Wednesday 17th July 2024 (AGM)

Attendees:
Laura Petchey; Jayne Davies; Louisa Haine; Simon Cogan; Clive Griffiths; Gwynneth Griffiths; Sally
Jackson; Janet Carrod; Alan Gamble; Andy Cogan; Louise O’Conner; Tracy Collacott; John Collacott; Bill
Pepper

Apologies: Maggie Haverson; Roger Haverson; Cllr Lucius Vellacott; Rachel James; Matt Luck; Chris
Jackson; Theresa Bunting; Carl O’Conner; Adrian Hubbard; Merle Lainjarr; Matt Cannon; Martha
Cannon;

Minutes of last meeting were agreed and signed by the Chair.
1. Introductions – Bill Pepper from the WPC was welcomed to the meeting
2. Minutes from the last meeting - were agreed by the Chair.
3. Treasurer’s report – We recently received £1000 from East Cambs as a Pride of Place Grant
towards the development of the Upware community space, which we have of course ring fenced..
Gwynneth has ordered mulch for the space to a total of £236.10, which has now been delivered.
The URA holds a total balance of £1454.88 (£1404.88 held in bank account, £50.00 cash float). Of
the £1454.88 total, £500 ring fenced for defibrillator, £763.90 remains ring fenced off community
land, and £190.98 remains for miscellaneous /other URA spending needs. Questions - nil
4. AGM – Chair’s report – attached. Questions - nil
5. Election of Committee and Lead roles
a. Committee Members – to continue: Janet Carrod / Clive Griffiths / Matt Yorke /
Simon Cogan / Matt Luck / Gwynneth Griffiths / Jayne Davies.
Stepping down from the Committee: Theresa Bunting, Maggie Haverson & Louise
O’Conner
b. Election Chair- Laura Petchey, Jayne Proposed and Gwynneth seconded.
c. Election Secretary - Jayne Davies has stepped down due to work commitments over
the next year. If no-one steps up to be secretary, then URA will have to ceases
functioning. Simon will step into this space (temporarily) if the constitution allows.
Roll over decision for the October meeting. Action – CALLING ALL RESIDENTS. We
need a URA secretary to write and distribute the minutes and agenda; answer/
forward emails; collaborate with Chair and Treasurer; support the committee with
communications. Please contact Laura on lapetchey@gmail.com
d. Election Treasurer - Louisa Haine - Jayne Proposed and Simon seconded.
6. Actions completed from the last meeting –
a. The culvert has now been drained. Louise confirmed this was accurate.
b. Secretary emailed WPC re the brambles but no specific response regarding this.
However, the cutting of the open space grass and brambles will now be done more
with the same frequency as WPC lands. Chair to mention that some areas not being
cut (around plot 1 and around the compost bin) – Action – Bill to review why this is
not happening
c. The URA committee to vote on the way forward with either bench or information
board. No emails received and so see open space update regarding this.

d. Residents have attended the Tidy dates for the Open Space – see below for further
dates

7. WPC Update – Bill Pepper gave verbal update
Beer festival in May went very well. Wicken festival also went well and the weather was
great.
Neighbourhood plans (community led framework) is in the planning stage and hope to have
this started after the next WPC meeting.
Speeding in Wicken always an issue. It has been agreed that Wicken lanes and A1123 will be
20mph. Question – Jayne asked how we can get this agreed for Upware? The idea of speed
watch sessions was proposed by Bill, but this was dismissed by the URA committee, due to
the only place to do this would not capture the speeding issue. Clive mentioned there was
data captured by a previous speed watch in Upware and this may be useful. Bill stated that
data can be capture via the vehicle activated speed signs, which they had in Wicken, but
these were expensive. Jayne asked if Upware could borrow this from Wicken as the residents
in Upware were still part of the community under WPC. Action - Bill to look into accessing
vehicle activated speed signs for Upware
Grass cutting – No Mow May this caused issues within Wicken this year. In May 2025 they
may cut some areas and other areas leave uncut. URA agreed that we suffered the same
issue in May 2024 with reduced access to the open space due to the No Mow May action and
hence requested that in May 2025 we also had some areas cut on the open space and other
areas leave uncut. Action - Bill to pass on the message re No Mow May for 2025.
Lode from Monks load to national trust centre this is not passable
Cycle way – Soham Rail station to Wicken should start soon.

8. Update from ECDC = District Cllr L Vellacott Contributions
- I want to congratulate Charlotte Cane on becoming our MP, and to thank my friend Lucy
Frazer for her 9 years of public service, for which both our area and country will be better off
going forward. I have massively enjoyed meeting people across the villages of East Cambs
and hearing their views on our area’s future. We will continue to serve East Cambs with
drive and determination as always.
- The culvert adjacent Upware Road has now been returned to by County Highways and
cleared, after continued political and residential pressure. My particular thanks go to Carl in
Upware and Dennis from the County Council for ensuring this work was seen through.
- The District Council is to hold a special Planning Committee on 13th August, 2pm at The
Grange in Ely, to determine the outcome of the Eastern Gateway and Medical Centre
applications in Soham. The meeting is public and will be broadcast live. I am fully supportive
of improvements to our medical services, and will relay residents’ concerns about the
housing proposals before the decision.
- The District Council now has its final recommendations for the new waste service. The
details will be discussed at Operational Services Committee in September before final
approval by Council in October. Therefore, from March 2026, the following service will be
offered:
o 180L black wheelie bins provided free to every household, collected fortnightly
o Continued free garden waste service, alternating weekly with recycling collection
(blue bin)
o Weekly food waste collection bin, with caddy for use indoors
o New entitlement to free additional recycling or garden bins to encourage recycling
o Comprehensive public awareness programme about what can be recycled, etc.
o Service to be delivered via a formal contract with East Cambs Street Scene, the
Council’s own trading company, to ensure value for money (no profits made) and
collaborative working

