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)
I’ve received an update from the Council on the planned A142 roadworks from Ely to Chatteris, which have currently ground to a halt.
The Council had planned to complete these works in six nights, in the two-week period starting on Monday 26 July. However, the weather has been a problem.
Road markings must be applied to a dry surface. If wet, there is a risk that large areas of the markings will lift off shortly afterwards. The recent weather has caused a problem, as the Council needs to predict rain 24 hours ahead. This is because contractors remove existing road markings one night, and replace them the next.
The Council is delivering the scheme in two sections. The first section – Ely to Witcham Toll – is largely complete.
The Council was due to start the Witcham Toll to Chatteris section last night. However, the weather forecast is not good. Staff were concerned that if they removed the markings last night, they might not be able to apply the new markings tonight and tomorrow. It would not be acceptable to leave the A142 with no road markings for days on end.
Unfortunately, because of the weather delays over the last fortnight, the council’s contractor cannot come back next week to finish the job. They allowed ten days to cover six shifts, with four days built in for contingencies. But this still has not been enough. They have a full programme of works for weeks ahead, and are unlikely to be able to return until the week beginning Monday 6 September at the earliest.
As soon as a new start date is confirmed the Council will let councillors, parishes, and affected residents know.
East Cambridgeshire District Council has launched the first round of its community grant fund initiative which aims to support local community groups across the district.
The East Cambridgeshire Community Grant Fund has two application windows each year, giving community groups across the district two opportunities to apply for support up to a maximum of £1,000.
Applications for the first round of funding have now opened and will run until Monday 13 September.
Grants are intended to enable local community groups to provide new community services and initiatives, or develop existing ones, that improve the quality of life for residents of East Cambridgeshire.
Previous applicants have used their grants to provide opportunities as diverse as youth group summer activities, online support sessions for parent carers, and Air Cadets projects.
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough’s Police & Crime Commissioner has been carrying out a public survey on policing and crime priorities – and it ends on Friday 30 July.
The survey is for members of the public of any age to share their views and priorities about policing and crime in the county. Feedback from the survey will be used to help shape the content of the county’s Police and Crime Plan for the next three years.
Today it’s two years exactly since Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I am announcing on the steps of Downing Street that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve.”
Two years on, we are no further forward.
The only thing we know is that, whatever it is, the Government is contemplating a rise in national insurance to pay for it – hitting low earners and the young hardest, just when they are struggling the most.
More than one and a half million people nationally are missing out on the care they need. Vulnerable people are stranded in hospital, unable to leave because the follow-up care isn’t there. Councils are struggling to cope with inadequate budgets to meet the needs of their residents.
Where is the clear plan the Government said two years ago that it had prepared? Or is it yet another mythical ‘oven ready deal’?
The following planning applications in the Sutton division have been published by East Cambridgeshire District Council.
21/01046/FUL Coveney Land north west of 4 Gravel End Coveney Creation of wildlife pond and small area of lowland fen habitat created within a semi-improved grassland field, to support great crested newts (a European protected species).
21/01041/FUL Little Downham 24 Pymoor Lane Pymoor CB6 2EE Two stables and a tack room on agricultural land.
Further information can be found on the district council’s planning pages. If you would like to respond formally to the council about any planning application, comments should be addressed to the district council and not to me. Comments may be made
online using the council’s public access web page (the link above);
Cambridgeshire County Council has resolved to write to Government to express residents’ concerns over the proposed private commercial Sunnica development.
The Full Council meeting on Tuesday 20 July instructed the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State to express concern at ‘the size and scale of the proposed 500MW Sunnica solar farm on agricultural farmland, the effect of COVID restrictions on opportunities for public engagement and the omission of some residents from the initial round of consultations, and the impact of the proposals on rural communities’.
The motion was unanimously agreed, and the final text including amendments from me to the original motion is as follows.
Sunnica motion
Cambridgeshire County Council committed in May 2020 to support the delivery of net-zero carbon emissions for Cambridgeshire when it approved its Climate Change and Environment Strategy.
The Joint Administration of the County Council is committed to reviewing the strategy with the aim of moving forward the Net Zero target for Cambridgeshire County Council towards 2030. This review will be carried out in the light of developments such as fresh information from the independent Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Commission on Climate Change, and successful trials of Local Area Energy Planning in Newcastle, Bridgend and Manchester.
The Council has already committed to investment into renewable energy generation and it is clear that Cambridgeshire must generate more renewable energy to help deliver ambitious decarbonisation targets. Good examples of work under way are projects such as Solar Together, supporting residents to purchase solar PV for their roofs and domestic battery storage; Babraham Smart Energy grid, which uses already developed land to generate solar PV over car spaces; and solar farms, such as North Angle Solar Farm. These schemes, developed by officers in the Council’s Climate Change & Energy Services team, have been supported across parties and by communities, putting Cambridgeshire in a strong position from which to extend its climate and sustainability ambitions.
The proposed Sunnica commercial development, a 500MW solar farm that covers 2800 acres of farmland on the Eastern edges of Cambridgeshire, will impact the villages of Isleham, Chippenham, Snailwell, Kennett, Burwell and Reach, plus a number of villages in West Suffolk.
