From our Reporter at the Parish Council Meeting
Before the meeting began there was an air of tension and excitement throughout
the room and this was especially so near our District and County Councillors.
They were very agitated and made remarks like "there ought to be the
means of a general redress" , and, "it was just like an East
European Committee in the 1960's" . I couldn't make out the rest
but there was an obvious grievance felt by both Councillors.
This turned out to be the decision by ECDC Planning Committee (of which David is a member) to approve the contentious bridge over Reach Lode. At a previous meeting Allen had suggested an alternative route which would have saved the £350,000 or so - and the landscape. Most on the Planning Committee appeared to be unfamiliar with the area and did not know exactly where the alternative route ran. Therefore, for this meeting, Allen had produced a four colour map for distribution amongst the Planning Committee members. The Chairman refused to allow the distribution or any discussion of the alternative route saying they were only there to vote on the bridge. Allen was incandescent. The Committee approved the bridge 7 to 2; the two objectors being David Brown and a farmer.
Geoffrey Woollard, who also attended the meeting, gave the impression that all the others were townies in awe of the National Trust and the other august bodies linked with the Fen Vision. And he's probably right. After all it were the townies who banned fox hunting, preferring instead to cull at the den, which eliminated the mothers and the cubs, followed by shooting the males. These activities and road casualties account for the deaths of most foxes. Before the 2004 Act was enforced fox hunting accounted for only about 5% of the overall fox mortality in a year. If I was a fox I know which I would prefer. Give the fox a chance to live I say. David Brown had raised our disquiet about the Quy traffic calming scheme with CCC which said that it had received no comments from any of the neighbouring village parish councils. This was a surprise, though one member doubted whether it is part of the PCs brief to make any comment. Probably it is, especially as PC members have been binding on about it for months, as have villagers, not only here but in Bottisham and Bulbeck. Both David and Allen reported that Quy PC is very happy with the traffic calming, especially now that posts have been added so that you can't slip round the side via the pavement. Perhaps we should become very Gallic and honk our horns every time we are held up. The scheme looks as if it is here to stay.
Geoffrey proposed Paul Latchford, who he had known all his life, as the new parish councillor and this was passed unanimously. He replaces John Jordan who was a breath of fresh air when he joined the PC and, apart from his deliciously quiet humour, he did have the knack of asking the key question during a frothy emotional debate. He will be missed, not least for his revamping of the Annual Village Assembly.
An outside body has submitted a number of possible revisions of the Agenda for consideration. Peter Hart was in favour of taking up the suggestion that, as number 3 on the Agenda, something like "public participation" should be introduced which would allow any member of the public to make a comment on any topic on the agenda, before the meeting began. He thought it important to hear some views before a discussion rather than afterwards. His determination won the day. So keep your eye of the agenda posted on the Village Notice Board.
A substantial part of the meeting was spent discussing trees, footpaths, allotments and dog poos. All of these are very rich subjects for any rural parish council and we shall start with trees, and in particular the Coppice or Multiple Trunk Lime in the Churchyard .
Views are never unanimous. Some people don't like football, cannot stomach lager, etc., etc. But there does appear to be a consensus that people would like to see the clock and tower of St Cyriac's from the High Street. A Petition asking for this from 39 signatories was presented to the Chairman. Geoffrey, with support from Steve, has always opposed the wish to see the church. Geoffrey now has a new ally, the opinion of whom is that because the tower and clock can be seen in the winter there is no need to see it during late Spring, Summer and Autumn. At the meeting this quaint logic was likened to a person who only shops at the week-end and therefore sees no need for any shops being open during the week. Meanwhile Geoffrey was clutching a bit of paper and, glancing at this, he suggested that the matter be deferred for ten years, after which the tree would be rotten and would need to be taken down. No-one took this seriously even though Geoffrey raised it three or four times. Obviously he thought it a spiffing idea.
Of course the problem lies with Kathy White, who is our excellent tree officer and has the final say on the fate of any tree. I learned purely by chance that some time back she had asked a few people their views. I have no idea how many she asked and maybe it was only one or two. But this indicates that she does respect some public opinion. The Parish Council is writing asking her to take note of the Petition. No-one is asking for the tree to be cut down but surely some "management" should be possible. Kathy instead had offered to cut down a "weedy cedar" if the village wished. All at the meeting agreed that this tree was not a problem, everyone felt sorry for the poor tree, and it was decided to keep and foster it. Also during the discussion, the root of the Cedar of Lebanon which runs in and out under St Cyriac's was mentioned. I had shown it to Geoffrey during his churchyard visit and it had really excited him. He carried this excitement to the PC meeting fearing that St. Cyriac's was in danger. The PC did not share this fear, refused to write a letter about it, and Andrew Camps will inform the Churches Conservation Trust. Not many people know about this root and it is certainly worth seeing.
The Scouts have again been busy completing another round of community duties -witness the nicely painted seats in the play area. Steve has replaced the accidentally damaged glass in the Cemetery notice board. Allen was over the moon when reporting that the fly-tipped rubbish had been removed -until Peter told him it was still there on the afternoon of the meeting. Allen was embarrassed and furious and said that they who had misinformed him would receive the lash of his tongue. The problem path behind the school is still a problem. The landowner wrote to say that there was no evidence that the blocked footpath was being used, wondered why the PC was being pestered about it, and suggested people went round by the road. The installation of kissing gates on the pathways from Pulpit Corner to Devil's Dyke was also discussed without an immediate solution.
The four colour report from the Neighbourhood Panel was distributed and now it has got something really important into which it can sink it's teeth. The new subject is DOG POOS. These have suddenly become the flavour of the season. Nine of the Fifteen Parish Councils expressed some interest in DOG POOS. At last this is something really worthy of our Neighbourhood Panel which will have to tread very carefully when dealing with it in depth. I liked the sane comment from Woodditton - "dog fouling is being dealt with by the Parish Council." I wonder how much government money is being given to ECDC to run these NPs. Come on Mr Alderson -you once promised our Editor a defence of NPs and a statement on the monies -we can't wait to read it.
Karen announced that she has now completed 21 of the 24 modules required to become a perfect Parish Clerk. No-one asked if she felt any better for it, though she certainly looked very well.