South Cambridgeshire District Council – Fen Ditton and Fulbourn Ward
Councillor’s Annual Report – 2026
Fen Ditton and Fulbourn Ward comprising the Parishes of Fen Ditton, Fulbourn, Great Wilbraham,
Horningsea, Little Wilbraham, Six Mile Bottom, Stow-cum-Quy, and Teversham
SCDC Annual Parish Report 2026 PDF Version
1. Introduction
This municipal year 2025/26 has been quite a busy one and this report covers the last 12 months
of activities by South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) and Councillors.
We are pleased to report that all three Liberal Democrat candidates, Carla Hofman (re-elected),
Vince Farrar and Chloe Wills-Eve, were elected in the May District elections. This election also
marked the retirement of John Williams, Liberal Democrat, and the departure of Graham Cone,
Conservative, who has moved out of the area. We wish them both every success for the future and
sincerely thank them for their long-standing service to the Ward. John Williams has served as both
a District and County Councillor. His experience and contribution will be a hard act to follow. With
all three councillors now representing the same party and living close to one another, there should
be good opportunities for effective teamwork and coordination on matters affecting the Ward.
2. Governance
South Cambridgeshire District Council is in Liberal Democrats administration. The statutory
services provided are: Waste Collection & Recycling, Planning (these two are shared services with
Cambridge City but we host them), Housing, Environmental Health, Licensing, Licensing, Council
Tax Collection, Benefits and Business Development &Support, and Community Services.
We adopted the new corporate plan that has been shaped by feedback from residents in our
communities. The priority areas we identified are:
• Healthy and Supported Communities (HSC) – We want to create a district where people feel
safe, supported, and confident in their communities. Together, we’ll focus on what delivers for
residents, enabling healthier, more independent lives for everyone.
• Sustainable Homes and Vibrant Places (SHVP) – We want to help people live near their
work, shops, schools, leisure, and healthcare, with affordable and reliable public transport.
• Being Green To Our Core (GTOC) – We will consistently promote a cleaner, greener, zero
carbon future for our communities. We aim to safeguard and enhance the natural world for
future generations and help our communities do the same as we strive to be among the most
sustainable places to live and work in the country.
• Helping Businesses To Thrive in South Cambridgeshire (HBT) – We will support local
businesses as they start up and grow and as we transition towards a sustainable economy.
Working with partners we are helping our residents develop the skills they need to take full
advantage of local opportunities.
• Financially Secure and Fit For The Future (FSFF) – We will make it easier for residents to
engage with our services and democratic processes. We will make smart financial decisions to
safeguard our services for the future and invest in our staff to ensure they remain equipped to
deliver for our district’s needs.
You can read the full details on our new website at https://www.scambs.gov.uk/our-corporate-plan
This is the final year of the current District Council Administration, following the May elections,
giving you a democratic right to vote for the people you want to represent you. This is the last
election of SCDC as we know it, as Local Government Reorganisation is moving to a Unitary
Authority style within the next two years.
District Councillors APM Report 2026 p1Local Government Reorganisation LGR
The council has spent a great deal of time during the last year dealing with government
requirements for a Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). This is the Government’s plan to
merge two-level County and District councils across the country into a single layer of unitary
councils. In November 2025, the principal authorities of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
submitted their proposals for what those new councils should look like. The Government
consultation ended on 26th March 2026 and decisions are expected to be announced late summer.
The consultation website is at https://bit.ly/LGR-Consult-2026.
The four proposals are:
Option A: Submitted by Cambridgeshire
County Council
Option B: Submitted by South Cambs DC,
East Cambs DC, Cambridge City Council
Option D: Submitted by Peterborough City
Council and Fenland District Council
Option E: Submitted by Huntingdonshire DC
SCDC submitted Option B and we recommend watching this video at https://bit.ly/LGR-OptionB to
find out the reasoning behind this. Elections will take place in May 2027 into the shadow councils,
giving them a year to prepare ready to start operating in May 2028.
