Petersfield Area
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Good evening everyone.

This evening is my last activity working with PACT, as I am about to step down and devote more time to becoming a father... my wife is due to give birth to our son early in December.

So this seemed a good opportunity to briefly look back at my time with PACT and how things have changed since I stepped into the role of Chair shortly after the 2004 AGM.

When I joined PACT, it was because I wanted to give something to the community. I didn't know what I had to offer, but when you work as part of a team, then everyone has the chance to input ideas and effort before a mutually agreed decision has been made.

I was thrown in at the deep end by being elected Chair. It was not as daunting as I first feared, because we work as a team and share the workload. But the positive side of being Chair is that you can really help people bring their best ideas to the table, by inspiring them and being supportive. That has been one of our strengths, and I believe that my inspiration has meant something.

We have had many issues land at our feet... some expected and some out of the blue. More and more times it is planning issues that have occupied our time, when really what we wanted to do was develop additional recreational facilities within Petersfield, which we actually have done, in part, with several upgrades to St Matthew's Piece over the last few years.

The fight over the Howard Mallett site was a classic example of how an issue focussed each and every one of us into defending ourselves against what we believed was an inappropriate proposal. We sought and found legal advice and in the end have merely stalled what may happen to the site. The truth is that we just don't know how things will change and who will buy it now that Citylife have found an even better place to go in Kings Hedges.

And there lies the problem. Local residents are faced with a multitude of proposed developments in the immediate area and as hard as we try to understand and unravel the implications of each one, we often feel that our task is an uphill one. Uphill because we have to fight for every inch, because the planning system can be interpreted this way or that and Developers want to extract every ounce of value from their land, when what we want are quality buildings, excellent design and cohesive development. We should settle for nothing less than these aims.

At this point, I think it is a good time for me to acknowledge the effort and time that our planning sub-committee has poured into working on these matters. Without them, so many applications would slip under the radar and any form of control or comment might be lost.

More recently, our attention has been on the proposed Harvest Way development. Such a large proposed change to this site has met with fierce opposition not only from PACT, but from RARA, our neighbouring resident's association from Riverside, as well as residents in the Brunswick area too. We have jointly held meetings, attended planning committees and spoken up for what we believe in and voiced resident's concerns. It has been a difficult call for PACT, as the proposed residential development would be home to our much hoped for Community Centre. Yet our task remains to push for what is right for the area, rather than hang out for what is in essence a small part of the building.

With so much of our local area ripe for development, you might have thought that the local council had a 'grand plan' to guide us all towards a better Cambridge. But the truth is that other than the Cambridge Local Plan 2006, this area has received very little attention and only a few ideas have made it to print. There is no cohesive plan, no yardstick, no rules set in stone and that fact leaves us all vulnerable.

So our public meeting this evening is our first step in changing that and I hope that you will all seize the initiative and contribute to the debate. When our AGM is done very shortly, we have two members of the Cambridge City Council's Urban Design team joining us to find out just what you want to see from your community. Simple things like parking, traffic, urban spaces, green spaces, how you want to see your community grow and interact with your neighbours. I'll explain more when we introduce them, but see this as a 'first step' towards a wider consultation, with more to follow in the new year.

I am not the only person who is standing down this evening. Our most senior Trustee, Dorothy Runnicles, retires today and my fellow Trustees and I offer her our heartfelt thanks for the amazing contributions she has made to PACT and the wider community. I have never met someone who ever came close to Dorothy's energy, drive and commitment towards local and age related issues. Dorothy will be sorely missed.

Last year, at our AGM, those present asked for something different than our annual ImPACT magazine. At 16 to 20 pages it was heavy and, at only once a year, not a good source of up-to-date information. We hope that you have enjoyed reading our first 3 newsletters and that they have delivered what you asked for.

Those of you who have read our most recent newsletter will know that PACT is having a tough time right now. When I started back in 2004, the management team was 11 strong, with others in a host of sub-committees. From today, we are down to just 3 Trustees, with only a handful of sub-committee members fighting for your future. Unless people come together and give a little of their time, PACT will cease to be a viable organisation.

In recent years, I have expressed the need for help in PACT. If you don't help yourselves, who do you think will do it for you? Who will be your voice? Will relying upon your local Councillors be enough to safeguard your community? I urge you not to sit on the fence. Instead, be inspired, like I was, to do something for your community. These may be tough economic times. Don't be deterred by the economics. You just need to be tough enough to make a difference, and I know that you can do it. On that inspirational note, as Chair, I bid you farewell.

Thank you very much. I'll now hand you over to our Treasurer for her report on PACT finances.