Whittlesford Parish Council update

I attended the Whittlesford April parish council meeting last Tuesday: as well as a useful discussion about the potential for a village orchard, which Ann Beeby is leading on, and I am helping, and some discussion about planning matters, here are the main things I've been doing that I reported on:

I have had complaints about litter round the bench at the corner of the A505 and New Farm Road, and will contact the district environmental services to arrange to have a clear-up done.

Station Road scrapyard: I met the enforcement officer at South Cambs who updated me on the request for a meeting that had come in from the owners, in response to the formal letter written to them about apparent lack of planning permission for the site. The planning team at South Cambs are going to meet with them this week. The purpose of the meeting is to see if the owners have any evidence to counter the district's assessment that there is no covering planning permission.

Boundary changes – I attended a meeting of the Electoral Committee at South Cambs, where the district boundaries between Whittlesford and Duxford were discussed, following on from the changes to the parish boundaries. The committee agreed to change the district boundaries so that the A505 will be the boundary. The inconvenience for residents living on the south side of Station and Royston Road is that they will have to vote twice in district council elections in two years: in 2011 in Duxford, in 2012 in Whittlesford, as the Boundaries Commission in London can't make the change any quicker.

I asked the housing and new communities team at South Cambs for an explanation of the sheltered house that appeared to be for sale at butts green: they confirmed it is just the equity share – I’ve passed that information on to people who raised the question.

I attended the Neighbourhood Policing Panel at Sawston. I queried progress on the two burglaries just after Christmas in Whittlesford. The police had conducted patrols afterwards and offered advice to a number of houses that looked vulnerable. No arrests have yet been made.