Agenda and draft minutes

It was proposed by Councillor Mrs Laws, seconded by Councillor Marks and resolved that Councillor Taylor be elected Chairman of the Rural and Farming Executive Advisory Committee for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2024/25.

It was proposed by Councillor Taylor, seconded by Councillor Mrs Laws and resolved that Councillor Mrs French be elected Vice-Chairman of the Rural and Farming Executive Advisory Committee for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2024/25.

To confirm and sign the minutes of 13 March 2024

The minutes of the meeting of 13 March 2024 were confirmed and signed.

Councillor Mrs Laws declared that she is the Portfolio Holder for Planning and also for flooding and would not take part in any planning application discussions or voting thereon.

Councillor Marks declared that he was Vice Chairman of the Planning Committee and would take no part in any planning discussions or voting thereon.

Councillor Taylor referred to the recent motion that had been submitted and approved at Full Council in relation to farming and rural matters.

No questions were received from the committee.

Presentation and verbal update from Emma Saunders of Magpas regarding the work Magpas is undertaking in relation to rural communities.

An update was given by Emma Sanders from Magpas on the work it is undertaking in relation to the rural communities.

Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses as follows:

·         Councillor Taylor asked if the drugs Magpas use are more expensive than the ones used by the Air Ambulance service? Emma Sanders responded Magpas purchases everything to be able to deliver their service, there is no support from the NHS, Government funding or  National Lottery funding, grants are applied for through foundations and trusts and some purchases are made through the NHS with a discount but the majority of life saving drugs are purchased by Magpas itself.

·         Councillor Mrs Laws asked if the doctors and nurses give their time freely and what does the fundraising money contribute towards? Emma Sanders responded staff are all paid and running cost are covered out of the charity money but 70% of the charity money does go back into the service. She stated that because of the nature of the job, staff do need to be paid and to cover all the costs, the charity needs to raise £6,000,000 per year to keep the consistency of the service that is provided, there are around 60 volunteers who come and assist with the administration of running events for the fundraising and accounts side of the charity who give up hundreds of hours to help Magpas raise much needed money.

·         Councillor Mrs Laws stated that the National Lottery was mentioned, do Magpas not apply for that funding? Emma Sanders replied Magpas has never received National Lottery Funding as the applications have never been successful, but there has been success with other applications like the Lyle Foundation during the Covid pandemic, this same foundation also gave Magpas a grant to purchase land to operate from.

·         Councillor Mrs Laws stated there are professionals that can complete application forms for grants and funding, is this something that has been considered? Emma Sanders responded that within Magpas there is a colleague who works on all the applications for trusts, grants and foundations to enable the charity to receive money for any equipment the charity may need.

·         Councillor Count asked how did Magpas end up with their vehicles and how do they receive 999 calls? Emma Sanders responded that when a 999 call is made at that desk is a critical care paramedic who is employed by the Air Ambulance and that paramedic listens in on every call and depending on the emergency the nearest Air Ambulance will be dispatched which will then trigger a call to Magpas if they are the nearest. She stated that if the weather is unsuitable for flying then the vehicles will take over, the rapid response cars operate as a delivery system rather than a full working ambulance with the key equipment needed to perform any operation required at the scene of an emergency and once the patient is stable, they will then be transferred to an ambulance.

·         Councillor Humphrey asked why both the  ...  view the full minutes text for item RF14/24

Presentation and verbal update from John Rooke, Managing Director of North Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Care Partnership.

An update was provided on healthy eating and healthy weight by John Rooke, Managing Director, of North Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Care Partnership.

Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses as follows:

·         Councillor Taylor stated that he has been working with MP Steven Barclay on the Feed Fenland project and he visited a care home and found a freezer full of convenience food for the residents which had been imported and asked why processed food is so cheap stating this needs to be investigated if things are to change.

·         Councillor Mrs Laws stated that education is needed around seasonal foods and cooking from scratch. She expressed the view that this could be started at a school age with the use of community allotments to see how food is grown and then learning to use items in the kitchen like a slow cooker for convenience and low-cost meals rather than convenience meals.

