Present: Dick Baxter (chair), Barry Higgs (Secretary), Simon Bragg, Sarah Green, Erica Hunter, Andy Rankin. Apologies: Susan Stobbs (Treasurer), Anna-Louise Lawrence.

1. Strawberry Fair Wash-up.

The Secretary had sent a brief summary of the main outcomes of the SF Wash-up to members. FoMC welcomes the change of culture to a more family-orientated event. The three main concerns for FoMC were: the insecure 'Brunswick' outer fence; the location of the toilets; and noise. These concerns would be addressed in planning for SF 2012.

2. Save our Green Spaces Meeting.

The FoMC Chair attended the meeting to hear the guest speaker, Dr David Brown, talk about Trees in Urban Spaces. Dick was then asked to describe the long drawn out process of replacing trees on Midsummer Common and establishing the Community Orchard. The meeting proved to be good for networking.

3. Midsummer Fair.

The Chair and Secretary had attended the daily meetings with the organisers. Problems had been minimal. Traffic arrangements were improved but illegal street parking appeared not to be adequately dealt with. Trading stall placements resulted in crowding. The Opening Ceremony was largely inaudible. FoMC would raise these points at the de-brief in August.

4. FoMC Web-site.

Simon Bragg was thanked for his efforts in producing a more inter-active site. The following was agreed:

1. FoMC represents its members and not the public at large. A clear distinction needs to be made between information the Secretary (or the Chairman) passes on to members and what might be shown to the public at large on the website.
2. The Secretary would continue to Email members with information and fomc.announce would be maintained for this purpose.
3. The majority present wanted the Chair and Secretary to edit information before it is passed to Simon for posting on the website's home page.
4. The home page would be re-cast to include:
• A brief welcome to FoMC and an explanation of its purpose.
• More topical News and Current Affairs. (The Secretary was asked to ensure that this remained current).
5. Simon would be the webmaster responsible for the overall design of the website, posting of information onto the home page, and moderating comments. This would be done within a Wordpress environment hosted on a new server. Simon assured the meeting that the new server would cost FoMC no more than £7.50 annually.
6. Other Committee members present expressed no wish to post information onto the site.
7. Simon had added a new page to the website allowing members of the public to join FoMC or make a donation. Payments could be made through a PayPal account which the Treasurer had agreed to use.
8. Static pages authored by Dick would remain on Nick Levine's server. Dick said he would continue to edit these and make them better suited to Wordpress linking.
9. The Secretary would encourage members to access the site more frequently.

5. Chair's Proposals to Improve Cutter Ferry Bridge Cycle Crossings etc.

The Committee agreed that there was a problem, approved the Chair's proposed remedy and asked him to circulate his proposals to members for comment in time for the next Area Committee.

6. Riverside Conservation Area Proposals.

This draft document would soon be circulated by Cambridge City Council to FoMC and others. It discusses residential areas adjacent to the Common in a non-controversial way but says nothing about the Common itself.

7. Cambridge City Council's Revised S106 Procedures.

The Chair has been asked to join a meeting with the Council's Head of Planning Services to discuss s.106 arrangements. Concern has been expressed about the distribution of funds arising from the Berkeley Homes development adjacent to Midsummer Common. FoMC believes that the Common has received money from this source but others are unhappy at both the current procedures and the changes proposed.

8. Vehicles on the Common.

The continued failure of the Council to implement the law and stop vehicles parking outside the Fort St George pub was deplored. If there is no improvement, FoMC will raise the matter again at the August Area Committee meeting.

9. Berkeley Homes Development.

Berkeley Homes have just opened a sales office on the Newmarket Road. FoMC had asked for its existence and aims to be made evident to prospective purchasers by various means. A reply is awaited.

10. Access to the Community Orchard.

Preserving pedestrian access from Auckland Road through the planned Reformed Synagogue site into the Orchard remains a high priority. FoMC is watching developments. One of these is to improve access to the site from the Newmarket Road. The Council has put forward new plans for the entrance. FoMC believes these are flawed and has proposed a better solution involving the removal of fencing and gates to make access easier, especially for disabled persons. There will be a new planning application in due course.

11. FoMC 'Bring and Share' Picnic (11th September).

This would be similar to that held last year and would be open to FoMC members and their friends.

12. Invitation to Duchess of Cambridge to Plant a Tree in the Community Orchard.

FoMC sent an invitation which has been acknowledged by Clarence House. Since the meeting, the mayor has said that it will be considered in any programme he puts forward for a royal visit.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 10.30pm.

B Higgs, Secretary.
Approved: R Baxter, Chair.
18 July 2011