Report for 2006/2007

Last updated: Wednesday, 30 May 2007, 06:53 AM

This is my fourth Hardwick Parish Council Chairman’s Report and it is once again my responsibility to talk about some of the things that have taken place in the Village and discussed in the Parish Council’s Meetings.

Of course, everything that has taken place in the village and talked about in Council has all been overshadowed by the sad loss of our Parish Clerk, Lynne. The following is what I tried to read out at Lynne’s Memorial Service. I say tried as it was a very sad and emotional occasion.

About Lynne

During my life I have had to write may reports and many speeches, but as you may guess, this is the hardest thing that I have ever sat down to write, but then again, should it be? The answer to that is of course, No, as there are so many things that come to mind about Lynne that this should be an easy task. Yes an easy task to think of things to say, but a hard task in always being reminded that Lynne is no longer with us in body, but all the good things that she has done for us and that are tangible around the village will keep her memory deep in our souls.

Others will tell, or have already told you, about what Lynne has done for different organisations in the village but let me tell you how she has helped every single person, man, woman and child.

Now, not every-one here today will know that I am the Chairman of the Parish Council, but I bet that you all knew that Lynne was the Clerk to the Council. I have served on the Parish Council for many years and during that time we have had 4 or 5 different Clerks, and with no disrespect to them, Lynne was the one who brought us up to date. Let me read you some extracts from my Chairman’s Reports:-

I think that now will be a very good time to thank our Parish Clerk, Lynne Howells. During this last year, Lynne has been fantastic. She has been a great help to me personally, being the new Chairman, and also to the whole Council in the way in which she has thrown herself into the job. It is Lynne who has done lots of research and attended courses, which have provided her with the knowledge needed to bring the Parish Council up to date with its legal responsibilities. Local Government is changing very quickly. It is a must that we should be fully informed and compliant with these new rules and regulations. It was Lynne who asked the Council to send her on the Cambridge Association of Local Councils’ training course for Parish Clerks and it is clear that this money was very well spent. Once again, my personal thanks go to Lynne, and I am sure that they are echoed by all the Parish Councillors and I hope by everyone in the village. (2003/2004 Report)

At this point I would like to thank again our Parish Clerk, Lynne Howells, for another year of dedicated and hard work. All the research which Lynne does, and the contacts which she has to make with South Cambs., the County Council, Suppliers, Solicitors etc. etc. on behalf of the Councillors, make our jobs a lot easier. Once again Lynne, thank you. (2004/2005 Report)

Mentioning Lynne’s name brings me to thank her once again for doing such sterling work as Clerk to the Council during the year. The Clerks’ job gets harder each year with more and more regulations etc. and Lynne always manages to get a firm grip on these and leads the Parish Council down the right paths. The residents of Hardwick are very lucky to have her. (2005/2006 Report)

The residents of Hardwick have indeed been very lucky to have had her as the Clerk to the Parish Council. There cannot be anybody who has not seen Lynne “yomping” around the village, off to sort out this or that on their behalf. We have lost a wonderful person and a professional, a hard working and helpful servant to the community, and as the Chairman of the Parish Council, I have lost a friend and also lost my “right arm”.

GOD bless you Lynne.

It seems somewhat disrespectful to now go onto other matters, but I must.

Call for new Parish Councillors

My thanks go to our Vice Chairman, Grenville Chamberlain for his help and encouragement during the last year and to all the other Parish Councillors. I am sorry to report that we have lost two excellent Councillors in Grace Atkinson and Malcolm Farmer who decided that they did not want to stand again for re-election. My thanks go to them for all their work whilst being on the Parish Council. This brings me on to say how disappointed I am that from a village of some 2600 people; only the seven remaining Councillors put themselves forward for election to the Parish Council. This leaves us with two vacancies and I would welcome any villager who may be interested in filling one of these to contact me as soon as possible. Further thanks, as always, go to Richard Grenfell and Grenville Chamberlain who are our “Planning Committee” and are kept very busy every month checking requests for extensions etc.

Large developments in Hardwick

The last year has seen the near completion of two big project affecting Hardwick, and the start of another.

The dual carraging of the “A428” is to be opened this Thursday, 24th May and I think that our thanks should go to the Nuttals, the civil engineering company that have carried out the work for the speed of their work, they are 3 months ahead of schedule, and also for the lack of inconvenience caused.

Then there is the “Enterprise Café site. 42 new homes built on this brown field site that, with the new road system around that end of the village, will give a vastly increased first impression of Hardwick.

And what of the start of another? Here I refer to the new houses that are being built at the other end of the village by the Hundred Housing Society. It is good to see that work has already started.

Both the Football and Cricket Clubs are to be congratulated on the way in which they have again worked hard to improve the Recreation Field.

Concerns

And finally, as in my previous Reports, I would to take the Chairman’s prerogative and have a few moans again.

We are having more and more reports of speeding traffic around the village. This speeding traffic is, I am afraid to report, mostly from cars being driven by Hardwick residents. I am going to contact the Police again and ask for them to come to Hardwick more often to carry “radar gun” surveillance. How would you feel if a member of your family was killed by a speeding driver?

If you have allowed any of your garden’s trees or shrubs to impede the passage of pedestrians, can I please ask that you cut these back so as to prevent any accidents by those trees etc. hitting people, as they walk passed, or the pedestrians having to step into the road.