·         Councillor Marks stated his observation has been that a lot of life choices comes down to convenience as the average household does not have the time to cook a family meal due to parents working and children are not introduced to vegetables very much anymore at home or at school because it is easier to feed children what they want which does not always mean healthy. John Rooke responded though councils and partnerships there is a degree of control about what sort of food is served in schools and care homes, there has been work happening to get people excited about food which does include local cookery lessons which have proved successful and as a result of this there are plans to expand this further and to start looking at what sort of equipment people need to enable this whether it be a slow cooker or it is basic equipment like pots, pans etc. He added that there is a plan to explore how potentially local produce can be used locally in food banks instead of ultra processed foods and also within the care homes.

·         Councillor Marks stated that education is needed within the food industry for children as so many children do not know that milk comes from cows and potatoes come out of the ground. He added that food waste is something else that needs to be addressed, for example it is coming up to Halloween and the average farm will move between 16-17 million pumpkins but around 100,000 of those pumpkins will end up in the bin or recycling and not even be used for food purposes. Councillor Marks stated that if children could be educated that when carving a pumpkin for Halloween the carvings could be made into pumpkin soup for example that would make a big difference to their education.

·         Councillor Mrs Laws stated education needs to start at home and feels school trips to local farms should be on the curriculum to strengthen children’s education and domestic science.

·         Councillor Taylor stated that he has tried to invite schools to his farm but due  ...  view the full minutes text for item RF15/24

Verbal update from James Palmer from Eastern Powerhouse

An update was given by James Palmer from Eastern Powerhouse on introducing investment into the Fens.

Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses as follows:

·         Councillor Taylor stated he had been working on some figures concerning the reservoir due to be built in the area and for 100 farms to have a 20 acre reservoir it will give the same amount of water capacity as the Chatteris reservoir and he feels this project will be successful. James Palmer responded Anglian Water as well as Eastern Powerhouse are very keen to see the reservoir take place and feels it will be supported well with the new Government in place. He added that there is a meeting to be held between Anglian Water and senior civil servants to discuss the time scale of the Chatteris reservoir with the likelihood of the development happening before 2040.

·         Councillor Marks stated there has been conflicting information regarding the reservoir and concerns that the water source is not just for Cambridgeshire but going to go further into the home counties as part of their quantity of water. He questioned if the plans are going to change could this take up more land which will take more land away from food production, with there already being the add ons like the maze which is taking over a lot of the land and also the glass and solar farms. Councillor Marks expressed concern that soon there will not be a rural community because there will be no land to grow on because there will not be enough land left for food produce and all the land will be consumed for energy use. James Palmer responded that the rural community of the Fens has become an agricultural business over the last 40 years, this idea of a group of reservoirs across the Fens is not to replace the Fenland reservoir but to allow the area to be proactive in the current situation and to take away that timeline issue of protecting water. He stated that the mention of a maze and glass houses is happening because farmers cannot make money out of agricultural land, with farmers being businessmen and need to make money but what the Fens have above other agricultural sites is the network of drainage to allow the farmers to make the most out of the land that they have. Councillor Marks stated that many of the farmers in the local area who live next to a river bank have been told that they could not have an extraction licence because the Internal Drainage Board or Middle Level has led them to believe there is not enough water coming down the river, and now there is a suggestion that there is going to be 2,000 acres of water and farmers will be asking if they could not use it then, why now? He added that now the reservoir is going to be built why can it not be used on local land before it gets moved  ...  view the full minutes text for item RF16/24

Any other business including future Committee Work Programme agenda items.

Councillor Marks suggested inviting the Economic Growth Team with a presentation to get a feel for what they think the one big reservoir will bring regarding growth to the area in comparison to 100 little reservoirs in the area.

Councillor Mrs Laws expressed the view that the March 2025 meeting was too far away and could it be moved forward?