A Councillor's Comments - April 2007

Our April 2007 meeting began with no one taking up the option of "Public Comment Time." So the meeting proceeded with Chairman's Announcements. There was very much an end of term feel to the meeting as the Chairman announced this was the last Council meeting before the Local Parish and District Council Elections on 3rd May 2007 . There were those present who would not be standing again for election and these were thanked by our Chairman for the work and service they had given in their role as Councillors' over a number of years. She also pointed out that the North Ward of Soham had seven seats for election but only six had been nominated leaving one vacancy. Therefore she congratulated those who had submitted their nominations and welcomed them to the new Council. On the other hand in the South Ward there were sixteen nominations for eight seats, which is good for democracy and it will be very interesting to see the outcome.

In the planning report it was noted one councillor had produced a list of possible projects that could be considered in future Section 106 funding. This was questioned and the reason being was that councillors had been asked to consider such possible projects. It was decided that in a future meeting all councillors would have opportunity to submit their own lists of possible projects.

The proposed amendments to the Councils' "Standing Orders," were debated at length and after some discussion and the alteration of some wording these were approved and the amended "Standing Orders" will be presented to the New Council when they convene in May 2007.

We had three requests for financial assistance; One under the banner of Soham Town Forum was asking the Town Council for £500 as part funding for their Quality of Place project which would put in place facilities for the town, which included a portable cinema, notice boards and an information booklet for all Soham households. They had already received funding from five other sources and it is important to obtain matched funding to show local commitment to the scheme. Another was from Soham On-Line www.soham.org.uk which is responsible for running three websites; our community website which serves to promote Soham in many various aspects of the town's life including business, Soham Town Forum website www.forum.soham.org.uk which promotes an array of projects and the Soham Town Council website www.soham-tc.gov.uk which allows the community to see what the council is about and who represents their interest. The third request was for support for the annual reading challenge, this year called "The Big Wild Read," these schemes have been very successful in the past and have helped and involved many of Soham's children and the council was very happy to support them again this year.

We had an item before us about a dispensation for members to take part in a meeting in which they have a prejudicial interest. They are normally excluded from taking part or being present because of their interest. But now if they know in advance of something coming up which puts them in that position they can apply for a dispensation to allow them to take part.

There was an item on the agenda to discuss the reason why permission to use The Walter Gidney Pavilion for a meeting regarding St. Andrew's Church Hall was refused. The decision was made by the town clerk, who, having consulted East Cambridgeshire District Council was considered technically correct in doing so.

An important item on the Commons was discussed. The council has the responsibility of managing the Commons and we have been told that that a scheme needs to be put in place to restore the Commons to a level to which they were once accustomed. There is funding available for us to do this if we comply with certain requirements. The Commons may look rough and ragged to some people but they are unique in themselves and it is important that we preserve and maintain them to the level recommended to us. In connection with all this a survey will be done on the quality of wild life and in particular birds. We have been told that someone may be walking the Commons in the early hours of the morning with binoculars engaged in this task. So if you see this happening don't get alarmed..

Kindest Regards

George Ginn
Soham Town Councilor