Please be aware that there is a sunken fibreglass vessel on the Old River Nene east of March Town, which, if passable, will only be so if care is taken.

This matter will not probably be attended to until the New Year as our call out staff and employees have been out working 24/7 since the 23rd December dealing with excess flood waters and are now concentrating on essential remedial activities and checks as water levels are brought back down to normal. They also need a break once all emergency and essential tasks are completed.

Our reasoning for deeming this a low priority is that the vessel is currently not causing a flood risk, it is already sunken and appears abandoned and the navigation length is within a Tier 4 area hence we would not expect vessels to be being, used other that for absolutely essential journeys. If you need to contact the MLC urgently please dial the main office number and choose the emergency option.

The Chairman welcomed Mr Rupert Waters who was attending his first meeting of the Board.

Mr Mark England was re-appointed Chairman and the Middle Level Commissioners were re-appointed as Clerk.

The Finance Committee comprising The Lord De Ramsey, D D Brown, D W England, M P England, J German, T E A Noble and H W Whittome were appointed.

The Clerk reported there were now 3 vacancies on the Board following the  resignations of Messrs Christopher King, Charles Robinson and David Stokes.

It was resolved to invite Mr Jacob Armstrong to fill one vacancy on the Board, if willing to do so.

Following the successful completion of similar work undertaken in the 2019 season to watercourses under the control of the EA in the Swavesey area, Swavesey IDB in conjunction with the Middle Level Commissioners were tasked with providing a similar fully costed and re-chargeable service to the EA again for the 2020 season under a PSCA contract.

This season’s watercourse maintenance works consisted of several elements including flail mowing of watercourse banks and adjacent berms, bush trimming,  herbicide application to control emergent aquatic vegetation, and machine and hand cleansing with a weed bucket/ hand tools to remove excessive vegetation from the watercourses concerned. Vermin monitoring and control has also been included in this year’s works programme.

Following the resignation of the Chairman, Mr Mike Day was appointed Chairman.

It was reported that Mr Stuart Ayers had been a member of the Board for 48 years and had served as Chairman for 36 years and as District Officer for 15 years.

Mr Neil Buttress was appointed Vice Chairman and Mr Fred Leach was appointed Deputy Vice Chairman.

Messrs Day, Buttress and Leach were all appointed District Officers.

 

 

The Chief Executive reported the death of Mr Maurice Bunton, former St Germans Pumping Station Engineer, who died on the 4th May 2020.

Mr Jonathan Brown was appointed Chairman and Mr Hugh Whittome was appointed Vice Chairman of the Commissioners.

Prior to the meeting, Commissioners observed a minutes’ silence as a mark of respect for the former Chairman, Mr Richard Wright, who died on the 5th October 2020.

It was resolved that Mrs Louise Flint and Mr Roger Flint become Commissioners.

 

 

The Chairman referred to the resignation of Mr Richard Wright, former Chairman of the Commissioners, after approximately 70 years of service to the Commissioners.

The Chairman welcomed Jack Smith (representing A G Wright & Son) Ltd and Andrew Lensen (representing AgReserves) who were attending their first meeting as Commissioners.

 

 

A rate of 26p in the £ was set.

Messrs David Caton and Andrew Roberts were re-appointed Chairman, and Vice Chairman respectively.

Mr Cedric Armstrong was re-appointed District Officer.   The Middle Level Commissioners were re-appointed as Clerk.

The Clerk reported the resignation of Mr Paul Drinkwater from the Board with immediate effect and it was resolved that no action be taken to fill this vacancy until after the election.

A rate of 13.0p in the £ was set.

The Chairman welcomed Mr Linden Croft who was attending his first meeting of the Board.

Messrs Andrew Roberts and Matthew Smith were re-appointed Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively.

Mr Jason Edwards was re-appointed District Officer.   The Middle Level Commissioners were re-appointed as Clerk.