Letters to the Editors
Quiz Night
Dear Editors,
Well done everyone, you helped to raise a record £525 for St. Mary's Church. Thank you for supporting the quiz, we hope you all enjoyed yourselves. Thank you once again to Andrew, our quiz master and to his daughter Emily, who helped to collect the answer papers. A big thank you to the ladies and man in the kitchen, Cate, Shirley, Betty and husband Ron. Also a big thank you to the people who donated raffle prizes and to Pru and Clifton for the hamper yet again. Congratulations to our winners Densa.
To avoid disappointment, we do urge people to book a table in advance as this helps with the catering and setting out of the tables. We hope to see you all at the next quiz which is on the 15th October.
Proposed closure of Newmarket recycling tip
Dear Editors,
Only a government on the verge of insanity would permit closure of recycling facilities, let alone make it necessary to consider doing so. Three-quarters of what goes in my bin goes to Newmarket - plastic, glass, metal, cardboard, light bulbs, batteries, old electrical items. In Switzerland, by contrast, recycling is the citizen's responsibility with bins at the bottom of every road (and if you can't be bothered, expect a fine if recylables turn up in your household bags).
Only Britain would allow this. Cutting recycling is not a saving. It's literally costing the earth to continue consuming and dumping instead of reusing the world's resources. A 20-mile round-trip to Milton, a place I never go, would be more wasteful consumption. I recycle in Newmarket when I'm going there anyway.
Neighbourhood Panels
Dear Editors,
I am leaving ECDC today (Monday, 28th March).
Julie Cornwell is the person to contact about Neighbourhood Panels from here onwards and it would be good if you could confirm your 'copy deadlines' to her, please. ECDC will be represented at the Panel meetings by senior officers, [the excellent] Julie Cornwell (Partnerships Officer) and by Tom Hickson, Dan Schumann, Nick Ball and members of the Democratic Services team - all are very good people and I wish them all the best. Julie will have major responsibility for the Panels and the further development of Panel processes.
Having coordinated and 'driven' the establishment and development of the Panels together with all our partners for the past 3 years, I am disappointed and frustrated that, due to budget cuts, I am unable to continue this work - having been made redundant. However, I am pleased that the Panels are able to continue and that Julie, officers from the partner agencies and you will ensure that our simple effective model continues to inform and engage and deliver local improvement actions, the impact of which impress local residents in the District.
I have enjoyed working with you (as an editor of a parish magazine) and have been gratified by the development of trusting relationships between all the partner agencies. I hope that continued commitment to working in true partnership will continue (as part of the Localism agenda) and that the Panels go on to further fulfil their undoubted potential in an exciting future.
Thanks for all that you have done, all that you do and your future work in informing and supporting the development of your community.
Roger and his Wren and John and his Ivy
Dear Editors,
Roger Connon's careful and sensitive justification of Ivy also admitted "there is no doubting that it [Ivy] can be destructive of trees and built structures." This is the very point John was making in his original letter. He was not advocating the destruction of all Ivy but just that threatening trees. Apart from being a threat it is often very ugly. Does the tiny wren really need so much Ivy? Would the little chap occasionally think of using a hedge or a conifer?
Roger's argument could also be used for preserving all Nettles. Nettles offer exclusive larval food for the Peacock Butterfly and the Small Tortoiseshell as well for a multitude of moths including the Mouse Moth and the popular Grey Pug. Does this mean we should allow our gardens to become overgrown with Nettles? Of course not. Man has always needed to and will always need to attempt to restrain some of the exuberance of nature.
But Roger need fear not. There was a very limited response to the invitation to become part of the exclusive Ivy Club, and there still remain plenty of vacancies for new members.
Jason Webster
Dear Editors,
A very big Thank You' to both those who came to Jason's talk at Topping's bookshop in Ely, and those who, unable to attend, requested I obtain copies of his book for them. It was a very successful evening and your support was much appreciated.
Heath Road Site Costs
Dear Editors,
It seems ages ago that a Meeting was held in the Village Hall to discuss East Cambridgeshire District Councils (ECDC) Consultation Documents regarding the Local Development Plan, a section of which proposed 6 extended pitches for Gypsy and Travelling Showpeople on Heath Road. As you are aware the response from Swaffham Prior was absolutely amazing, resulting in the proposal being withdrawn at the ECDC Strategic Development Meeting on the 9th November. In addition a proposal was tabled and carried for there to be no development of this kind in Swaffham Prior in the future due to the level of response and public feeling. Having attended subsequent Meetings to ensure the Minutes were adopted, it's now possible for the Committee to draw a line under the exercise and the expenditure incurred. An incredible amount of effort went in to the overall campaign and many costs were covered by individuals and/or their Company's but there is the inevitable shortfall, that being £3,486.19. By far the largest is the cost of the Legal Advisor at £2,937.50 and with the short time scale given for the Consultation Period we also needed to use third parties, for leaflet printing and signage.
At and following the Village Meeting a number of Villagers and Residents / Businesses of Heath Road offered support in the form of a contribution to a 'war chest'. With Heath Road Residents & Businesses having the most to loose and now gain, the Committee approached them in the first instance. Pledges have been identified covering over 62%, leaving just £1,325.00 of the outstanding expenditure from those Swaffham Prior Residents who offered their financial help. For those Villagers now willing to make a contribution, please send me a reply so I can discuss further details with you.
Dr E. A. R. Ennion
Dear Editors,
In October I will be publishing Bird Man's River, the book Eric Ennion wrote in the late 1930's when he was a doctor at Burwell. It recounts his pre-war birdwatching adventures: in Burwell Fen and the Brecks, elsewhere in Britain, and in Holland and Iceland.
In addition to the illustrations which Eric Ennion prepared specially for the book, I am including a selection of his 1930's watercolours and other drawings, many of which have never been published before. If anyone owns a painting or drawing by Eric Ennion which they would be willing to have reproduced in the book, I would be delighted to hear from them. Dr Ennion tried several times to have Bird Man's River published during his lifetime and it was a great disappointment that this was not possible. I am keen to make it a worthy tribute to him. I am also working on a book covering his whole life and work. If anyone has any memories from the Burwell years, again I would be delighted to hear from them.
I can be contacted via the website www.ericennion.com where there is more information about the project.
Lode Traffic Lights
Dear Editors
We are disappointed with your Parish Council Reports which criticise the new traffic lights at the Lode crossroads. All Lode residents wanted these as there are times when people have to wait a few minutes to cross the road. The fact that they are rarely used does not decrease their value. We are a proud village, we are an increasingly green village, and these traffic lights are a symbol of our conviction. We do not need offensive remarks from an obviously over-churched village.
ECDC LETS US DOWN
Dear Editors,
It has just come to light that Suffolk asked ECDC if it would make a contribution towards keeping open the Newmarket Tip which is due to close in early May. ECDC SAID NO.
This tip is a vital resource for Burwell. Reach, the Swaffhams, Bottisham etc including all ECDC villages south of Soham. Yet ECDC, with so much of its development money focussed on Ely, only offers us Grunty Fen. Is this what we pay our rates for? Is this what we expect from our elected councillors?
At the time of writing Allen Alderson was unaware of the ECDC refusal and will be asking questions. Time unfortunately is too short for us to ask questions of the candidates in the forthcoming district elections. But memories will be long on this particular issue as we put out more waste to be collected from the kerbside or make a long drive to dispose of rubbish.
For far too long ECDC has been able to duck the need for a tip for people living south of Soham because of Suffolk's Newmarket Tip. To have replied positively to Suffolk's request would have provided a solution on the cheap. Do we no longer matter?