From our Reporter at the Parish Council Meeting
How fortunate it is I have no civic duties because I failed to attend both the
April and May Parish Council meetings. But this does not mean I do not think
about the PC. For example I remember a phone call last September when Geoffrey
Woollard asked to be met in the Churchyard. As it was not to be at dawn I felt
fairly safe. There we stood in front of the Coppice Lime (a matter now done and
dusted) and Geoffrey confided in me that he did not like to prune trees. In
fact he's a "let `em grow man". I confided in Geoffrey that I did
support some management of trees and that I was particularly upset by the
amount of Ivy being allowed to grow on some trees in the wider area.
Geoffrey appeared to understand and to be sympathetic but in the following months he failed to raise it at a meeting. I waited in vain. Some on the PC will say that Ivy is not its problem, but others, who have previously shown a concern for the environment, may take it up. Perhaps our tree authority member, together with our P3 (or anyone else for that matter), could look around and prepare a short report. I know that some will say that Ivy can offer a home for many insects and nesting birds. It is equally true that if left uncontrolled Ivy can kill a tree as well as creating other problems. So, you tree lovers, help to save some trees.
I was interested to read in last month's "official" PC report the location of the four dog poo bins following a meeting with the Dog Warden. I wonder how these locations match up with David Almond's hot spots. It seems to me that these have been positioned for maximum ease of collection by the ECDC Dog Poo Collection Wagon. There are some who object to money being spent on cleaning up after other people's dogs, and one in particular was so irate he told me he was going to write a "very strong letter" to the Crier. How many times have I heard this threat without anything being sent. It is a fairly safe bet that the letter will never be written. But he does have a point. In the current financial situation is ECDC dog poo collection something we should be spending our rates on? Sandra Ginn raised the same question a few months ago about the cost of hiring consultants by the Cambridgeshire County Council to find out which services we would agree to cut. Why employ consultants?
Perhaps the most profligate example of this is illustrated by the chief executive of Suffolk County Council. She receives £220,000 per annum, plus perks. Hard times are ahead so she is spending £130,000 for three separate consultancies to propose ways of saving (by mistake I initially typed `spending') money. She is also advertising for a new press officer on a salary up to £81,000 because she almost certainly will need one. Is this just sour grapes on my part, or should tax payers be concerned? And, nearer at home, how many wonder at the wasted expenditure by our very own Cambridgeshire County Council every time they drive through Quy. Does anyone know how much that traffic control abomination cost?