Development Corporation for Greater Cambridge (GCDevCo)
The Government says that Greater Cambridge is essentially the UK’s powerhouse, high-octane
mix of world-class research and “the next big thing” in tech and life sciences. It wants to turbo-
charge the growth and is proposing to create a “centrally led urban development corporation”
(GCDevCo). Government also wants to take away planning powers from Greater Cambridge
Shared Planning Service (GCSPS) – for plan making and for determining applications over a
certain size. The government consultation ends on 1st April 2026, details on their website at
https://bit.ly/DevCo-GreaterCambs. It is ironic that at the time when the GCSPS is nationally
recognised as the best planning authority in the country in 2025, the Government is trying to
decimate it. Claiming to deliver growth in a largely rural area is an oxymoron.
Majority of the DevCo members will be “professionals” appointed by the Secretary of State, rather
than local politicians, reducing democratic accountability to the lowest level ever.
Both SCDC and Cambridge City are opposed to this power grab and held extraordinary council
meetings on 17th and 19th March respectively to agree their formal responses to the Government.
We urge everyone to respond too. Councillors discussed how there is already approved or
District Councillors APM Report 2026 p2proposed development in Greater Cambridge’s pipeline for over 100,000 new jobs and up to
77,000 new homes and suggested Government should focus on bringing forward these new
homes and offices first in partnership with local councils. They said the main barriers to meeting
current commitments are the lack of funding and slow delivery of transport and utility
improvements. They stressed these problems do not come from the local planning system, but
from wider infrastructure challenges and national regulations. The Ministry of Housing are
proposing that the new Development Corporation would become the local planning authority for
major planning decisions above a certain threshold, as well as on larger development sites –
removing that responsibility from the GCSPS which South Cambridgeshire District and Cambridge
City councils share. It would also replace the councils’ role in preparing Local Plans after the
conclusion of the current emerging Joint Local Plan. This would mean that, in future, decisions
about where new homes and jobs come forward across Greater Cambridge would be made by the
Development Corporation, rather than by local communities through the councils and the
democratically elected councillors.
3. Sustainable Homes and Vibrant Places
New Council Homes
We recognise that everyone deserves a high-quality, safe, and affordable place to live. When the
current administration came to power in 2018, the council was building about 35 new council
houses each year. Furthermore, because of ‘right to buy’ sales its portfolio was shrinking so the
period 2013 to 2018 saw a net reduction of 99 council houses.
Since 2018 the current administration has nearly quadrupled the rate of council house building.
This year, at the time of writing, at least 120 new council homes had been completed across the
district and by the end of the financial year, we will have delivered 139 new council homes. This is
something the administration is very proud of – developing affordable housing in our district,
responding to resident requirements as quickly as possible.
Affordable Housing Delivery
Affordable housing is generally delivered by housing associations, often through S106 schemes
especially on major sites. The Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) recently published by the GCSPS
shows that 2024-2025 2,265 new homes were completed across Greater Cambridge, the highest
since 2011. Of these 1,735 new homes were in South Cambridgeshire, of which 424 were
affordable homes.
Work has begun on building out the SCIP development next to South Cambs Hall in Cambourne.
SCIP is the South Cambridgeshire Investment Partnership (SCIP) with The Hill Group. The project
will build 256 new low-carbon Passivhaus principles homes of which 40% (102) will be affordable
comprising 72 for rent and 30 for shared ownership.
We are well into a programme of upgrading the thermal efficiency of our existing council housing
stock using grant funding from Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to bring them up to EPC
Band C which will result in a significant reduction in energy running costs for tenants.
Bringing Empty Homes Back into Use
A major milestone has been reached in tackling long-term empty homes in South Cambridgeshire,
with 75 properties brought back into use in the last three years. This was achieved by appointing
an Empty Homes Officer in 2022. To find out more about our work bringing empty homes back into
use visit our webpage at https://www.scambs.gov.uk/housing/empty-homes.
M&Me App–For council tenants to report repairs
District Councillors APM Report 2026 p3The Council has launched M&Me, a new mobile app developed in partnership with Mears, offering
council tenants a quicker and more convenient way to report repairs. Using the app, tenants can
report a repair at any time, choose an appointment slot that suits them, receive real-time alerts and
updates about their repair, see who will be attending their home and when.
Mears will be writing to all council tenants with full details about the new app, including their unique
access code.
