On Tuesday 8th February meetings of Cheveley Parish Council and Cheveley Pavilion & Recreation Ground Charity were held in Cheveley Parish Hall. All seven Councillors were in attendance, together with District and County Councillor Alan Sharp and several members of the public. It was noted that Richard Fullerton had resigned from the Council since the previous meeting. This meant that there are now four vacancies, two in the North Ward i.e. Newmarket fringe area and two in the South Ward i.e. Cheveley village, to become Parish Councillors. The vacancies have been advertised on Facebook and the Council’s website and posters placed in Parish notice boards. Anyone interested should contact the Clerk, Mrs Marilyn Strand, for further details.
It was reported that Npower Business Solutions (powered by Eon) is now invoicing the Council for street light electricity. The first invoice from them is considerably higher than the usual monthly payment but this is because of a change in the payment calendar. The situation will be monitored over the coming year. The street lighting maintenance contract was renewed for a further 3 year period on 1st February with K&M Lighting Services
Councillor Treanor will attend the Local Highways Initiative Panel Meeting on 21st February to put forward the Council’s application for speed limit reductions on Oak Lane.
The Grant Awarding policy was reviewed and approved by Councillors.
The process to select winners of the awards for Young Volunteer of the Year and also the McCalmont Cup for service to the community would commence and nominations for each of these should be sent to the Clerk by 1st April. The winners would be presented with their awards at the Annual Parish Meeting which will be held at Cheveley Parish Hall on 26th April 2022.
At the Parish Hall the wireless router had been repaired, the fire panel moved and an extra security camera overlooking the main entrance installed. A quotation for the erection of the new notice board to be located close to the front door of the hall was considered and approved. Various small items had been purchased for the kitchen.
Progress had been made with regard to obtaining quotations to undertake the necessary work on the retaining wall between the Parish Hall and the neighbouring property.
The Council were still waiting for a reply from Cambridgeshire County Council regarding future parking arrangements at the Parish Hall.
An enquiry had been made to the Valuation Office to determine whether the Council can apply for a 100% small business rates relief but no reply had yet been received.
It was agreed that an advertisement should be placed at various locations in respect of a vacancy for a cleaner/caretaker to undertake duties in the Parish Hall and the Pavilion. The Council hoped to be able to employ a local person to fill this role.
Speeding issues throughout the Parish were discussed. Ten further sites to place speed signs were being applied for. The Council would like to hear from anyone interested in volunteering to help monitor areas where it was felt speeding was still a problem.
The Jubilee Celebration Group had requested funding of up to £1000 for community celebrations. It was agreed to provide this subject to approval of projects.
Three additional bollards, plus two to replace damaged ones, would be purchased and installed on grass verges in Church Lane.
A meeting of Cheveley Pavilion & Recreation Ground Charity immediately followed the Parish Council meeting. At this it was reported that the trees recently planted in the Recreation Ground have been registered on the Queen’s Green Canopy map. Further tree work had been carried out there on 2nd February.
CCTV had been installed at the Pavilion with cameras positioned to pick up vulnerable areas of the pavilion. It was hoped that this would deter any potential vandalism in the area.
A quotation had been received in respect of recreation Ground wall repairs. It was decided to go ahead with this work.
It was agreed that the cleaning of the pavilion should be added on to the duties of the caretaker/cleaner that the council were hoping to employ. It was also decided that the dishwasher should not be removed from the pavilion.
The next meetings would be held on Tuesday 8th March 2022 at 7.30 p.m. in Cheveley Parish Hall. For information on this or any other matter please refer to the website or contact the clerk, Mrs Marilyn Strand (clerk@cheveley-pc.gov.uk, Telephone 01638 780835.