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. 

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.

Heathfield - waiting for broadband

Residents of Heathfield told me this evening they hope that superfast broadband  - or even relatively brisk broadband - comes soon because at the moment most houses can't even get the required 2mb to sign up for the most basic services.

Broadband is fast becoming an essential connection as so many services depend on people using it.
The County is rolling out its "Connecting Cambridgeshire" High-speed fibre broadbandand people really want it.

Until then, here's a picture of the sunset over the fields to the north of Heathfield, which residents do not want to see built on - I agree, because there just isn't the infrastructure to add to the houses at Heathfield already there.

Fowlmere's bus service ...lessons

The bus services running through the villages of South Cambridgeshire have been heavily subsidized and the County is right to look at this cost.
Over the past year Whittlesford, Hinxton and Heathfield residents who used the C7 bus have had to work hard in trying to ensure the replacement to their service proposed by the County Council is fit for purpose.
For smaller villages such as Hinxton and Fowlmere where there is no shop or Post Office, let alone the rail service that Whittlesford enjoys, public transport is a vital link.
Fowlmere's bus service is under threat as the subsidy is going to be withdrawn. This is already a very limited service of five buses a day into Cambridge, Mon to Fri, and the County Council needs to show that this basic service will be maintained, and that there will not be the dip in service that ocurred for Hinxton, Heathfield and Whittlesford.

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.

Iceni ok as long as the noise is kept down

People at heathfield I talked to this afternoon expect Iceni Water to keep noise to a minimum and not operate vehicles during nighttime and especially at weekend if the company's planning application is to go through.

I'll pass on the comments to the planning officers at South Cambs district council.People can see it is good for the local economy if the company is doing well, and also that the activity around the site in the evening might deter the undesirable element who tend to hand around at the entrance to Heathfield.

Bus options meeting at Whittlesford

A good turn-out at Whittlesford this evening to look at the various options for a bus service that will replace the C7 that the county took away in the summer.People from Sawston, Heathfield and Duxford were there.
Thanks to Dan Clarke from the county and Richard Hales from South Cambs for presenting the options and handling lots of questions.
The bus service options proposed were generally agreed to be much better that the current stop gap.
The options will come back to the parish councils for a view and then the service will have to go out to tender so a month or two yet.

Iceni water bottling - open all hours?

This is the Iceni water bottling plant in the middle of Heathfield estate. The company want to extend operating hours to overnight.
If they do get permission then I have asked the district council to make a condition that there are no vehicles moved between six pm and eight am, and that there is noise reduction so that people living nearby cannot hear the factory.
Thriplow parish council will be sending in its views to the district planning department on Monday, so if people have any last minute views, it is important to do that now.
Local residents have already send in their views and their concerns largely to do with noise and vehicles. Iceni is a successful local company, but people also need to be able to sleep at night at Heathfield.

Water, water 24 hours

Iceni Water have sought planning permission to run their bottling plant at Heathfield for longer hours. The proposal is under discussion by Thriplow Parish Council and also the Heathfield Residents Association.

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.

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. 

Good news on the C7 bus front

The county team trying to put solutions in place from June onwards to replace Stagecoach bus services visited  Lettice Martin Croft in Whittlesford yesterday - about 30 people were there - and it was judged a very useful meeting by all.
The good news is that a minibus will run from early morning to Sawston, allowing people to catch the commercial C7 bus into Cambridge, or to do what they need to do in Sawston and catch a minibus back. Concessionary fares can be used. This service will also be available for young people who need to get to sixth form at Hills and Long. The bus will scoop people up at Heathfield too.
Many thanks to Dan Clarke and his team from the County for doing this and putting people's hearts at ease.

Heathfield play area

Going to talk to a mum in Heathfield next week you has been getting ideas together for making-over the play area at Heathfield. Certainly looked pretty sad when I checked it out during last week.
The money due from the developers has been safely gathered in, after a bit of wriggling, and now the question is - should there be some more fund-raising from various sources so that there is more money and therefore more that can be done - good play eqipment doesnt come cheap - and is there a need for a group to form to check out what people want and make it happen for Heathfield.

