Huntingdonshire District Council

Development at RAF Molesworth some way away

Molesworth just is a single track road at the moment around three villages.

07:40 Tuesday 19th January 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: The sale of RAF’s Alconbury and Molesworth sites for housing will bring challenges. This is according to the Executive Leader of Huntingdonshire District Council. Let’s hear from Jason Ablewhite now. (TAPE)
JASON ABLEWHITE: The Government has an aspiration to deliver housing on Molesworth. If you look at it geographically in our district it’s right on the edge. It is 15 miles from Huntingdon. It’s about 10 miles from Thrapston which is its nearest conurbation in Northamptonshire. And it really would be a stand-alone in the middle of nowhere development. And to make that sustainable with the access challenges of bringing that sort of development to that site out on the A14 brings us huge huge challenges. (LIVE)
DOTTY MCLEOD: Well Jason Ablewhite’s comments there come after the Ministry of Defence announced the sale of those RAF sites along with Mildenhall in Suffolk. 12 bases in total are being sold, and the Government says the disposal will generate £500 million, providing land for around 15,000 new homes. Tim Alban is the district councillor for Stilton ward on Huntingdonshire District Council. Morning Tim.
TIM ALBAN: Morning Dotty.
DOTTY MCLEOD: What’s your reaction then to this news? Do you share Jason’s concerns?
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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 Many are predicting that record numbers of councils will increase their tax, because the Government has withdrawn the incentive to freeze council tax.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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Cambridgeshire councils aim to share more services

07:26 Friday 3rd July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: For some councils in Cambridgeshire. sharing could be a £1.1 million saving. The neighbouring councils in South Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Cambridge City are planning to join together some of their services in an effort to save money. Joining me now are not one, but all three of the council Leaders in question, so let’s see how well they do at sharing the airwaves. First of all we’ve got Jason Ablewhite, Executive Leader of Huntingdonshire District Council. Morning Jason.
JASON ABLEWHITE: Good morning. How are you?
DOTTY MCLEOD: Very good thank you. Ray Manning, Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council. Hello Ray.
RAY MANNING: Hello there.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And Lewis Herbert, who is the Leader of Cambridge City Council. Hello Lewis.
LEWIS HERBERT: Greetings.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So we will start with Jason this morning. Tell us which services you’re looking at sharing.
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Steve Sweeney – the future of Hinchingbrooke Hospital

08:10 Wednesday 4th March 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: The Director of Nursing and Midwifery at Hinchingbrooke Hospital says their priority is their patients, and they want to become a top rated Hospital. Deidre Fowler spoke at a meeting of Huntingdonshire District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny panel last night. Councillors and members of the public gathered to hear about the future of the Hospital . The private company who run it you’ll remember, Circle, are pulling out of their contract. Sarah Varey our reporter went to the meeting.
(TAPE)
SARAH VAREY: A committee meeting like any other in the Civic Suite at Pathfinder House, except the twenty or so seats in the public gallery were almost full of people hoping to find out just what the future holds for the Hospital .
PUBLIC ONE: I’ve got a copy of the Care Quality Commission report (342k pdf). I’m just interested to see what the Chief Executive is proposing for the future. But from where I sit, he shouldn’t be there to propose anything for the future, because they’ve already failed. I’m very interested in the future. I’m actually passionate about it.
SARAH VAREY: As a patient?
PUBLIC ONE: Both as a patient and as a member of the public. I’ve been one probably of their most frequent fliers over the last six years, both as an in-patient and an out-patient. And I think the wonderful staff there are being constantly let down by poor inefficient management.
SARAH VAREY: There was a growing air of anticipation as Item 4 on the agenda was reached, a presentation by Circle CEO Hisham Abdel-Rahman. It came in the form of a multi-coloured Powerpoint presentation, using pie-charts and graphs to represent the causes behind the Care Quality Commission’s highly critical report. A selection of pre-sub,itted questions from members of the public were then put to Dr Abdel-Rahman and three members of the executive board and the Trust board alongside him.. They covered mostly old ground. When did Circle realise the financial situation was deteriorating? What were the contributing factors? Questions from the Scrutiny Panel followed, with a heartfelt plea from one who’s a nurse at the Hospital , asking why no-one told the staff that all was far from well. There followed more coloured graphics headed ‘A realistic view of an improvement journey.’ and delivered by the Director of Nursing Midwifery and Quality, Deidre Fowler. She emphasised the number one priority, to put the patients first, and affirmed their ambition to become a top-rated Hospital , adding ‘we’re downtrodden but not beaten’. Amanda Buckenham from the We Love Hinhingbrooke Hospital group sais she’s looking on the bright side.
AMANDA BUCKENHAM: I take away from it the positive elements, the things that are going well, the fact that they’re not complacent. They do recognise that the improvements need to be made, whilst obviously not accepting as quite a lot of us don’t the overall judgment of the Hospital as being inadequate.
(LIVE)
DOTTY MCLEOD: Sarah varey reporting there from that meeting last night at Huntingdonshire District Council. Steve Sweeney was there. Steve is the GMB’s regional Organiser. Steve, this was an opportunity really for people in Huntingdon to talk to the Hospital bosses, to get some answers. Was it effective?
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A1 through Huntingdonshire – the forgotten route of the county

