APOLOGIES – Apologies were received from Cllrs P Flynn, P Cook and W Kohler

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – There were no declarations of interest in agenda items.

MINUTES OF MEETING OF 15 July 2008 - The minutes were agreed and signed as a true record.

Cllr Bates reported that a quotation has been received from Cambridge Fencing.

Cllr Bates has spoken to Martin Sheldrick and letters have been drafted to companies on the site seeking donations.

Cllr Stone reiterated that CCC will not finance this sign.

DW attended the Sawston meeting and was informed that the Police are behind schedule for speed checks. The consensus of opinion was that a community speed watch should be established. DW will circulate notes from the meeting to all Councillors.

Cllr Roberts stated that previous attempts to set up a speed watch in the village had met with very mixed reactions from residents.

Remedial work has been completed.

COUNTY COUNCIL AFFAIRS

Enormous thanks to the parish council and all your residents who have taken part in the campaign.

Review of the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) is already underway, initiated by the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA). Review is to be completed by 2011 and extends the time horizon from 2021 to 2031. As a Section 4(4) authority, Cambridgeshire is statutorily empowered to give advice to EERA.

It could be that Cambridgeshire will be expected to plan for an additional 40,000 dwellings beyond the numbers planned until 2021. But it is too early yet to give any firm numbers.

EERA has already commissioned a survey to consider the broad outlines. The survey is split three ways:

1. New Towns with more than 20,000 dwellings
2. New developments of up to 10,000 dwellings
3. Urban extensions at places such as Haverhill, Royston and possibly Sawston.

Developers are being asked to propose sites and it is likely that Tesco will come back with Hanley Grange under the second category.

The County will be going out to consultation – probably in October. By this time the EERA-commissioned consultants should have reported and developers will have made their representations. Internally the County is likely to create an all-party group to meet in public and propose its own set of options.

Sir David Trippier, Chairman of Cambridgeshire Horizons, has publicly praised the Stop Hanley Grange campaign and the Joint Action Group. All planners are very keen for the Joint Action Group to remain in business. But with the new scenario of consultation rather than out-and-out opposition there is a feeling that the Joint Action Group might like to concentrate at this stage on assessing and presenting options.

The Stop Hanley Grange committee is to meet at the end of the month to round off the first phase of opposition and decide how to keep the Joint Action Group ready for immediate action when the time comes.

The Joint Transport Forum of the County, City and South Cambridgeshire met on Tuesday and Cambridgeshire’s Transport Innovation Fund bid is moving forward. The County has admitted that its original announcements about creation of an independent commission to decide the way forward was "hasty." The proposal has now changed considerably as a result of vocal opposition to what was regarded in some quarters as an attempt to remove any hint of blame from the County Council if it supported an unpopular move.

The Commission is now purely an advisory body. Its exact composition has yet to be established. It will hear evidence from all interested parties. It is clear that any decisions will be taken by the County. The Commission is now expected to report after the County Council elections next May or June, thus taking the heat off the current administration. The idea is that any decisions would be ratified by full council in October 2009.

Meanwhile a number of dead ends have been blocked off:

• It is pretty well established that the status quo will not do.
• The idea of a tax on work place parking would raise little money and would have a number of pernicious effects.
• Additional parking restraints in the city would have no measurable effect.

It is also clear that it will be impossible to deliver Cambridge East on the Marshalls airfield site without the £500million from the Transport Innovation Fund.

The Joint Transport Forum will meet monthly from now on and at last seems to have started concentrating on the major issues of what benefits can be delivered with £500million and the income from whatever congestion charge would be implemented. This seems to be much more positive than previous meetings which I have attended.

The County Council has sent the Parish Council details of the next round of Minor Traffic Management Measures costing less than £15,000 and how to bid for them. As last year, the District Council no longer jointly funds these measures. For the current year the budget was £50,000 for the whole of South Cambridgeshire. The budget for 2009/10 has yet to be set but clearly not many schemes will be approved. I am told that it is likely that footway enhancements will be looked on favourably. As in the past the County is looking to solve problems using its own engineering skills rather than vet oven-ready schemes which parish councils may wish to present.

