East Cambridgeshire District Council

Eastern devolution – the wooing begins

10:24 Wednesday 27th April 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Is your neighbourhood getting a rough deal from the rest of Cambridgeshire? That’s our question, after the Leader of East Cambs. District Council launched a scathing attack on fellow-council leaders across Cambridgeshire. James Palmer said they were too Cambridge focused. Areas like East Cambs have been forgotten about. One of his quotes: “I’m afraid some councillors who represent the city of Cambridge have no idea what exists within two or three miles of them. They think East Cambridgeshire is off the edge of some cliff, Fenland is at the bottom of it.” He’s happy to go it alone without Cambridgeshire, and forge a union down the Yellow Brick Road of Norfolk and Suffolk. Well let’s speak to the head honcho, Lewis Herbert, Labour Leader of Cambridge City Council. Morning Lewis.
LEWIS HERBERT: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: Have you forgotten about some parts of Cambridgeshire, forsaking all others unto Cambridge?
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Leader accused of surrender to developers

Affordable housing quotas halved to incentivise development

17:19 Thursday 7th January 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: In East Cambridgshire some councillors are angry they weren’t consulted about changes to rules on affordable housing. An announcement was put on the Council’s website that the amount developers have to build on site has been reduced by 50%. It’s being discussed at a Council meeting which starts in the next hour. In a moment of two we’ll hear from the Leader of the Council, but first of all to the person making the complaint, who is the LibDem councillor for Sutton, Lorna Dupre, who has proposed a motion. Lorna hello to you.
LORNA DUPRE: Good evening.
CHRIS MANN: So what’s the problem?
LORNA DUPRE: Well I was somewhat surprised to receive on November 5th an email telling me that the Council had decided to tear up its expectations for affordable housing development in East Cambridgeshire, and to halve the amount of affordable housing it was expecting developers to provide across the district, and that instead it would be asking developers to make a financial contribution to the Council, which could then be used for its community land trust, and to oil the financial wheels of its new local authority trading company. It seems to me that given the amount of consultation that Local Plans go through when they’re being drawn up, and given the urgency of the need for housing of all types, but particularly affordable housing in East Cambridgeshire, that to tear up our expectations like this, without a public discussion, is quite bizarre and quite inappropriate.

In poker terms James you blinked in this stand-off with the developers.

CHRIS MANN: So it’s a watering down of the amount of affordable housing. And I guess, at the start of the process, it’s one of the things that gets you hooked, isn’t it? Ah, there’ll be good houses here for people who need to get on the housing ladder. But by the time it gets to the end of the process, that number has changed significantly.
LORNA DUPRE: Well that’s right. The Council has itself admitted that it’s only overseeing in total the building of something like a quarter of the extra homes we need each year. We need huge numbers of increased housing across East Cambridgeshire, and not only now but we’ve also just embarked on the process of developing a new Local Plan that will see us through for the next twenty years. And if we wave a great big white flag at developers now and say oh look, we’re halving our expectation of the affordable housing you’re supposed to build, just give us some money instead, that seems to me a big white flag that is going to mean it’s very difficult to insist on more affordable housing for the foreseeable future.
CHRIS MANN: By a big white flag, are you saying in effect that the Council has surrendered in its negotiations with the developers?
LORNA DUPRE: That appears to be the implication of what’s being said, if you’re only expecting them to build half of what we originally said we wanted. And there’s all sorts of implications for this, but we really need a public debate about it.
CHRIS MANN: I’ve seen the minutes of the meeting that you’re holding later on.
motion_1 I know this is the first item up on business, which will be announced by the Leader of the Council I imagine in just over an hour’s time, and he is James Palmer, councillor James Palmer from Soham, and he joins us now. James, evening to you. Thank you for joining us.
JAMES PALMER: Good evening.
CHRIS MANN: I know you’ll be debating this in the hallowed halls of East Cambs later but for public consumption first. Now, you’ve heard the complaint. What do you say? Continue reading “Leader accused of surrender to developers”

Cambridgeshire councils freeze council tax

East Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire District Councils pledge no rate rise..

