Author: Clerk

Annual Meeting of the Parish Council

In May, the Parish Council holds its Annual Meeting, when Officers and Lead Councillors are elected. After returning to the rôle of Parish Chair last year, Cllr Phil King stepped down, although he remains a councillor. We thanked him for his untiring and excellent work in his latest spell as Chair. He, in turn, thanked the office staff for their expert support and all councillors for their valuable contributions. Cllr Dave Carlton is the new Chair for the coming year and Cllr Derek Law is Vice Chair, both were elected unanimously. All Lead Councillors remain the same and are listed below.

Annual Report

The Willingham Parish Council Annual Report for 2018-2019 has been published and copies are available in the Library, at the Surgery, at the Primary School and from the Parish Office. It can also be downloaded from the website (look under Documents > Annual Reports > Parish Council). It was presented along with reports from many village organisations at the Annual Parish Meeting.

Parish Clock

The Parish Clock on St Mary and All Saints Church has had its mechanism repaired and the face repainted. Sadly, when it was restarted after the initial repair work, it only ran for about a day. The clock-mending company are still investigating and it seems to be working a little better now.

A14 Legacy Funding

The A14 Integrated Delivery Team have a £1 million fund to spend on highways projects for Parish Councils affected by the A14 construction works. We have proposed three items which match their criteria and will be putting them forward for consideration. In priority order these are (1) a footpath to the Community Orchard, (2) speed reduction measures on West Fen Road between the Rec and QEII field, and (3) a footpath to Highgate Stores. We expect a decision by the end of June.

Recreation Ground Stump Fire

Persons unknown set fire to the large tree stump on the recreation ground and the Fire Brigade attended to extinguish it. Unfortunately, the appliance caused some damage to the adjoining football pitches when it drove onto the Rec. This has occurred before and the police are looking into ways of finding those responsible. The Council is making arrangements to have the remains of the tree stump removed.

Station Road Speed Limit

After many, many years of campaigning and hectoring of the County Council Highways Department and the Police, and with financial assistance from the Lindum Group who are building the affordable houses there, the 30 mph speed limit on Station Road has finally been extended south past the sharp bend and beyond Westfield.

Dog Walking Field

The Council considered several options for provision of a replacement dog walking area after the loss of the set-aside field but concluded that there is no obvious solution. Dogs remain prohibited on the Recreation Ground for health reasons.

Station Road Speed Limit Change

There has been positive progress by Cambridgeshire County Council to extend the existing 30mph speed limit on Station Road to south of Westfield (towards the Park-and-Ride), including the placement of adequate signage.  This work is currently expected to commence on 8^th April and should be in place by the time you read this.

Loss of the Set-Aside Field

The loss of the set-aside field behind the recreation ground has been a loss to the village, in particular the dog walking fraternity who are keen for the identification of an alternative solution.  At the time of writing options are still being investigated and remain a challenge, but at least this issue is eased with access to footpaths in the countryside, including the footpath towards Over that is approached through, what was, the set-aside field.

Willingham Youth Trust Pop-up Café

The Parish Council has supported a grant application for the Willingham Youth Trust to provide a pop-up café at the Youth Centre, which is intended to be a benefit to all of our community.  The opening times are expected to initially be over a number of weekends, with the possibility of extending this if the café became viable.  It is understood that, apart from the normal tea, coffee and soft drinks, there would be a tuck shop serving healthy snacks and sweet treats to start with (which may include locally baked cakes).

The Youth Trust are advertising for volunteers to assist with the café on the Willingham Facebook page.  This sounds like an exciting venture and hopefully parishioners will support this novel idea.

Parish Clock Refurbishment

The Council undertook the identification of a suitable company who had the capability of repairing and refurbishing the Parish clock at St Mary and All Saints Church.  Work started in April and hopefully by now you are hearing its chimes once again.

Annual Parish Meeting

The Annual Parish meeting is scheduled to be held at the Octagon, St Mary’s and All Saints Church, at 7:30pm on Wednesday 15^th May.

This meeting is open to all Willingham parishioners and is an opportunity to speak on matters that are pertinent to the Parish.  At the meeting reports will also be received from our District and County Councillors, along with those from our village bodies (such as clubs, charities and services).  The details of previous Minutes of Annual Parish meetings can be found on the Willingham Parish Council web site https://willinghamparishcouncil.gov.uk