Annual Report of the Comberton Parish Council 2005-2006 Part One

Chairman’s report (Chris Westgarth)

The last year has been a productive time for the Parish Council – but sometimes the bureaucratic wheels move incredibly slowly.

During the year there have been ongoing discussions with the district and county councils, concerning street lighting and traffic calming measures. At present the Parish Council believes that these calming measures are ineffective and are not what was planned or agreed.

At the last APM – I said that this year would be the time when dreams and lengthy projects would be fulfilled – So what has happened this year…Watts wood (the village nature area off Herringfield Drift) is now in the ownership and management of the Parish Council. The new village hall is well on the way to completion and the project working group and trustees continue to work tirelessly for the community.

And the purchase of the land to the north of the present recreation ground is progressing…a project that was first discussed way back in 1927!

The village is also about to get some new footpaths, a mixture of definitive and permissive paths to link up with the existing network.

A new rustic bus shelter was designed and constructed on West Street and is proving to be extremely beneficial for local residents during inclement weather.

The annual Christmas Lights event took place in December and again was well supported. (And a Picnic in the Park music event is planned for 2^nd of September, so put that date in the diary – this will truly be an event for the whole community – as with previous events it will be free – just turn up with your chairs and picnic – there will this year be a bucket collection for the New Village Hall).

The Village Design Statement is fast approaching completion and just needs a few minor tweaks. The aim is that this will be adopted as supplementary planning guidance for South Cambridgeshire District Council.

The Connections youth bus continues to visit on a Tuesday and is well received by the youth of the village. The long term aim is still to provide a more permanent youth facility in the village and work is progressing on this.

Over the year there have been some changes to the council membership – Dr Francine Hughes who was so actively involved in youth facilities reluctantly resigned due to work commitments. She is however still involved in the youth working group. In Francine’s place we welcomed Dr Brian Burton who served for a short time, working tirelessly as a Parish Council representative on the Village Institute trustees.

Reluctantly Mark Bennett resigned his position on the council, due to the increasing amount of time Mark was working overseas. The council and the village are indebted to Mark for his energy and enthusiasm in developing the parish plan and the tremendous amount that has been achieved to date. David Coulson and David Ellis have since replaced Mark and Brian on the Parish Council.

Again this year I am indebted to my fellow councillors, parishioners who serve on committees and working groups and to Gail Stoehr our meticulous and diligent clerk- The work of the Parish Council really is a team effort –Thank you

Financial Overseer’s Report (Charles Chambers)

The Parish Council employs the clerk as its Responsible Financial Officer to carry out the day to day administration, to prepare and present the annual accounts for audit and prepare an annual budget, based on members suggestions for consideration and adoption by the Parish Council. The role of the financial overseer is to verify that suitable procedures exist and are being followed as part of the day to day administration, in order to mitigate financial risk. The ultimate responsibility for the Council’s accounts, assets and risk assessment rests corporately with the Parish Council.

The half years internal audit was performed in December 2005 and no issues were identified in the figures or processes used to handle the parish’s finances. The annual return for the year 2005/6 was approved at the May 2006 parish meeting. An external audit is arranged for June 2006. The Parish Council intend to apply for Quality Council status after the next Parish Council elections - it is anticipated that the financial procedures followed will not require any modification to achieve this.

Two major projects (the New Village Hall and the recreation ground extension) have been agreed in the last year. These both pose a substantial financial liability to the Parish over the next few years in order to repay loans for this investment in Parish assets.

To secure village assets for the future, village land is being registered with the land registry. One asset added in 2005/6 is Watts Wood, which the parish was delighted to acquire this for the village for the price of £1.

Copies of the Council’s accounts, internal financial controls and risk assessment policy are able to be viewed by arrangement with the Clerk.

Lastly thanks to Pauline Wright for performing the internal audit and to all Comberton residents who work behind the Scenes, saving the village money by donating generously of their time and expertise.

Report of Planning Committee (Dorothy Morison)

Over the past twelve months the committee has met twenty six times and considered some 30 applications mainly for extensions but also demolitions and new builds and tree removals and pruning.

We have had a meeting with some of SCDC Planning Committee in an attempt to better understand why sometimes their decisions are so completely different to ours’ We actually feel we are in a good position to decide what would enhance our Village and fit in with the overall Village scape. There was some understanding reached but the Village Design statement will give a much better picture of where we want to go.

Focus Group (Chris Westgarth)

The focus group has responsibility for organising the community events and the placement of additional litter and dog bins. The group continues to work closely with the County Council on the enhancement and restoration of the ancient footpath between Barton Road and Swaynes Lane. This will include of the replacement of the parish-pump in Barton Road. The Christmas lights event again was a huge success and plans are well under way for the Picnic in the Park on September 2^nd.

Footpaths – Parish Path Partnership (P3) Coordinator (Chris Westgarth)

Comberton continues to be a member of The Parish Paths Partnership (P3). This involves the parish working with the County Council to ensure that the footpaths are well maintained and accessible to all. Work is still ongoing on the Barton Road to Swaynes Lane path [Footpath 5] at the northern end and includes replacing the parish-pump that was ‘removed’. We have surveyed all the rights of way within the parish and are working with local landowners to improve access to all. We still await the replacement of the style on the footpath from Comberton to Toft [Footpath 9]. This will eventually be replaced with a 'mobility' kissing gate. The County Council are close to signing the agreements with landowners to create some new definitive and permissive paths in the village to form circular walks incorporating the existing ones.
This is indeed very good news.