09:23 Thursday 7th January 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: In town halls right across the county councillors will be putting the finishing touches to their budgets for the next year, including having to make a decision on whether or not they should increase their council tax too. Many are predicting that record numbers of councils will increase their tax, because the Government has withdrawn the incentive to freeze council tax. So they could put it up by up to 4%, just under 4%. So add that to the other two bits (police and fire precepts) and your bill could go up by over 6%. I’m pleased to say that councils are ringing us left right and centre this morning to tell us exactly what they’re doing. Bill Hunt the Conservative councillor in East Cambridgeshire, morning Bill.
BILL HUNT: Good morning to you.
PAUL STAINTON: What’s going on in East Cambs Bill?
BILL HUNT: Well we listened to the people. We’re cutting bureaucracy and we’re retaining our free car parking. And we’re not putting council tax up this year.
PAUL STAINTON: That’s a definite.
BILL HUNT: It’s the East Cambs element of course as you say. Other people might, the County Council and the fire services. But East Cambs will not. We’re confirmed. We didn’t do it last year. We think that people who go to work are paying more than enough tax already. And we’re looking at slimming down our council and having a can-do attitude, and delivering what the people want.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes. How are you making ends meet though?
BILL HUNT: Well cutting out bureaucracy.
PAUL STAINTON: People say that. That’s a trite phrase, isn’t it? What does that mean?
BILL HUNT: We’ve done away with one tier of management, and we’ve encouraged youngsters to come up, with their new enthusiasm. And we’ve changed the management structure.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes but no good if the County Council stick 4% on, eh?
BILL HUNT: Well, you know, we in East Cambs., we’re doing our bit for East Cambs.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes. You’re doing what you can do Bill is what you’re saying, isn’t it?
BILL HUNT: Yes. And we’re the only city in East Anglia without car parking charges in the centre.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes. Apart from Fenland of course.
BILL HUNT: Pardon?
PAUL STAINTON: Fenland is free as well.
BILL HUNT: Yes I’m talking about a city. Ely is a city.
PAUL STAINTON: Oh. No. Apologies. I’m there. I’m there Bill. I’m there Bill.
BILL HUNT: The only city in East Anglia without charges.
PAUL STAINTON: You’ve planted that flag for East Cambs. this morning Bill I think. You really have.
BILL HUNT: Well we’re doing the job. We’re asking the people what they want. We’re doing the best we can to do what they want, and we think they’re paying enough council tax as it is.
PAUL STAINTON: Well Bill, thank you for that. That’s Bill Hunt. He’s county councillor. There’ll be no increase from them on your council tax bills in and around Ely in that part of Cambridgeshire. But of course the County Council could still add their bit. Let’s move over to Huntingdon. Jason Ablewhite is the Leader of Hunts District Council of course. Morning Jason.
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Stretham Manor Farm – Cambridgeshire’s first community land trust development

08:23 Thursday 17th September 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: Construction work is due to officially begin in the village later on on a housing development that local residents have been heavily involved in planning. It involves around 50 new homes as well as a doctors surgery, business space and a children’s play area. They’re all being built at Manor Farm in Stretham, and 15 of those 50 houses will be reserved for local people to buy or rent. It’s part of the first community land trust set up in Cambridgeshire, and it saw around 250 people involved in the design process. Joining me in the studio now are community land trust chair and deputy leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council Charles Roberts. Morning Charles.
CHARLES ROBERTS: Good morning Dotty.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And also Phil Rose who is from Laragh Homes, Morning Phil.
PHIL ROSE: Good morning.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So Charles, explain the concept of the community land trust, how it works.
CHARLES ROBERTS: OK. The community land trust. At East Cambridgeshire District Council we’ve a new planning policy now, which allows communities to bring forward planning applications for building on land outside the building line in their community, so building on farmland surrounding the community, subject to a number of tests of course to be sure that it’s appropriate development in the right place. The community bring the application forward together with the land owner and a building developer, and a proportion of the houses are sold on the open market, and a share of the profit from those houses is given to the community, together with some land to build houses for the community.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So the idea is that local people are involved from the very start.
CHARLES ROBERTS: Yes. that’s absolutely right. This is about local people. It’s about providing homes for local people. But it’s also making sure that people are involved in the design process, and the communities actually want the development for their own people. It’s appropriate to their community.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And Phil, what’s in it for your company, as a development firm?
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Despite bank closure Leader believes the future is bright for Littleport

