Reports to Whittlesford Parish Council – March 2016
Peter ToppingCounty & District Councillor
1. Money: county council and district council budgets
After a meeting of some 12 hours, the county council decided to increase the council tax by two per cent, ring fenced to protect social care, and to freeze other elements of the budget. The arguments put forward by those supporting this increase was that the 2% would provide some £4m towards a very hard pressed area of the council’s work. Those opposing the increase, mainly from the more rural areas of the county, were of the view that given the considerable savings that would still need to be made in social care, the sooner the county started on its necessary transformation work the better, and not add to the tax burden of residents in the meantime.
The district council voted almost unanimously – after about an hour’s debate - to increase its budget this year and next by 4%, although it starts from a very low base. For a Council Tax Band D property the tax each month will be £135.00 while Cambridge City is £182 and Hunts is £133. Average tax is £166 across the country.
2. Highways and waterways and even information highways
Hinxton Ford
The new highways officer Peter Taylor has talked the parish councils of Duxford and Hinxton through the decision processes the county follow in opening and closing the ford gates. Peter Taylor has now got into the good practice of emailing ahead as to when he is about to close the gates. I am arranging a follow-up meeting to discuss with the senior highways engineer, as to how the local community might have more say in the decisions to open and close the gates. The issue at the heart of this is the risk appetite of the county council and their concern that if a car was swept away while crossing the ford they would be liable. Annoyingly, the gates are closed but the signs indicating this are currently not displayed at the Duxford end.
Minor highways improvement scheme
I met with the highways officers to better understand how Whittlesford can put in a successful bid next year. As the scheme becomes the main route by which significant improvements can be made, there will be pressure to present bids in a structured way, based on:
- an analysis of highways issues as they affect the village;
- demonstrating public consultation and support for that analysis;
- how the specific bid fits in with the wider strategic approach (ie that a prioritization method has been used).
Bids where the parish can make a more than 10 per cent contribution will score more highly, as will bids that are jointly made from a group of parishes.
Broadband coverage
There is a new campaign to identify where there are “not-spots” of poor wifi and broadband coverage across Cambridgeshire. The website is www.thinkbroadband.com/CambsNotspotter for more details.
3. Planning
The Spinney Hill Farm cemetery application is pending following the site visit by the inspector. I have discussed possible outcomes with the planning officers at SCDC.
Vetspeed chimney planning application
The county council has commissioned a report from an aviation expert into the proposals put forward by Vetspeed and their potential harm on flights at the Duxford IWM airfield. The report appears to indicate that the height of the chimney would not cause harm or increase the risks to aircraft. With regard to other key concerns to do with this application, the volume of traffic that would be generated by waste material being trucked to the plant remains a key one, together with the nature of the emission from the chimney, using its very new technology. The upside of the proposed method is that because of the volumes increase, the plant would be more closely monitored by the Environment Agency than is currently the case. There is still time for any final comments to Helen Wass at the county council, before the planning committee hearing in early April, which I will attend.
Whittlesford Bridge developments – meeting with district council planners re the scrapyard (see annex A). The proposal for a path between Whittlesford Parkway and Duxford is still under discussion with NR and Abellio, and I had a discussion with the commercial contracts manager of NR which seemed positive. I have had concerns raised with me about racers using the NCP car park and will ask the PCSOs to investigate.
Local Plan - this is likely to take to early 2017 to complete the Inspector's assessment. This covers plans on where to build up to 2030 across the district. There is a meeting of the district council to approve the proposals going back to the inspector this month. There are no proposals to build in or around Whittlesford under the Local Plan - the building will be mainly at Waterbeach, Bourn Airfield, Northstowe and some areas on the fringes of Cambridge City. As the local plan is still not agreed, there is a risk that speculative planning applications can be put forward, and given the attractiveness of Whittlesford this is risk.
4. Housing
Newton Rd
I have had several meetings with the housing association managing this development and the officers at the district. I am pleased the for the council housing we have secured houses for local families. But the national rules regarding who can apply for shared ownership houses are very broad and while the rules about a local connection still apply it is then a first come first served approach. This has meant that some local families hoping to secure a house have not been successful. I am not happy with the answers from South Cambs because it seems families are losing out, but the council claims these are national guidelines. It makes it more important to see what can be done for local families re Orchard Terrace and the scrapyard developments.
Devolution deal and housing
The government is very keen on a devolved government deal for the three counties of Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, to be known as the eastern powerhouse. This may be announced tomorrow in the Budget if the last minute deal making is successful. The issue is controversial because the other two counties are very different economically to this county and to this part of Cambridgeshire. The government is however offering a deal that would see South Cambridgeshire having access to funds that would enable it to build more affordable and starter homes, recognising that if there are not more homes, then the current economic boom locally might start to fail. The other advantage of devolution is that it would allow major transport improvement, such as on the A505 and rail transport locally, allowing houses to be built further away, in places like Wisbech or Newmarket, so that people could commute into Cambridgeshire, reducing the pressures to build more locally.
One issue that will come to the fore in the next few months is do we want "affordable" houses as in rented properties run by housing associations and/or the council, or do we want "starter" houses for young people on limited incomes.
Orchard Terrace
More locally, the plan between the County and District to develop the site at the end of Orchard Terrace is proceeding. I will update at the next meeting.
Annex A - article for Look magazine
Why does the plan to build houses at the scrapyard matter?
Plans to develop the scrapyard site at Station Road are currently blowing hot and cold. The parish council discovered this for itself at a meeting with planning officers at the District Council last month.
The purpose of members of the parish council going to meet the planners was so that the district council understands what the villages’ priorities are, when it comes to negotiations. The developers are pushing to be allowed to build 60 houses, and claim that the costs of making good the brownfield site means that they could not pay much if anything towards local infrastructure such as an education contribution or providing open space or affordable houses.
What happens down at the scrapyard matters a great deal, because it starts the process of a significant development of the Whittlesford Bridge area. There have been other developments along Station and Royston Road, but this is the big one. Even if the deal falls through this year, the relative values of using land for houses or metalbashing means that it will eventually come to pass – much to the relief of many living nearby. If the county council’s highways depot on the other side of the rail track is sold for housing, as is likely in the next five years or so, Whittlesford could cumulatively grow by between a fifth and a quarter again, over the next 5-10 years, mainly in a location with very little amenity for families, except the obvious easy access to excellent train services, and the Red Lion.
None of this is cut and dried, but the development of that end of our village, together with enhancements at the station itself when the new franchise is granted, needs thinking through, including what any financial contribution from the developer should be spent on – affordable homes or some much needed green space at that the end of the village, given how many young families will be living there. Should the village try to specify as far as is possible, that the affordable home to be built there should be for people with a strong local connection?
Without moving into the realms of science fiction, when Addenbrookes gets its rail station you could live at Whittlesford Bridge and commute ten minutes down the line to the science park bio-medical campus. Our house prices are high, but Trumpington Meadows’ could be higher.
The risk is that if we don't do any thinking, then all this development just happens, and a heap of new houses are built willy nilly, with lots of frustrated people trying to drive out onto the A505 to access their amenities – schools, shops etc.
The Neighbourhood Plan described elsewhere in this edition of Look is a good start, because changes are starting to happen.
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