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MINUTES OF LOLWORTH PARISH MEETING held in Robinson Hall, Lolworth on Thursday 11th April 2013, at 8.00 pm.

Chairman: G. Corbett Clerk: J.E.F. Houlton Also present: District Councillors Bunty Waters and Roger Hall; County Councillor John Reynolds. 23 parishioners

1. Apologies

Paul and Diana Jones, Helen Lavey, Fiona Corbett, David Chivers, Dorothy Fisher, Eric & Jen Wakefield, Frances Bache, Luanne Hill, Tom Rix, Pat & Ray Hampton

2. Welcome to Newcomers

Rhianne Chamberlain

3. Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman

Chairman; Ged Corbett Vice Chairman; Steph Chamberlain

Proposed by Louise Milbourn Seconded by Carol Churcher Unanimously elected

4. Minutes of the previous Meeting held on 13th November 2012

The minutes of the meeting held on 13th Novemberl 2012 were signed as a true record.

5. Matters arising

a) Village Sign The completed sign was viewed by the meeting. Thanks were expressed to Tom Rix who had donated the unpainted sign and who has offered to provide a substantial post on which to mount it. It is hoped to unveil it officially at the village show on August 3rd.

b) Second seat on the village green The previously purchased seat proved to be unsuitable for renovation. The cost of its purchase was refunded and a recycled plastic bench had been obtained for £84. Thanks were expressed to Ged Corbett for organising this and for cementing it in place adjacent to the play area.

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c) Parish Plan The Clerk reported he had constructed a questionnaire as the first part of the Parish Plan. The next stage would be for cross section of the village to form a small group to progress the plan. The following volunteered: Rhianne Chamberlain, Carol Churcher, Sigi Disley and Becky Pointon (in absentia)

d) Robinson Hall refurbishment The Clerk advised the meeting that the kitchen project had now been completed. The total cost including removal/repointing of the chimneys was approx.£7K with donations, including the section 106 agreement from the Coe’s development of approx. £5K. The balance came from the Hall reserves.

e) Millennium footpath to Bar Hill Bryon Bache had written to Cllr. Reynolds about possible funding to resurface the path with road planings. Cllr. Reynolds reported obtaining such planings was more difficult than previously since many were re-cycled. Further sources would be investigated. Bryon Bache will liaise with Robert Pearson who confirmed his previous offer of assisting with the spreading of the planings.

f) Robins Lane County Cllr. John Reynolds reported he had met with the District Surveyor who had agreed the Council would repair the broken drains in Robin’s Lane once the current multiple building projects in the village were completed. The Clerk reported he had received numerous complaints over the state of the road and the amount of mud deposited by builders, including a written complaint by Tom Rix. Various comments were made as to which large vehicles, including the school bus, were responsible for the degradation of the verges. Cllr. Reynolds stated supporting evidence was required before action could be taken.

g) Gate at the end of Church Lane. Eric Wakefield met with Cllr. Reynolds and Peter Gaskin, Public Rights of Way Officer for CCC on 25/02/2013. Subsequently, Eric has obtained three quotes for the replacement of the 10’ field gate and the 3’side gate plus hanging posts. It was proposed to replace them if the project could be completed within a budget of £400. For - 22 Against - 1 Abstention – none

h) Garden of 6 Robins Lane Although there has been some improvement, rubbish and canine faeces still remain and Cllr. Waters agreed to monitor the situation.

i) Childerley footpath Following correspondence with Peter Gaskin, the likely solution will be for SCDC to fund Robert Pearson to flail the hedges in the autumn. 3

6. Junior Club The children had 2 club nights before Christmas, making Christmas wreaths in November and decorating the Christmas tree and party games in December.

In March some of the children helped plant apple, plum and pear trees around the wild flower meadow to create a community orchard. The Junior club is planned for monthly Friday meetings during summer term where themes may be based around village show entries – for example providing the children with plant and pot to look after and enter for a show class*. The possibility of creating a “bug house” and reinstating the apple pressing day that was so successful in 2011 is being explored. Dates for the annual events such as the summer party and spooky walk will be confirmed and circulated later in the year.

Thanks were expressed to all those that have helped and supported ther events over the past year.

* If there are any children that will not be attending Junior Club but would like to enter the plant in a pot class (for example grandchildren of villagers), contact Diana Jones or Fiona Corbett and plant/pot will be provided.

7. Correspondence

Camb. County Council - Robins Lane - Gate at the end of the Church path

South Cambs District Council - Garden of 6 Robins Lane - Millennium footpath

8. Tree Officer’s report Carol Churcher reported the communal orchard had been planted in March with the assistance of a number of adults and children from the village. The trees had been protected with stakes and chicken wire and photographic evidence of their growth will be undertaken. Carol was thanked for her on-going support.

