District councillor for Sutton, Mepal, Witcham, and Wentworth (East Cambridgeshire District Council) and county councillor for Coveney, Little Downham, Mepal, Pymoor, Sutton, Wardy Hill, Way Head, Witcham, and Witchford (Cambridgeshire County Council)
As part of its #LetsGetOutdoors campaign, Cambridgeshire County Council is encouraging nature enthusiasts to send in photos of their local green spaces.
The best entries will feature on the new Cambs Open Space website. The top three photos will also earn rewards from the National Trust and Nene Park.
The new photo competition will run from 19 May to 23 June, with the National Trust offering a pair of tickets to Winter Lights at Anglesey Abbey, and a boat trip for four people at Wicken Fen. Nene Park Trust is offering a private trip on board their very own electric boat, Wyndham – an opportunity to take an otter’s-eye view of Nene Park, its thriving wildlife and inspiring landscape, for up to twelve people.
Other entries will also feature on the Cambs Open Space website and up to three runners-up will be offered a poster copy of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough GreenGround Map showing the network of parks and open spaces in the county.
Photos must be of parks and open spaces in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Please avoid any pictures which involve faces of adults and children.
Please provide a name and location of the park or open space photographed.
The new national Boiler Upgrade Scheme is now open to homeowners in England and Wales.
£5,000 grants are available to fit clean heating systems when homeowners come to replace their oil and gas boilers. The scheme has a committed budget of £450 million over three years from 2022 to 2025.
Homeowners can check their eligibility for the scheme, which covers air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, and biomass boilers.
East Cambridgeshire District Council has published the following planning applications in the Sutton division.
22/00496/FUL Little Downham 43 Ely Road Little Downham CB6 2SN One holiday lodge to be used as a holiday let.
22/00626/FUL Sutton 121-123 High Street Sutton CB6 2NR Nine dwellings, garages, and associated works following the demolition of the existing dwellings.
22/00608/FUL Witchford 114 Main Street Witchford CB6 2HP Change of use from post office to health and beauty salon.
You can find further information on the district council’s planning pages. If you would like to respond formally to the council about any planning application, please write to the district council and not to me. You can comment
online using the council’s public access web page (the link above);
Drivers shelling out £44 per tank on taxes as petrol prices soar
Brits paying more in taxes per tank than most European countries
New poll finds one in two blame government for petrol price rises
British drivers are paying £44 in tax on petrol every time they fill up their car, new figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.
Most motorists in the UK are forking out more in taxes per tank for petrol than most other European countries, including Ireland, Italy and Spain. Meanwhile diesel drivers are paying over £45 in taxes per tank, more than anywhere else in Europe.
Brits paid 80p a litre in taxes on unleaded petrol in April 2022 as prices continue to soar. For a typical car with a 55 litre tank, the Treasury is cashing in on £44 each time someone fills up at the petrol pump. Even after Rishi Sunak’s fuel duty cut, people were paying 55p more in taxes each time they filled their car than last April, and £2.20 more than two years ago.
The research is based on official figures published this week by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. These show the price of unleaded petrol in the UK compared to other European countries in April 2022.
Half of all voters blame Government
A new poll commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed one in two (52 per cent) blame the Government for rising petrol prices. The polling even finds one in three (33 per cent) Conservative voters blame the Government for high petrol prices. Two in three (67 per cent) Labour voters and more than one in two (55 per cent) Liberal Democrats agree.
Liberal Democrats say the figures show that the Chancellor is ‘cashing in’ from soaring prices at the pumps. The party is calling for an emergency cut to VAT to 17.5 per cent, saving families an average of £600 a year by slashing prices in the shops and at the petrol pump.
“It is rural communities I fear for most”
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
“Hard-pressed families and pensioners are facing a summer of agony at the petrol pump. Meanwhile Rishi Sunak is cashing in as drivers fork out over £40 a tank in taxes. It is rural communities I fear for most with fuel prices at record highs. Those commuting longer distances to work are seeing more of their income go on fuel just as the cost of living crisis worsens.
