Bassingbourn Parish Council April 2022 County Councillor Report
Mobile Warden Service support
The Mobile Warden service funding request to Cambs CC was approved last week. Particularly attractive was the suggestion for expanding the service to provide new strands of support including benefits applications. As mentioned previously, the County Council will soon be looking to set up/encourage small local care provision enterprises, building on mobile warden service models and with a wider range of care.
Fitness and Wellbeing Grants
A call to instructors to apply for up to £300 to lead fitness and wellbeing activities in their communities: Anyone who leads an existing group or who wants to set up a new initiative, such as leading a local walking group or running a weekly yoga class in local premises, could be eligible for the small grant. Providers running multiple groups can also apply to fund multiple programmes. Activities could range from walking, football, rugby, netball, to chair-based exercise classes, diabetes walking groups, yoga for the over 60s, baby yoga classes or more.
The grant from Cambs County Council Public Health is to help deliver physical activity programmes provided by the District Council in partnership with Living Sport. It is designed to cover costs such as venue hire for up to six weeks, with new participants being entitled to four free sessions. Once the free sessions are complete, participants would be expected to begin paying a small fee to continue participation, meaning that the initiative should become a sustainable source of income for the instructor. https://www.scambs.gov.uk/community-safety-and-health/health-and-wellbeing/lets-get-south-cambridgeshire-active-grant/
Welcoming people from Ukraine
Thank you to Bassingbourn residents who’ve been in touch to ask about welcoming people from Ukraine into their homes. Information on the Ukraine Family Scheme can be found on the homepage at cambridgeshire.gov.uk, and the SCDC website contains more practical information on ways that you can provide support in the community: https://www.scambs.gov.uk/community-safety-and-health/support-for-ukraine/
Oil Club comes to a close
The Oil Club has been running for many years but sadly comes to a close now as our supplier, Agricole, has found it necessary to cease its brokerage service: ‘Over recent years there has been a significant consolidation of oil suppliers in the UK and in our area. Also, these bigger entities are increasingly unwilling to trade via ‘third parties’. Poor customer feedback regarding some suppliers further limits our choice. Realistically, and especially during the current war in Ukraine, there is no longer enough competition for us to leverage to get you a good price from a range of reliable suppliers. Consequently, I regret to inform you that with immediate effect, after trading in your area since 1996, we are withdrawing our service and retiring from the domestic heating oil market.’
Bus User Group and 17 service
The Cam Vale Bus User Group met at the Old School last week. We discussed timetable issues and what people would want to see if changes could be made – optimizing time in Royston and joining up with train schedules at Royston/Meldreth including early commuter trains – and gauged interest in extending service to Biggleswade, which the bus operator is exploring. We looked at the overall context of public transport passenger ridership, which is in recovery mode since the pandemic, and at bus subsidies. The 17 now runs commercially; if the operator wanted to return to a subsidized service, that would automatically require the route to be assessed by the Mayor’s office, where bus subsidies are now managed. We’ve asked for printed timetables for the shop, pub and Old School.
Train services from mid-May
Half-hourly services from Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton will increase mid-May, building on work and school commuting patterns. A gradual increase in ridership (now at 65-70% of pre-pandemic levels) makes this timetable scheduling build-up possible. Parking charges are minimal or free at Meldreth and Shepreth.
Ivy Farm bridge state of play
Ivy Farm Bridge is owned by Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and has never had a public right of way recorded across it, having been created as an accommodation bridge for access to the agricultural farm on either side. Currently there are no recorded public rights of way leading to the bridge on either side.
A set of circumstances arose over the past few years creating the impetus for HCC to consider putting together elements necessary for a new public right of way connecting Royston to Bassingbourn and Litlington via the Ivy Farm bridge. This has been affirmed and strengthened by obvious public interest in a safe pedestrian crossing of the A505.
The trigger for a new route and potential opening of a right of way over the Ivy Farm Bridge was the Royston Redrow development, which places additional pressure on a nearby Network Rail level crossing, thus requiring safety adaptations. Initially, in discussion with HCC and Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC), Redrow considered working toward a diversion of Royston Footpath 17 to join up with the Ivy Farm Bridge and connect to Bassingbourn Footpath 17. After some initial work Redrow decided on balance not to go ahead with the footpath diversion themselves but, under the terms of the Royston planning agreement, opted to pay Network Rail to increase safety measures to the existing Footpath 17 pedestrian railway crossing instead. In addition to this, Redrow made a further payment to HCC for the purpose of making improvements, for pedestrians, to the existing A505 crossing point.
Network Rail has now decided to pursue its own order to divert Footpath 17 around the existing pedestrian railway crossing only, as shown on the map.
HCC’s Countryside and Rights of Way Service (CRoW) still considers that there is a need to create the footpath link from Royston north into Bassingbourn, via the Ivy Farm bridge. CRoW is therefore proposing to consult on an order to create a footpath to Bassingbourn, in conjunction with Network Rail’s diversion application. Working in conjunction with the NR application is the quickest option given HCC’s priorities.
Rights of Way orders do not require land to change hands. HCC will not compulsorily purchase any of the land affected by the proposal but would acquire an interest in the surface of the land crossed by the newly created right of way. As the proposal crosses the county boundary, HCC will continue to co-ordinate with officers at CCC .
Network Rail has now confirmed that it expects to move forward imminently with its application. Once that application is made, HCC will prepare the public consultation. This will require some preparation and allow a lead time for all interested parties to participate and respond.
The process of recording new rights of way, and altering existing rights of way, is public. It therefore allows for anyone to object to, as well as support, the proposals. Whilst HCC would prefer to reach a consensus with all parties, in the event that this is not possible the decision on the creation of new public rights of way will be made by an independent inspector.
The next step for communities which stand to benefit is the public consultation and the opportunity to make a compelling positive case for HCC’s proposals.
HCC will work with representatives of Royston, Bassingbourn and Litlington to make arrangements for the consultation.
County Biodiversity Initiative
A scheme which will help increase the county’s biodiversity and support the development of new homes, businesses and infrastructure has been approved.
Under the Environment Act 2021, the biodiversity of an area resulting from new developments must exceed the pre-development biodiversity value by at least 10 per cent – known as Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). This should be provided onsite, but if that isn’t possible it must be provided offsite, close to the development and within the local planning authority area. Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Biodiversity Special Planning Document, adopted in February 2022, says that they expect to require developers to deliver 20 per cent BNG.
Under the new scheme, developers who are unable to meet BNG requirements on sites in the South Cambridgeshire area will be able to secure biodiversity units from the Lower Valley Farm BNG scheme in Fulbourn. The 358-acre farm, which is part of the council’s 33,000 acre rural estate, has been identified as the ideal site for the scheme as it is located within the Cambridge Nature Network and lies adjacent to the Roman Road Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It will also act as a stepping stone to other surrounding SSSIs, supporting habitat connectivity across the landscape from Trumpington Meadows through to Wilbraham Fen.