9. Planning Applications The Planning Subcommittee met on March 11th 2013 to consider

S/0265/13/FL Erection of garage and store following demolition of existing Summer Hill, Robins Lane, Lolworth, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB23 8HH The application was recommended and has subsequently been approved.

10. Town Acre Charity No report 4

11. Financial Report The Financial Report was presented by the Chairman. Adoption was proposed by Michael Fisher, seconded by Carol Churcher and approved unanimously. The Chairman thanked the following for providing their services pro bono:  Derek Hill for refurbishing the BT phone box  Darren Chamberlain, Brian Holyoak, Yvonne Nelson and Paul Silvester for grass cutting  Michael Fisher for acting as Internal Auditor  John Houlton for acting as Clerk  Martin Pointon for hosting the village website

12. District Councillors’ report District Cllr. Bunty Waters reported she had investigated the proliferation of signs at the Swavesey Garage and retrospective planning agreement will be required for advertisements placed in fields.

District Cllr. Roger Hall highlighted a number of issues including:

- The Council agreed to increase its basic (Band D) Council Tax by £5.00 a year (4.3% to £120.46). A proposal to freeze Council Tax would have meant running down reserves to an unsustainable level. The Council Tax increase has been matched by reduction in Council expenditure of about £87,000. Unfortunately, some of these savings have resulted in reduced funding for the arts development budget and donations to village projects.

- The Government has asked councils in the area to contribute towards the upgrading of the A14. This in the case of SCDC will be about £5 million.

- The Council has continued to provide support for local business, both for start-up and existing businesses through practical workshops led by experts and the South Cambs. Business Support Scheme which has, so far, helped about 70 businesses.

- The on-going failure of the Mechanical Bioplant at Waterbeach has resulted in rubbish, which should have been processed by the plant, going into landfill. Residents are being urged to ensure that as much of their waste is recycled by placing only that which cannot be recycled in the black bin.

- Over 1,000 people attended events across the district to talk to planning officers about new development proposals contained in the new Local Plan and revisions to policies for deciding planning applications. Current thinking is that very little land (space 5

for about 1,000 houses) will be taken out of the Cambridge Green Belt, most sites being on the edge of and in villages. Future consultation will include specific site options, revisions to village frameworks and designations to protect village character.

- Locally, the archaeological excavations on the site of the Domino expansion at Bar Hill have now been completed (a few bronze-age artefacts having been found). No date has been yet fixed for the development to begin.

- A new, more interactive, website has been introduced. Residents can now resolve more issues and make payments without the need for telephone calls or emails.

13. County Councillor’s report County Cllr. John Reynolds provided a written report highlighting

- The Council has continued to reduce costs, reorganise services and reduce manpower in all areas of activity. However as income falls, the demand for service increases with the greater population, more school children, more disabled and the ever increasing demands to care for the elderly. The only growth area is the care for the elderly, which now accounts for around 46% of the revenue budget and will grow year on year. The major reductions have been in the Environment, Transport and Economy department. A saving of £37M is required this year, and financial stringency is anticipated for another 5 years.

- The County Council, along with other local authorities, continues to lobby Government for action on the A14. The Highways Agency has announced that a scheme will be completed next year which will see a new third lane run from the Histon interchange westbound and join directly onto the M11 slip-road. Eastbound a new lane will run directly from the A14/ M11 interchange and link to the Histon. Work is anticipated to start at the end of this year and should be completed within 18 months.

- Changes to immigration rules, put forward as part of the Greater Cambridge City Deal Bid, have been included in Government proposals to help businesses and retain high skilled international students. The architects of the City Deal Bid have welcomed the news that Government will be making changes to rules which will encourage the brightest and best global talent to come to the UK to study, work, invest and set up business.

- Plans to improve mobile coverage across Cambridgeshire are being backed by the County Council which wants to see the mobile voice and data infrastructure improved. This will complement the roll-out of better broadband being delivered through the Connecting Cambridgeshire programme. The broadband contract has been signed with BT. Further details of where work commences are anticipated by the end of May.

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14. Any other Business

a) Derek Hill reported he will attend a Broadband Champions meeting following the signing of the BT contract. Although Lolworth recorded the 6th highest interest in the County Council’s campaign to bring Superfast Broadband to villages, the small number of inhabitants will be a disincentive.

b) Jo Archer thanked Derek Hill for completing the shelving in the previous BT phone box.

15. Date of the next meeting Thursday November 14th 2013 at 8.00 pm

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 9.25 pm

Signed Date