“Conservative ministers have been a complete shambles on this. This Government is arrogantly refusing to cut VAT, just like they refused for months to put a windfall tax on oil companies. This tax cut must be their next U-turn.”
Note: Savanta ComRes interviewed 2,674 UK adults aged 18+ online between 20 and 23 May 2022. Data were weighted to be representative of the UK by age, sex, region and social grade.
The detailed application for forty homes and associated infrastructure at the top of Marroway Lane Witchford will be decided by the Planning Committee on Wednesday 8 June.
Council planners are recommending approval, but the Parish Council is objecting and one of the district councillors has ‘called in’ the application to be decided by the Planning Committee.
Responding to North East Cambridgeshire MP Stephen Barclay saying Boris Johnson wouldn’t have known about the invitation to 200 people to attend a party at Number 10, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said:
“These pathetic excuses are an insult to the British people who sacrificed so much while Boris Johnson broke the rules.
“It is inconceivable that the prime minister didn’t know what was happening under his nose, with rule-breaking parties organised by his own most senior staff.
“If the prime minister was truly sorry and wanted to take full responsibility, he would resign.
“Conservative MPs should stop defending the indefensible and finally force Boris Johnson to step down.”
Latest news from County Council highways on the bridge joint works at Mepal.
The bridge will be closed this weekend (starting on Friday evening 27 May) for patching work, but this is unlikely to take the whole weekend. The highways department says however:
“Unfortunately due to ongoing issues with procuring the joint products, this weekend’s joint replacement works will not be going ahead.
East Cambridgeshire District Council has published the following planning application in the Sutton division.
22/00580/RMM Sutton Land south of straw burning plant Elean Business Park Sutton CB6 2QE Reserved matters of previously approved 11/00452/OUM for application to replace extant planning permission (07/01429/OUM) for outline planning permission for data centre buildings (Class B1) up to 65,000 sqm together with associated services, offices, infrastructure, car parking and landscaping at the Elean Business Park.
You can find further information on the district council’s planning pages. If you would like to respond formally to the council about any planning application, please write to the district council and not to me. You can comment
online using the council’s public access web page (the link above);
Developer Lasercharm has submitted a planning application for the detail of its proposed data centre at the Elean Business Park off the A142 roundabout at Sutton.
The company already has permission in principle for the data centre. The Council granted this in 2008, and approved a revised version in 2011. However this is the first time we have seen a detailed proposal.
Details of the application are on the Council’s planning portal. The consultation expiry date is Monday 20 June.
Occupation and use of the site is likely to reduce the anti-social driving and unauthorised encampments residents have experienced over many years. A key issue is likely to be how the applicant will address the biodiversity challenges of the site.
The Local Lead Flood Authority (Cambridgeshire County Council) is continuing to object to the planning application for a crematorium on the site of the Mepal Outdoor Centre.
The authority’s response to further information from the applicant is as follows.
Thank you for your re-consultation. The applicant has provided additional information which has addressed our previous concerns with respect to surface water drainage, subject to a suitably worded drainage condition accompanying any planning approval. However, it’s noted that no additional information has been provided to address our previous concerns with respect to flood risk at the site. At present we continue to object to the grant of planning permission for the following reasons:
Parts of the development are located in Flood Zone 3b, and the proposed development typeof ‘less vulnerable’ is not permitted within the functional flood plain. It’s noted that the EA has been consulted, who indicated the site is considered to have a Flood Zone 3a designation; however, this needs to be agreed by the Local Planning Authority through relevant consultation between all parties. All relevant consultation should be appended to the FRA report and provided as evidence of the Flood Zone 3a designation; and,
The EA should be consulted to obtain the most up to date flood data for the site area, and confirm that information presented within the East Cambridge District Council SFRA still provides an accurate assessment of fluvial and tidal flood risk at the site. This data should also be used to inform mitigation measures required for the development.
The latest deadline for determination of the application requested by the Council is Monday 13 June, but no reason for the delay was given on the request letter, and no acceptance of this delay has yet been posted to the Council’s planning website.
