Following a meeting behind closed doors on Tuesday, Cambridgeshire County Council has announced regeneration company Brookgate as its preferred bidder for the council’s Shire Hall site in Cambridge.

The decision was taken in confidential session despite Liberal Democrat councillors voting against the move to exclude the press and public.

Brookgate, the company responsible for the CB1 development of Cambridge station, will lease the Shire Hall site for a period still to be agreed. The company proposes to establish a hotel and office accommodation there, while the county council moves its HQ to Alconbury.

Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Lucy Nethsingha says: “The Liberal Democrat group have very grave concerns about the decision taken this week on the future of the Shire Hall site.

“We have opposed the move to Alconbury, on the basis that there are too many levels of government in Cambridgeshire, and the Conservatives should not be building an expensive new headquarters at a time when we should be reducing the number of councils and moving to a unitary structure.

“We are also deeply worried by the lease mechanism which has been pushed through the council by the Conservatives against cross-party opposition.

“The proposed lease arrangement leaves the council with a high level of future risk.

“The expectations of income over the next 30 years depend on complex calculations of inflation and rental income. This income is far from certain.  Yet again it seems Conservatives are pushing risk and cost onto future generations.” 

The next deadline for applications to Cambridgeshire County Council’s Innovate & Cultivate Fund is Thursday 1 August. A pre-application advice session will be held on Tuesday 18 June.

The fund supports initiatives that strengthen communities and reduce pressure on County Council services. There are two funding streams: a ‘Cultivate’ fund for smaller projects that build community support networks and an ‘Innovate’ fund for bigger, bolder and more innovative initiatives. Council services that are inviting applications include adult social care and children and families services. 

The council has developed new guidance on starting Cultivate ‘seed fund’ projects that can help people to remain independent and active within their community, encourage volunteering and complement more costly council services.  Projects include Timebanks, Good Neighbour Schemes, Dementia-Friendly Communities and Men’s Sheds.  See the council’swebpages for details.

The fund is open to voluntary, community and social enterprise sector organisations based in or outside Cambridgeshire, and public sector organisations in Cambridgeshire.

The deadline is Thursday 1 August for Cultivate grants (£2,000 – £19,000) and Innovate grants (£19,001 – £50,000). The next deadline is 1 November for Cultivate applications only and 1 February 2020 for both Cultivate and Innovate grant applications.

If you want to talk through your ideas before submitting your application, bookings are now open for an Innovate & Cultivate Fund Advice Session on Tuesday 18 June, 9:30AM-12:30PM at Huntingdon Youth Centre. Please book here.

Applications and further information about fund priorities and criteria may be found on the website. If you have any queries about the application advice sessions please email lianne.parrett@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.  Cambridgeshire Community Foundation can answer questions about applying for the Fund info@cambscf.org.uk.

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

19/00532/FUL
Little Downham
51 Cannon Street Little Downham CB6 2SS
Construction of four three-bedroom houses and refurbish existing three-bedroom property on site with associated external amenity spaces, landscaping, parking and access arrangements.

19/00535/FUL
Little Downham
The Paddock 22 Park Lane Little Downham
Construction of orangery to rear.

19/00374/FUL
Sutton
119 The Row Sutton CB6 2PB
Retrospective planning consent for infill of disused ditch in rear garden.

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.

19/00532/FUL
Little Downham
Land east of Sunnydene Pymoor Lane Pymoor CB6 2EF
Construction of one three-bedroom, two-storey detached dwelling.

19/00483/FUL
Sutton
1A High Street Sutton CB6 2RB
Construction of six dwellings – four two-bedroomed two-storey detached dwellings, one four-bedroomed two-storey detached dwelling and one three-bedroomed two-storey detached 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.

Sutton residents who have postal votes have now received their postal ballot papers: one for the district council elections, and one for the Sutton Neighbourhood Plan.  Those who vote at the polling station on Thursday 2 May will also receive the same two ballot papers.

