Counting down to Halloween - chilly tales at Thriplow - 23 October

Spooky goings on at Thriplow village hall on Thursday 23 October at 8.00 pm as the Thriplow Society hosts an evening of tales of Victorian ghost-hunting with Andrew Selwyn-Crome

Hear about the Society for Psychical Research which started in Cambridge in 1882 and discover the strange and bizarre tale of Edmund Gurney, one of its founding members.

solar farm between Thriplow and Heathfield

The solar farm bid (that was withdrawn late last year before it went to the district planning committee for a decision) is possibly being re-introduced although no planning application has yet been put in.

There is a chance to see what is now being proposed at Thriplow village hall between 4 and 8pm on Thursday 8 May. The exhibtion is being arranged by Savills, who are acting for the people putting forward the land.  There is now a large gap between the two parts of the solar farm. It is important for people to come and see what is being proposed. 

Thriplow Daffodil weekend

The Daffodil weekend has had some poor weather in recent years but came back with a bang this weekend, and looks set to do well and make money to support local charities. 

The weekend keeps growing with more live music, entertainment, food stalls and crafts so there is more to see than daffodils. And there is always the Morris Dancing! 

A Local Plan (and a local plan)

South Cambridgeshire District Council has this month moved a step closer towards putting in place a Local Housing Plan for the next 20-30 years. A full day meeting went through the recommendations and heard objections. The meeting was contentious because of the large numbers of people opposing the plans to build several thousand houses at Waterbeach and Bourn Airfield in particular. 

This process started some years ago, and residents of local villages will remember the "call for land" exercise in 2011, which saw significant areas of land around and in Whittlesford Heathfield and Thriplow put forward. These areas of land were not taken forward into the Local Plan, principally on the argument that such development would present too great a challenge to the local infrastructure (roads, schools etc.

My main interest in attending was to represent the views of Whittlesford Heathfield and Thriplow residents on the issue of the proposed building of several hundred houses between Sawston and Babraham, as well as to review the plans more generally. The concern is that these additional houses will mean that the services in Sawston on which other villages nearby rely, such as the health centre, parking and shops, become overloaded. 

If the Local Plan is agreed by the full Council meeting in March then it will go to the planning inspector for review. The adoption of the Local Plan does not mean that there can be no further development other than that specified in the plan. This is why the proposed neighbourhood plan for Whittlesford that the parish council is taking forward matters. It is a means by which the community can have some control over future planning applications in and around the village. 

Fly-tipping II

The district council have removed the lesser fly-tip between Whittlesford and Thriplow on the track used by walkers, riders, cyclists and farmers between the two villages. 

While it isnt anything like the mountain that appeared last week at Fowlmere, it was reported to me in mid January and needed shifting and it has been done by the guys. 

Thriplow Solar Farm planning application - latest

Thriplow Parish Council met this evening to consider the latest version of the planning application put in for a large solar farm to the east of the village. A much smaller meeting than the public meeting before Xmas where there were over 100 people attending. The application now has fewer solar panels near the footpath. 

But if it wasn't as lively a meeting there was still a good level of discussion focussing on the concerns raised by residents about the scale of the proposed solar farm, the loss of green belt and the loss of an important amenity in that the footpath that links the two settlements of Thriplow and Heathfield runs through the proposed development.

Other points raised were concerns over water supply impact, potential noise and a stong feeling that the section 106 community money that had gone to create the footpath two or three years back would now be used to access the solar farm. 

I have been at the three public meetings, and the site visit by the members of the planning committee in December. I will touch base with planning officers at South Cambs tomorrow morning to see if any developments, and then write up what I want to say the district council planning committee next Wednesday as the local member. 

I've been impressed by the way the Thriplow parish council has handled this major planning application - local people who put in many hours of unpaid committee work to represent the interests of their community. This is localism at its best. 

Solar Farm at Thriplow

This amended planning application comes up for decision at the planning committee of South Cambs District Council next week. the applicants have pushed back the solar panels away from the drift track that runs through the middle of the land to reduce the visibility of the panels but there is still a good deal of local opposition. At the moment the planning officers recommendation is to refuse. The land is green belt though not high class arable land.
I will be setting out my views to the planning committee as the local member for thriplow and Heathfield. The parish council also have an extraordinary meeting to consider the latest plans later this week.

Thriplow - making space for residents parking

A good discussion in Thriplow this evening with people in Sheralds Croft Lane.The houses were built well before the two car family was invented.So we scooted round and found some land that is no good to man nor beast and could take some of the pressure.

Duxford diary

To the list  of successful local businesses (see yesterday) in the area I must add the delightful and hospitable John Barleycorn in Duxford, where we set up base for a day's canvassing - at the beginning I thought we would be on cool drinks in the sun, but by late afternoon it was hot coffee as the rain clouds gathered in again.
The Hunts Road rat-run and the crumbling road surface featured on a lot of people's agenda, plus the debacle over the Post Office move to the excellent village shop, where it does seem as if local demand and resourcefulness (namecheck Mr Shah) is being frustrated by the corporate Post Office's drive for centralised efficiency. I campaigned to keep Thriplow's Post Office open - and I know the problems Fowlmere are having. As someone said to me in Petersfield: "Are we to have any local services?" 

Local enterprise

The village shop at the Abingtons must be one of the best stocked around. Up there this afternoon and the battery in my car key failed. Did they sell a replacement - of course they did!.
Later I was in Thriplow where it was good to see the newly re-opened Green Man doing brisk businesss.
This morning I was hearing from a young couple in Ickleton who had gone into the micro-brewing business, using local produce.
Not every business has to be mega to be successful.   

Lock up your shed or shed a tear!

Police are reporting two break-ins to sheds at Thriplow, where thefts of expensive garden eqpt ie a lawnmower then ocurred.

Even tho the evenings are getting lighter, people are not outside much so the thing to watch is not popping in and out of the shed and then leaving it unlocked, becoming a target for all sorts of nasties passing by.

Thriplow Annual Parish Council meeting

Gave my report at the Thriplow Parish Council Annual Meeting this evening - we turned the heating on in the village hall!
Wide ranging discussion on: crime in the village and the good work of the PCSOs,  how to upkeep the churchyard,  making use of the village shop, the fate of the bus route, plans for childrens play area at Heathfield, street lighting, drainage issues, broadband, condensation problems in council houses at Sheralds Croft Lane.

A black day for Heathfield

The developers have succeeded in winning their planning appeal to build two houses on a patch of land at the entrance to Heathfield.

I have opposed this three times in the last five years because that is what the people of Heathfield wanted. Three times the district council planning committee has listened to us and rejected the application. The developer took the decision made by the district to appeal two years ago and lost. Now the developer has won his appeal and the building will go ahead. The local community will get about £6k for local projects but that is small recompense for cramming two houses on a pocket handkerchief. Local residents will watch the site to ensure there is no disruption to traffic etc while the houses are being built. 

vecchia zimarra

South Cambs is running a trial textile and shoe collection (so listen up, any old coats). The trial covers 5,000 households and, if successful, may be rolled out across the district.
Villages in the north of the district - so not yet Thriplow or Whittlesford - are being given blue recycling bags so they can put out spare clothing, shoes and household linen for collection alongside their blue bin. 
The textiles and shoes collected are sent to a textile processing facility. Reusable items are sold for reuse in both the UK and abroad and non-reusable items such as worn clothing and old towels are sorted with some items being used for cleaning rags and industrial wipers.

District Council housing plans

The district council is working up what new houses will be built in South Cambs in the future. The recent consultation period has ended, and the next time people will get their say is in July, when the draft plan will be published.

The position for Whittlesford and Thriplow is that the large scale housing proposals put forward by various landowners and developers are unlikely to feature, and so a pattern of smaller scale development will be the future for these villages, limited by the tightly drawn village frameworks.

Up to 500 more houses could be built in and around Sawston - which is a lot. More detail at:  http://www.scambs.gov.uk/content/one-week-left-have-your-say-development-options

Keeping villages in South Cambs seperate and distinct

None of the land offered up by developers and landowners in Whittlesford, Heathfield and Thriplow has been taken forward by South Cambs into the discussions that take place next week. The SCDC link is here.

But we do need some new houses, especially ones that are affordable.

Thriplow's new community pub

good article in Cambridge News about the successful bid from Thriplow residents to turn the Green Man into a community pub - well done to Kevin Clarke for getting this going, and best of luck.

It is a good pub, and very much at heart of the community, and needed that sort of local support to survive. Best wishes to Mary, the landlady,  too, for the future.

Entrance to Heathfield estate - we win again!

I asked the planning committee at South Cambs that met on Wedsnesday to reject the latest planning application to build houses at the entrance to Heathfield (ie where I am standing in this pic).

The chair of Thriplow Parish Council, Derek Pinner also went along to put the case against this development from the parish council point of view.

I'm very pleased to say that common sense prevailed and the committee refused the application - against the advice of planning officers - on the grounds that the form, design and scale of the proposed dwellings in such a significant location would have a negative impact on the Heathfield estate as a whole. Hooray!

300 posts, 11,000 hits, 208 weeks

Election day in Whittlesford ward tomorrow.
Its four years after I opened this blog, having been elected district councillor in May 2008.
I've posted roughly once a week on average, I hope it has been interesting and informative and occasionally funny, with some relevant pictures.
Its been read by people 11,000 times over the years (hopefully not by the same person).
Now its your call. 

Nice people, terrible weather in Thriplow

Difficult juggling leaflets, umbrella and notepad when out in Church Lane Thriplow in the pouring rain.

Discussion with people ranged from solar panels, whether or not Thriplow could sustain development for further housing, making the bridleway to Whittlesford all-weather, and how to make best use of the funds paid over by previous developers.

And some kind people invited me in so that I could dry off by their fire - yes, a fire at the end of April. I'm beginning to think we had our summer in March.