Planning and Placemaking
Multi -award Winning Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service (GCSPS)
South Cambs hosts the GCSPS, the joint planning service for both SCDC and Cambridge City. As
the Cabinet Member responsible for the Service, it was pleasing to see the focussed
transformation work over the years (from 2018 when we took over administration) result in the
service winning three prestigious awards in 2025.
(1) The Royal Town Planning Institute’s national Local Planning Authority of the Year 2025
(2) The Planning Award for ‘Planning for the Natural Environment’,
(3) The TET (ThorntonEducationTrust) Inspire Future Generations Award for ‘Best Local
Authority in Youth Engagement’ 2025.
The service has come a long way and hopefully will continue to provide this level of service when
the councils transform to a new unitary authority and if/when the proposed Development
Corporation is established.
Emerging Draft Joint Local Plan
Work is much advanced on the joint local plan with Cambridge City that should determine how our
district is developed over the period 2025-2045 (DevCo permitting). The recently concluded
consultation on the Reg18 stage showed strong community engagement with over 4500 responses
gained from over 80 events online and offline. These comments are now being compiled and
analysed. The proposals will go through normal process with members to finalise the version to go
to final Reg 19 stage. This will then come out for final public consultation in the summer and
subsequently submitted to Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government by the
deadline of December 2026. More information at https://greatercambridgeplanning.org/emerging-
plans-and-guidance/greater-cambridge-local-plan/.
Current Local Plan and Annual Monitoring Report (AMR)
The AMR is a requirement by Government and is a report tracking how well Greater Cambridge is
delivering its current adopted Local Plans. The report is for the 2024-2025 municipal year and
highlights include:
• 7,000+ applications handled
• 9,900 homes approved
• 2,264 homes completed — highest since 2011 – 1735 in South Cambs
• 687 affordable homes – 424 in South Cambs (part of total)
• 62,000 sqm employment space completed – 51,956 in South Cambs
• 408,000 sqm approved
Planning News
The Five-Year Housing Land Supply (with Cambridge City) is 5.6 years for the period 2026-31.
The GCSPS has also won £800,000 of Government Prop Tech funding & Digital Planning
Improvement fund for work on our digital transformation in planning to enable residents to engage
more easily and for continuous improvement in providing the services to business and residents.
A new more accessible website was launched at https://greatercambridgeplanning.org/
District Councillors APM Report 2026 p4Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)
This SPD is a guide for Section 106 agreements, explaining how existing policy is applied in a
clearer way. It gives developers, communities, parish councils and decision-makers a shared
understanding of what’s expected. That helps planning applications move more smoothly and
reduces long, drawn-out negotiations.
4. Helping Businesses To Thrive in South Cambridgeshire
The Business team is doing a lot of work to support local businesses (specifically SMEs) to grow,
which will help local communities thrive, bringing jobs and opportunities into our villages.
The team continues to work closely with local businesses, stallholders, traders and event
organisers to run markets across the district. It benefits residents and communities by being able to
shop locally. The full list of markets is available at https://visitsouthcambs.co.uk/see-do/markets/
South Cambs Christmas Market
South Cambridgeshire District Council hosted its indoor Christmas Market for the fourth year
running. The festive extravaganza usually has around 100 stalls from local independent small
businesses and market stallholders.
Visit South Cambs Website
The VisitSouthCambs website at https://visitsouthcambs.co.uk/ is increasingly popular with small
businesses advertising and used by visitors to the area to see what’s available to do in the district.
South Cambs Business Newsletter
The Business Newsletter is available and anyone can sign up for business support, news and
information. More information at https://www.scambs.gov.uk/business
5. Healthy and Supported Communities
We are making more and more of our services available online and launched our new website with
much improved accessibility. SAM – the webchat help has been very useful.
Our commercial investments are successfully bringing increasing income to the Council enabling
us to provide more facilities. One example is the recently completed Unity Centre at Northstowe.
The construction combines Passive House principles (low operational carbon) with low lifecycle
carbon materials to deliver a net zero design. The building has been leased to the Northstowe
Town Council who are now the operators of this impressive new facility.
We are also providing targeted health and wellbeing support for vulnerable residents and ensuring
our staff have the training to respond appropriately to safeguarding issues.
