Our Reporter at the Parish Council Meeting
RAMBLINGS OCCASIONED BY THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING ON 13TH JANUARY 2005.
WALKING through the village can be a source of great pleasure to those who
enjoy collecting waste. It can be litter-pickin’ good so, at the start of a new
year, let us thank those selfless souls who rise briefly from primeval sludge
to scatter their waste on footpaths and verges (some falls on stony ground) for
the benefit of others.
OK, so litter was not on the agenda last night, but on the walk to the Village Hall there’s enough of it to make one think along these lines. Signs at the VH entrance are a reminder too, that we have not won a best-kept village award for a year or two. Maybe the awards don’t exist anymore. Maybe no village comes up to scratch. Mindless vandalism did come up for discussion though – the regular exhibition of physical aggression against the telephone call box and public signs. How one feels for those who can find no better entertainment. What sad and empty lives.
Cambridgeshire education is no longer good. That’s official. It got better; now it’s excellent. Well done, teachers! All your suffering was worthwhile. James Fitch also announced the failed bid for refuges from F1 drivers on Heath Road, but there will be road ‘improvements’ at Cemetery Corner in S Bulbeck and at the Lode/Bottisham crossroads. There may be a few weeks when you must rise earlier to get to work on time, but it will be worthwhile in the end.
Allen Alderson spoke of his concern about membership of the Licensing Committee now that this duty had been removed from responsible people like magistrates to – well, er, ECDC councillors. He is unsure how to wear two hats. My advice is to wear one hat while staying in a pub for an illegal lock-in session. A quick look in the mirror will then show two hats. It really is that simple. We can have a recycling place for plastic bottles here if we can agree a location. Now, put down your hands, and form an orderly queue. Everyone will get a say, but not everyone will get a recycling station next to their home, so some of you will be disappointed. That’s life. Complaints have been received that cardboard is not being removed with waste collection. Of course not, you fools! Cardboard is for composting, and it is collected (if folded neatly) fortnightly together with the glass bottles. Ways of managing rubbish for recycling will be on the agenda at the Village Assembly, so that won’t be time wasted. There are rogue traders about offering to tarmac your drive, guaranteed for 24 hours. That gives them long enough to get over the border before it all falls apart. Don’t waste any time with them. Only ever use someone who can give references.
The favourite stories about Spanish lorry drivers negotiating High Street chicanes formed by ill-considered car parking were retold again, reminding some of the double yellow lines at the Burwell Co-op. But they don’t understand. These lines show where those weak of limb can park, and also the feeble of mind, of course, but there is no sign to make this clear. We would like the new cycle route signs to be rationalised with all the other road signs and, maybe, some could also point out the way to Upware and to Lordship Farm (la Granja del Grandee?). Why don’t the drivers just telephone the farm when they get to the village? ‘I ‘ave arrived ‘ere. Come an’ show me the way’. Hacienda the problem.
‘Enhancement’ here means waiting just a little bit longer for a new lantern over the church gate. When it’s ready, it will be fixed. (Then one more little problem will come up to stop it working). Anyone in favour of candles? Coopers Lane’s status has been clarified once more, yet again, finally. Vehicular access is legal only for the residential properties off High Street, and then only from the High Street end. Even Spanish lorries cannot go there now. Repair work to the Beeches wall may commence (an unnecessarily long word, but the man involved is a Mr Startup) soon.
A body campaigning to protect wildlife habitats from new development planned to cover 25 square miles in 3 counties over the next 20 years seeks donations. Now, Cambridgeshire is 1,175 square miles in total. If 3 counties together are 3,500 square miles, that’s 0.71%, or 0.045 % lost every year. Wow! That’s overwhelming! Donate!
Congratulations Steve! Efforts to bring in the Tigers seem to bearing fruit. A plan of the recreation field has been produced, and the word ‘lawyers’ was used more than once, so now it’s serious. There appears to be no flaw in this cunning getrich- slow plan, and the field will be in use at last. This matter brought up the sorry state of the footpath along Station Road, soon to be pounded by herds of eager young sportspersons. Nature has destroyed the hard surface and encouraged hedges to spread, just as they have in many parts of the village. Where hedges are a nuisance or where they cause obstruction, owners will be invited to put things right. Those slow off the mark will pay for the work to be done by others. Take a look at your own hedges. Some have been steadily encroaching on footpaths for several years, but recent gales have played havoc with many others.
May we wish a very happy new year to both our readers.