23rd January 2006     Back to Index

A meeting of the Parish Council was held in the Village Hall on Monday 23rd January 2006 at 8pm.

Apologies.  Mrs Clemmow, Mr Tebbit and Cl. Mrs Heazell

Present Miss Sach, Mrs Handley, Mr Ellis, Mr Bane, Mr Blatch, Miss Hayes, Mr White, and, in the Chair, Mr Dalton  C. Cl. Kindersley also present

Minutes of the meeting held on 19th December 2005 were agreed and signed

Matters arising from the Minutes

1                Footpath 13. Ivett's Lane. Nothing further to report

2                   Verge cutting Nothing further to report. Suggestions to be forwarded to the County Council

3                   Emergency Water Supply.. The Chairman had discussed this matter with a member of the Cambridge Water Board. He will have the Eversdens in mind when they plan the next exercise.

4            Footpath 20 gritting. Some gritting had been done, but some grit still remained to be spread

5            Nixon's Hall Tablet. Nothing further to report

6            Affordable Housing. A full response to the Great Eversden petition about affordable housing on OSP 148 had been circulated to members for consideration before the meeting. It was unanimously approved and it was agreed that it should be sent to the petitioners with the addition of a paragraph mentioning the pressure put on Councils to find sites suitable for affordable housing in rural areas.  Cl. Kindersley confirmed that this was indeed the case, and that Housing Associations were being extremely active in trying to meet this need. The Chairman assured the petitioners that there would be opportunities for full discussion once they had had time to assimilate the reply and the facts of the situation were more adequately established.

7            Possible Club. Mr Frank O'Keefe had submitted a full report on his investigation into the club at Toft. Mr White reported that he had spoken to various younger people in the villages and found no one in favour of a club. He outlined the difficulties attached to basing a club in the Village Hall. Mr Bane then spoke of the difficulty of housing a club in the pavilion.  In view of all the problems to be faced in running a club - requirements of a licence, unsuitable premises with no proper security for the storage of alcohol, the size of turnover required, the difficulty of attracting volunteer barmen etc., it was decided that the project would not be viable in the Eversdens.  The Clerk was asked to write to Mr O'Keefe to thank him for his very helpful report.

8            Minerals and waste-siting consultation questionnaire. As reported in item 14 of the Minutes of the 19th December 2005 Meeting, this had been filled in and returned.

9            CEMEX proposals. The Chairman reported that he was in touch with the group of SixteenVillages and was monitoring their web-site.  It was agreed that he would continue to forward any new or relevant material from it to PC members.

            The draft of the Parish Council's statement was agreed, but Cl. Kindersley advised that it should not be sent to anyone until the formal planning application had been lodged. This was expected in early February. There would then be two periods of eight weeks for consultation, to examine the plans and consider objections, then to consider revised plans and further objections. The consultations will be widely publicised.

There had also been some further alterations to the proposals. The tower was now to be 90m above sea level and the chimney 105m.

10            Finance  A cheque for recycling had been received. Mrs Handley proposed and Mr White seconded that it should be transferred to the Recreation Ground as usual. Carried

The following cheques were agreed and signed

Eversden Recreation Ground            (recycling credit)            £197.65  LGA 1972 S14 (27)

            Cambridge Insitu  (photocopying)                                    £24.67    LGA 1894 S8 (K)

L Volans, Salary plus expenses                         £258.30  LGA 1894 S8 (K)

Precept 2006-2007  Mr White proposed and Miss Hayes seconded that the sum of £4000 should be precepted for the coming year. Carried

11        Planning 

21 Harlton Road refused by SCDC

                        8 Bucks Lane approved by SCDC

                        Plot 3 Church Farm approved by SCDC

                       12 Bucks Lane, R Harnwell. Concern expressed at the proportional increase of the extension.

            Rear of Ashtree House, Wimpole Road, Mr and Mrs Jayoussi

Mr White to discuss this with the neighbours and report comments to chairman by 28 January. There was some doubt if planning permission would still be forthcoming for this house, since it was no longer part of an agricultural development.

            Extension Harlton Road, S. Dinsdale and H. Perry. Approved

 

12        Litter Bins Agreed to consider purchase of litter bin at bus stop near surgery

            Correspondence in circulation

Mr Ellis reported that work on the Church wall would be resumed in spring            when the weather was suitable

Cl. Kindersley reported that there was now no hope of setting a 6% increase in Council Tax for the next year. The choice had to be between 4% and 5% either of which would cause most unwelcome cuts in services. Cambridge has the 3rd lowest tax in the country and receives only a small grant from the Government.

A scheme for a federal police force had been proposed, but was unlikely to be accepted by the Home Office.

Next Meetings

Little Eversden Parish Meeting Monday March 6th at 8pm in the Pavilion

Next Meeting            Monday March 13th at 8pm in the Village Hall.