Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on Monday 11th April 2005 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall, Coveney.

Present: Chair, M Duffield, Vice Chair, D Thorogood & V Ingham . Councillors S Thorogood, C Nix, J Mumford and T Maton. District Councillor, B Daters (from 8.10pm). Clerk, H Merrick

7.20-7.30 Open Forum

1.	HEALTH AND SAFETY ANNOUNCEMENT.
	The Health and Safety announcement was read out by the Clerk
2.	APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE.
	Apologies were received from A White. B Daters sent apologies as she had another meeting to attend and would miss the start of the meeting.
3.	MINUTES OF THE MEETING
	held on Monday 14th March 2005 were read, agreed and signed.
4.	MATTERS ARISING.
	Unemptied Litters Bins - The litter bin near the Church was not emptied as it had a broken lock. D Ticker will chase Cleanaway regarding the regular emptying of litter bins.
	Verges in Coveney - A letter has been received answering a query (from January 2004) regarding parking on the verge in School Lane and the verge at Lane Farm. D Thorogood to draft a reply. Clerk to type and send.
	Missing Bridge Railings - P Verbinnen, Cambridgeshire County Council Bridge Maintenance, has inspected the damaged bridge railings. Bridle Bridge is owned by CCC and will be repaired in 2005/06. The other three bridges are not owned by CCC. Clerk has written to Littleport & Downham Internal Drainage Board to find out if they are responsible for maintaining them.
	Flooding , Back Lane, Wardy Hill - Anglian Water is to investigate. V Ingham to chase them.
	Parish Council Papers - M Duffield has an old minute book which she will pass to D Thorogood to take to the County Record Office for archiving. D Thorogood gave Clerk Wardy Hill sewerage plans, tree preservation order and public rights of way map to keep in Parish Council files.
	Grass Verge cutting - The verge cutting in Coveney and Wardy Hill has been carried out to a poor standard. D Thorogood has drafted a letter. Clerk to type and send.
	Camping Close Stile - C Nix has removed some of the barbs from the wire on the stile. One of the planks on the stile is rotting, S Thorogood or C Nix to report it to N Fyfe.
	Youth Club Funding - M Duffield has approached Rob Hassy at Cambs Acre to find out if any funding is available to help towards the cost of the Youth Club. J Mumford reported that the PCC controls a fund which will pay for the Youth Club Village Hall hire. The money in this fund is only to be spent on children in the village.
5.	STREET LIGHTING AND HIGHWAYS
	Nothing reported
6.	REPORTS.
	Neighbourhood/Countryside Watch - S Thorogood reported that there was no reported crime this month until 5th April. Tractor weights were taken from Gravel End. An old-style D reg. metallic blue Range Rover was seen in the area at the time. On the weekend of 9th/10th April seven stack fires occurred in the area.
7.	RUBBISH
	Fly -tipping - Three fridges have been dumped on Long Causeway between Cuckoo Bridge and The Cut corner. Clerk to Contact G Tickner.
8.	CORRESPONDENCE
	Circulation Envelope (March) - The Cambridgeshire Rights of Way Improvement plan was a large document and Councillors questioned whether its production and distribution was a good use of resources.
	Standards Board Case Summary - A letter has been received from the Standards Board for England with the case summary regarding a complaint about M Duffield. The Ethical Standards Officer found that no action needs to be taken.
	Joint Parish Forum - East Cambs District Council and CALC will be running Parish Forums jointly. Questionnaire regarding proposed agenda items completed. Clerk to send.
	Cambridgeshire County Council Surface Dressing - Surface dressing will take place from Mepal Road, Witcham to Park Corner, Coveney in June/July.
	Allianz Cornhill Insurance Renewal - V Ingham to check items insured against Asset Register. Clerk to contact A Smith regarding annual playground independent technical inspection. T Maton to speak to A Smith regarding the time switch for lights in the MUGA.
	Proposed Planning Application, The Shamba, The Causeway - The Occupiers have written to the Parish Council regarding a proposed planning application for a stable block for private use. The Parish Councillors had no objections to the proposed application. Clerk to send letter.
	Risk Assessment - Risk Assessment log distributed for completion by May meeting.
	8.10pm B Daters arrived at meeting.
9.	COVENEY VILLAGE HALL
	Coveney Village Hall Committee have asked for two nominations to join the Committee as Trustees. J Mumford expressed an interest, proposed by C Nix and seconded by V Ingham. The Parish Council decided that they would only put forward one nomination as no other Councillors were able to give the required time commitment.
10.	COVENEY POOR’S LAND TRUST
	The Parish Council agreed to re-appoint three representative Trustees (Mrs ML Duffield, Mr K Sparrow and Mr DJ Thorogood) for a further period of four years, proposed J Mumford, seconded V Ingham.
11.	SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE 19TH APRIL
	M Cooper will take a service of remembrance on 19th April at 11.00am for the Lancaster bomber crew which crashed at Freeman’s Corner. D Thorogood and S Thorogood will attend. M Duffield and V Ingham will attend if work commitments allow.
12.	TRAFALGAR DINNER
	The Parish Council are hosting a Trafalgar Dinner on Saturday 22nd October 2005. S Thorogood has spoken to the Village Hall Committee who have agreed to provide a bar. S Thorogood and T Maton are to provide a three course meal using locally sourced ingredients. The ticket price will be up to £10 per head to include a pre-dinner drink, a glass of wine with the meal and a glass of rum or port for the toast. The dress code will be jacket and tie. J Mumford will do decorations. D Thorogood and N Mumford will do wine.
	On Sunday 23rd October 2005 M Cooper will take a service of remembrance.
13.	VILLAGE POND
	A works party has been organised to attend to the village pond. Parish Councillors to meet on Sunday 17th April at 10-30 am.
14.	EAST CAMBS ENVIRONMENT AND TRANSPORT MEETING 4TH APRIL
	M Duffield was unable to attend the meeting to present the petition regarding parking on Main Street, Wardy Hill. B Daters explained the situation to the committee who were left in no doubt about the lack of support from P Vale. D Thorogood has drafted a letter to the residents of the new houses asking them to refrain from parking on Main Street. Clerk to type. The Parish Council will continue to monitor the situation.
15.	FINANCE
	Financial Reconciliation - End of financial year bank reconciliation will be presented when the bank statements have been received.
	Income - None received.
	Expenditure: 000344 CALC New Clerk Training £ 75.00
	Budget and Actual Spend for 2004/05 - Presented to Councillors.
	Clerk Contract of Employment - Signed by H Merrick and M Duffield.
	New Clerk Training - The Parish Councillors agreed for H Merrick to attend the CALC training course in June.
	Playground Inspections, Health & Safety Workshop - Not needed.
16.	ADMINISTRATION
	Arrangements for Annual Parish Meeting. Clerk to invite M Oliver to speak about Coveney Youth Club. Clerk to invite A Smith, R Dyer, T Illingworth and Louise Border to give reports. M Cooper to be invited by S Thorogood.
17.	DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
	Annual Parish Meeting followed by Annual General Meeting on Monday 9th May 2005 at 7.00pm.
	The meeting closed at 9.10pm.