From our Reporter at the Parish Council Meeting
It had been three months since I had last attended a PC meeting. I used some of
that time nudging up to an important member of Burwell Parish Council to find
out how they serve a population of 6,500. It's not easy it appears. For a
start the Burwell PC has 17 members and meets twice a month.
Handling 17 members must at times be a nightmare, and it seems it is often difficult to come to a decision as people often find it impossible to attend every meeting, and then they come in and revise a decision already almost finalised. And as for their Parish Plan -the sentiment was "the longer that remains buried the better."
To return to the point - just imagine our own PC doubled in size -17 of them. One can only shudder!
A further thought made me shudder even more. This was triggered by Anthony Thomas'excellent and sensitive TV programme about the existence of God which he discussed with important representatives from five religions. Our very own Archbishop of Canterbury was asked about his vision of Hell and whether it matched those vibrant graphic medieval representations in stained glass windows and paintings which show pink and light blue devils having the most enormous fun with the naughty people, both male and female, always naked and often with long blond hair, who had missed out on heaven Well no, the Archbishop did not share that view. His idea of Hell was to be shut in for all eternity with his double. So what would it be like if the size of the PC was increased by adding a double of each member of the PC. Picking names out at random, would it be an absolute hell to have two Geoffrey Woollards, two Eric Days, two John Covills etc.on the Parish Council?
Having got rid of that little bit of self-indulgence, what did happen at the last meeting. Well, for a start, the meetings of Swaffham Prior PC are gaining such notoriety that a broader press is attending. We had the pleasure of Pat Kilbey, who is not only a Burwell PC member but is also the Editor of the Burwell Bulletin. She said she had come for some noteworthy news. Good luck to her!
The old favourites continue to arise and for this we must be grateful. A close eye continues to be kept on the arrival of travellers, the clearance of flytipping by ECDC is taking longer than hoped, the public footpath at the back of the school and adjourning Station Road is of constant concern and the Chairman wondered why people do not realise that hedges do not stop growing. Peter Hart, who appears to have taken up the mantle of Footpath Czar, will report back because this public footpath is now impassable. Something really does need to be done. Geoffrey thinks that the bridge on the way to Reach continues to sink and suggested it needed another examination. Being an all-or-nothing man he wants it to be demolished (the industrial archaeologists won't like that). The Chairman said it was often difficult for horses when meeting buses roaring over the bridge. Meeting a bus on that bridge always adds a moment of excitement no matter how you travel.
With the advent of email masses of information is now being pushed through to the Clerk for distribution. It is just so easy to do. You don't even have to lick an envelope. Just bang it out. And as we have more and more quangos, public bodies, agencies, so the more information, questionnaires, can be sent out. If your job is to look into race relations, recycling, road safety, you will create work just to make sure your job is retained. Even better you will try to involve the public in ticking boxes, achieving targets, so that you have to employ more people analysing and at the same time preventing the real work being done, The NHS and Schools already suffer from this and now just ordinary helpful people will be drawn into the new anti-paedophile database which will eventually include up to 11.3 million people. No wonder more than 600,000 public-sector jobs have been added between 1998 and 2007. The latest nonsense is the "Early Years Foundation Stage'(EYFS) which sets out 69 compulsory targets for under fives that must be met by every state and private nursery, preschool and playgroup. Where is it going to stop? Have any of the people thinking up these schemes ever done a real days work?
So, why this tirade? It is because the PC has been sent a questionnaire on our village Infrastructure Plans so that some newly appointed consultants can decide on the District's infrastructure needs for the next 15 or so years. This was treated with scorn by the PC. More details of this "Infrastructure Investment Strategy" will be given in a later report. Meanwhile an announcement by ECDC shows just how advanced Cambridgeshire is, even beating the Chinese who are expected shortly to announce a swine flu nationwide vaccination programme. Cambridgeshire has got in there first with a letter to the PC informing it "that a Multi Agency project team has been formed to plan for the mass vaccination of the population of Cambridgeshire" and they want to know if there are buildings in the village which could be requisitioned for the exercise. So one day we will all be rounded up and made to stand in a long line outside the Village Hall awaiting our jab. .
A Salt/Grit Bin is to be purchased for the village Car Park and after much discussion they settled on a Slim Line Grit Bin. Geoffrey made a reference to Grytpype-Thynne of the Goon Show, but it fell on deaf ears and he could only conclude they were all too young. Though not in the case of Eric because it was revealed that, as Clerk, Karen now earns per hour exactly what Eric earned per annum when he was Clerk. Those who live in the lower part of Lower End are aware of the wonderful restoration by Jonathan Cook of the ancient road sign at the bottom of Rogers Road (who was Roger?).
This has been inspected by CCC man Paul Butcher who revealed that the finger post indicating Rogers Road is 1.9 metres from the ground rather than the statutory minimum 2.2 metres. This is about twelve inches short and therefore cannot be approved. The matter will be discussed with Martin Mead to discover the best solution.
Now to the coppice Lime in the Churchyard which obscures the tower of St Cyriac's from the High Street. While not strictly a coppice it does have four extra trunks coming out of the base so it is not exactly a classic tree and would not have found a place in Constable's pictures. People would like to see more of St Cyriac's tower which is now obscured by this coppice lime. We were once known as Swaffham Two Churches. The Tree Officer (who has previously agreed to pruning the limes down the side of the Village Hall driveway and also to topping the trees on Town Close) refuses to have any trimming work on the churchyard lime because she thinks it will destroy the shape of the tree. Geoffrey thought only one person wanted to see the church. In Open Question Time I denied this and revealed that I had been putting together a village petition to see the tower. I reckoned that about 40 signatories were needed but, having obtained more than 20, I went off the boil even though many people agreed to sign if I tracked them down with the petition. Only 2 people refused - for entirely different reasons. I promised the Chairman that I would complete the petition by the next PC meeting. So knocking on your door I will be, unless you want to knock on mine.
Meanwhile Geoffrey, a very fair and open-minded man, asked to meet me in the churchyard as he had never really looked at the tree and had not realised so many people wished to see St Cyriac's tower. Details of our discussion are not newsworthy, though we both made the point that "a tree, just like hair, grows back" . Prue Hines, who had joined the debate, looked at us, giggled, and said "I'm alright, but I'm not so sure about you two" .