Wednesday 17th January 2024

Upware Resident’s Association minutes – January 2024

Attendees:
Laura Petchey; Jayne Davies; Louisa Haine; Simon Cogan; Clive Griffiths; Gwyneth Griffiths; Sally
Jackson; Chris Jackson; Theresa Bunting; Janet Carrod; Alan Gamble; Maggie Haverson; Roger
Haverson; Matt Cannon; Charlie Deller; Tracy Caldecott; John Caldecott; Lorraine Nichols; Andy
Cogan; Carl O’Conner; Matt Yorke; Adrian Hubbard; Merle.

Apologies: Liz Tory; Martha Cannon; Lucius Vellacott; Rachel James; Liz Houghton

1. Introductions – New attendees were welcomed to the meeting.
2. Minutes from the last meeting - were agreed and signed by the Chair.
3. Actions completed from the last meeting –
a. Battery for De-fib to be ordered – Treasurer – Completed
b. Contact owner of plot 1 to ascertain the location of digging for drain access - RJ –
Completed
c. Survey to be created sent out with the minutes, collated and sent to working party –
SC – Completed
d. Over flow carpark - Not strimming around the bins and signage - Chair - Completed
e. Duck signs to go up. – Secretary – Completed
4. URA Bank Account – the current balance of the URA is currently £668.56 of which £50 is
held in cash as a float for future events and £618.56 is in the URA bank account. Incomings
nil. Outgoings £33.31 for printer ink & £336.00 for defib battery.
5. WPC Update – written report from Rachel James read out by secretary at the meeting:
a. Open Space – WPC’s contractors will be cutting back the brambles and will start
going over the area when they cut the grass which will hopefully stop them from
returning. Response from the meeting TC asked that they dig up rather than cut
back and the URA support this. Action – secretary will send response to WPC
b. Open Space is on the February agenda (requested by GG)
c. Blocked Culvert - District Cllr Vellacott has taken this issue up – see his report.
d. Upware Road – RJ reported the Upware Road (over the lock) to Highways and they
came out within a week and repaired the holes. The Highways representative for
this area (James Broder) had also requested a site meeting with their Surface
Engineer and WPC have been promised a copy of the report. Swaffham Prior Parish
Council have offered their help with the issue (although technically they should be
leading on it as it is their Parish!) County Councillor Bill Hunt is also assisting
(although it is not technically his area) with trying to get the issues rectified.
Response from the meeting Chris Jackson updated that the repair has failed. There
is a potential risk to life from fall off a bike or collapse of the road dues to weight
from heavy vehicles. Action – Chair suggested that residents should register this
fault with highways mentioning the risk to life.
e. Pot Holes – although these are not too bad at the moment, we need to monitor and
report.
f. Speedwatch - Cllr Pepper is going to hold a Speedwatch session in the village but as
this is a new site, he has to obtain a location code prior to being able to carry out the
session. He is in the process of getting the code. The application window for the next
round of 20mphs opens 15 January 2024 and closes 15 March 2024 so hopefully we
can get some data before then. The current application will automatically go
forward but it would be good to have some data to support the application.

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6. Update from ECDC – lucius.vellacott@eastcambs.gov.uk written report from Cllr Vellacott
read out, in part, by secretary at the meeting. Please see attached for full details.
7. Upware Open Space –
a. The Open Space Survey closed on 31/10/2023 and 25 responses were received. The
analysis was received on 13/12/23 and the working group met on 08/01/2024 to
discuss. In summary, the survey identified:
i. 17 people would like to assist with work on the open space which will speed
things along.
ii. Supported were wild flower meadow, open space/ helicopter landing area,
daffodils, herb patches, bee mound, more trees, nesting boxes
iii. Unsupported were pond, flower beds, play area, embankment or
mound.
iv. Inconclusive were Rocky Features with 5 against, 5 for, 7 indifferent
and also Hard Standing (stomping Ground) with 9 against, 5 for, 8
Indifferent.

b. Discussion occurred around the helicopter landing area, which technically will
require 35m diameter clear space and possibly a line of approach. This will require
some of the saplings to be moved and will rule out a hard-core stomping ground due
to ‘foreign object destructive’ (FOD) material being thrown by the downdraught. A
vote occurred in favour of the helicopter landing area. Action CJ will liaise with the
Air Ambulance Service to ensure compliance and registration.
c. Install benches - 9am Sunday 28/01/2024 (invitation to all occurred at the meeting
and also via Facebook to assist with general tidy up). All residents welcome.
d. Check saplings, including Plot 1, remove dead trees and (if necessary) relocate trees
from the open space/ helicopter landing area) - 10am Sunday 09/03/2024.
(invitation to all occurred at the meeting and also via Facebook to assist). All
residents welcome.
e. Wildflower meadow and bulb planting - will require management (black fabric) to
kill off weeds. Costs associated with black fabric, seed and bulbs will require
application for grants or from WPC or fundraising
f. Additional trees - costs associated or invitation to villagers to donate
g. Information board - costs associated and will require information that could/ would
be included on these boards.
h. Proposed schedule around planting needs:
i. Fabric down - 09/03/2024
ii. Sowing wildflower seed – Phase 1 September 2024 and Phase 2 March 2025
iii. Bulb planting - Mid Autumn
i. Likely costings of the Wild flower area approx. 200 sq meters.
i. Black Plastic approx. £100
ii. Pegs (100) for plastic £10
iii. Rotavator Hire between £35 and £90 hire per day
iv. Mixed bag of flower seeds £93 (Phase 1 and same cost for Phase 2)
v. Daffodil Bulbs (1,000 bulbs) £80
Members of the Action Group are willing to attend a WPC meeting and update them
of progress on behalf of the URA and make request for funding.
j. Action - the Open Space Action Group: to provide regular updates (including
proposed layout) and invitations to be shared by the Upware Community page on
Facebook and updating the URA committee via WhatsApp and the URA meetings -
open invitation to others to join the working group. If any residents are interested
in joining the action group then please contact the URA secretary
k. Action - TC to enquire about bird boxes
l. Action re Pride of place grants - MC volunteered to apply for possible £1000 grant.

