The following planning applications in the Sutton division have been published by East Cambridgeshire District Council.

21/00286/FUL
Coveney
Site east of 9 Main Street Wardy Hill
Construction of a three bedroom, two storey detached dwelling, remodelled access and associated works.

21/00257/OUT
Little Downham
Site north west of Hill Crest Mill Hill Little Downham
Outline application with all matters reserved, except access, appearance, layout and scale for the provision of a new storage building and ancillary office and associated hardstanding and the change of use and alterations to convert an existing nissen hut to a detached dwelling, including alterations to an existing access and the provision of a new vehicular access.

21/00296/FUL
Little Downham
Green Acres Straight Furlong Pymoor
To retain straw storage structure and clad with agricultural materials to roof and walls.

21/00316/FUL
Little Downham
Mandalay Adventurers Drove Oxlode Pymoor
Proposed two storey side / rear extension.

21/00225/FUL
Mepal
16 School Lane Mepal CB6 2AJ
Two storey rear extension.

21/00328/FUL
Mepal
Land north west of 11 Bridge Road Mepal CB6 2AR
Construction of one four-bedroom chalet bungalow, double garage with games room over, parking, access and associated site works.

21/00325/AGN
Mepal
Low Bank Farm Low Bank Mepal
Proposed straw/hay shed.

21/00330/CCA
Sutton
Sutton Primary School The Brook Sutton
Retention of 7-bay mobile classroom for temporary period. Informative: Section 73 application to develop land without complying with Condition 2 of planning permission E/3001/14/CC to extend the temporary period until 31 August 2024.

21/00304/FUL
Sutton
8 The Brook Sutton CB6 2PU
Demolition of existing conservatory and construction of new two storey and single storey rear extensions, along with internal additions and alterations.

21/00305/FUL
Sutton
Land north west of the Scout Hut The Gault Sutton
Revised replacement dwelling (as previously permitted under 09/00121/FUL).

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);
• by email to plservices@eastcambs.gov.uk;
• or by post to the Planning Department, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE.

A reminder that Cambridgeshire County Council is still building up its picture of the flooding events of Christmas and New Year – and needs residents’ help to do this.

The Council will be working with the Environment Agency, Internal Drainage Boards, police, fire and district councils, to create ‘heat maps’ of the incidents, share understanding, and learn lessons.

To help the Council gather the fullest possible picture, it would be useful if residents who experienced flood incidents but have not yet reported them could do so at https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/business/planning-and-development/flood-and-water/report-a-flood

The following planning applications in the Sutton division have been published by East Cambridgeshire District Council.

21/00267/FUL
Little Downham
The Patch 68 Ely Road Little Downham
Construction of detached garage and gym and new garden wall.

21/00122/FUM
Witchford
Land to west of 16 Cathedral View Park Witchford
Erection of 12 park homes with no change of use in the 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);
• by email to plservices@eastcambs.gov.uk;
• or by post to the Planning Department, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE.

Scores on the doors for East Cambridgeshire

Vaccination rates for East Cambridgeshire are looking good, with data now in up to 21 February.

Here are the numbers of East Cambridgeshire residents receiving at least one dose of the vaccine, broken down by age.

Under 70	70-74	75-79	80+
11,688	4,810	3,500	4,829

Do take up the opportunity of a vaccination if you’re offered it: mine at Doddington was straightforward and painless and I’m looking forward to my second dose in ten or eleven weeks’ time. It’s important for our own safety and for the safety of our families, friends, neighbours, and of course our NHS and care workers.

Note: data from https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/

Here’s that COVID ‘road map’ announced by the Prime Minister on Monday.

Steps 1 and 2

Steps 3 and 4

The budget amendment put forward by Liberal Democrats on East Cambridgeshire District Council focuses on recovering from COVID, says Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Lorna Dupré.

“COVID has hit many families and local businesses hard,” says Lorna. “Jobs are at risk. Mental health is declining for many people. And teenagers and young adults have been particularly affected by the long periods of lockdown on top of the chronic lack of affordable local amenities.

“That’s why our budget proposal centres on helping small firms at the council’s eSpace centres help with their rents; offering advice on COVID safety to food serving establishments hoping to open or re-open; and on ring-fencing £40,000 within the council’s Major Projects fund to start a piece of work with partners on improving leisure and recreation across the district, with young people and the outdoors particularly in mind.

“We have also identified efficiency savings in the council budget to reduce the Conservatives’ budget shortfall.

“Both parties’ proposals provide balanced budgets in 2021/22 and 2022/23 but require substantial savings in 2023/24. By addressing efficiency savings early, the Liberal Democrat proposal reduces the savings requirement in 2023/24 by over £400,000.

“Finally, the Conservatives propose to freeze council tax this coming year, but then to increase it by the maximum possible amount every year for the lifetime of their financial plan. We agree with them that they have starved the council of income for basic services for far too long.

“But we have proposed instead a small increase of 1 per cent in council tax this coming year, and 2 per cent the following year, waiting until April 2023 to increase the council tax by the 3.5 per cent that the Conservatives propose from April 2022.”

Liberal Democrats on East Cambridgeshire District Council have launched a debate on the bid for UNESCO Biosphere status for the Fens.

