25^th February 2008                                               Back to Minutes Index

A meeting of the Parish Council was held in the Village Hall on Monday 25^th February 2008 at 8pm.

Apologies from Mrs Clemmow, Mr Tebbit and Cl. Kindersley.

Present Miss Sach, Mrs Handley, Mr Ellis, Mr White, Mr Blatch Mrs Pritchard, Ms Hayes and, in the Chair, Mr Dalton. Cl. Mrs Heazell was also present.

Minutes of the meeting held on 14^th January 2008 were received and signed .

Matters arising from the Minutes

1. Nixon's Hall Tablet. The Chairman reported he had this in hand.

2          2. Land Registration of Parish Property.  This is also in hand. The Chairman agreed to press for completion.

3          3. Hedge cutting  The County Council had requested the owners to cut the hedges on the west side of Lowfields and the one between the Hoops and Clunch House, Great Eversden. They have stated that they will do the job and charge the owners if they do not

4          4. Collection of Bins in Church Lane. It is understood that this is an unadopted road and thus Nos 8-12 do not qualify for collection outside their doors. Mrs Heazell reported on a letter she had had from the SCDC which was full of factual errors.  She agreed to discuss the matter further with the relevant officer.

5          5. Cl Heazell gave her report at this time to enable her to leave the meeting early. She mentioned that SCDC had recently had another inspection by the audit commission.  She stressed the importance of the Scrutiny Committees which were held in different villages and allowed the public to question members. She also reported that the doorstep collection of certain plastic bottles had been agreed without consultation or research.  Collection would cost £1 million over two years and would take only bottles in classes 1,2 and 3.

6          6. Road at St Helen's Transfer.  This is in the hands of the solicitors

7          7. Standing Orders.  This is being considered by the Chairman and Mr White

6          8. Windfarm  Gt Eversden.  Flyers informing residents of this proposal will be included with all copies of Tailcorn when it is issued next week.  This will gilve everyone the opportunity to study the proposal and pass their comments to Mr White

9          9. Tennis Club. The Tennis Club had proposed to close itself down and to transfer its funds to the Parish Council.  It was pointed out that this was ultra vires and could not be accepted.  It was suggested by the Chairman of the PC to the Tennis Club that they finish constituting themselves as a charity and then invest the money with the Charities Official Investment Fund pending further developments.

10        10. Police Liaison.  The Chairman reported that he had attended the meeting. It was clear that police speed checks are useless, because they can only be carried out in places where they are clearly visible. The police do not take speeding complaints seriously enough since  B and C roads are not a priority.

11. Village Plan  Mr White reported that there had been two meetings of the Steering Group.  Progress was made and a set of suitable questions was being prepared.  The questionnaire will probably go out in September/October, so avoiding the school holidays.  There were also plans for a Village Open Day with and exhibition of photographs of the villages, suggested plans and other ideas.

12       12. Affordable Housing.  The chairman reported that a meeting of the Housing sub-committee had been held.  It is understood that the sale of land in Low Close, Harlton Road had at last been finalised and contract exchanged.  It would now be possible for the Housing Association to apply for planning permission.

            A layout of the proposed development in OSP 148 was received and passed round members.  It was agreed that the immediate neighbours should be consulted about the proposal before the plans were finally accepted.  Discussion took place with members of the public about the procedures adopted by the Parish Council.

13        13. No 58 Harlton Road.  Cars parking on the verge and dog waste.  It was agreed to ask the Highways Dept. to consider erecting more posts along the verge.

14        14. Oil Leak  Smell of oil in ditch behind Finch's Field.  This has already been reported to Environmental Health and would be dealt with by them.

15        15. Finance. 

Further refund on Recreation Ground Insurance of £70 is still awaited.

The following cheque paid from the ££1500 grant received for the Village Plan project and held by the Parish Council

To Mr E.J.White                                            £100.00

(£75 for Village Appraisal Software from the University of Gloucester

and £25 towards petty cash expenses to be accounted for later)

16. Planning

            Mr and Mrs Gutsell, 4 Lowfields. Part demolition and rebuild  No comment (PC)

            E and J Wood Gt Eversden. Garden Shed.  No recommendation (PC)

Mr and Mrs Hobbs Chapel Road,  Extension demolition of Garage. Approve (PC)

but with comment to protect Village Hall access.

17. Report in Writing from Cl. Kindersley.  The Chairman outlined the matters raise, including the anxieties raised by the imposition of the Congestion Charge when not enough was being done to improve public transport both within Cambridge and outside it. Copies of the full report can be supplied, if requested.

18. Mr White spoke to Cl. Heazell about a problem with a sycamore tree near the Village Hall, which is thought to be the property of SCDC.  It needed attention to prevent it dropping its leaves into the gutters of the Village Hall and blocking them.  It had already dropped a branch, damaging the Hall and resulting in an insurance claim. Mrs Heazell recommended he contact Miss Richardson the Tree Officer of SCDC.

19. Correspondence.  In circulation.

            Date of Next Meeting    Monday 14^th April 2008 at 8pm in the Village Hall

Parish Meeting Reminders     LittleEversden  Monday 3^rd March

                                                            Great Eversden Monday 7^th April

Appendix to the minutes

Mr Pritchard, a member of the public asked that the housing Committee adhere to a request from the floor that they will publish minutes of their meetings which have taken place and minutes of future meetings and correspondence.

Dr Axon, another member of the public, questioned the Parish Council's perception of the Public Meeting held on 18^th April 2006.  He said that he wished to see the minutes.

Mr White  has provided the following brief note, based on the minutes, which can be viewed on request to the Chairman at The Old School, Little Eversden

Prior to the Public Meeting on Affordable Housing held in the Village Hall on 18th April 2006, a leaflet was distributed announcing the meeting and giving an opportunity to those unable to attend to express their views.  Far from a majority expressing "overwhelming" support against OSP 148, there were 32 in favour with 15 against, out of 47 households responding i.e. 2 to 1 in favour of OSP 148.  Of the Great Eversden households expressing an opinion, there were 12 in favour and 7 against.  Incidentally there were 34 in favour of Low Close with 13 against with Little Eversden households being 19 in favour with 9 against.

At that meeting itself, the recollection by Dr Axon that a large majority was against OSP 148 is not the recollection of others who attended and is indeed not reported in the minutes of that meeting.

The PC minutes of 24th April 2006 are explicit in stating that further meeting(s) to explore the viability of both sites were necessary before taking any further decisions and these would be arranged with SCDC Planning officials.

PC minutes of 5th June 2006 stated that Cllr Handley reported on a meeting with SCDC planning officials and the outcome of that meeting and that a meeting with Highways was now necessary to have their view on the access to sites and objections they might have.

PC minutes of 6th October 2006 record that a full discussion took place on Affordable Housing, the views expressed by Highways, the comments by Cllr Ellis regarding his preference for development in Little Eversden.

PC minutes of 27th November 2006 further reported on Affordable Housing and meetings held and to be arranged with SCDC.

Not much happened throughout 2007; plans were awaited from Nene Housing for both sites, Low Close eventually arrived but progress on the sale of the site had been delayed.

Unconfirmed Minutes
GREAT AND LITTLE EVERSDEN PARISH COUNCIL