I USED to regard parish council meetings as free entertainment. Now I find them rather the reverse. In fact, I often wonder why I bother to turn out, particularly on a dark winter night. Thanks to high tech means of communication, correspondence is circu

I USED to regard parish council meetings as free entertainment. Now I find them rather the reverse. In fact, I often wonder why I bother to turn out, particularly on a dark winter night. Thanks to high tech means of communication, correspondence is circulated to members resulting in little being said at the council table to enable me as a bystander to write up an interesting report. That is the reason why I write Village Scene instead. However, I do note that my vigilance concerning the welfare of the notice board at the bus stop in front of the health centre appears to have gone unnoticed. At the last parish council meeting, it was promptly agreed that a litter bin be purchased and installed there for ease of disposal of outdated notices and, of course, for litter. Details of bus times for the village now appear to be on display on the adjacent bus stop sign. In this instance appearances are deceptive. Although we have two buses-a-day only the details of one are listed. It is no exaggeration to say that half of the bus times for Post Wobegon's would-be passengers have been omitted. With a little used bus stop beside a well looked after notice board it could easily be said that the purchase of a litter bin is a waste of money, or is it? Perhaps four should be purchased, one for metals, namely rusty drawing pins and drink cans thrown out from passing vehicles, two small ones for paper and one for glass, and the largest one of all for plastic covered notices and the ever-increasing variety of plastic refreshment bottles. Perhaps this would encourage South Cambridgeshire, now listed as the holder of third place in the regions recycling stakes, not only to maintain this accolade, but to do even better. After all now that poor old capped South Cambridgeshire District Council has no option but to withdraw recycling credits as received by parish councils in proportion to the amount recycled in their respective villages needs some support and encouragement. As a domestic consumer, it is alarming to see the amount of plastic which goes into the black bin to end up on a landfill site. I understand that the local authority, which recycles the largest amount of domestic waste in the region, provides blue bins for plastic. Admittedly, the district council does provide plastic bottle collecting points accessible to those who have their own transport. Otherwise they just end up at the landfill site. Yes, I would be the first to agree that this week's Village Scene is a load of rubbish, but behind it there is a principle to be upheld. - Jill Marshall reports from the Eversdens each week in Village Scene.