Mobile Wardens scheme
SCDC continues to support the Mobile Wardens Scheme, which offers support and assistance for
older people. This allows them to continue to live independently at home by providing daily contact
(Monday to Friday) either by a personal visit or by a telephone call, to ensure a sense of security
and wellbeing. SCDC has set out a funding programme which will enable mobile warden schemes
to become more financially independent, hopefully securing their long-term viability across the
district.
District Councillors APM Report 2026 p5Homes for Ukraine scheme and Newsletter
Sadly, it’s now been four years since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, and many
Ukrainians are still unable to safely return home. South Cambridgeshire continues to support
Ukrainian guests. There are 104 Ukrainian guests being hosted in South Cambridgeshire, being
hosted by 75 households. Many have moved on to private rented accommodation in the UK. In
total 1,009 people have arrived in South Cambridgeshire under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.
South Cambs provides a regular newsletter for Ukrainian guests living in our district.
Cabinet and Town / Parish Council Liaison
Cabinet holds meetings with parish councils, to share information relevant to communities and give
opportunity to parish councillors to raise issues of concern directly to the administration.
Cost of Living Support
With many residents still facing financial pressures, the Council will continue providing its
comprehensive cost-of-living support package. A budget of £449,000 is set aside to help residents
through the next two years through schemes such as emergency food and energy support,
workshops, budgeting and debt advice, white goods and furniture for vulnerable people and
laptops with digital training.
Town and Parish Council Liaison Officer
The council continues to employ a Town and Parish Council Liaison Officer – Jack Bullimore – who
has acted as a point of contact for parish councils over the last year. Alongside your district
councillors, please look out for contacts from him.
6. Being Green To Our Core
We are making major progress on the Council’s Being Green to Our Core priority.
Food Waste Collection
Greater Cambridge Shared Waste started rolling out weekly collections of food waste in parts of
South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City from this January 2026. It will be extended to all parts
of Greater Cambridge by the end of the year. All households will receive a letter with full details a
few weeks before the service begins in their area to help ensure they are prepared. In addition,
before their new collections begin, households will receive a new outdoor caddy to put out for
collection at the kerbside with their wheelie bins.
Zero Carbon Communities Grant and Newsletter
Zero Carbon Communities grant scheme is very popular and been running for seven years.
Grants up to £19,500 are available to parish councils and community groups in the district. The
current scheme has a pot of £152,000 opening Monday 25 May 2026 and closing on Friday 24 July
2026. Those interested in applying for a ZCC grant can join a workshop. More details on the
council website https://www.scambs.gov.uk/news/council-pledges-more-money-for-zero-carbon-
communities-grants
The quarterly Zero Carbon Communities (ZCC) newsletter gives local people in South
Cambridgeshire support and advice about the climate emergency. Also contains information about
all the council’s various environmental projects. If you’re not already signed up, please sign up
today at https://bit.ly/ZCCNewsletter
Climate and Nature Strategy
District Councillors APM Report 2026 p6The Council has also just adopted a new unified Climate and Nature Strategy which brings
together all of our climate change and nature recovery work. It’s a really exciting document and
well worth a read. It is on the council website at https://bit.ly/SCDCClimateNatureStrategy
Solar Energy Park Construction
Construction has begun on a pioneering renewable energy solar park to power the growing fleet of
electric bin lorries for Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire. Due for completion by end of
2026, it is expected to supply 59% of the Waterbeach depot’s total energy needs and achieve over
40% biodiversity net gain through measures such as wildflower planting and new hedgerows to
create a haven for local wildlife. More details at https://bit.ly/SolarEnergyPark.
|
District |
Unitary Precept |
District Precept |
County Precept |
Total |
|
East Cambs |
£142.14 |
£1,785.42 |
£1,927.56 |
|
|
Huntingdonshire |
£170.86 |
£1,785.42 |
£1,956.28 |
|
|
South Cambs |
£180.64 |
£1,785.42 |
£1,966.06 |
|
|
Cambridge |
£239.07 |
£1,785.42 |
£2,024.49 |
|
|
Fenland |
£253.35 |
£1,785.42 |
£2,038.77 |
|
7. Financially Secure and Fit For The Future
Financial Position and Budget
At the Council’s budget meeting, members approved its business plan and budget for the coming
financial year. The meeting agreed to a £5.24 increase for an average B and D property. This
works out to 10p a week and below inflation rise.
The table below shows comparison of the different precepts charged across Cambridgeshire
Peterborough £1,836.72 £1,836.72
This doesn’t include the police, fire, parish council or Mayor’s precepts which are not set by SCDC
but are collected by the council. It also doesn’t include town and parish precepts (which in an
increasing number of cases are now larger than the District Council’s). As seen, South
Cambridgeshire charges slightly more than Huntingdonshire DC, but significantly less than both
Cambridge CC and Fenland DCs.
SCDC is one of the best run councils in the country and is often held up as an exemplar. It
continues to deliver high quality services in the face of sustained cuts by central government,
including recent reductions to the amount of Business Rates that local authorities can retain. Our
core spending power is being cut by over £5 million over the next 3 years, thanks to the
Government’s “fair funding review 2.0” which is hurting councils in rural areas like ours. That drop
is the equivalent to 15% of our core spending power.
As a result of the government’s funding changes, we are increasingly reliant on council tax. In this
budget – council tax represents 35% of our core spending power. Come 2028/29 – council tax will
represent 47% of our core spending power.
We have council tax relief offering up to 100% relief from council tax for those residents who need
it most. Even with the rise, South Cambridgeshire would remain among the lowest-taxing district
councils in the country.
Grants
Support for residents remains central. The strong financial position means we continue to be able
to offer grants to our communities. The Council will provide £900,000 over three years in Service
District Councillors APM Report 2026 p7Support Grants for voluntary and community groups, alongside extra funding to prevent
homelessness.
Community Chest Grants
The Council continues to provide Community Chest funding, and this reflects the Council’s
commitment to sustaining grassroots initiatives and supporting a stronger, more connected
community. By investing in these organisations, the district ensures that local people continue to
benefit from essential services, social opportunities, and support networks. Community Chest grant
funding is available to voluntary and community sector groups, charities and public sector bodies
wishing to further improve quality of life in South Cambridgeshire.
Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT)
Another proud initiative is the LIFT scheme, which was made permanent in the last year. The LIFT
software interrogates the council’s databases to identify residents living in South Cambridgeshire
who are missing out on benefits that they are entitled to claim. A two-year apprentice role has been
added to the scheme to make the most of the LIFT programme. It’s already done fantastic work for
residents – helping over 1,000 residents so far to secure more than £4 million in benefits for local
households.
Support Grant funding
South Cambs District Council has committed Service Support Grant funding of £300,000 a year to
local community groups to underpin the delivery of services to support people with their mental
health, independent living, advice services, and to help residents through the cost-of-living crisis.
The Service Support Grant funding has almost doubled compared to the previous budget, made
possible by prudent management of the council’s finances and a recognition of the acute need for
these services.
8. Community
Commemorative Blossom Trees
The Council offered all parish and town councils a free wild cherry tree with 58 taking-up the offer.
The idea is for the trees to stand as living tributes to the strength and compassion shown by the
community during the pandemic. The trees are being provided with plaques that honour the
volunteers who gave their time and care to support those in need and remember all who were
impacted and those who lost their lives
East West Rail (EWR)
Residents across the Ward, particularly in and around Great Wilbraham and Fulbourn, have
expressed concerns about the proposed location of the East West Rail Train Care Centre. These
concerns include the potential impact on nearby communities, traffic, noise, landscape, access,
and whether the proposed site has been assessed fairly against alternative locations. EWR has
been holding consultation events across the Ward, with a further event on 21 May at Cambridge
United Football Ground. The consultation period for Parish Councils has been extended to 26 June
2026. The consultation period for members of the public ends on 9 June. Please submit your
concerns directly to EWR through the consultation form, and/or via your Parish Council. We are
working collaboratively across councils, with County Councillor Matthew Morgan and Pippa
Heylings MP, to ensure residents’ concerns are fully represented. EWR have two continuing
workstreams, assessing the suitability of the proposed site and trying to find an alternative site,
thus community feedback is greatly important during this consultation period so that the most
suitable site for the Train Care Centre is selected.
District Councillors APM Report 2026 p8