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MINUTES OF LOLWORTH PARISH MEETING
held in Robinson Hall, Lolworth on Tuesday 12th April 2011, at 8.00 pm.
Chairman: G. Corbett Clerk: J.E.F. Houlton Also present: District Councillors Roger Hall & Bunty Waters; County Councillor John Reynolds. 36 parishioners
1. Apologies
Elspeph Raynar, Louise Milbourn, Paul & Diana Jones, Helen Lavey, Malcolm Cunnington, David and Jude Cressey, Frances Bache, Barrie Wenham, Fiona Corbett
2. Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman
Chairman Mr Ged Corbett; proposed by John Houlton, seconded by Nicky Silvester Vice Chairman Mrs Steph Chamberlain; proposed by John Houlton, seconded by Nicky Silvester Both were elected unanimously
The Chairman thanked the previous Chairman, David Cressey, for his sterling work and wished him good luck for the future.
3. Minutes of the meeting held on 16th November 2010 The minutes of the meeting held on 16th November 2010 were tabled and signed as a true record.
4. Matters arising a) BT Telephone box The contract has been signed and exchanged. Derek Hill reported it is a K6 model, dating from King George Vth’s reign. Refurbishment is expected to take around 6 weeks. An official opening to coincide with the launch of the “book exchange” club is anticipated. In the meantime, books and suitable magazines can be left with Jo Archer. Darren Chamberlain was thanked for erecting the shelving within the box.
b) Village website. The Chairman reported www.lolworth.net should be up in the next few weeks. Volunteers to take responsibility for writing the first content, and possibly taking responsibility for keeping them up to date, were requested to contact Martin & Becky Pointon, preferably with their email addresses. Appropriate pictures to create a gallery section are also required. Training sessions are planned for those interested in maintaining the site in May/June. Ed Coe suggested anyone who wanted an email address hosted by the domain Lolworth.net should contact him.
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c) Village Sign Rachel Wood has agreed to provide a draft design.
d) Flooding at High Street opposite Meridian Drive. The new drain discharges water into the ditch on Mr Pemberton’s land and is ineffectual. The drain under the road to discharge the water into Mr Horsford’s ditch was not put in but the work is now scheduled for June 2011.
e) Land Registry. It was agreed not to pursue voluntary registration.
5. Youth Report
Since the autumn, the Junior Club has run several Friday activity evenings at the village hall, and two fund raising events. A stall at the Christmas bazaar raised £77. A sponsored walk to Boxworth and back included a much appreciated visit to the lake at Yarmouth Farm House due to the generosity of the Churcher family. A tea party to celebrate the forthcoming Royal Wedding is planned together with games on the village green.
6. Correspondence a) Street lighting: - further details of the new contract have been advised. b) Bus Service Changes – new arrangements advised. c) Cambridgeshire HCV Exposure - Cambridgeshire County Council is currently reviewing its Heavy Commercial Vehicle strategy, and is consulting with local County, Town and Parish Councils about its future direction. d) NHS Wheel Chair Services - NHS Wheelchair Services are run by local health authorities who are responsible for allocating funds to the Wheelchair Service and Primary Care Trusts - who are responsible for providing the service itself. e) The Localism Bill f) Letter from Graham Milbourn to John Reynolds re slip road to A14: Further to this letter, Graham Milbourn addressed the meeting, explaining that the slip road onto the A14 was 86 yards long, compared with the corresponding slip road from Swavesey which is 230 yards. The difficulty of joining traffic, especially in dark wet conditions remains, and will not be addressed since the A14 upgrade has been postponed. A motion was proposed by Graham Milbourn “Lolworth Parish Meeting records its concerns regarding the dangers of traffic entering the A14 from Robins Lane”, seconded by Jo Archer and agreed unanimously. The Clerk was requested to write to County Councillor John Reynolds on this matter.
7. Funding of All Saints Church It was agreed that the Clerk should investigate the creation of a Charitable Trust to support the fabric of All Saints Church Lolworth. A questionnaire will also be sent to every house in the village to determine the anticipated level of support.
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8. Possible improvements to Robinson Hall There was no support for the construction of a conservatory on the back of the Hall due to the anticipated cost.
9. Planning Applications No meetings of the Planning Subcommittee have been held since the last Parish Meeting.
10. Town Acre Charity Graham Milbourn informed the meeting that Paul Jones had agreed to replace him as a Trustee. Roger Horsford remains as the other Trustee. Following discussion, it was agreed that the distribution of the income from the rent of the allotments was the responsibility of the Trustees. Roger Horsford was thanked for cutting the hedges and the flower meadow.
11. Financial Report The Financial Report was presented by the Chairman, seconded by Gill Coe and approved unanimously.
12. District Councillors’ report District Councillor Roger Hall: SCDC’s government grant has been cut by 15.2%. £700K of efficiency savings are required in addition to the £1.2M already programmed. SCDC is looking into partnership arrangements with other local authorities. Half as much rubbish again has been recycled since the introduction of the blue bin last October. South Cambridgeshire’s unemployment rate is 1.4%, the lowest in the county. South Cambridgeshire was named in the Halifax Quality of Life Survey as the best place to live in eastern England and the fifth best in England & Wales. Statistically, life expectancy is four years more than the national average and earnings per household about 20% higher. The development of Northstowe is vital to cope with the anticipated population growth of the district (153,00 in 2016 and 178,00 in 2031). Currently the number is around 140,000.
District Councillor Bunty Waters: Jean Hunter, SCDC’s new CEO, is happy to address the Parish Meeting, should we wish her to. She has visited the village and met the Clerk.
13. County Councillor’s report John Reynolds provided a written report. Highlights included An extra £4.5M in Government Funding. He explained there would be an emphasis on early intervention to prevent more serious problems at a later date. Boosting rural enterprise by opening up access to the countryside. Freezing of council tax for this year. The Government pledging additional funds for Community Transport. 4
The County Council has received a special grant of £2.7M to repair damaged roads The County Council has assumed responsibility for managing the national concessionary bus pass scheme. In response to a question, he described possible plans for the Bar Hill library in the light of anticipated cuts.
14. Any Other Business Christine Stewart reminded the meeting that the mobile library requires support.
Ed Coe drew the meeting’s attention to the very favourable Ofsted report received by Swavesey Village College, placing it in the top 4% of schools in the country for 11-16 year olds.
Steph Chamberlain suggested using a data projector at the meeting to reduce the amount of paperwork. The Clerk agreed to investigate the possibility.
15. Date of the next meeting Tuesday November 22nd 2011 at 8.00 pm
There being no other business, the meeting closed at 9.30 pm
Signed Date