24th April 2006                                Back to Index

A meeting of the Parish Council was held in the Village Hall on Monday 24th April 2006 at 8pm.

Apologies.  Miss Sach

Present  Mrs Handley, Mrs Clemmow, Mr Ellis, Miss Hayes,  Mr Bane, Mr Tebbit, Mr White, and, in the Chair, Mr Dalton.   D.Cl. Mrs Heazell and C. Cl. Kindersley also present

Minutes of the meeting held on 13th `March 2006 were agreed and signed

Matters arising from the Minutes

Footpath 13. Ivett's Lane. No change.

2         Footpath 20 gritting The footpath had been gritted, but some grit still remained and could be used in future, when needed.

3.        Recycling Aluminium. No further information about policy on payment available

4         Nixon's Hall Tablet. This had been pieced together and a photograph taken. The tablet was too badly damged to restore, and the cost of a replacement would be investigated.

5        Trees round the mast  These have been planted and the site has been secured.

6        Tailcorn misprint. There was an important misprint in the Report on the Parish .Council in the last Tail Corn (Winter 2006). The section on Affordable Housing should have read:

Although there were NO firm plans at present as to what could be done with the Harlton Road site, points to be noted were…

            It was noted that this error had caused considerable anxiety and a number of misunderstandings

7          Registration of Parish Property. It was agreed that the Village sign area at Pound Drift should be registered. Agreed to make further enquiries about the status of the Allotments and their origin. It was also agreed to check that the Village Hall is already registered.

8          Affordable Housing. It was agreed that the report on the Public Meeting on Affordable Housing held on 18th April should be published on the Village Web-site It listed a number of points which required further research.  At the meeting it had emerged that a third site was in fact available for consideration in Little Eversden.

            This was Watland on the corner of Bucks Lane and Harlton Road.  Mr Ellis, as the owner of this site as well as Low Close (the site on Harlton Road previously considered) declared an interest, but was asked to remain in the meeting as his views and willingness to sell were essential factors in considering the new situation. He pointed out that both sites would be limited to the amount of land needed for a small housing development, and that there was no question that the remainder of the fields would be available for further development in the future. 

It was agreed that it was important in the interests of residents living near the two sites to explore the viability of the sites before taking any further decisions. Both sites presented problems with access.  Cl. Mrs Heazell agreed to arrange a meeting between some members of the Parish Council and the Deputy Head of Planning Gareth Jones and Mrs Denise Lewis, Head of the Strategic Planning Department at SCDC Cambourne so that their advice could be taken on the advantages and disadvantages of all three available sites.  It was hoped that the PC would have some more precise information to help it to reach a decision on which sites to recommend at its next meeting on 5th June.

It was noted that when one of the six affordable houses in Great Eversden High Street had recently become available eight people on SCDC's list had been offered it but had been unable to afford it..  This underlined the need for some houses for rent to be included in any further developments.  At present a shared equity required owners to contribute 50% of the cost and to pay rent on the reminder. A mortgage of £75-80,000  plus the rent on the balance was beyond the means of many young couples. 

9            Finance: The following cheques agreed and signed

                                    CALC Affiliation fee                £195.81            (to be checked)

                                    Cambridge Insitu                £4.11               LGA 1894 S8(K)

                                    Cambridge Insitu                £14.32                         "

                                    Clerk's Salary + expenses            £272.05                      "            (retrospective)

10            Planning Applications

                                    Wheatsheaf Alterations  Approved by SCDC

                                    Hill House Farm, extension            Refused by SCDC

                                    8 High Street Little Eversden,

Two houses to replace existing bungalow  Refused by SCDC

Home Close, Garage refused by SCDC           

                        Tennis Court accepted by SCDC

M Weller 8 Chapel Lane, Extension and Car Port. No comment on Extension, but objection to the car port which appears to come right to the road verge and to restrict access to the field beyond

11        44 Wimpole Road  Questions were asked about a possible change of use to this property. Considerable quantities of heavy material were being delivered to the site and the increase in heavy traffic was a concern. Agreed the chairman should ask the planning Department about this.

12        30 mph speed limit. This had been raised at the Great Eversden Parish Meeting.  Cl. Mrs Heazell reported that she had mentioned the matter to PC Sutton, but had nothing further to say on the matter.  Cl. Kindersley reported that many parishes (like this one) had requested 30 mph speed limits but had been unwilling to accept the infrastructure demanded by the police before this could be accepted.  He was pressing the matter, as he felt strongly that residents should have more influence on traffic management schemes in their area, and that the final decision should not necessarily rest with the police.  He agreed to let the Parish Council know when it would be worthwhile renewing their campaign for a 30 mph limit without unsightly infrastructures.

            He also reported that serious accident figures in Cambridgeshire had been reduced in the past year.

  13       Correspondence. In circulation

  Date of Next Meeting            Monday 5th June 2006 at 8pm in the Village hall