Meldreth Parish Council

www.meldreth-pc.org.uk

Meeting of the Parish Council held on Thursday 2nd February 2023

This meeting was held in the Community Room in Elin Way. The main points of the meeting are set out below in the usual summary format. The full formal minutes can be viewed in due course on the website noted above and on the Parish Council notice board; these will be presented for approval at the next Council meeting.

Discussions and Decisions

New Councillor

The Council welcomed Councillor James Mossey to his place after his recent cooption.

District and County reports

The Council thanks our District and County Councillors for their latest Report; this can be seen in Meldreth Matters on pages 31 to 34 and questions and requests for further information on this wide range of subjects can of course be raised directly with our District and County representatives. The repairs to potholes and road/pavement surfaces remain a matter of great concern to the Council and to our District Councillors. Recent discussions between our SCDC councillors and Highways appear to confirm our fears that these works are not likely in the near future, as a result of the very large number of repairs required throughout the district, combined with a shortage of available funding. We will continue to engage with the authorities to press our case for urgent work. In the meantime we urge all residents to take particular care when travelling in the village whether on foot, by car or cycle etc. and to ensure as far as possible that visitors to them are suitably forewarned. Some of these holes appear to be extremely dangerous.

Planning issues

A proposal to develop agricultural land at Fenny Lane farm with nine self-build houses was on the agenda of the SCDC Planning Committee on Wednesday 8th February. A report to that Planning Committee from the SCDC Planning Officers recommends refusal. The Parish Council chair will be making a representation in person at that meeting and will also press the case for refusal. (Please note that we can report that the Planning Application was refused by SCDC Planning Committee)

Mccs

The Warm Space initiative in the Elin Way Community Room is now fully established on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12.00 noon to 3.00pm and is proving popular with local residents. This important resource, which should soon include some hot food as well as hot drinks and simple refreshments, particularly provides a great opportunity to meet and chat with other residents as well as a warm space. The Council thanks our team of volunteers, led by Councillor Helen Meridew, for their commitment and hard work. The Food Bank at the Community Room also provides a valuable facility to the village and, again, we sincerely thank our volunteers who manage this operation and of course all those who contribute food to the inventory.

Recreation Ground and Pavillion

The monthly inspection report on our equipment confirms that most of it is in good order. Some remedial work remains outstanding, including the need to fill holes in the vicinity of the gates into the play area. The usual annual maintenance work is now needed at the Howard Road / Recreation Ground ditch before the frog spawn season.

Village infrastructure

This is an especially busy time of year for our usual contractors. Some of the necessary work has now been completed to repair and/or install equipment and the reminder will be completed as soon as possible.

Traffic issues

At the time of writing we continue to await the announcement from the County about the procedures to process requests for a twenty mph speed limit in local communities. This issue remains under active investigation along with other measures to address questions of safety, particularly with regard to speeding traffic. Residents are asked to report any highways accidents that come to their attention. The very poor condition of many of our roads has been worsened by the recent low temperatures. Highway users who, by reason of these hazards, suffer damage to themselves, or to their modes of transport, are able in certain circumstances to claim compensation and the Council is investigating this.

Village Hall

There is a request from the Village Hall trustees to install a bollard at the rear outside the emergency exit onto the car park, to help prevent an obstruction being caused by parked cars at that spot. The Council supports this important safety measure and will order an appropriate bollard(s) after looking into what is available for this assignment.

Melwood

Councillor Helen Meridew has been appointed as the Council’s representative on the management group of Melwood.

Next Council meeting

Thursday 2nd March 2023 at 7.30 pm at the Elin Way Community Room.