A Councillor's Comments - July/August 2004

A new face, behind a beard, is reporting to you this month on the activities of your Town Council. Some of you will know me for my involvement in SACT and the Christmas Lights, which I have helped to organise for the last 12 or so years.
This month's Council meeting had four major topics, of great importance to the community:

1. The Annual Return 2003/2004 on the Council's finances.
This, which includes an internal audit, show that the Council finances are properly run and are sound. The Council approved and it now goes to external audit. Any elector can inspect the Council's accounts

2. The annual report from Cambridge City CCTV system (which includes the Soham cameras).
A total of 4,628 incidents observed lead to 760 arrests. Unfortunately these figures are the total for Cambridge, Ely and Soham and are not given separately for Soham. One complaint was received, from Soham and was, from the recordings, proved unfounded. We are told that Cambridge City welcome visits to the CCTV control, contact Martin Beaumont on 01223 457000 to arrange.

3. The Commons.
The Town Council (who manage the Commons), and the Lord of the Manor (who owns the Commons), have received a report from Cambridgeshire Wild Life Trust on the ecology of Qua and East Fens. The condition is getting much worst, probably due to the lack of grazing in the aftermath of foot and mouth and the depressed state of farming. After centuries of animal husbandry in Soham there are now no cattle in Soham. Another major factor is the poor state of the ponds; this is likely to be caused by the excess of ducks. Much damage has been done to Soham's unique heritage.
A great deal of work is needed to correct this situation, for which the Council has no money. It will be necessary to decide what work needs to be done and where the money will come from.

4. A Public consultation from Cambridgeshire Police Authority.
This is a questionnaire that asks what information the public want to know about the police and how this information should be made available. It also asks about the public's concerns about crime and disorder in the local community and how the public feels about the service from the police. The questionnaire is freely available and Police Authority members will be at a number of events to meet the public. The nearest to Soham is the Pylori on 3rd September 2004.
As usual the police reported the crime statistics for the last month, a total of 53 crimes including 12 assaults, 4 burglaries, 24 thefts and 11 criminal damages.
Informing the public about the Council was also discussed, with many councillors in favour of a booklet to be given to everyone at a cost of up to £2,000 for printing.
The Council has received East Cambridgeshire Strategic Partnership's Strategy, a worthy document full of platitudes, the essence of which is that everyone should work together, I had always thought that all our elected representatives should have been doing just that.

Tony Hinsley
Soham Town Councillor