District Councillor report to Parish Council September 2024
Relocation of the Water treatment Plant
The Secretary of State has 3 months from the 12th July to make a decision on the relocation of the Water Treatment plant following the public enquiry. On the 19th July, additional information was submitted via Anglian Water’s solicitor entitled Cumulative Impact Assessment Review, all interested parties are invited to submit any response to this newly submitted information as they see fit. If you wish to submit a response or access the new information, the links are below.
https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/document/WW010003-002956
https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginsp ectorate.gov.uk/projects/WW010003/documents
I would like to thank the Save honey Hill Group and the neighbouring Parish Councils for putting a huge amount of work in to make sure that resident views have been heard and considered throughout the enquiry, it is clear that this has had a big impact, regardless of the outcome.
Quy Mill Hotel, Stow Cum Quy
As means of an update, the proposed extensions and alterations to the Quy Mill Hotel to provide additional bedrooms and associated facilities that included a larger restaurant, upgrading of the spa and gym and demolition of out buildings has been approved by the Planning Committee on Wednesday 14th August 2024. It is my view that this decision is broadly the right outcome, I did not oppose the application as local member as I felt the benefits outweighed the negative impacts of this application.
Cambridge 20mph speed limit survey
Cambridgeshire County Council are running a consultation on extending the 20mph zones within the city. For information on which areas and roads that are included, please follow the link below:
www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/Cambridge20mph
Please feel free to give your comments via the survey on the link above before 25th September.
Disposal of vapes
I have been asked by residents and two of the Parish Councils within the Fen Ditton and Fulbourn ward to explore the possibility of roadside collection for vapes, given they have caused a number of fires within lorries and at depots. It is clear that many people dispose of their vapes, (which contain batteries) incorrectly in the black bin. I have followed this up with the Head of Waste at SCDC and he issued the following statement:
Unfortunately, we are not able to implement a kerbside collection of vapes in this way currently as we are utilising all suitable space on the refuse collection vehicles for the collection of batteries. Vapes have to be collected separately from batteries and are not accepted by either our batteries recycling contractor or our contractor for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).
We have been pushing out more messages about correct recycling of vapes, batteries and WEEE in recent press releases put out last week and in May, articles in South Cambs magazine including the upcoming Autumn issue, and on social media. We’ll be running another campaign in October to coincide with International E-Waste Day.
Most supermarkets including Tesco and Co-op have vape recycling collection points now, as well as other shops selling vapes and BP garages. Residents can search for all local collection points for vapes, batteries or WEEE at www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk
Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) bus franchising consultation
There is a consultation running on bus franchising which will run for 14 weeks which will be a mix of online and face to face events. This isn’t the first time the public have been consulted on bus franchising, let’s hope this time round some progress can be made over and above the consultation phase. Please follow the link below to take part in the consultation.
Bus franchising consultation in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough goes live
Deputy Prime Minister’s letter to Councils regarding planning reform
Angela Rayner MP has written o all Council leaders and Metro Mayors regarding increasing house building, housing targets, and discuss planning reform. The link to this letter is below:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66aa4849ab418ab055593105/Letter_from_DPM_to_local_authorities_-_Playing_your_part_in_building_the_homes_we_need.pdf
There is quite a bit of information within this letter but it does give an indication on the Government’s approach to fulfilling the commitment to increase housing delivery. The truth is that all of the major parties were promising to increase housing delivery within their manifestos at the last election so it is not unsurprising to see information of this sort starting to materialise. In my view, it will take some time for us to have a complete picture of what this means for South Cambs. This is indicated in the following section of the letter:
“We will consult on the right approach to strategic planning, in particular how we structure arrangements outside of Mayoral Combined Authorities, considering both the right geographies and democratic mechanisms.
We will say more imminently about how we intend to deliver on our commitment to build a new generation of new towns. This will include large-scale new communities built on greenfield land and separated from other nearby settlements, but also a larger number of urban extensions and urban regeneration schemes that will work will the grain of development in any given area.”
Specialist Children’s Hospital go ahead on site at Addenbrookes
I was really pleased to see the current Government give the go-ahead for the new paediatric Hospital on site at Addenbrookes (Bio-medical Campus). As you will remember, this was one of the 40 hospitals to be delivered by the 2030’s but this project had been under review due to the change of government. This hospital will be so important for the East of England and as someone who has treated paediatric patients, I can’t stress how much this facility is required given that Addenbrookes is the paediatric centre for the East of England. I am hoping for a similar announcement on the Cancer Research Hospital asap given how far down the line this project is.
Thank you for taking the time to read my report; if you have any questions or want to discuss any of the issues raised email me on graham.cone@councillor.online or ring 07595 361 285 (please leave a voicemail if I am unavailable) Councillor Graham Cone