A number of people have expressed their uncertainty to me about the Plan and what it means for our village. So I want to use this opportunity to say that I’ll be voting YES to the Plan and to explain why.

(NOTE: the law isn’t helpful here.  The question on the ballot paper isn’t at all explanatory, but it’s set down by law, so the parish council has no choice about it.  The parish council also isn’t allowed to encourage residents to vote one way or the other, and there are restrictive legal limits to how much it can spend to tell local people about it).

(Also NOTE: you can read the Plan here).

• IT’S OUR PLAN: The Sutton Neighbourhood Plan isn’t something imposed on our village from outside.  It’s a document drawn up over several years with consultation along the way including a big open day at The Glebe, a consultation event for local businesses at the Elean Business Park, and information in the parish council newsletter and online.  It’s been put together by local volunteers from the village, with help from a professional planning consultant paid for entirely by grant money.

• IT’S OUR SAY: We all have a simple YES or NO vote.  If we vote YES, then the district council will go through the formality of accepting the Plan.  It’s already done this with Fordham, the first village in East Cambridgeshire to have a Neighbourhood Plan.  Fordham residents voted last year on their Plan and supported it very strongly.  If we vote NO, our plan is not adopted.

• IT HAS LEGAL STATUS: If we vote YES, the Neighbourhood Plan is accepted by the district council, and stands as a document with legal force. The district council will have to pay attention to what our Plan says when it considers planning applications received for Sutton.  And because it would be more recent than the district council’s own Local Plan for East Cambridgeshire, our Neighbourhood Plan would have greater legal force than the district council’s Local Plan. 

• IT WILL CONTROL DEVELOPMENT: Sutton’s Neighbourhood Plan can’t overturn planning permission already given by the district council. So, for example, it can’t overturn the permission for the 53 dwellings at Garden Close, or the 77 dwellings at the top of Mepal Road.  But it can place figures against future developments, and say where these should (and should not) take place.  We know that Linden Homes ultimately wants to build 427 homes at the top of Mepal Road, not just the 77 they’ve already got permission for.  Our Plan, if we agree to support it, would limit this to around 250 dwellings.  The Plan can’t force facilities to be built, or buses to be provided. But it can do other things of value for our village. The Plan sets a development envelope for the village outside which development would not normally be allowed.  It identifies a number of Local Green Spaces for additional protection.  It says that development on the Garden Close site should be predominantly low-density and single-storey.  It seeks to protect the local environment and historic character of the village. All the policies are explained in the Plan, along with why they matter.

• IT WILL BRING MONEY: Developers building larger schemes of more than 10 units have to pay a sum called the Community Infrastructure Levy towards the infrastructure needed to support their developments.  At the moment, without a Neighbourhood Plan, Sutton Parish Council receives only 15 per cent of this money for local amenities.  With a Neighbourhood Plan in place, we would receive 25 per cent of these contributions: more money to spend on the ‘community actions’ which are also listed in the Plan, including play and sports facilities and access to the surrounding countryside.

I know there has been some scepticism expressed about the Plan.  But this isn’t a choice between this Plan or a better but non-existent Plan.  It’s between this Plan or no Plan.  The Sutton Neighbourhood Plan has been put together by local residents over several years to ensure that as far as possible development in our village happens to our specification, and developers don’t have the field day they’ve had up to now. 

I’ll be voting for the Plan, and I hope other residents of Sutton will do so too.

Declaration: I have been part of the team working on the Plan for some time, along with a number of parish councillors and other local residents.  This post is written in a personal capacity.  I have no financial interest in the Plan or its outcome, nor in any land or property in Sutton other than my own home in the High Street.

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

19/00321/FUL
Little Downham
Sunday School Hall Main Street Little Downham
Proposed change of use from Sunday School to residential two bedroom dwelling.

19/00500/FUL
Witchford
Land to rear of 1 to 11 Sutton Road Witchford CB6 2HX
Construction of four two-bedroomed, single storey semi-detached dwellings.

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.