It is disappointing that communities including Isleham were included late in the initial round of consultation, and that COVID restrictions in force at that time limited the nature of the consultation that could be undertaken.
The planning decision for the proposed Sunnica project falls under the legislation for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects that will ultimately be determined by the Secretary of State. A joint response was made by this Council in December 2020 along with Suffolk County Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, and West Suffolk Council, which acknowledged the need to increase renewable energy generation, while noting that no updates to the National Policy Statements for Renewable Energy Infrastructure had been produced to indicate that solar PV on the scale proposed is appropriate.
This Council resolves:
to continue to work in partnership with Suffolk County Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, and West Suffolk Council to make representations in respect of the Sunnica proposals as they develop.
to instruct the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State to express concern at the size and scale of the proposed 500MW Sunnica solar farm on agricultural farmland, the effect of COVID restrictions on opportunities for public engagement and the omission of some residents from the initial round of consultations, and the impact of the proposals on rural communities.
to share a copy of the letter with the other ‘host’ planning authorities, both local MP’s, and the Cambridgeshire Parish Councils of Burwell, Chippenham, Fordham, Isleham, Kennett, Reach, Snailwell and Soham.
The following planning applications in the Sutton division have been published by East Cambridgeshire District Council.
21/00835/FUL Little Downham Head Fen Farm Head Fen Pymoor Proposed three-bed dwelling (following removal of barn).
21/00978/FUL Little Downham Spinney End 26 Straight Furlong Pymoor Proposed boundary wall with gated access and amended driveway.
21/00907/FUL Little Downham 18 Bury Green Little Downham CB6 2UH Single storey rear extension and internal alteration.
21/001031/FUL Sutton Land to the rear of 107 The Row Sutton CB6 2PB Proposed lake and associated works.
Further information can be found on the district council’s planning pages. If you would like to respond formally to the council about any planning application, comments should be addressed to the district council and not to me. Comments may be made
online using the council’s public access web page (the link above);
Latest from CAPASP, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Against Scams Partnership:
People are receiving scam calls that appear to be coming from numbers similar to their own. Now the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) has issued a warning to the public to be vigilant of such scam calls.
Commonly, the first seven digits (07nnn nn) match the victim’s own number. The calls impersonate well-known government organisations, or law enforcement agencies, and will ask the recipient of the call to “press 1” in order to speak with an advisor, or police officer, about unpaid fines or police warrants.
In May 2021, Action Fraud received 2,110 scam call reports where the caller’s number matched the first seven digits of the victim’s own phone number. Of these, 1,426 (68 per cent) referred to HMRC or National Insurance.
Victims have also reported receiving these types of calls, and messaging, via widely-used messaging apps, such as WhatsApp.
What you can do
Government and law enforcement agencies will not notify you about unpaid fines or outstanding police warrants by calling or texting you. Do not respond to any calls or texts you receive about these.
Always take a moment to stop and think before parting with money or your personal information, it could prevent you from falling victim to fraud.
Remember, it’s okay to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.
If you receive a suspicious text message, you can report it by forwarding the message to 7726. It’s free of charge.
Suspicious telephone/mobile calls can be reported to Action Fraud via their website: actionfraud.police.uk/report-phishing
You can follow Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Against Scams Partnership on
The following planning applications in the Sutton division have been published by East Cambridgeshire District Council.
21/00966/FUL Coveney Land between 9 and 11 The Green Wardy Hill New single Passivhaus dwelling with associated garage and landscaping.
21/00962/ARN Little Downham Toll Farm Hundred Foot Bank Pymoor Conversion of existing agricultural store into a single storey two bedroom dwelling.
21/01009/FUL Little Downham Elm House Main Drove Little Downham CB6 2ER Demolition of existing detached house, timber shed and removal of container. New detached dwelling and bin store plus associated hard and soft landscaping.
21/00960/FUL Mepal Broadmead Boarding Kennels Witcham Road Mepal Single storey side extension.
21/00999/FUL Mepal 38 River Close Mepal CB6 2AN Single storey rear and side extension.
Further information can be found on the district council’s planning pages. If you would like to respond formally to the council about any planning application, comments should be addressed to the district council and not to me. Comments may be made
online using the council’s public access web page (the link above);
Under new plans proposed by Home Secretary Priti Patel, helping refugees to enter the UK safely could attract a life sentence in prison.
The innocuously named Nationality and Borders Bill 2021 will also make it a crime to help refugees to safety in the UK even if this is for no personal gain. Someone has called this ‘the Winton clause’.
Many of us of a certain age will remember Esther Rantzen’s television show That’s Life – and in particular a moving and memorable segment with Nicholas Winton.
Winton was an English banker who established an organisation, later known as the Kindertransport, to rescue children at risk from Nazi Germany. He supervised the rescue of 669 children, most of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II. He found homes for the children and arranged for their safe passage to Britain.
Esther Rantzen’s programme found an audience full of the rescued children, now grown to adulthood, and invited them and Winton to a screening, without telling Winton who his fellow audience members were.
Under Priti Patel, the children would have been dead and Winton would have been in prison.
