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

21/00455/CLE
Little Downham
16 Matthew Wren Close Little Downham CB6 2UL
The siting of a mobile home/caravan within the residential curtilage as ancillary residential accommodation.

21/00496/ARN
Little Downham
Buildings rear of 47-51 Ely Road Little Downham
Change of use of two agricultural buildings to residential dwellings.

21/00412/FUL
Little Downham
Land to south of 25 Pymoor Lane Pymoor
Construction of one four-bedroom, two-storey detached dwelling (previously approved 19/00238/FUL).

21/00467/FUL
Sutton
Sutton Fire Station Mepal Road Sutton
Construction of a 1.83 x 1.83 x 12.3 metre high training tower for fire service personnel.

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.

Parents who need to take time off work to look after children who are self-isolating due to COVID can now apply for financial support.

The self-isolation payment scheme has now been expanded to include parents of children aged 15 and under (or up to 25 with an EHC plan) who are not themselves legally required to self-isolate, but who need to take time off work if their children are required to do so. Parents can claim for the £500 grant if:

• Their child has been asked to isolate by Test & Trace or by their school or childcare setting due to being identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive, and the isolation starts on or after 8 March.
• They are employed or self-employed.
• They cannot work from home.
• The parent or guardian meets all the other criteria for the Test & Trace scheme.

People are able to claim more than once for subsequent periods of isolation and only one parent can claim for a child.

People need to self-isolate if they have one or more symptoms of coronavirus or have tested positive, if they live with someone who has symptoms or has tested positive, or if they have been identified as a close contact of a positive case and told to self-isolate by Test & Trace.

Support for people who are self-isolating includes:

• The Test & Trace Support Payment Scheme administered by the District Council, which entitles people who meet certain criteria to a one-off payment of £500 if they lose income as a result of not being able to work. This payment can be made available on multiple occasions if a person comes into contact with people who test positive a second or even third time.
• For anyone not eligible for the government support, a local discretionary fund which offers financial support to make sure people don’t suffer financially.
• The network of support hubs run by the district and city councils which can support people with grocery shopping, medicine collection, dog walking, befriending services and in many other ways.

For more information on support available for people self-isolating visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/selfisolationsupport

People can also contact their local support hub via their local council or by calling 0345 045 5219.

Cambridgeshire’s libraries are preparing to welcome back residents for managed browsing from Monday 12 April.

During lockdown, the county’s 33 libraries have been able to offer a Select and Collect service and pre-booked use of computers and digital services. From Monday 12 April, residents will be able to browse the shelves and select their own books.

To ensure everyone can make use of the libraries safely, one-way systems will be in place, with customers asked to wear masks (unless exempt) and invited to sanitise their hands when they enter the library. A friendly face will be at the door of each library to explain how managed browsing works and answer any questions. 

Social distancing will be in place, and customers will be able to use self-service technology to check their books out. Returned books will also be quarantined to minimise the risk of Covid infection.

Safety measures have been put in place to make sure that people feel confident and secure in using library services. A maximum capacity has been introduced for each building so customers may have to queue at busy times, and for the time being won’t be able to sit or study while visiting the library. Visitors will be asked to use the NHS track and trace app when they enter the building, or if they don’t have a smartphone, staff will take their details for the same purpose.

Opening for managed browsing is another step closer to returning to the full library offering in due course.

To find your nearest library and check opening hours, please go to https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/libraries-leisure-culture/libraries/visit-a-library

From 1 April to 30 September all sites will be operating for the longer summer opening hours. March, Milton, and Whittlesey will operate Sunday opening hours on Good Friday (2 April) and Easter Monday (5 April). Site opening hours are published here.

This is the first Easter in which Cambridgeshire’s recycling centres have been operated with COVID measures in place. (Last year the sites were temporarily closed over Easter). To help manage the anticipated high demand residents are being asked to sort materials in advance and abide by the one booking per week limit.

• Two metre social distancing is in place at all sites.
• The booking system for vehicles requiring e-permits remains in place at all sites. 
• Advance booking is still required at Alconbury, Bluntisham, Milton, St Neots and Thriplow (Booking system for Household Recycling Centres – Cambridgeshire County Council) Extra booking slots have been added for each 15 minute period.
• Temporary yellow signage remains in place at Alconbury, Bluntisham, Milton, St Neots, Thriplow and Witchford advising of the booking system where this is in place, and requesting residents do not queue on the public highways outside the sites.

Please do not turn up at a recycling centre which requires a booking if you have not booked in advance. And if you have booked in advance and no longer need your booking, please cancel it to free the space for someone else.

