|
Present: |
Councillors Mrs RR Aitchison (Chairman), Mr PG Beer, Mr GR Ginn, Mr H Davies, Mr AJA Hinsley, Mr J Kirkham, Mr PS Lane,
Mr CM Palmer and
Mesdames Mrs M Count, Mrs PL Gibbon and Mrs PA Tuite |
|
In Attendance: |
County Councillor Mr J Powley
District Councillors Mr JH Humphreys, Mr CW Fordham, Mr MJ Duckworth and Mr AR Parramint.
PC Kevin Humble, Cambridgeshire Constabulary |
| Apologies: |
Councillors Mrs FE Ross (Vice Chairman), Mrs
ME Dwyer, Mr G Fisher and Mr CK Hempstead |
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99/04 |
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD 10th May 2004
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting be approved and signed as a true
record. |
|
100/04 |
MATTERS ARISING FROM
THE MINUTES.
Policing Strategies (80/04)
PC Kevin Humble reported on crimes committed in the Soham area between 11th
May 2004 and 14th June 2004.
There were 53 incidents reported of these there were 12 assaults, all of
which were domestic related i.e. husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, ex
partners, and relatives of ex partners.
There were 4 burglaries, one of which was a residential distraction
burglary, 1 at licensed premises and 2 sheds entered, one of which the
stolen property was discovered from a neighbouring property, where it had
been left by the thief.
Of the 24 thefts reported 12 were thefts from motor vehicles, three of which
were diesel thefts. There was 1 theft of a motor vehicle, 1 theft of a pedal
cycle, 2 thefts of garden ornaments and 2 thefts of mobile phones.
Eleven criminal damage incidents were reported, 4 of which related to damage
to vehicles and some were related to the domestic assaults.
During this period there were over 700 telephone calls made to the Ely
Police, 185 of which related to the Soham Area.
NOTED copies of the Ely Sector Newsletter and East Cambridgeshire Crime
Prevention and Neighbourhood Watch Panel were received.
NOTED also that during the Summer months members of Cambridgeshire Police
Authority will be present at several local events in order to talk to people
informally, the closest event taking place to Soham will be Saturday, 3rd
July 2004 at the Pymoor Agricultural Show.
Application for Financial Assistance (85/04)
NOTED that a letter of thanks had been received from The Winged Fellowship
Trust, for the Council's contribution towards its funds. |
|
101/04 |
MINUTES OF MEETINGS
OF STANDARD COMMITTEES
RESOLVED that the minutes of the following committees which are printed and
attached to these minutes be confirmed and approved and the recommendations
contained therein be adopted:
Finance & Policy - 10th May 2004
Planning
- 10th May 2004 |
|
102/04 |
PAYMENTS AND
SCHEDULE OF ACCOUNTS - MAY 2004
RESOLVED that the schedule of payments and statement of balances, and
Summary of Income and Expenditure as at 31st May 2004 which are printed and
attached to
these minutes as appendices, be confirmed and approved, and were in
accordance with Council's financial regulations. |
|
103/04 |
FIRE AND RESCUE
SERVICE PRESENTATION
NOTED that this item, originally to be attended by Mr Jon Neish,
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service was postponed until the July 2004
meeting.
NOTED also that the planned 'Environment Day' for Soham has been rescheduled
to take place sometime in September 2004. |
|
104/04 |
ANNUAL RETURN 2003/2004
a) RESOLVED to adopt and accept Final Accounts for the year ended 31st March
2004.
b) RESOLVED to approve the Statement of Accounts as presented in Section 1
of Annual Return.
c) RESOLVED to agree in the affirmative questions 1 to 8 as shown the
Statement of Assurance in Section 2 of the Annual Return.
d) RESOLVED to adopt the Internal Audit report no. 2004/Parish 7 which
stated that the records were found to be well maintained and no errors were
identified.
The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to the Clerk and Assistant Clerk for
maintaining and operating the systems to the standards contained in the
Internal Audit report. |
|
105/04 |
PUBLICITY AND
INFORMATION
After examination of the draft public information booklet it was agreed that
information should also be posted on the Council's website, and that the
working party examine a scaled-down version of the information booklet
already suggested.
Consideration was also given to holding a Saturday morning surgery, between
10am and 12pm on a date to be agreed and the possibility of photographs,
identifying Councillors to be placed on the Town Council Notice Board at the
Pavilion.
RESOLVED that the 'working party' be asked to produce a 'scaled-down'
version, with costings etc. of the alternative versions, and that the
possibility of hiring The ARC for a "surgery" be investigated. |
|
106/04 |
COMMONS
NOTED that a letter had been received from The Wildlife Trust reporting on a
re-survey of East Fen and Qua Fen Common Wildlife Sites. It had suggested
that an ecological management plan would be beneficial to the overall
conservation of the commons.
NOTED also that a meeting with the Lord of the Manor had been achieved and
several misunderstandings between himself and the Town Council had hopefully
been resolved.
