Parish Council - getting serious about process

Tomorrow sees another meeting of the Parish Council, and an agenda with twenty-two items on it. Of course, we are electing a new Chair as part of a process of formalising our arrangements, but the most intriguing thing is that we are adopting the latest standards in terms of how we, as a Parish Council, operate.

Now I have to admit that, as a newly elected Councillor, what happened before is a bit of a mystery. But with a new Parish Clerk full of new ideas, and with a degree of expertise that we may not have experienced before, the residents of Creeting St Peter can sleep soundly in their beds in the knowledge that we will be fully accountable for our actions as Parish Councillors.

So, if you want to know what we're up to, come along tomorrow, 7.30 p.m., at the Church Hall at the end of The Lane.

The day the lights went out

A typical Sunday morning. Wake up at about 8, go downstairs, make tea. Drink tea, go downstairs again to make more tea. Turn on kettle, nothing happens. Turn off kettle, turn on kettle again. Still nothing. Hmmmm... try a few other electrical items. No, mone of them work either. I know, ring electricity company...

And that's when I found out that there was a high voltage cable fault, apparently affecting an area from Great Bricett in the west, through Needham Market and the southern end of Stowmarket, to Mickfield and Stonham Aspal in the east. Engineers were on the job though, and it was expected that power would be restored as soon as possible.

As it turned out, power wasn't restored until about 7, although it was a bit intermittent after that. It is a reminder that modern life is a bit dependent on the utilities of gas, electricity and water - not that we have gas here...

A good deed in a sometimes depressing world

Creeting St Peter resident, Sam Cobbold, is raising money to go to Tanzania to take part in a World Challenge expedition, part of which involves an extreme seven day climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. Residents of the village may have seen him around and about, doing odd jobs to raise the £3,760 he needs to be able to go.

Here at the Creeting St Peter blog, we're very supportive of his efforts, and he mows our lawn once a week and does the odd gardening job for us. However, he needs all of the support he can get, so if there are any odd jobs that you need doing, drop a note through the door at 15 Peterhouse, and hopefully, he'll be able to fit you in. Otherwise, you can donate through his blog.

Circuit training, the Creeting St Peter way

I am that rare creature amongst village residents, in that I don't drive. Indeed, I can't, having never taken driving lessons. Fortunately, my wife does, so when she is around, I can get around easily enough.

However, she is away on business today, and I really did need to do some shopping, so some lateral thinking was needed. How do I get to Tesco, do the shopping I need to do, and get back? Of course, I could use a taxi, but that does seem to be awfully expensive so, having done my research, I set off via the footpath just the other side of the bridge over the A14, towards the track that leads to the Creeting Lakes fishery, along Mill Lane, through Cedars Park to Tesco, leaving myself about fifty minutes to get everything I needed.

At 11.15, I made my way to the bus shelter opposite the petrol station, and waited. At 11.21, the scheduled taxibus arrived, picked me up and brought me, and my shopping, back to the village. The whole outing took just an hour and forty minutes, not bad really, and cost just £1.20.

So, a big thank you to driver Philip, and a job done...

Use taxis to get about? Taxi meters coming to you soon...

Apparently, Mid Suffolk District Council have decided to make fare meters mandatory for licenced taxis in the area, with introduction scheduled for the Autumn.

My source tells me that the likely impact is to make journeys that don't include Stowmarket potentially unviable, as the meter can only be switched on when a passenger is picked up. After all, will a taxi driver want to pick me up here in Creeting St Peter to take me to Earl Stonham if all they get is a £3 fare?

My taxi driver this evening told me that his licence fee has increased from £16 to £60 per annum, and the cost of the mandatory badge on the rear of the car from £35 to £170, a genuine disincentive for those drivers who might only work part time. Throw in the cost of petrol, and getting a taxi may become quite difficult in the years to come.

For those of us who live in small villages, where public transport is sparse, and especially for those who don't or can't drive, this is another blow, and I am surprised that a District Council which serves so many small villages hasn't worked out the implications. Perhaps they all live in Stowmarket...