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If any resident would like to join The Upware Open Space Working Group, please
contact Gwynneth Griffiths 0n 07825999179 or gwynneth@fpandp.com

8. Plot 1 – there is planned a dig for the drains in a straight line from plot 1 to the drain behind
3 Old School Lane.
9. Highways / Potholes / Road Closures
a. Upware Road, past the Pump House is collapsing. See point 5d
b. No new potholes
c. Road closures –the following road closures are planned in the next 3 months.
i. Upware Rd on Mar 14 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM (Open Reach)

10. Flood Defences – see report from Cllr Vellacott
11. Light pollution - Discussed the light from the Greenhouse by the A10 and that this was an
error, that may have occurred twice, due to the staff at the Greenhouse leaving the blinds
open and lights switched on.
12. Speeding – see point 5f
13. Upware in Bloom – CG has put in 1000 bulbs on Upware Rd.
14. Social Events –
a. Litter pick – 14 th April, see Facebook and URA website for details nearer the time.
b. Bingo event on the 24 th Jan at 5 miles and a donation will be made for the upkeep
of the Defib. Residents are asked to drop off or bring prizes for the raffle. Residents
encouraged to attend. The Chair assured LN this donation would be ringfenced for
the defibrillator.

15. AOB –
a. The URA request notice and alerting the residents if fireworks are planned to be let
off. This is so that pets can be protected and residents prepared. This can be done by
Facebook or emailing the Secretary or Chair.
b. The URA request that fly tipping does not occur on the Open Space.
c. Minutes to also be placed on the website – Action Secretary to email minutes to MC
to upload onto website
d. Residents to email the Secretary so she can use email for correspondence
jayne.davies@aol.co.uk

16. Date of next meeting – Wed 24 th April 2024, 7.30pm in the Front Bar of 5 miles
Minutes of the meeting are believed to be accurate. If you have any questions, comments, or
concerns then please email jayne.davies@aol.co.uk
Please join our Facebook Community page for updates on what is happening in Upware.
Chair: Laura Petchey – lapetchey@gmail.com
Secretary: Jayne Davies – jayne.davies@aol.co.uk
Treasurer: Louisa Haine – thefamilyhaine@gmail.com
NB: Common Acronyms:
WPC = Wicken Parish Council / URA = Upware Residents Association

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District Cllr Lucius Vellacott – written report – Point 6 on the minutes
- Happy New Year – wishing everyone a successful 2024. Apologies that due to a clash with an
ECDC meeting I cannot be with you in person today
- A cycleway from Wicken to Soham is due to be built this year, linking the parish to the train
station and other services in Soham
- The Mayoral Precept is due to increase by 200%. This includes Upware residents continuing
to fund a £256.43 per journey service in Trumpington where just 7 return journeys a week
are made, and many such similar examples, all whilst residents here go without.
- I have been in discussions with Mayor Nik Johnson about how we can get a 2-hourly service
via Upware and Wicken to Soham (such as a Haddenham to Soham route). That alone would
link the villages to the world, with a train from Soham to Ely and on to London. I am awaiting
further information from his officers before continuing.
- A culvert adjacent 16 Upware believed to be owned by CCC is blocked and flooding onto
farmland. Carl and I have been in touch with Dennis Vacher who assured me action would be
taken after 6 weeks of ignored reports, however, I am yet to hear back from him since
Christmas. I will continue to update and chase relevant parties until the issue is resolved
- I met with Louisa Wood from Staploe Medical and am supporting their planning application
for a new medical centre. I don’t like the idea of 500+ houses in Soham, but what I do
support is a new medical centre. This is the only acceptable way to get one – other plots are
too far out and the NHS won’t finance a land purchase itself. So for all villages’ sake as well
as the town’s, I’ll push for high-quality housing and mix, and early development of a new
surgery
- ECDC will invest its excess CIL into a crematorium on land it owns in Mepal. If approved by
Council in Feb, profits will be reinvested in our capital budget and help us to keep Council
Tax low, and provide a highly demanded service for East Cambs residents
- The next ECDC meetings are Finance and Assets on 25 th Jan (first draft of the budget and the
Mepal crematorium project), Operational Services on 31 st (agenda TBC), Audit on 5 th Feb
(Annual Governance Statement) and the full Council on 20 th Feb (Budget meeting, amongst
other exciting things)
- ECDC is in a good position should it decide to freeze its portion of Council Tax for the 11 th
year. This is due to responsible use of our trading companies and assets, working with police
on innovative parking enforcement (so we can keep car parks free), and not taking more
than we need to run a good service. It should be – and will be at ECDC – a last resort where
no other option exists. Wicken PC froze its precept in line with this frame of mind
- I am always available for a chat via lucius.vellacott@eastcambs.gov.uk and provide a
monthly update in the Ely Standard for those interested