RESOLVED that a meeting with the Wildlife Trust, The Lord of the Manor and
the Town Council be arranged to discuss in more detail how to restore some
of the ecological value to the common land. |
|
107/04 |
CCTV SYSTEM ANNUAL REPORT
The Cambridge City Council's CCTV System Annual Report 1st April 2003 to
31st March 2004 was received.
NOTED that the next meeting of the Steering Group to be held at the Ely City
Council Chambers, Market Street, Ely on Thursday, 2nd September 2004 at
10.30am.
RESOLVED that Councillors Mrs PA Tuite and Mr AJA Hinsley be appointed as
Town Council representatives to the CCTV Steering Group to deal with
operational and management matters. |
|
108/04 |
EAST
CAMBRIDGESHIRE'S COMMUNITY STRATEGY
Councillor Mrs PA Tuite gave a short report on the documents produced by the
East Cambridgeshire Strategic Partnership which sets out the strategic aims
of the Community Strategy for East Cambridgeshire, namely:
a) to provide affordable and appropriate housing and related infrastructure.
b) to improve transport and access.
c) to close the skills and education gaps.
d) to improve economic development.
e) to improve accessibility to services especially for disadvantaged groups.
RESOLVED to endorse and support the aims and strategies identified by the
partnership. |
|
109/04 |
FIREWORKS DISPLAY
NOTED that the Council had received a number of positive comments and thanks
for the Family Disco and Fireworks Display following the Carnival on Monday
31st May 2004. |
|
110/04 |
PARISH COUNCILLORS DECLARATIONS OF
INTEREST
NOTED that at the beginning of the new Municipal Year, all Parish
Councillors should be reminded to confirm in writing that their declaration
remains the same for the ensuing year. |
|
111/04 |
OFFICE ACCOMMODATION
FOR ECDC - CONSULTATION WITH PARISH COUNCILS AND PARISH COUNCILLORS.
NOTED that East Cambridgeshire District Council will be consulting with
Parishes, Staff, Public, Users and Partners before a final decision is made
at a special meeting on 30th November 2004. A special Parish Forum will be
held on 18th August to give an opportunity to hear more about the options to
be considered and at which questions and points may be raised. |
|
112/04 |
LAND OFF FOXWOOD
NORTH
NOTED that East Cambridgeshire District Council had asked for the Town
Council's views on a request made to the District Council to sell a small
area of land off Foxwood South, Soham.
RESOLVED that the Town Council have no comments to make in this instance. |
|
113/04 |
PARISH PLANS GUIDELINES
NOTED an updated version of the Parish Plans Guidelines dated April 2004 was
received. |
|
114/04 |
STREET NAMING AND
NUMBERING
Notification of revised street numbering for new dwellings 25a Townsend,
Nos. 1 to 6 St Andrews House, St Andrews Park were received. |
|
115/04 |
TREES
NOTED that East Cambridgeshire District Council had granted permission to
replace a row of Mature Cypress Trees with new native hedge along boundary
at 82 Station Road, Soham. |
|
116/04 |
SOHAM MILLENNIUM WALKS
The Chairman reported that East Cambridgeshire District Council intend to
commission a series of artistic works for the Millennium Walks in Soham in
conjunction with Commissions East and have prepared an artistic brief for
the project. As part of the project the artist will be expected to work with
community focus groups and it is intended that a programme of public
involvement be planned as part of the project. An artist has been chosen
from an initial short list and work is now being undertaken to identify
exact locations. |
|
117/04 |
BROADBAND PROJECT
NOTED that East Cambridgeshire District Council and Trilogy Telecom Limited
have joined forces for a project to make broadband services available on 12
selected exchanges covering over 40 communities in rural East
Cambridgeshire, this will mean that over 97% of households and business in
the area will be able to receive high speed internet access and a total of
13,000 homes that are not currently able to receive broadband from BT will
directly benefit. |
|
118/04 |
CARE AND REPAIR EAST
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
Councillor Mrs PA Tuite declared a non-prejudicial interest in accordance
with paragraph 9.2 of the Code of Conduct.
NOTED that Care & Repair East Cambridgeshire now have a Handy Person Service
in operation for carrying out minor repairs to property.
The service is available to those who are disabled and/or over 60 years of
age living in the East Cambridgeshire Area. As a guide the jobs should be
small (no more than half a day's work), there will be a charge of £5.00 per
hour for labour and clients can either supply the materials themselves or
Care & Repair can order them on the their behalf and re-charge them to the
client. |
|
119/04 |
PAPERS TABLED
CALC - Bulletin, Edition 1, May 2004
Soham Town Forum - Agenda, meeting Thursday, 1 July 2004
Networking East - Issue 5, June 2004
East Cambs & Fenland Forum for Patient Public Involvement in Health -
Annual Report, 2003/2004
Hereward Housing - Home & Away, Issue 8, 2004
Healthy Living - East Cambs. - HLEC News, Issue 8, May 2004
Fens Tourism News - May 2004. |
|
120/04 |
DATE OF NEXT REGULAR
MEETING
NOTED that the next regular meeting of the Council would be held at 7.30pm,
Monday 12th July 2004.. |
