Reports to Whittlesford Parish Council - March 2015
County
1. Council Finances and Council taxes - Both the County and District councils have to find big savings: £600k by the district and a whopping £30m by the County, out of its total budget of £550m. In order to balance their budgets both councils voted to increase council tax by 1.99%, which is the maximum without triggering a referendum.
The county's road repair, potholes and gritting budgets are not affected for this winter. But there have been cuts to a number of services, such as the rights of way team and education, and libraries services are now under review.
2. City Deal (and cycleways) - the City Deal is going to be – more and more – an important element in the planning for big transport and infrastructure developments that will be needed in and around Cambridge to cope with the growing economy.
The first list of projects to be tackled has been agreed: much of it is happening within Cambridge: such as bus priority lanes along, Madingley Road, an A428 to M11 segregated bus route / A428 corridor Park and Ride,/cross-city cycle improvements. It was disappointing that no rural cycleways made their way through the first selection. But at the meeting of the City Deal Assembly last Friday the proposal was agreed that:
infrastructure schemes not funded from the Cycling City Ambition Fund or any other external source should be treated as reserve projects, and the cycling projects are attractive in terms of value for money, enabling economic growth, their deliverability and ‘spade ready’ status and the role they can play in connecting people with jobs.
I want to make sure that if there are cycleway plans for south Cambridgeshire, they are not just the proposal to build a £7m cycleway along the A10 to Cambridge. I have discussed a bid for Whittlesford with the county cycling team, in relation to the proposed Spicers site becoming a bio-tech hub and the consequent impact on traffic through the village and along the Shelford Road.
3. Roads I am being kept informed of the investigation into the terrible fatal accident along the A505 at Thriplow Heath. It appears that neither vehicle was turning in or out of a side road prior to the accident. At the moment the County has no plans to do a lot of improvement along the A505, such as dualling it. But it is increasingly busy and blocked at all times of the day, and I have written to the transport head at the county council pointing out how many people, not just residents, use the A505 each day and do they have any plans.
I attended the launch of an educational project at Duxford IWM Air Museum but also took the opportunity to ask them about their traffic control plans for the very large September air show which commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
4. Bus routes - I queried bus routes to Shelford with the County Council after people had raised with me the possibility of diverting the 7A via Shelford on one or two of its journeys. I also had queries about the route to the IWM which was discontinued when the C7 route went. have had the following reply:
"Residents in Whittlesford can access Great Shelford by taking 7A to Sawston then changing to Stagecoach citi7. A Dayrider Plus voucher can be purchased on 7A that can be exchanged for a Dayrider Plus ticket on the Stagecoach bus. This will cover both journeys there and back. Concessionary fare bus pass holders can use their passes after 09:30 Monday to Friday and all day Saturday to travel on both buses. The County Council will be reviewing the service later in the year once we have finished implementing the original plan across the county and this will be an appropriate time to consider whether any changes can be made to the timetable."
As part of the review of the service later in the year that I mentioned earlier in this reply, the County Council could consider whether the 7A could amend its route to serve the IWM at Duxford. The bus already stops near the museum in Heathfield, but would need to amend its route in Whittlesford if it was to provide a link between the museum and Whittlesford rail station.
5. Flintcross Fire - The owner of the site that went up in flames at Flintcross in November last year was fined for the Dottrell Hall breaches brought against him by the County Council. The Environment Agency have given him until April to clear the Flintcross site. I am continuing to press for answers about the long term future of the site, and the risk of contamination to the water supply if the ash and waste is left on site for much longer.
6. Streetlighting - I have chased up Balfour Beatty about the queries put to them re lighting in the village. The customer service manager who has been very good is unfortunately moving on. Peta Crawshaw is the temporary replacement.
7. I was pleased to support the proposals at the Childrens Committee of the County Council which ensured that the sensory learning services for children were not affected by the changes to the rest of the early support arrangements and would remain a standalone central service, based on the views of parents of children currently using the service.
District Council
8. Planning - The Planning Inspector is continuing her review of the District's long-term plans for housing. The developers are attending in large numbers to try to persuade her to allow lots more housing to be built. I supported the district's argument that the Green Belt needed to protected. These issues (and locally the bid put forward by Savills to build in Duxford) means that Whittlesford might do well to consider working with other villages to develop a Neighbourhood Plan to control (but not to stop) development.
9. I have queried grant of planning permission on green belt land with the district council, and will look into the Newton Road offer of land by the developers there.
10. I have asked Heidi Duffett at SCDC to get the little brushing vehicles out to sweep the village especially the High St and Station Road.
Peter Topping
Mar 2015
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