It is unlikely that any speed limit changes will be agreed while the County continues with its programme of re-assessing all speed limits. The first roads to be re-assessed included the A1307. Preliminary indications show that it is likely that the A505 from Junction 10 of the M11 to the Sawston roundabout will be re-assessed as 50mph.

The opposition at the County is highly critical of the centralized way with which this is being implemented. The Liberal Democrats have proposed a change in policy to make it easier for Parish and Town Councils to reduce speed limits from 40mph to 30mph, and to introduce new speed limits, including 20 mph zones. This is always subject to technical issues being agreed by County officers. Papworth parish council managed to get a 20mph limit imposed in the village centre by paying for the whole scheme themselves but that is regarded as a one off.

At the end of July I attended a speeding seminar in Sawston co-hosted by the police and the County. One of the more interesting things to come out of it was a new scheme called Speedwatch, which could well be interesting for Fowlmere.

Speedwatch centres round a piece of equipment which is installed at the side of the road and clearly indicates to motorists how fast they are going. Volunteers are present and record the number plates of vehicles which are speeding. This information is then passed to the police, who write a letter to the registered keeper of the vehicle. A second contravention results in a visit from the police.

The Speedwatch equipment is not accurate enough to be used to prosecute motorists but it can be used in places where the police are unwilling to set up conventional speed monitoring. Apparently there have already been good results in the Soham area, where Speedwatch has already been implemented.

The next thing is for the County and the Police to decide how much they are prepared to spend on the initiative. Each piece of equipment costs some £3,000 and local residents have to volunteer to be trained in its use. They also have to volunteer to use the equipment regularly. I think we can expect an announcement shortly.

I have been working on a couple of road related queries raised with Councillor Roberts by residents and I believe we have done what we can. I have also made a call in Cassander Close, where there seems to be nothing further that the County can do at the moment. I am still awaiting something positive from the County about making it a condition of planning applications that applicants have to state whether or not they intend to offer roads for adoption. Everyone seems to think it is a good idea but it then gets lost in the bureaucracy. Certainly I haven’t given up."

Cllr Bates stated that temporary measures to improve the road in Jackson’s Way would not be satisfactory and asked Cllr Stone to investigate this matter.

Cllr Stone was advised that visibility in Mill Lane was very poor as the grass had not been cut.

More railway stations were suggested to alleviate the congestion into Cambridge City and proposed for station at Chesterton or the outer circle of Park & Ride sites.

As no points of change have been submitted it was agreed that the Standing Orders will remain as agreed.

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF FOWLMERE PARISH COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE HELD AT THE DOROTHY PLUCK ROOM, ST. MARY’S CHURCH ON TUESDAY, 12 August 2008 at 7.30 pm

PRESENT: Cllr D Roberts Chairman, Planning Committee, Cllr M Bates, Cllr P Flynn, Cllr D Woods, Cllr A Eades, Cllr B Hawkins, Mrs J Fletcher (Clerk)

APOLOGIES: Cllr W Kohler

1. Declarations of interest (if any)

Before discussion Cllr Roberts declared that if an application is later placed before South Cambridgeshire District Council she will approach any new information afresh.

The meeting had no objection to this application on planning grounds and felt the changes made this an acceptable application which will improve the appearance of the building.

The meeting had no objection to this application and believed it will be beneficial to the barn. The meeting requires a renovation and not rebuild and original timbers used where possible. Cladding should be sensitive to the local environment. The meeting will be guided by SCDC regarding bats and other protected wild animals to ensure that all legal requirements are covered.

The meeting had no objection to this application and will be guided by SCDC Tree Officer.

The meeting had no objection to this application and will be guided by SCDC Tree Officer.

Mr Jackson submitted formal notice of application for Scheduled Monument Consent with regard to land at the rear of 3/4 Aldous Court and adjacent to 9 Ryecroft Lane.

This was noted by the meeting.

