Parish Council

For all Parish Council enquiries, please contact Kay Garner (Parish Clerk) by email to CAVVPC@outlook.com or by phone on 07417 546046.

For information about the Parish Council, who we are and what we do, see About Us

Meetings usually take place on the second Wednesday in January, March, May, July, September and November in Cavendish Memorial Hall at 7:30pm. Parish Council meetings start with an Open Forum. This is an opportunity for parishioners to speak to councillors before the formal meeting starts.

Cavendish’s Annual Parish Meeting (APM) has to take place in May.  This is an open meeting for all electors of Cavendish and is an opportunity to ask questions relating to village affairs. Clubs and Societies based in the village are also invited to present their annual reports.  

 The date of the next Finance Committee Meeting is on Monday 3rd November at 4.15pm at the Memorial Hall.

 The date of the next Parish Council Meeting is on Wednesday 12th November at 7.30pm at the Memorial Hall.

Adoption of West Suffolk Local Plan 2024-2041

The West Suffolk Local Plan has now been adopted by West Suffolk Council and will be used from now on to determine all current and future planning applications.

 Village Pond - The Waver - Silt Survey 

Carried out by Stillwater Management, Manningtree

Silt Survey Methodology

• X2 probes, one clean one with 150mm disc fitted.
• Clean probe driven to pond base to record ‘Total Depth’ (T).
• Disc probe rested on silt at the same sounding to record ‘Water Depth’ (W).
• Formula for calculation of silt depth, (T ) – (W) = Silt Depth (S).
• Wading was the method of access, due to shallow depth of pond.

Link to Survey Sketch Plan

Silt Survey Results

• A naturally shallow pond (2-3ft deep) with very firm base.
• Slightly deeper silt in areas closer to the inlet – suggests mineral deposits from the times that turbid water enters the pond and deposits its load as energy is reduced.
• There is not too much of a localised silting issue, as the total pond depth here is greater too – so water depth remains roughly the same.
• Generally low amounts of silt, considering shallow ponds are generally very vulnerable to silting up.
• There is an average of 2ft of water over 6” of silt – this does not warrant mechanical removal at this stage – the environmental impact, as well as cost would be too high in my opinion.

Site Appraisal

• Pond appears naturally shallow and only minimal filamentous algae is present.
• ‘Splash’ type aerator functioning.
• Spring fed, as well as surface run-off entering through pipe beneath road, source water liable to carry suspended solids during times of peak flow. Deposition caused by settlement from this flow is currently mitigated to some extent by the area of encroached (but not extensively) aquatic marginal vegetation which is acting as filtration/catchment area for solids.
• This area should not be allowed to extend any further, and some regular manual removal of sediments will ensure it remains aquatic, rather than becoming territorialised.
• The outlet is functioning, although issues with blockages to pipework/drain beneath grate are common. The flood level overflow pipe is higher than the grate and should, if functioning, prevent serious flooding.
• Marginal vegetation is established and diverse, well managed with little terrestrial encroachment.  

Recommendations – Future Action Plan

I would suggest that silt remediation rather than mechanical silt removal is the way forward. By increasing the amount of aerobic decomposition, we can effectively use the same processes as the sewage treatment industry to make the pond more efficient at breaking down organic detritus.

This can be done by using additional aeration and regular treatments with Ultra Refined Calcium Carbonate.

• Aeration increases the amount of dissolved oxygen available to micro-organisms which decompose organic silt.
• Calcium Carbonate (Pure Chalk), a very eco-friendly substrate (chalk and water go well together – think chalk stream) is composed of billions of tiny Coccolith exoskeletons from marine invertebrates (plankton) these in fossilised solid powder form, have a huge surface area. As the chalk settles into the silt, it effectively opens up the silt structure (at a microscopic level) and allows aerobic rather than anaerobic decomposition. This basically means rotten weed, leaves, other organic waste is actively decomposed rather than just ‘pickling’ which happens in stagnant anaerobic water.
• This way, with regular treatments, one can reverse organic silt build up, slowly, over time.
• It is also why older, declined ponds rapidly become much worse, once the oxygen has gone, nothing that enters the pond ever breaks down, meaning an exponential rise in accumulated silt and rapid decline of the pond. 
• The other benefit is that by instigating these conditions, algal growth should also be diminished.There will be some mineral silt present too, not just from settled solids, but also road run-off and eroded masonry. This can only be physically removed, but for now, there is not enough to justify the cost or environmental impact. An attempt at manually removing it from just in front of the inlet would be hard work but worthwhile.

Recommendations

• Install a bespoke designed diffused aeration system. These are very low power consumption, very reliable and all that is seen is plumes of bubbles from the diffusers. The air pump will be tucked behind the wall. Set on a timer it can work all year round. The splash pump can be used for warmer months only.
• Twice annual (Autumn and Spring) treatment with ultra refined calcium Carbonate of less than 5 microns.

Costs

• Design, supply and installation of diffused aeration system £1,980.00 + vat
• Supply and application of Calcium Carbonate £485.00 + vat per application.

Grass Cutting in the Village

Various comments and questions have been received about the grass cutting in the village, so here is a brief explanation of the Parish Council’s responsibilities.

The grass cutting duties are split between the Parish Council and West Suffolk District Council Grounds Maintenance Department (WSDCGM).

The District Council are responsible for all the green amenity areas associated with the village ‘developments’ i.e., Greys Close, Peacocks Close, The Columbines and Pentlow Drive plus the small triangular areas at the entrances to Water Lane and Nether Road. They also look after St Mary’s churchyard. Their schedules and further information about grass cutting can be found at West Suffolk Council Grass Cutting Services

The Parish Council have a duty to look after the Green, which includes areas in front of the shops and the pond, the cemetery and extension, the orchard, and various verges on the High St, Melford Rd, Peacocks Rd, Poole St, and Mill Lane.

The sports field (football pitches and cricket outfield) is a special case, and we share the cost of cutting with the Sports Club and contract out to WSDCGM.

In previous years we have engaged WSDCGM to provide cutting services within the village. This year (2024) we hired a different contractor to enable us to have more control over the frequency of cuts. Like many other villages and towns, excessive rain contributed to a difficult start to the season. This, combined with unforeseen resourcing issues, led to some areas not being cut at the intervals and to the standard we aim to achieve.

Unfortunately, we have no control over the weather, but we have now been able to address the scheduling and quality of the village’s grass cutting.

As volunteers working on your behalf, we aim to keep the village looking the best it can. If you have any questions or issues in this regard, please do get in touch via the Parish Clerk and we will do our best to help.