“East Cambridgeshire is at the heart of the proposed Fens Biosphere zone, which includes the core zones of the Ouse Washes, Wicken Fen, and Chippenham Fen,” explains Cllr Mark Inskip.

“Biosphere status is awarded by UNESCO to unique and valuable landscapes such as the Fens. Biospheres bring the opportunity to improve the natural environment, using new ideas, science, and technology to explore new ways of living every day in ways that solve global challenges.

“Local and national stakeholder bodies, campaigners, and enthusiastic members of the public have achieved Candidate Status for the Fens Biosphere, and there has already been a high degree of public participation in this initiative, including a conference in January.

“But to achieve designation, the proposal must demonstrate the widest level of local support, including the formal endorsement of local authorities.

“The time for East Cambridgeshire District Council to start engaging with this initiative is long overdue, so Liberal Democrats have put this on the agenda of the District Council meeting on Tuesday 23 February to begin that process.”

Today’s meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority provided the opportunity to quiz the Director of Delivery and Strategy, discussed the advice being given to local businesses about the challenges of Brexit, and decided to wind up the work of the Committee’s Task and Finish Group on the Combined Authority’s Bus Review.

Our conversation with the Director of Delivery and Strategy ranged from the effect of COVID on public transport, to the proposal to run diesel trains on the new East West Rail line, and the cost of managing the Authority’s various transport projects.

We were somewhat surprised and disappointed to hear in the Brexit discussion that there was no feedback mechanism in cases where advice was offered to local businesses struggling with the new red tape, and revealed issues that were more than teething problems, which required attention by central government and other agencies. A number of us said this should be a role of the Combined Authority and other tiers of local government.

The effect of the pandemic on local public transport has significantly delayed the Combined Authority’s work on reviewing bus services. The Overview & Scrutiny Committee, which had set up a Task and Finish Group to scrutinise this piece of work, therefore decided to disband the Group and wait until there was sufficient progress to warrant re-establishing it in the new municipal year.

All this and more here.

Our next meeting – the last before the local elections – will take place on 22 March, when we look forward to being joined by Baroness Brown to discuss the first interim report of her Climate Change Commission. We will also be considering the impact of the COVID pandemic on the Combined Authority’s activities.

A new Digital Technology Grants for Business scheme to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has launched this week.

The scheme aims to increase the number of local SMEs making productive use of digital technologies to boost their business, by helping them to invest in digital equipment, systems and support.

Connecting Cambridgeshire has secured just over £1million funding from the European Regional Development Fund and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority to run the scheme from February 2021 until the end of August 2021.

SMEs in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough with plans or ideas to grow, improve or sustain their business using digital technology can now apply for a grant of between £2,000 and £10,000 to cover up to 80 per cent of their total project costs.

The scheme will support a wide range of businesses who want to develop more sustainable business practices, including remote working and more efficient business models using digital technology.

For example, businesses needing better IT systems or equipment to support staff to work remotely could use the grant towards this to help their business continue to grow or diversify. Businesses looking to develop their on-line presence can submit projects that include consultancy services, equipment and training to develop their skills.

Businesses can find full details of the Digital Technology Grants for Business scheme on the Connecting Cambridgeshire website https://www.connectingcambridgeshire.co.uk/digitalgrants. They will then need to complete an expression of interest form to confirm their eligibility before applying.

East Cambridgeshire District Council has published details of the third round of the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) scheme, with wider eligibility criteria to support more businesses affected by national restrictions.

The ARG scheme is designed to support businesses impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions in place from 26 December 2020 to 15 February 2021 that have not been eligible for the Local Restrictions Support Grant.

The ARG is a discretionary funding scheme managed by the district council to support businesses during periods of lockdown relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grants will be paid as one-off grants and are for businesses who experienced a loss of income of over 30 per cent that was directly related to, or as a result of, the Tier 4 and national lockdown restrictions in place between 26 December 2020 and 15 February 2021.

These businesses must be

• either a customer-facing business whose primary activity is the sale of goods or services to the public on a face-to-face basis that were able to remain open during restrictions and lockdown but were severely impacted,
• or a business that does not have a business rate account that was legally required to close during Tier 4 or national lockdown restrictions.

Ineligible businesses include those allowed to be open that do not rely on offering in-person services; businesses that have chosen to close but not required to; and businesses that are unable to demonstrate a significant loss of income of at least 30% due to COVID-19.

A full list of businesses that were required to close can be found on the gov.uk website.

As part of the ARG scheme, closed businesses that do not have a business rates account may be entitled to

• £5,000 if they are a community facility such as a village hall,
• £5,000 if they operate from a domestic property
• or £6,000 if they operate from a commercial property.

Open customer-facing businesses, with or without a business rates account, that were allowed to be open during Tier 4 restrictions and the national lockdown but were severely impacted, are eligible for a £4,000 grant.

Businesses are invited to submit an application to the District Council if they meet the eligibility requirements for the ARG scheme, can prove that they were open for business as usual before 26 December, have suppliers or customers that were required to close from 26 December, and can demonstrate a loss of income of 30 per cent or more, .

Businesses can apply

• online by requesting an application form by emailing covid19businessgrants@eastcambs.gov.uk
• or by telephone by calling 01353 665555.

The closing date for applications for the scheme is 5pm on Friday 19 March 2021.