S/0846/08/F - Hideaway, Lynch Lane – Permission granted

S/0863/08/F - Lynburn, Thriplow Road – Permission granted

S/0938/08/LB - 9 Chapel Lane – Permission granted

S/0971/08/F – 9 Chapel Lane – Permission granted

S/0921/08/F – 6 Champions Close - Permission refused

S/1000/08/F – Redlands, Cambridge Road - Application withdrawn

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF FOWLMERE PARISH COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE HELD AT THE DOROTHY PLUCK ROOM, ST. MARY’S CHURCH ON TUESDAY, 9^th September 2008 at 7.30 PM

APOLOGIES: Cllr D Roberts

1. Declarations of interest (if any) - There were no declarations of interest.

Comments were similar to those for Application S/1303/08/LB.

The meeting had no objection to this application as they believe it will be beneficial to the barn. The meeting requires a renovation and not rebuild and that original timbers are used where possible. Cladding should be sensitive to the local environment.

The meeting will be guided by SCDC regarding bats and protected wild animals to ensure that all legal requirements are covered.

3. Tree Applications - There were no tree applications.

S/1260/08/F - 5 Westfield Road – Permission granted

S/2349/03/CW – Removal of Condition 1

S/1470/05/CW – Variation of Condition 2

S/02182/07/CW – Removal of Condition 1

Email dated 3.9.08 received from Circle Anglia – housing scheme will not proceed.

This will be discussed at the main PC meeting on 16^th September 2008.

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF FOWLMERE PARISH COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE HELD IN THE SCHOOL ROOM, UNITED REFORMED CHURCH on 16th September 2008 at 7.15 PM

APOLOGIES: Cllr P Flynn, Cllr W Kohler

1. Declarations of interest (if any) There were no declarations of interest.

The meeting had no objection to this application as there will be no adverse affect on neighbours. The extension will enhance the visual appearance of the approach to the village.

3. Tree Applications - There were no tree applications.

S/1303/08/LB - Brook Farm, 14 Chapel Lane – Mr R Nolasco – Permission granted.

The meeting agreed that a letter should be sent to SCDC Planning Chairman asking for an explanation as to why the Parish Council comments have been ignored.

SCDC will also be advised of a large badger sett at the back of the field.

Cllr Roberts advised Planning Committee members that when Notices of Approvals were discussed the Conditions under which approval is given should be very carefully noted.

Mike Sugden has asked the PC to re-consider the Long Lane site as an alternative.

Cllr Hawkins suggested the corner of Manor Farm Road be reconsidered.

Cllr Bates will speak to Mr Sheldrick the owner regarding a small development.

The meeting agreed that this purchase was necessary and that a fortnightly lift be requested. Mrs Willis volunteered to move the bin outside the gates for emptying when necessary.

It was noted that the seat needs oiling. Cllr Woods volunteered and will purchase the oil from petty cash.

A neighbouring Parish Council had asked for opinions regarding photographs on memorial headstones.

The PC felt that this was not a problem for Fowlmere as yet, and would review any request on its merits.

TREES, GRASS AND HEDGES

Cllr Woods advised that a tree plan for the village is still awaited. Cllr Bates will speak to Cllr Kohler to progress this.

The owner of 26 Ryecroft Lane had telephoned requesting trees in the Ryecroft Lane ditch next to his garden be trimmed. Cllr Bates will also mention these to Cllr Kohler.

Hardy Landscapes July grass cutting £1165.60

Village Hall Donation remedial work £2500.00

Eon Chapel electricity £ 107.27

Mrs J Fletcher July & August salary £ 809.28

Hardy Landscapes August grass cutting £1165.60

URC Donation to clock £ 100.00

Cambridge Water Water rates £ 42.60

Yvonne Wooldrige had asked for a large tree at the bottom of her garden to be reduced.

Mrs Wooldrige will be advised that work to Round Moat trees will be carried out as one project within the next 6 months.

Cllr Hawkins had been approached by Mrs Selby regarding free double glazing.

Mrs Selby will be advised to contact SCDC.

DR will provide DW with leaflets for over 70s in the village.

Cllr Hawkins had been approached by Mr Davis regarding car parking in Jackson’s Way.

BH will speak to him about this.

Finance Meeting Tuesday, 7^th October 2008

PC Meeting Tuesday, 21^st October 2008

Remembrance Day Sunday, 9^th November 2008

PC Meeting Tuesday, 18^th November 2008

PC Meeting Tuesday, 16^th December 2008