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

20/00359/OUT
Coveney
Meadow Croft Lodge 10A Gravel End Coveney
Proposed dwelling and cart lodge style garage.

20/00331/FUL
Little Downham
The Briars 1A Park Lane Little Downham
Proposed single storey side and rear extensions including garage to front of the property.

20/00315/FUL
Little Downham
33 Main Street Pymoor CB6 2ED
Construction of a single storey garage to the side of existing dwelling.

20/00354/FUL
Little Downham
2 Bury Green Little Downham CB6 2UH
Construction of sun lounge extension to rear of dwelling.

20/00339/FUL
Mepal
Linda House Chatteris Road Mepal
Proposed stable, hay and tractor store.

19/01535/ARN
Sutton
Meadlands Farm The Gault Sutton
To convert existing agricultural unit to two dwelling houses, including any associated building works and demolition of a shed.

20/00325/FUL
Sutton
Lees Packhouse The Gault Sutton
Proposed 2,000 tonne agricultural store with roof mounted solar PV system.

20/00345/FUL
Witchford
Barrows 3 The Warren Witchford
Proposed rear extension.

20/00323/FUL
Witcham
Plot 2 site west of the Coach House Mepal Road Witcham
Dwelling and garage on land benefiting from extant outline permission 18/01698/OUT .

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.

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

20/00295/OUT
Witcham
Land west of Witcham House Farm Back Lane Witcham
Proposed two dwellings and garages.

20/00302/OUT
Witcham
Site south of 10 The Slade Witcham
Proposed outline application for a single dwelling.

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.

For accurate and up-to-date information about coronavirus (COVID-19), check regularly on the government web page here. This is being updated daily.

For information about how to protect yourself and others from contracting coronavirus, useful information from the World Health Organisation can be found here. In summary:

• Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.
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• Stay informed on the latest developments about COVID-19. Follow advice given by your healthcare provider, your national and local public health authority, or your employer on how to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.

If you have reason to suspect you may have coronavirus do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. Ring 111 instead for advice.

There were balloons and paper chains everywhere at Ely Library this morning, to celebrate its twentieth birthday. We marked the occasion with speeches from three county councillors including me; the Mayor of Ely and acclaimed local poet Wendy Cope cutting a specially commissioned birthday cake; and a reading by Wendy of some of her poetry for children and adults.

That wasn’t the only thing going on at Ely Library this morning. Peppa Pig and a companion bear were in attendance. There was a harpist, and a ukulele band. There was a tea and coffee stall with cake. And Cambridgeshire Skills were there, offering opportunities as diverse as gardening and screen printing. I had a very useful conversation with the staff from Cambridgeshire Skills, as I’d been writing emails only yesterday about the adult education budget and the need to make sure East Cambridgeshire is included.

Here’s what I said in my speech.

I just want to say a massive Yay for libraries.

My father left school when he was fourteen. My mother’s teenage years were spent under Nazi occupation. Yet despite their educational disadvantages, they ensured that I and my sisters and brother were regularly frogmarched across St Helier, Jersey to the local library to check out our full allocation of books.

A library ticket is a ticket to liberty, and to opportunities like those I and my siblings have benefited from.

Over the last ten years, 800 libraries across this country have closed. That’s one in five public libraries. We need to protect our libraries, reverence them, and work not just to preserve them but to expand them.

Of course libraries have changed and moved on. We hadn’t heard of the internet when I was a child, and we didn’t have DVDs. But libraries are offering these too now, and are centres not just of learning but of creativity and culture.

I very much hope that when I am 91, I will be here to join with you in celebrating Ely Library’s golden fiftieth birthday.

East Cambridgeshire is being overlooked again when it comes to major transport initiatives into and around Cambridge.

A public consultation has just been launched by Mayor Palmer’s Combined Authority on the CAM Metro proposal.

In addition to the consultation pages on the Combined Authority website, six public exhibitions will be taking place, along with six ‘information points’ in various locations.

Not a single one of these events is in East Cambridgeshire, despite the large numbers of East Cambs residents who travel into Cambridge for work, study or leisure.

Many East Cambridgeshire residents would love to have access to regular, reliable, and affordable public transport into Cambridge. Practical and flexible alternatives to the car which don’t place added pressure on the rail network are essential if we’re to tackle climate change, air quality, and congestion.

It’s therefore deeply disappointing that our district is being completely cut out of this conversation, when residents in Huntingdon, St Neots, Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill are all included.

Local Conservatives need to stop paying lip service to alternatives to the car, and start ensuring East Cambridgeshire residents are included in plans for CAM Metro.

