News

Councillor and Clerk changes, Nov 2021

As many people will be aware, Stapleford Parish Council has
undergone some changes in personnel recently. Other than clerks, all
members of the Parish Council are volunteers and give their time
freely to working for, and on behalf of, the community. Recently, we
have experienced a number of unrelated changes, with a couple of our
long-serving councillors retiring due to ill health, another needing
to spend more time on their business interests, etc. Our part-time
Assistant Clerk is moving on to take up a full-time job in Cambridge
City and our Clerk will be consolidating her work with multiple
other Parish Councils with which she has worked for many years.
Contact details remain the same whilst both Clerks remain in post.

None of these changes alter our ability to function as a Parish
Council and councillors remaining in post are committed to
continuing with our current work, plans and support for the
community. To this end, we have reshuffled roles and
responsibilities and are delighted to announce that Gillian Pett
will be taking on the position of Chair. This will enable our
out-going Chair, Howard Kettel (who remains a Stapleford Parish
Councillor), to focus more on the major CSET threat to our
greenbelt, and on finance and asset development, and to spend more
time on other voluntary commitments.

Stapleford Parish Council has been without its full complement of 11
Councillors for a long time. In fact, nationwide, it’s difficult to
find people to join parish councils, given the pressures of work and
family life and the breadth of responsibilities that parish councils
take on. In Stapleford, we also have significant external pressures
to which the Parish Council must respond, including CSET, housing
pressures, one local plan following on from another, to name but a
few. Despite all this, the Council has continued its record of
achievement. In the past year, we have created a new multi-use games
area (MUGA) for the village; we continue to provide high quality
cricket and football facilities for local teams; our Jubilee
pavilion is an important venue for community use; we have responded
to multiple consultations on everything from major transport
infrastructure projects to local plan proposals and changes to our
conservation area; we review every planning application in the
parish and respond when appropriate; we apply for grants to expand
and improve community assets and the environment; we own and
maintain the cemetery and have plans to create a wildlife meadow at
the north end of the more recently purchased area of cemetery; we
are rolling out a new environmental action plan for the village and
our assets; we are about to embark upon a significant renovation of
the children’s playground at the Rec; and we keep our finances in
good health. We have done a lot and we still have a lot to do.

We would love more people to come forward and join us. If you have
particular interests in helping to improve the biodiversity of the
village, supporting our neighbourhood plan, investing our S106 funds
from developers in village improvements, helping to maintain and
develop our sports facilities, supporting local transport
improvements and, more generally, in shaping the village over the
coming years, then do get in touch. Let us know how much time you
can give and we can try our best to match your interests and
availability with our community needs. Our contact details are
available at https://staplefordparishcouncil.gov.uk/council-members/
or you can email clerk@staplefordparishcouncil.gov.uk (this email
remains unchanged, irrespective of who is in the role).