So I’ve received an email cancelling the meeting of the district council’s Shareholder Committee which should have taken place next Wednesday 17 April.

The Shareholder Committee oversees the actions of the council’s Trading Company, which received a £5M loan from the council to set it up. The loan means that the financial health of the council is heavily dependent on the performance of the company, and the Shareholder Committee exists to represent the council’s interest in the company and scrutinise what the company is doing.

(In a further twist, the company’s financial performance – and its ability to repay that £5M loan in full – depends on the controversial 500 dwelling development at Kennett, for which the company will be applying to the council’s planning committee for planning permission later this month. Spot the conflicts of interest.)

The Shareholder Committee last met on 11 February, and the first meeting of the council’s new Finance & Assets Committee (which will take over the work of the Shareholder Committee) is on 27 June. That will be four and a half months with no public democratic oversight of the company that has borrowed millions of pounds of public money and is about to seek consent for an unpopular development just days before the council elections.

No reason has been given for the cancellation of this meeting, and it’s not the first time it has happened. This seems to be a worryingly casual approach by the Conservatives to the council’s company and the public money entrusted to it.

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

19/00390/AGN
Little Downham
Oaklands Straight Furlong Pymoor
Proposed agricultural building.

19/00453/ARN
Little Downham
To convert existing agricultural unit to 1 dwelling, including any associated works.

19/00467/FUL
Little Downham
15 California Little Downham CB6 2UF
Construction of garage and play room to existing bungalow.

19/00448/FUL
Witchford
1 The Warren Witchford CB6 2HN
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.

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

19/00267/FUL
Little Downham
Formidarbla 3 Main Street Pymoor
Front extension to residential dwelling with addition of rear conservatory .

19/00380/FUL
Little Downham
Agricultural building Pymore Lane Farm Pymoor Lane Pymoor
Proposed two bed dwelling following demolition of existing agricultural building (recently granted to convert agricultural building into a one bed dwelling).

19/00411/OUT
Little Downham
7 Cannon Street Little Downham CB6 2SR
Residential development for one dwelling.

19/00384/VARM
Witchford
Land north of Field End Witchford CB6 2XE
To vary Condition 5 (Tree Protection Measures) of previously approved 18/00782/RMM for reserved matters for 128 dwellings.

16/00849/NMAA
Witchford
Land to rear of 1 to 7 Sutton Road Witchford CB6 2HX
Non-material amendment to previously approved 16/00849/FUM to move the ‘footprint’ of plots 7 and 8.

19/00401/FUL
Witcham
4 Martins Lane Witcham Ely Cambridgeshire CB6 2LB
Proposed dropped curb.

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.

• 

Into my inbox today has dropped an email from Babylon ARTS with notice of their campaign to save the cinema at The Maltings in Ely.

The charity says it can no longer afford to subsidise the cinema and needs to raise an additional £17,000 in the coming year to ensure its survival. It notes the general tough trading in the UK, but also the competition from the new out of town cinema, and warns that in a few months the charity’s Board will be facing the difficult decision to close the cinema permanently.

My personal view is that this would be a huge loss, as the Maltings offers a range of films and screenings which the large commercial chains don’t. The cinema is part of Ely’s arts scene, which for many residents is one of the city’s main attractions and part of what makes Ely special. The reported decline in audience numbers following the opening of the leisure village is a further worrying indication of the hollowing-out of the centre of Ely by out-of-town developments.

To help sustain the Maltings cinema, Babylon ARTS are asking three things.

(1) Use the cinema at The Maltings more often – their April programme is online.

(2) If you can, consider pledging £100 to a cinema fund by 1 June; this will help pay towards the projector warranty and maintenance. You can download a pledge form here.

(3) Or you can make a donation here.

Alternatively, to pledge or donate you can contact office@babylonarts.org.uk, or call 01353 616991 10AM to 4PM Monday to Friday.

[Personal statement: I’m a subscribing member of Babylon ARTS, and an occasional user of the cinema, but have no financial interest in either.]