08:19 Friday 17th July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: Here’s the claim this morning: retailers need to work together if they and the town centres they inhabit are to survive. That’s what one local businessman has told me this morning. It comes as shoppers in an East Cambridgeshire town say it’s centre is now just dead. The comments come as the MP for North East Cambridgeshire met with officials from Barclays Bank, trying to convince them not to close the last remaining bank in Littleport. Steve Barclay, for that is co-incidentally his name, was joined by local councillors at the House of Commons. If the bank does shut in October, it will be the latest in a long line of amenities to be lost from the town. Tom Horn has this report from Littleport.
TOM HORN: Littleport is perhaps no longer known for its bustling town centre. Previously it boasted several bakers, clothes stores, a bridal shop, a fruit and veg outlet, butchers, several pubs and three banks. Despite the recent addition of hundreds of new homes, down the years that list has slowly dwindled. Now with Littleport likely to lose its last bank too, these shoppers say the town centre desperately needs attention.
SHOPPER 1: We had two chemists, and I do believe that chemist is closing down as well and going into the doctors. I know they’re still going to be about. And we’ve only just got the Co-op up here now really for food shopping.
SHOPPER 2: It’s sad to see some of them closing, because we’ve lost the butcher haven’t we, and a few other shops.
SHOPPER 3: Just lots of take-aways now. There used to be three banks, and you could get all you wanted, but it has changed from what it was years ago when I was a youngster. There was a choice of the shoe shops. There was a shop of every description.
TOM HORN: Well people who have seen first hand the impact of the shrinking town centre are of course those who do still work there. I went into the Boswell & Sons bakery on Littleport’s Main Street. How long have you lived in Littleport, or worked in Littleport?
BAKER: All my life.
TOM HORN: What’s the high street like now compared to what it’s been through the years?
BAKER: Dead.
TOM HORN: What makes you say that?
BAKER: It’s because there’s nobody about. There’s nothing really to draw people into Littleport. People go out of the village I think. And we used to do really well. It used to be really busy. But we’re not even busy now.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Tom Horn there reporting from Littleport. With me now James Palmer, who is the Conservative Leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council. So James, going, going, gone. Or dying, dying, dead. Do you agree that Littleport is on its knees?
JAMES PALMER: Well I hope it’s not on its knees, but …
DOTTY MCLEOD: Well plenty of people who live there think so James.
JAMES PALMER: Well I think Littleport is reflecting the way that people shop now in the modern era. And we can do all we can to try and encourage people to shop in town centres. In interviews and things like this the people always say yes, we want to shop in our town centre, but it’s just not seen on the footfall in town centres. It’s the modern way of shopping. People go out of town, they work out of town, and they shop out of town. And it’s not just Littleport that’s suffering in this way, it’s similar villages and towns right across the country.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So that’s it is it? A hopeless case.
JAMES PALMER: No I don’t think so. I think what you can do or what we are trying to do is encouraging business growth in the village, trying to get jobs, people to work in the village. And obviously we know and you will know that we’ve got growth plans for Littleport, for more people to live there. I think some 1,500 new houses going into Littleport in the next five to ten years. So it’s not a give-up on the town centre in any sense of imagination. Of course not. It’s doing what we can. But councils only have so much, so many, powers. They cannot force people to shop in town centres.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Of course they can’t, and I think everyone would accept that. There’s been some claims from some people who live in East Cambridgeshire and who live in Littleport that really you at the District Council, you only really care about Ely. And places like Littleport don’t get a look in.
JAMES PALMER: Well that’s completely wrong. If you were to speak to the local councillors that work very hard with the County to put together newsletters, and I know that David Ambrose Smith and Christine Ambrose Smith over the last four years they’ve spent many many hours trying to build up Littleport town centre, trying to get shopkeepers involved in their ideas, and trying to get the people of Littleport out shopping in Littleport.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Let’s go to Claire Wright, who works for the Country Land and Business Association as their East Regional Surveyor, because Claire you feel that hope might be on the horizon for communities like Littleport.
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Inspector calls Local Plan into question

