On Tuesday 14th September meetings of Cheveley Parish Council and Cheveley Pavilion & Recreation Ground Charity were held in Cheveley Parish Hall. Seven Councillors were in attendance, together with the Clerk, Marilyn Strand, and District and County Councillor Alan Sharp.
District and County Councillor Alan Sharp reported that work on the annual East Cambridgeshire District Council budget for next year had commenced.
A Hybrid planning application for the proposed Bexwell to Bury St Edmunds Pipeline Scheme was considered and the Council decided against making any comments. The Cheveley Neighbourhood Plan should be ready for the consultation process to commence in October.
It was agreed to apply for a Parish Council Debit Card to facilitate the purchase of minor items that could not readily be bought on account. Other administration matters included the adoption of the Model Councillor Code of Conduct 2020, noting of the external audit and agreement of the draft minutes of the Annual Parish meeting. The clerk would attend the SLCC National Conference on 13th and 14tjh October.
The event to mark the opening of the Parish Hall which had been held on Sunday 5th September was extremely successful with a good attendance. Representatives of several organisations were present and had received many indications of interest. The feedback from the public had been very positive. Several bookings of the rooms at the Hall had been received and it was anticipated that these would increase. Anyone wanting further details of the booking procedure should contact the bookings secretary on parishhall@cheveley-pc.gov.uk.
It was agreed that, although animals were not normally allowed in the Hall, an exception could be made to allow dog training classes to be held. This would be reviewed towards the end of the year.
Quotations had been received for the installation of blinds to all windows and these would be fitted as soon as possible. A baby-changing wall unit would be purchased from St Mary’s Church. The extremely high laurel hedge at the rear of the property would be professionally cut back and the cuttings removed.
It was noted that the lease to allow the car park of the Hall to be used by Cheveley Primary School was due for renewal in August 2022 and agreed that Cambridgeshire County Council would be contacted regarding this.
The clerk updated the meeting of a new quotation from a structural surveyor regarding the work needed on the retaining wall shared with the neighbouring property and it was agreed to go ahead with this in order that any necessary remedial work could be carried out.
There was some concern that the management team, formed to run the Hall, now only had two non Parish Council members and efforts would be made to recruit more volunteers. It was also felt essential that the possibility of the Parish Council employing a part time or self-employed person to oversee locking/unlocking for bookings and general maintenance and cleaning before and after bookings should be considered. However some councillors thought that a system allowing organisations to have a unique code in order to access the premises should be used instead. This matter would be reconsidered after discussion with members of the hall management team.
Councillor Fullerton reported that some of the footpaths in the Parish were overgrown in places.
A poppy wreath would be purchased from the Royal British Legion for Remembrance Sunday and a community Christmas tree for the Church.
Work had continued on the Wildflower meadow at the cemetery and the cutting and harrowing of this would be added to the annual grounds maintenance contract.
A meeting of Cheveley Pavilion & Recreation Ground Charity, attended by six councillors, which immediately followed the Parish Council meeting it was reported that DB Security had been instructed to install CCTV in the vicinity of the Pavilion following repeated vandalism problems.
Following interest from Montessori School to lease the pavilion for the provision of a nursery school advice that had been taken clarified that, under the terms of the trust relating to the property, it could not be leased for this purpose.
The next meetings would be held on Tuesday 12th October at 7.30 p.m. in Cheveley Parish Hall. For information on this or any other matter please refer to the website (www.cheveley-pc.gov.uk) or contact the clerk, Mrs Marilyn Strand (clerk@cheveley-pc.gov.uk, Telephone 01638 780835).