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)
The rate of inflation rose to 9.1 per cent in May, according to the latest Office of National Statistics figures. Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP responds.
“Rishi Sunak is standing by while millions of people suffer from eye-watering levels of inflation. He either hasn’t got any sense or any heart to not intervene.
“This Chancellor has hiked taxes time and time again, refusing to slash them to help with the cost of living emergency, even when we know slashing VAT is a sure-fire way to help families while keeping inflation under control.
“Instead the Chancellor, his Prime Minister and his colleagues continue to sit on their hands while the country suffers. They are not fit for purpose.”
East Cambridgeshire District Council has published the following planning application in the Sutton division.
22/00702/CLP Mepal 47 Laurel Close Mepal CB6 2BN Construction of single-storey rear extension.
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);
East Cambridgeshire District Council has published the following planning applications in the Sutton division.
22/00598/RMA Coveney Meadow Croft Lodge 10A Gravel End Coveney CB6 2DN Approval of the details for reserved matters for appearance, landscaping, layout and scale in respect of Plot 1 of planning application 18/01302/OUT.
22/00509/FUL Coveney 9B Main Street Coveney CB6 2DJ Change of use from tourist accommodation to residential dwelling (retrospective).
22/00514/FUL Little Downham 33 Main Street Pymoor CB6 2ED Single storey rear extension.
22/00529/FUL Little Downham Paddock Lodge 2A Black Bank Road Little Downham Proposed rear extension with mezzanine floor, revised scheme of previously approved 21/01405/FUL.
22/00671/FUL Mepal 22 High Street Mepal CB6 2AW Demolition of existing rear extension, construction of new ground floor rear extension, infill side extension, first floor extension above existing garage, garage conversion, and replacing garage door with window.
22/00663/FUL Sutton 27 Mepal Road Sutton CB6 2PZ Raised height of dwelling, installation of new first floor windows, and single storey rear extension.
22/00665/FUL Sutton 24 The Brook Sutton CB6 2PU Front porch, two storey side and rear extension, single storey rear extension, and extended outbuilding.
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);
East Cambridgeshire District Council has published the following planning application in the Sutton division.
22/00649/FUL Witcham 5B Martins Lane Witcham CB6 2LB Construction of partially single and partially two storey rear extension.
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);
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.