08:08 Wednesday 15th July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: East Cambridgeshire District Council could launch a review of its Local Plan just two months after it was adopted. Any review would cost up to £145,000 over three years, and see a new wave of public consultations. The Local Plan, we’ve spoken about them so much. You might remember what they are, but just in case, it’s a plan for the future development of a local area. So it decides whether or not any planning applications that are submitted can be given the go-ahead. A report is going to be seen by East Cambridgeshire District Council this week. It says the decision of a Government Inspector to override a planning refusal for 120 homes in Witchford has led to the possibility of a review. In allowing the national developers plans, the Inspector said housing supply plans in East Cambridgeshire were already out of date. Richard Kay handles forward planning on East Cambridgeshire District Council, and we will talk to Richard in just a moment, but first let’s have a word with Sebastian Kindersley, who is the South Cambridgeshire District councillor for Gamlingay, because these kinds of cases have occurred in South Cambridgeshire as well, haven’t they Sebastian?
SEBASTIAN KINDERSLEY: Yes good morning Dotty. I’m afraid it has, almost exactly, where a planning inspector has agreed a number of appeals in Waterbeach in March. And the result of that has been an absolute flood of speculative planning applications from pre-application enquiries, which is rapidly transforming South Cambs. in a way that is unplanned, and actually frankly at the moment unwanted.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And these applications, these speculative applications as you are calling them, they hinge on what?
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Cambridgeshire councils share more services

17:15 Thursday 2nd October 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Another of our big stories, an ongoing story actually, one that we discuss regularly: three Cambridgeshire councils have announced the next steps towards sharing services. South Cambs, Cambridge City and Huntingdonshire save hundreds of thousands of pounds by pooling their I.T. and legal provision. So, is this just the first step towards a Greater Cambridge unitary authority? Let’s find out. The men in charge are with me. Cllr Ray Manning, the Leader of South Cambs District Council, a Conservative of course. Ray, hello.
RAY MANNING: Hello there.
CHRIS MANN: Welcome. And how long have you been running the Council?
RAY MANNING: The Conservatives, since 2006.
CHRIS MANN: And how long have you had to start making cutbacks since? When did that .. ?
RAY MANNING: About 1896 I think.
CHRIS MANN: Yes. It’s that long. (LAUGHS)
RAY MANNING: Yes. I can’t ever remember a budget that wasn’t a reduction.
CHRIS MANN: And right now the demands on you are .. ? How much do you have to lose in the next few years?
RAY MANNING: We’ve got to save another million.
CHRIS MANN: Out of a budget of .. ?
RAY MANNING: Sixteen.
CHRIS MANN: Also with us is Cllr Jason Ablewhite. Hello Jason.
JASON ABLEWHITE: Good evening Chris.
CHRIS MANN: The Executive Leader of Huntingdonshire District Council, another Conservative controlled authority of course. Give us the picture as far as you’re concerned.
JASON ABLEWHITE: Financially or politically? Politically obviously we’ve been Conservative since 1976, so quite considerable longer than South Cambs. (LAUGHS) But we’re in exactly the same boat as everyone else. We need to save multiples of millions of pounds over the next five years, and we’re looking at new ways of working and new initiatives, and that’s why what we’re saying today is so important.
CHRIS MANN: And you’ve taken some tough measures already. You’ve had to let people go, look at services.
JASON ABLEWHITE: We have yes, like everyone else in local government. It’s been tough. The last five years, frankly, has been tough in local government, and we’ve seen a considerable reduction in our staff.
CHRIS MANN: Third member on the panel is Cllr Lewis Herbert, who became Leader of Cambridge City Council when Labour took control after the elections earlier this year. Hello Lewis.
LEWIS HERBERT: Hi.
CHRIS MANN: You inherited some problems, not unique to your council, but give us an idea of what Cambridge City have got to cut.
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The train stopping at Soham ..

17:11 Monday 21st July 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: Work starts on Monday to build the new train station in the North of Cambridge. And in Soham they also hope to open a new station. James Palmer is the Leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council, who is heavily involved in the project. I talked to him a little earlier, to find out just what the timetable is, and why it’s so important that Soham gets a train station again.
(TAPE)
JAMES PALMER: It’s of primary importance in my opinion. Soham has grown very quickly. People want to live in Soham. It’s a fantastic place. Of course they would want to live here. But anybody can put houses up. Any council can do that. It’s infrastructure that must come first. So if we are to grow the town the way the town wants and to get the facilities that people who live here expect now, in my view a railway station is an absolute imperative to the growth of a town.
CHRIS MANN: How difficult is it to make that happen?
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