Thriplow parish council deals with the nitty-gritty

Over to Thriplow for the Parish Council meeting where the issues include yellow lines, bus shelters, ditches that need clearing, buses, dog mess issues. All things that need doing for people to live their lives in a small community.
Updated on the solar panels going on the roofs at Sheralds Croft, the district council tax which is frozen for the coming year, a recent planning decision where we need to work with the district council officers, and the call for land issue.

Discussion about housing and land development at the this tuesday's parish council

We have managed to secure Keith Miles, the head of planning policy from the district council to come and talk about the proposed development issues across the district and how  they might affect whittlesford. Some of us know Keith from the Hanley Grange campaign from a few years back. He is very sensible and well worth coming along to discuss this with.

So we are letting people know - even though it is short notice - so that there is a reasonable turn out and a chance for people who are concerned to come along to listen and find out more.

Heathfield says well done to the cops

It was good to talk to people in heathfield yesterday morning, and especially to hear that while there are still noisy kids in cars and on bikes congregating in the centre of the estate, near the Iceni water building, people say that the local police paying more attention to the problem, with more regular patrols crusing in and around on fri and sat nights, has made a difference. 

Thriplow - looking good for Daffodil weekend

Out and about in the beautiful village of Thriplow this afternoon - it is still a village with much amazing pasture, fields and working farms - resisting the creep of infill. If the weather holds then the daffs will be blooming next week-end.
Talking to people - major concern is about the interest that the developers have for building in and around our South Cambs villages, which we need to manage and protect.

Scrapheap challenge

Sleeting this afternoon, but never mind, onwards through snow and ice...
down to Station Road to talk to residents there about continued opposition to the scrapyard - which is trying to obtain a goods vehicle operators licence. I got the planning people at the district council to write continuing opposition to the grant of the licence, and I've dropped that off with people in Station Road so they can see what has been said.
I was pleased that the district used good robust reasons about the noise and the disruption caused - which is what the people living there say they have to put up with. We just have to keep the pressure on to prevent the scrapyard being even more of a disruption and misery to people than it is now.
 

Arthur "two sheds" Jackson

an old monty python sketch actually - but also an issue in whittlesford where the planning application to put up a new shed on the Lawn and also retain the old one has been a matter of some contention.
So many thanks to Julie, planning officer from the district council, who came along to the parish council last week to give advice.
We will keep both sheds, but look to replace the old scruffy one with a smaller and newer one.  

On the buses...

The bus system is a county council issue. The county council has been cheerfully handing over a quarter of a million a year in subsidy for the C7, which trolls through Whittlesford, usually with one or two people on it.

I challenged the bus company at a meeting over a year ago to come up with a more integrated transport system that linked with the Whittlesford rail timetable. They just shrugged their shoulders - and carried on trousering the subsidy.

So now the subsidy is going to end because the county coucnil has to make savings. Finding an alternative is for the county council, not the parish or the district - we pay our precept (taxes) to the county and we expect a service of some sort even if we accept the situation cannot go on as it is.