At Witchford the council hopes to remove the traffic light controls for the four day Bank Holiday weekend. However this will depend on today’s asphalting works going according to plan to ensure the road surface is fit for traffic.

Further information about Cambridgeshire’s recycling centres at Household Recycling Centres – Cambridgeshire County Council.

Following questions from the council’s Liberal Democrats about how it intended to make its Annual Council meeting on 20 May COVID-safe, East Cambridgeshire District Council has moved the meeting forward a month, to 22 April.

The Government recently announced that it would not allow councils to continue to meet remotely – using Zoom, for example – beyond 7 May. (It’s now started a consultation on remote meetings, but that won’t report for months and months.)

So how would 28 councillors, a clutch of council officers, press, and interested members of the public be kept safe on 20 May, crammed in the small council chamber at The Grange for the annual council meeting?

I wrote to the Chief Executive on Friday on behalf of my council group to ask. I also wrote to one of the senior officers to ask for a copy of the risk assessment.

I didn’t get a reply from the Chief Executive, and the senior officer said the Council hadn’t yet done a risk assessment.

But this morning I was told that the meeting will now take place a month early, to beat the Government clamp-down.

I recently reported that The Orchards and Elizabeth Court Sutton, and Cross Lane Little Downham had been cut from the County Council’s road resurfacing programme for the coming year.

In better news today, County Council officers have decided to put them back in.

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

21/00359/ARN
Little Downham
Poplar Tree Farm 9 Straight Furlong Pymoor
Conversion of existing barn to a one-bedroom dwelling.

21/00339/FUL
Little Downham
32 Ely Road Little Downham CB6 2SN
Single-storey and two-storey side extensions and garage conversion.

21/00408/FUL
Mepal
12 Meadow Way Mepal CB6 2GJ
Loft conversion including rear facing dormer and roof lights and single-storey rear extension.

21/00448/FUL
Sutton
115 The Row Sutton CB6 2PB
Changing the existing brown wooden windows and doors with white U-PVC windows. Also changing brown fascia and guttering and down pipes with a white alternative.

21/00402/FUL
Wentworth
10 Main Street Wentworth CB6 3QG
Two-storey and single-storey rear extensions.

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.

Changes to Stagecoach’s bus services in Cambridge, including the 39 through Mepal, Sutton, and Witchford, will take effect from Sunday 11 April.

Stagecoach say:

• We will be making some changes to the 39 route so that buses will now serve Lancaster Way Business Park and the route will also be extended to March Railway Station.
• Due to these route changes, there will be some changes made to arrival and departure times, please check the timetable for specific journey time information.
• Please note that some stops listed on the timetable are shaded orange, this means that these timings are approximate.

More information and timetables can be found at https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/east/east-covid19-services

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

21/00226/FUL
Little Downham
7 and 9 Main Street Pymoor CB6 2ED
Change of use of land to domestic use with two storey rear extensions and alterations with new access and parking area.

21/00383/FUL
Little Downham
Plot 1 land south west of 73 Main Street Pymoor
Construction of one two-storey, five-bedroom detached dwelling with three-car garage.

21/00370/FUL
Mepal
6B New Road Mepal CB6 2AP
Proposed single storey side and rear extensions, side extension for a new utility and replacement garage.

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 government has recently announced additional Winter Grant funding, to allow councils to provide support over the Easter holiday to families whose lives have become more difficult because of COVID-19 . 

Cambridgeshire County Council will receive an additional £507,000, and the council aims to provide Easter food vouchers to all children and young people who meet the eligibility criteria. The cost of doing so will be around £570,000, and the gap in funding will be met from the underspend from Christmas and February half term. 

If children receive Free School Meals or are over 16 years old and receiving a bursary, they will automatically receive food vouchers to cover the Easter holiday. The Council plans to automatically issue each food voucher eligible child or young person with a £30 supermarket voucher on 26 March in time for the Easter holiday. 

The Council also hopes to continue the wider Winter Support Scheme through its the hub network, offering financial help with utility bills and household items relating to warmth, hygiene, and cooking.  

Over 1800 families in Cambridgeshire have asked for this additional help, 80 per cent of them with an immediate and urgent need for help with food, utilities, or other essential supplies. Councils have been working together to issue emergency fuel vouchers and linking into wider support through Citizens Advice and community-based support. 

The Winter Grant Scheme is available to families or young people who meet one of the following criteria: 

• Funded childcare and education 
• Early years pupil premium 
• Care Leavers 
• Educational Health and Care plans 
• Young carers 

Further information can be found at https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/wintersupport