This Thursday 16 July sees the next meeting of East Cambs’ Full Council, at 6:00 pm. There are a number of quite significant items on the agenda, including:

Corporate Plan: the council’s political leadership will be presenting its Corporate Plan for members to comment on. This lists the leadership’s priorities for the next four years including the Ely bypass, the Ely leisure centre, Community Land Trusts, free parking in Ely, and freezing council tax.

Local plan review: it was only three months ago that East Cambs District Council signed off its revised Local Plan, having changed it to address the concerns of the Government inspector who reviewed it, who said that it did not show a sufficient supply of land for development in the next five years.

However, last month, developers Gladman won an appeal against the council’s refusal of planning permission for 128 homes in Witchford. The inspector hearing that appeal ruled that, even as revised, the Local Plan still does not demonstrate a five year supply of land, and this was part of the reason for allowing the appeal. Councillors are therefore being asked whether they wish to spend up to £145,000 to produce yet another Local Plan, to protect East Cambridgeshire from more inappropriate development.

Community infrastructure levy: this is the money paid to the council by developers to fund infrastructure in the council area. In East Cambridgeshire, most of this money is divided into strategic and major categories, and the rest is given to parish councils or used to cover the cost of administering the fund. The council leadership is proposing that of the strategic category, half should be spent on the new Ely Leisure Centre, and a quarter on Littleport schools, leaving only a quarter for all other strategic projects.

Local authority trading company: councils like East Cambridgeshire are not allowed to make a profit on services, unless they offer them through a company. The council is therefore proposing to set up a company which can provide services to other councils or private bodies; develop housing on its own land through its own company rather than through another developer; and directly support Community Land Trusts. The council estimates that this company will cost £240,000 to set up from 2015/16 to 2016/17, to be funded from savings in services, and a loan from the council to the company. The leadership is proposing to set up a shadow board on Thursday to oversee this transition, but eventually the company will have a board of three councillors, one senior council officer, and a paid independent chairman.

The council papers are here if you would like to read more. And, unusually for East Cambs, Thursday’s council proceedings will be broadcast live on YouTube, here.