07:19 Friday 27th February 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: The A1 through Huntingdonshire has been described as a major constraint to growth and in urgent need of an upgrade. In a report to Huntingdonshire District Council, councillor Terry Hayward calls it the ‘forgotten route’ of the county. The Buckden roundabout is a particular source of anguish to people living nearby. Our reporter Tom Horn is at the roundabout now. How’s it looking this morning Tom?
(OB)
TOM HORN: Yes, morning Dotty. Well we’re right in the middle of the morning rush-hour here at the Buckden roundabout. I’m told this roundabout here at Buckden is actually the last one on the A1 before you get all the way up to Newcastle. Just to give you an idea of where we are, Buckden the village is one side, there’s a Shell garage just behind me. You head North to the likes of Peterborough and South to London. Obviously it’s a very busy morning already, cars struggling to get out of the village. Dotty, with me this morning is the aforementioned Terry Hayward , councillor Terry Hayward. Morning to you.
TERRY HAYWARD: Good morning to you.
TOM HORN: So first of all, what kind of problems do you experience here?
TERRY HAYWARD: Well as you’ve already mentioned, this is one of the main roads in Cambridgeshire. It’s one of the triangular roads, the A14, the 428 and the A1. And we’re the forgotten road quite honestly. As you can see we’ve got trouble getting out of the village onto the A1 here. You’ve got more or less perpetual traffic all day. There was a plan to have a new road way back in 1994, which was put to one side because of lack of money by a new Government. Basically what we need is a new motorway standard A1, stretching all the way from Sandy right the way up to the proposed new A1/A14 junction.
TOM HORN: OK. So of course there’s a constant stream of heavy traffic, cars, goods, freight vehicles, just passing the roundabout here. How difficult is it to get out of the village and onto the A1?
TERRY HAYWARD: Well virtually it’s almost impossible. You and I have been watching it this morning. Give you some example. I live about 100 yards up, away from the A1. On one occasion my wife and I were going into the village. She was driving. I was walking. I got to where we were going quicker than she could get driving, because of the holdup of trying to get onto the A1 and round the roundabout.
TOM HORN: So what’s the solution then Terry? What do you want to see change?
TERRY HAYWARD: Very simple solution. As I say we need a by-pass here. But longer than that we need a whole new motorway standard road, stretching as I say from the A14, the new A14, all the way down past Sandy. I know this is a project in the future, but it needs to be brought forward. It’s been forgotten for far far too long.
TOM HORN: Of course one measure that you have helped to introduce here already is the speed cameras, the 50mph average speed cameras, just a short distance from where we are. Have they made much difference?
TERRY HAYWARD: They’ve made a big difference. I’m Chairman of the A1 Safety Group, which is a group which combines the people from Southoe and Buckden. And we got these cameras put in about a year ago now. It took a long while, four or five years. And it is making a difference. It slows the traffic down. But one of the other problems that we have here is the A14, a notorious road blackspot. If there’s any holdup on there at all, then this becomes a short cut, either through the village or down Perry Road, which we’re atanding opposite. And this then becomes a total snarl-up.
TOM HORN: Terry, thank you very much for your time this morning. Dotty, I’m going to head into the village now. It might take me a while to get out onto the roundabout, as you’ve been hearing.
(STUDIO)
DOTTY MCLEOD: Yes. Good luck Tom. Thank you very much for that. Well we can now speak to Jonathan Djanogly, who is the MP for the area of course. The forgotten route of Cambridgeshire Jonathan. Is that a fair description do you think? Continue reading “A1 through Huntingdonshire – the forgotten route of the county”

Developers warned of flood risk around Huntingdon and Alconbury

07:41 Tuesday 20th January 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: The area around Huntingdon has been named among the top twenty areas of the country that’s most at risk of flooding. A campaign has been launched today by the Association of British Insurers, who say annual flood defence spending needs to rise to £1 billion a year by 2025 in order to meet the rising flood threat in the UK. It’s also calling for no new homes to be built in flood risk areas. Tom Horn is in Alconbury near Huntingdon, a village that faces challenges with flooding. What can you tell us Tom?
(OB)
TOM HORN: Yes Dotty good morning. It’s a cold white frosty morning here. I’m on the medieval bridge which has arches spanning Alconbury Brook, which runs through the village. It’s on The Green, a lovely picturesque green, lots of trees, and surrounded by houses on either side. But of course, as you’ve been hearing, this area is among the top twenty places most at risk from flooding in England. With me here is Ray Pickering, who runs the Alconbury Flood Plain Facebook page, and is a flood risk consultant. Morning Ray. So what issues does this area face with flooding?
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Cambridgeshire waste merger has union support

08:20 Friday 17th October 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: There are plans for a shared bin collection service for Cambridge and the surrounding South Cambridgeshire villages. Councillors have been told that annual savings of around £350,000 could be achieved in the next twelve months by sharing services, increasing to around £700,000 within three years. That saving would be shared between South Cambridgeshire District and Cambridge City Councils. Mick Martin is the Cabinet Member for Environmental Services at South Cambridgeshire District Council. Mick, what stage are we at? Has this been decided yet?
MICK MARTIN: No it hasn’t. And I say no it hasn’t hesitatingly. The situation is that South Cambs Cabinet reviewed the proposal yesterday evening and unanimously agreed to move forward with it. But the City Council doesn’t have their review meeting until 5 o’clock this evening.
DOTTY MCLEOD: OK. So it’s still in the pipeline at the moment. The main question for anyone living in either of these areas of Cambridgeshire is what is this going to mean for my bin.
MICK MARTIN: Your bin will be as wonderfully cared for as it has been up until now. The two founding principles of the process that we’re going through are first of all to reduce the operational costs, particularly in the area of premises management administration and fleet and equipment costs.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Is it going to mean fewer binmen? Are we going to see job losses?
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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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