• The online consultation is here and runs until Friday 3 April.

In on the Guided Bus from Longstanton this morning to chair the Combined Authority Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting in the Guildhall in Cambridge.

(And yes, we are still allowed to meet in Cambridge, despite a rather odd motion to the Combined Authority Board in January to forbid any Combined Authority meetings at all to take place there.)

We end up having one of our better debates, on housing standards and how the Combined Authority could influence them. Three particular issues arise: accessibility and ‘lifetime homes’, space standards, and carbon emissions.

Much of this is outside the Combined Authority’s powers, being controlled by local authorities through their local plans, or by central government through regulation. However the Combined Authority has some influence, and quite a lot of money. How can it use its position in the local housing market to improve standards of accessibility, space, and environmental sustainability?

We are quite surprised to hear that the Combined Authority currently holds no data on how many of the homes it has invested in are accessible, nor on their likely carbon emissions. That’s surely something it should be doing, and potentially leading the way in better reporting and sharing of these data.

The Combined Authority’s Housing Committee will be receiving a report and presentation on building standards at its meeting in March, and we agree to distil the key points of today’s discussion into some recommendations for them to consider.

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

20/00219/FUL
Coveney
16 School Lane Coveney CB6 2DB
Construct a first floor extension over the single storey extension to provide a bedroom and en suite.

20/00244/FUL
Little Downham
Willow Cottage Hundred Foot Bank Pymoor
Construction of two storey extension to replace existing double garage with new integral double garage.

20/00178/FUL
Mepal
Site South Of 20 Brangehill Lane
Proposed single storey three bed dwelling (re-submission of previously refused 19/00769/FUL).

20/00218/ADN
Sutton
Land rear of 30-40 Garden Close Sutton CB6 2RF
Sign board and four flags at site entrance.

20/002224/FUL
Witchford
176 Main Street Witchford CB6 2HT
Proposed demolition of the shop at 176 Main Street and single storey flat at 176A Main Street to be replaced with a two storey four bed dwelling house.

20/00173/FUL
Witchford
45 Main Street Witchford CB6 2HG
Construction of two storey extension to rear (following demolition of existing single storey 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);
• by email to plservices@eastcambs.gov.uk;
• or by post to the Planning Department, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE.

A petition has been launched to save Citizens Advice Bureau services in Ely, after an East Cambs district council committee decided to axe its council grant completely.

Instead the council is proposing to employ its own staff to provide advice.

Supporters of the nationally respected Citizens Advice service fear that as a result of the complete removal of council funding, the CAB office in Market Street Ely may close, or that its service to East Cambridgeshire residents may be reduced.

They say the council does not have, and will not be seen to have, the independence which is essential to the service offered by the CAB, so it is probable that many people who need advice in the Ely area will be reluctant to use the Council’s proposed service. They also say the Council will be wasting public funds by employing and training staff to replace the free service provided by the CAB’s many experienced volunteers.

The petition is still gathering signatures (you can sign here).

Meanwhile, three Liberal Democrat councillors have ‘called in’ the committee’s decision. This means the decision is suspended until it has been considered by the Full Council. This will happen at the Full Council meeting next Thursday (20 February).

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

20/00120/VAR
Coveney
Land rear of 2 Main Street Wardy Hill CB6 2DF
Variation of conditions 1 (Approved Plans) and 3 (Details of External Surfaces) of previously approved 16/00477/FUL for proposed dwelling (retrospective).

20/00088/FUL
Little Downham
Head Fen Farm Head Fen Pymoor
Two-storey side plus single-storey rear extensions and shed (part retrospective).

20/00111/OUT
Mepal
Land adjacent to Broadmead Kennels Witcham Road Mepal
Outline application for a 3-bed bungalow (re-submission 19/01238/OUT).

20/00177/RMM
Sutton
Land rear of Garden Close Sutton CB6 2RF
Reserved matters for outline planning application 17/01445/OUM for up to 53 houses to include public open space and details relating to access.

16/01645/NMAA
Sutton
Land at junction of A142 Ely Road Sutton
Non-material amendment to previously approved 16/01645/FUL for construction of new convenience store and one A5 (hot food takeaway) retail units and associated car park.

20/00209/FUL
Sutton
Land at junction of A142 Ely Road Sutton
Boundary amendments to previously approved application (16/01645/FUL), including associated car park alterations.

20/00114/FUL
Witchford
33 Victoria Green Witchford CB6 2XB
Proposed single-storey rear 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);
• by email to plservices@eastcambs.gov.uk;
• or by post to the Planning Department, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE.