Annual report to Whittlesford Parish Council 08/09

"I have continued to serve on the Parish Council and I think this has helped to forge links between the district council and the parish council on, for example, planning decisions. I have attended the Duxford Airfield Liaison Committee, and have recently asked the Duxford museum director for more information about its proposed “Masterplan” for future development.

I have taken up issues and problems as people have asked me to. I have:

• worked with British Transport Police to improve security and safety at Whittlesford station: there is now better lighting, more late night police patrols and bicycle security posters. I continue to campaign for CCTV there;
• persuaded Cambridge Housing Association to improve the standard of maintenance of their properties in Maynards, and kept in contact with their area manager;
• acted on concerns about road safety along Whippletree Road: the Highways team have cut back the greenery so improving visibility for cyclists and riders;
• used the expertise of the South Cambs drainage manager to get Anglia Water to sort out the underlying drain overflow problems at the bottom of Mill Lane;
• taken up individual village planning concerns with the District Council’s planning department and attended the Planning Chairman’s meeting to represent residents;
• worked with South Cambs planning enforcement officers to secure a High Court injunction to prevent traveller caravans being moved onto a field next to the A505;
• campaigned to improve the service of the C7 bus route, and spoken out on the impact a “Cambridge congestion charge” would have for people living outside the City but having to go there to work.

I am also a member of the South Cambridgeshire District Council Planning Committee, and I chair the Corporate Governance Committee. This ensures that risk management and auditing are properly carried out by the council. In these uncertain financial times, I see this as an important check, and I am happy to report that South Cambs had no money invested in any Icelandic banks! I am also vice-chairman of the climate change working group. As I work full-time as a civil servant all this keeps me pretty busy, but a lot of these meetings are in the evenings.

The issue that demanded most of my attention during 2008 was the threat from developers to build an “eco-town” of ten thousand houses at Hanley Grange. I worked closely with the affected parish councils on opposing Hanley Grange: getting people signed up to the huge petition that was part of the campaign, speaking at meetings and writing to the press. I challenged the poorly worked up assumptions put forward by the developers at meetings held with them at South Cambridgeshire District Council, and used my past experience of public relations to work with our local MP, Andrew Lansley and his advisers on the media efforts to see off the Tesco backed plan. I was very pleased that the developers eventually withdrew their proposals.

If you would like to contact me please call me on 07825 876582, or email me at cllr.topping@scambs.gov.uk. If you want to read about what I am doing, I post regularly blogs online at www.petertopping@blogspot.com"