due to the need to cut back severely, but this will quickly recover with the spring regrowth.
We would like to thank dog owners for their improved concerns and actions in minimising dog fouling, which is appreciated by all, especially the volunteer workers who strive to keep the area tidy and pleasant for all visitors.
As always, we appreciate any constructive comments and suggestions to improve both the water and surrounding areas to improve the enjoyment of all visitors.
Mike Smith
Secretary
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8. CO-OPTION OF TWO PUBLIC REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE POND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Mr Mike Smith who had served as a public representative for many years had stood down and all those present wished to thank him for his hard work and commitment over that time.
Cllr Parr proposed and Cllr G Wilson seconded that Mr Alan Gardner and Mrs Ann Biggs should be elected for the coming year. All those present agreed.
9. PARISH COUNCIL ELECTION 2015
Cllr Lyon advised that, as there had only been twelve candidates the forthcoming Parish Council election would be uncontested and the following councillors would form the new council with effect from 7 th May
2015:
Ian Bayes
Steve Cheetham
Peter Goddard
Mark Hugo
David Lyon
Robert Norman
Julie Parr
Chris Ray
Stuart Smith
Nick Tindall
Gareth Wilson
Pauline Wilson
This leaves one vacant seat and it is expected it will be filled by co-option during June/July.
10. OPEN FORUM
A resident raised the issue of damage caused to the edge of The Green by passing vehicles and Cllr
Lyon advised that he is in contact with County Highways and awaiting prices for two options on how it can be dealt with.
Another resident asked if he could remove some plants growing in the footpath between The Green and
Church Lane and he was advised that he could.
The Clerk will report a “No Parking” pole outside the Arkenstall Car Park, which has become very rusty and unsafe.
A further progress report on Wayman’s Pits was requested and Cllr Lyon advised that reports and a planning application for change of use would hopefully be submitted to the District Council in June/July.
There are plans to lay a woodland path along part of the verge in Station Road leading up to the site to allow pedestrian access and it could possibly be open to the public in the autumn.
The issue of safe crossing places in Station Road being provided by the developers of the new houses on land adjacent to Northumbria Close was raised. Unfortunately when the Inspector granted permission for the development he failed to put in any conditions for this but the Parish Council will keep looking into options to make it safer for pedestrians.
Cllr Norman raised the issue that the Parish Council Annual Walkabout is no longer held and he wondered if the public felt this was a dereliction of duty. Cllr Lyon advised that the decision to stop the
Walkabout had been voted on by the Full Council and the majority agreed it was not necessary because all councillors keep an eye on the parish all year round and report back any problems for action.
Cllr Norman also raised the issue of alleged encroachment at the Recreation Field but this is an ongoing matter that is being dealt with.
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There had been three lots of fly tipping in Ely Way, which had been reported and cleared up. The
PCSOs keep an eye out for any activity of this kind, especially in Grunty Fen, as this seems to be a badly affected area and will report anything they see to Mark Mehaffey the Enforcement Officer at the
District Council.
Cllr Lyon thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 9.00pm advising that refreshments would then be served.
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