LITTLE EVERSDEN PARISH MEETING          Back to Minutes Index

The Little Eversden Annual Parish Meeting was held in The Pavilion on Monday 5^th March 2013 at 8 pm

Mr Clive Dalton, Chairman of the Parish Council, was in the Chair.

Minutes of previous year’s meeting confirmed.

The following reports were received from Representatives.

Recreation Ground

Chairman read a very detailed report on behalf of Mr Blatch.  The report fully outlined the Recreation Ground’s activities for the past year, including the complete verti-drain of the recreation ground.  The improved drainage ensured that no matches were postponed despite snow and rain!  A full report is available on file.

Village Hall

Mr John White gave a full report on the Village Hall activities over the last year.    There have been a lot of successful fundraising events including the jumble sale, the Beer Festival and Ceilidh, the Christmas Fayre and a Race Night with many of the proceeds being split between deserving causes.  Mr White wished to thank all those people involved in the organisation and running of these events.

Gemma Spencer, has joined the Committee, which now has its maximum membership.  Mr White thanked all of them for their contribution.

Village Hall Bookings: There were approx. 215 bookings in the period 6^th March 2012 to 4^th March 2013. Private Bookings numbered 43.  Regular users include The Eversden Players, Vital Sparks Keep-Fit and Children’s Group, Table Tennis Club, 8 O’clock Club, Flower Club, Recreation Ground, Eversden Brass Band, the Eversden Churches both PCC and Friends

Finances: Total of funds in the period 6^th March 2012 to 4^th March 2013 is £11,269.  This healthy position is due to three main factors.  The first is the carry forward of funds raised in the last two years.  The second is the success of The Eversdens Society including membership.  Third is our own fund raising and hiring raising some £2929.   The Nixon Hall Fund as at 30^th September 2011 stood at £8819.45 which figure is not included in the £11269.

Maintenance:  The major maintenance expenditure items other than utility bills and the like were:

v Replacement and painting of Kitchen Door

v Drain Pipe & Gutter unblocking

v Electrical Repairs

Work will shortly start on the electrical distribution boards.  These are being replaced with modern trip switch distribution boards at a cost of around £1000.   

A member of the public asked whether the Village Hall car park could be hardcored.  Mr White replied that we rented car park from SCDC and if the OSP 148 agreement went ahead the car park would  then be resurfaced.

A full report is available on file.

Unknown Donor’s Charity

Mr Ellis reported that there was currently £2170.86 in the fund.  Two donations had been given of £150 and £580 respectively.  The Charity was set up to equip young people with the tools and knowledge to earn a living.    The Charity also benefited from an additional £20 as follows.  The Post Office made out a cheque to the Unknown Donor charity instead of to the named recipient of the money.  As it was a request from the Unknown Donor Charity to the Post Office it didn't make sense - 'they' recognised the error and cancelled that cheque, made out a new one correctly and sent the Charity  £20 by way of apology!

Mr Ellis informed the meeting that two members of Little Eversden Parish Council had been approached to take over the fund; an announcement will be forthcoming shortly.

Village Sign Area

Mr Blatch’s report was read by the chairman.  The area has been mown regularly and now extends along the verge up to the footpath opposite Bucks Lane.  The Beech hedge is in good condition and is due for a cut before spring arrives.   The area and seat has spent most of the winter flooded even though the ditch on the south side of pound drift is running well and not to capacity.  Mr Blatch has been in conversation with the Chairman to ascertain if any drain linking the open ditch on the north side with that on the south exists or is blocked.  If no drain exists we have spoken about using a mole to install one.  If done this should stop the area flooding in the future.  Signs, stones and seat in good condition.

Connexions Bus

A major decision has been taken about whether we can afford to continue with this valuable facility.  The subsidy is being removed in April and unless a sponsor is found, each visit by the bus will cost £240.  The cost for one financial year is thus £7,200.  The Recreation Ground Committee were prepared to fund-raise but felt it would not be enough and asked if the Parish Council would fund the full amount.

It was suggested that, as there was goodwill within the Village, donations could be asked for.  It was agreed to discuss this at the next meeting in more detail. 

At present the Parish Council contributes £2,000 to the bus.  Margaret Tebbitt has done wonderful work for two years in running the 100 Club, but feels that the diminishing returns do not now make the effort worth while.  If the PC were to meet the whole cost, it would add a little over £20.00  per year to the local rates for a Band D property.  The cost per user of the bus is about £20 per person per visit.  The Parish Council would greatly welcome hearing views of villagers on this subject.  For this year it was agreed to pay £6,000 towards the cost.