What is it all for...

When I have been out and about in Thriplow, Heathfield and Whittlesford people have asked about the proposals for building many more houses around the villages, and why the developers keep coming back with their plans.
The bottom line is that our villages and the countryside within which they sit are hugely attractive to big developers. Why? Well, we are near enough to Cambridge to bask in its reflected cachet and enjoy its booming economy and chic shops, there is the 43 minutes rail journey down to Liverpool St and the M11, the village shops, schools and pubs, the air museum, people riding horses through the villages, children playing football on a crisp November morning on the recreation ground, cricket on summer evening with the long shadows over the the village green..you get the picture.
No wonder then, that as in the opening of HG Wells famous novel, there are "envious eyes across the gulf of space slowly and surely drawing their plans against us."
But we'll see them off...

Come June, you'll wait a long time for a C7 bus...

Found out today that Stagecoach have told the County Council they will end the current service thru Whittlesford and Heathfield in June, not September as originally planned. There will be one service out in the morning and one service back in the evening. Thanks guys.

But there is hope! I'm also told that the County are contracting with a not-for-profit in Suffolk to run mini-buses in the Linton area, just a few miles away. These would be feeder services, so a minibus scooping up people mid-morning to get them to Sawston, where they could go on to Cambridge (because the C7 will still run from Sawston) or shop/go to dentist/doctor/library and then get the feeder bus back.
I've asked the county consultation team to come to the sheltered housing in Lettice Martin Croft on Tuesday May 1st to talk to people there about their needs. Our county councillor, Tim Stone, has arranged a public meeting next Thursday evening in Whittlesford  at the URC.

Bollards!

Down in Heathfield this evening - beautiful blue sky and clouds sunset. The playarea and fields at the back of Kingsway looked stunning. So a good time to talk to people about keeping the developers away who want to encircle the area with more houses.

Differing views about the bollards that the Residents Assn. have put up to prevent parking on green areas. Most people were in favour, but some not so sure, pointing out that it meant if there was a family occasion or party then people now had to park up and down the street, which wasn't ideal.

Thriplow Parish Council AGM

The Green Man at Thriplow

Over to Thriplow on Thursday for the PC annual meeting, where outgoing parish councillor Tim Spicer was given an engraved glass for his 16 years on the parish council.
The recreation ground play area has now gathered all the funding it needs - including £18,000 from the District Council - which I was happy to support. So now the improvement work begins, ready for the summer and the Jubilee.
Other issues including dog mess, the development proposals triggered by the call for land, whether there should be a parish plan, the yellow lines outside the village school, updates on local issues such as policing, village school, Heathfield issues etc etc 

Meeting finished, over to the Green Man for a very good pint and a natter.

Heathfield says well done to the cops

It was good to talk to people in heathfield yesterday morning, and especially to hear that while there are still noisy kids in cars and on bikes congregating in the centre of the estate, near the Iceni water building, people say that the local police paying more attention to the problem, with more regular patrols crusing in and around on fri and sat nights, has made a difference. 

Keeping Heathfield off-limits to off-road bikes

Some feedback from residents on my recent Heathfield autumn newsletter was nice to have, plus a few local issues that I will pick up on, including -

the entrance to Heathfield, at Hurdles Way, has become a bit of collecting point for youngsters on trail bikes, and the police attended an incident last Friday evening after reports of vehicles being broken into. They did a bit of sensible talking to one or two lads, followed up by some Community Officer "visits" over the weekend.
One of the issues is the fact that the good quality path linking Heathfield to Thriplow means that someone on a trail bike can do a nice loop without having to go on the A505. I raised local farmers concerns about bikes at Thriplow parish council earlier this month.

I've spoken to the sector sergeant at Sawston and the patrol cars will drop by every now and then just to make sure it stays quiet.