- I have begun a petition to get signage erected on Soham High Street to warn of ducks, in the
County Council’s next capital highways programme. Please do sign it via the website if you
are interested.
- I will scrutinise the Bus Reform plan at the CPCA on Thursday, with a particular emphasis on
how the Mayor intends to prioritise rural areas
- At the last Annual Council meeting, my cross-party motion to prevent abuse and
intimidation of public officials passed unanimously. East Cambridgeshire is now a Member of
the LGA’s Debate Not Hate campaign. We also resolved to review the accessibility of our
play areas, inviting parish councils to contribute to our audit.
- I will be delighted to return to the Weatheralls Primary School this week to sit down with
candidates for the Student Council to help them with their public speaking skills. Supporting
our youngest residents to get involved with politics is a key priority for me, having been
elected during my own compulsory education. I am also greatly honoured to be giving out
the Soham Village College end-of-year awards on Monday.
- The Council, as part of its focus on tackling Domestic Abuse, has issued leaflets to every
household about its ‘Ask for Ani’ initiative. Asking anyone at ECDC to ‘speak to Ani’ will
initiate a protocol to help a resident in need.
- Please do direct any questions to lucius.vellacott@eastcambs.gov.uk.

9. Upware Open Space –
Two successful tidy days in May and June. However, and we do realise that residents are
busy. In addition to members of the working party which is a maximum of 5, three extra
residents volunteered on both days. When the survey was actioned earlier in the year we
had 17 out of a survey of 23 responses (73.9%) said they would be happy to help out on the
open space. We need to plant 15 plus trees and also do bulb planting and work on the wild
flower area in the autumn, and for this to be achievable we need additional help!
GRANT MONEY £1,000 - Spend so far £236.10 for 3 large bags of mulch. This has been
delivered and we will be spreading it around the existing trees on 21st July. Keeping one bag
for the autumn tree planting. Balance of grant £763.90. 2 bags of wild flower seeds approx.
£60. We have had donated 10 tree ties but will have to buy extra at £1.30 so perhaps
approx. £15.00. Tree Stakes £3.36 X say 15 approx £50. The working group will meet the end
of August to decide on the order and delivery for beginning of October. We will receive a
10% discount and free delivery from Simpsons in Fordham as the order will be over £200.
This will take the majority of the grant up and anything left we can purchase other bulbs.
OTHER PROJECTS – Bee mound and herb patches will have to go on the back burner as there
is so much planting to do in the Autumn. Action – we need a volunteer to take this project
forward. Please contact Chair lapetchey@gmail.com
CIF MONEY FROM WPC - The working group have been in length discussing the £500 CIF
money that the WPC are holding. It is the group’s opinion that to purchase a bench would be
the best use of the funds. It can be placed near the gates so that our elderly residents can
use it more easily. We can ask the WPC to purchase the bench on our behalf and have it
delivered within a matter of weeks. The URA would have to donate the extra £80 as the full
price including delivery is £580. The alternative of purchasing an information board
discussed at the last URA meeting. This is thought not to be achievable from existing funds
as the cost would be to be a minimum of £1,000. While it is desirable, it is difficult to see
how the URA could raise the money over what it needs for the association to run in the short
term.
WPC - The WPC were asked at the June meeting about the open space being cut in line with
Wicken as in twice a month. This was agreed by the WPC and should be commencing in July.
Action - Open Space Tidy Days – All residents please help if you are able 10am - Sunday
21st July; Sunday 1st September
Action – Send a proposal to the WPC on getting the weeds in order at the front half with
costings from 3 provider – Gwynneth and Laura to work on this

10. Highways / Potholes / Road Closures
a. Culvert clear
b. Potholes partially done, yellow lines around these suggest this should be done
within 21 days
c. On the bridge there is a massive fissure of 4.2m down, and 50 x 100cm on the
surface. Sally stated she was in communication Highways. It was discussed that as
this was a fissure in the road this was a risk to life. This is the only access route to
the south of Upware and the residents need safe access. Emergency services
regularly use this route. Also noted that both Upware and Wicken residents use this
access to the primary school and to Cambridge. Action – Bill to see if the WPC have
any influence over getting this sorted.
d. 5
th Aug – Headlake Drove and Whiteway Drove will closed for Open Reach work.
e. The visibility to access the A1123 from the Upware Road is hampered by the high
vegetation growth. Actions – Gwynneth to contact WPC A1123 and the Upware Rd,
been cut but not adequately

11. Water Pressure / Light pollution – 1 day low pressure. Some occasions when light pollution
being monitored
12. Ideas for fund raising and volunteers to take forward
a. Quiz night - Simon to write the question, Jayne to organise in the Autumn. Action -
Jayne to speak to Lorraine for a suitable date (Monday / Wednesday)
b. **UPDATE: POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER & AVAILABILITY – NEW DATE TBC**
Picnic in open space (was 3rd Aug – from 11am, now tbc) – ALL UPWARE
RESIDENTS, INCLUDING THE MARINA ARE WELCOME - plus raffle, - Gwynneth and
Louise are organising.
Action – Louisa to locate the raffle tickets and give to Gwynneth.
Action - Simon to do the risk assessment for the Picnic - completed
c. Stall for Upware on the Wicken Fete and dog show. Bill Agreed free table –
suggested “Blind date with a book”

13. Social Events –
a. Bingo – TC to update on FB
14. AOB
15. Date of next meeting – 23rd October 2024