The timing of the visit to The Eversdens of the Connexions Bus has recently been changed from 7 – 9 pm to 4 – 6 pm.  We have agreed to tryl this timing for the first term to ascertain numbers, however we do have a get-out clause if necessary.

Comberton Village College

Mrs Handley gave a full report on the College over the last year.  Her report covered the recent “outstanding” Ofsted report and, predominantly the College’s size and impact on the recent GSCE results last summer.   Mrs Handley also spoke of the ongoing development and staffing of Cambourne Village College, due to open as part of the Comberton Academy Trust in September 2013.  A full report is available from the Clerk.

Meridian School, Comberton

Glennis Virgo, Headteacher, sent the following report read by the chairman.

Several changes at Meridian this year!  We have two new members of the teaching staff – both have settled brilliantly and are giving the children very good learning experiences.  We are also delighted to have a new after-school and breakfast club on the premises run by Cambridge Kidsclub and which is proving popular and is a great addition to our school.

Parish Council

The chairman informed the meeting that all Parish Council business had been reported in Tail Corn and that it was not proposed to repeat it here. 

A member of the public asked for an update on the footpath to Comberton.  The chairman informed the meeting that St John’s College were still not allowing access.    Mrs Glasse indicated that an article had been printed in the Cambridge News this week with a quotation from Stephen Munday, Principal of CVC regarding safer routes to school for pupils.  Mrs Easey to find and forward article to Mr Dalton as another possible avenue of discussion with St John’s.

District Council

Cllr Page was not present at the meeting so no report given.

County Council

Black Bin Rubbish & the County Council:  All black bin rubbish is taken to the Mechanical & Biological Treatment (MBT) facility at Waterbeach where approximately 112,000 tonnes of waste per year is processed. It incorporates whizz-bang technology to extract recyclable materials from the rubbish.

Whizz-bang is meant quite literally as that is what happened on 18th September to one of the machines and the facility has not been in use since then. You may not be surprised to read “This type of equipment is highly specialist and requires bespoke design and manufacture for AmeyCespa's Waterbeach facility. The time required to undertake the procurement of new equipment will mean that it is s unlikely to start until December 2013.”  While the MBT is not functioning, black bag waste from Cambridgeshire will be landfilled.  A question comes to mind.– WHY WAS THERE NO PLAN B?

Council Tax:  The County Council are currently spending £2m+ a year on the interest payments on borrowing taken out to cover the spiralling costs of the guided bus. The council has borrowed £64.2 million to pay for the project's overrunning costs, and servicing that debt has so far cost the council over £6 million in interest payments.  Under the new Welfare Reform enactment those parties now owning empty or derelict properties will be eligible to pay Council tax. 

Broadband:  Over 24,000 homes and businesses supported the Connecting Cambridgeshire campaign during 2012 - making it the biggest in the country and showing the high demand for better broadband across the county.  Rolling out the new broadband infrastructure will be drawn up and agreed with the supplier as soon as possible after the contract has been signed. The rollout will be announced in phases based on the most cost-effective approach. The target – lest we forget – is 100% of Cambridgeshire able to access ‘basic’ broadband with 90%+ of premises able to access Superfast (24Mbps) by 2015.

Buses:  We do now have a commitment from the County Council that services will not disappear until there is an alternative plan in place. One of the alternatives being Demand Responsive Transport, apparently a large selling point is that the driver helps you with your bags!

The chairman encouraged parishioners to remember the Eversden Car Scheme. 

School Funding:  Turning to a brighter note, it’s good to see that Meridian gets £18k extra funding this year from the Pupil Premium. School budgets are always very tight, with many more demands on them than available cash so it’s nice to see that the Pupil Premium is having a positive impact. 

Cemex:  Following the recent Public Meeting at Barrington and the unanimous opposition to housing, Cemax have withdrawn from holding a consultation exercise in the village. The issue of the quarry has not gone away, however they are currently in negotiations with the Ski Club at Bassingbourn. 

Cllr Kindersley thanked the Parish Council for their ongoing support.

Any Other Business

A member of the public asked if the Parish Council would object to the planting of statement trees, mentioned in the South Cambs Newsletter, from South Cambs District Council for planting in Finches Field.    Chairman will raise at next Parish Council.

Written reports are submitted on file.

Date of next year’s meeting: Monday 3^rd March 2014