no light, no light

No, not Florence + The Machine ..but the installation of solar panels in Sherards Croft at Thriplow.

The south cambs council deal with Savills means that even tho' the government pulled the rug on feed-in-tariffs before Christmas, 250 of our council houses will still get solar panels and start to get the benefits of low-carbon energy.

But maybe one house won't, because when the surveyors did the initial assessment, the neighbour's tree cut out the light over the roof. The neighbours cut the tree down, and they want to make sure their good neighbour gets his solar panel. But the paperwork now needs to catch up, so we are chasing the Communities and Local Government Department to see if this can be done, otherwise cutting the tree down will have been in vain.

Will one solar panel in Thriplow make a difference - dunno - but its good to see people getting behind sustainable energy and looking out for their neighbours.

Whittlesford Parish council meeting this evening

Marathon session at the parish council this evening, finishing at 10.30, but really nice that local residents from the younger end of the village turned up and asked questions and stayed till the end!
Agreed we will ask residents for their views on what we should spend money on - as well as having some ideas ourselves.

South of the border, down Great Chesterford way...

Gt Chesterford's church

There is a proposal, not yet a planning application by a long chalk, to build significant numbers of houses - 5,000 to 6,000 - around Great Chesterford, which is four miles south of the A505 at Whittlesford. You can see what it looks like by clicking here, which is Uttlesford District Council's report of what development proposals they have received and will be consulting on in the same way that south cambs district council will be consulting this summer. Scroll to page 25. It is a big document so might take a few minutes.

Parish council meeting on 21st February

The parish council will meet this coming Tuesday, one week later than usual, to enable a planning officer from south cambs district council to attend regarding a planning application for the shed on the Lawn.

One item for discussion will be what the parish should spend its section 106 money from - this is money paid by developers. As the parish has frozen its precept, and the district council is very likely to do the same, there isnt a lot of money about, so its key that the parish council chooses its targets for funding wisely.

Other items will be an update on Station Road traffic and yellow lines, and the need to start thinking about the village response to the call for land and the proposed development sites that have been put forward.

Putting Whittlesford and Thriplow first

I have decided to step down from being portfolio holder for planning, sustainability and climate change on the district council.

The work has been interesting and at times exciting, particularly over the summer of 2011 when the traveller evictions at Dale Farm in Basildon raised concerns about Smithy Fen, near Cottenham. I am pleased that the issue was handled firmly and sensibly, without a lot of scaremongering.

I think the south cambs planning department, which went through a difficult time, has emerged in good shape. I know planners get a bad press, but this is a crowded island, and without the rules it would be a free-for-all. 

And I enjoyed meeting a smattering of Ministers, for whom the Cambridgeshire economy matters a great deal - and so it should. If anywhere will kickstart the UK economy out of the doldrums it is the enterprise and innovation around the country's oldest university, bar none.

But the portfolio post came with a requirement to attend a lot of meetings, most during the day, and that isn't easily reconcilable with the need to go to work - and work away at times.

So my focus for the future is on the villages of Whittlesford and Thriplow, and the Heathfield settlement, and doing my best to serve the residents of those communities as their district councillor.

And I can spend a bit more time on my vegetable patch, currently under snow.

development proposals round heathfield estate

Local residents asking how and what is the process for commenting on proposals to develop on land adjoining the existing Heathfield Estate just off the A505. The consultation process starts in the summer but community preparation for that should be starting soon, in that local communities need to think about what it is they want to say, and why...I'll be in touch with the Heathfield Residents Assn.

Snow - done my civic duty!

Its snow Jim, but not as we know it, Well, compared to last year's snowathon the blizzard last evening was a mere glitch in the march towards global warming.
Weather forecast is it will be gone by mid-week, but at least the road down to the station has been gritted by the county highways.
Here's my bit of Whittlesford, swept and gritted.