Agenda

Published, Weekly Bulletin - Wednesday, 11 February 2015 12.00 p.m.

Contact: Patrick Adams 01954 713408 Email: democratic.services@scambs.gov.uk

Items

No.

Item

Meetings and events from Thursday 12 February to Friday 27 February 2015

Date	Time	Name	Venue	Contact
Thu 12 Feb	2pm	Cabinet	Swansley Room	Graham Watts (minutes)
Fri 13 Feb

Mon 16 Feb
Tue 17 Feb
Wed 18 Feb	9:30am	Joint Development Control Committee – Cambridge Fringes	Guildhall, City Council	Toni Birkin
Thu 19 Feb
Fri 20 Feb


Mon 23 Feb
Tue 24 Feb
Wed 25 Feb	2pm 2pm	Environmental Services Portfolio Holder’s Meeting Northstowe Joint Development Control Committee	Jeavons Room Council Chamber	Patrick Adams Ian Senior
Thu 26 Feb	2pm	Council	Council Chamber	Graham Watts
Fri 27 Feb

INFORMATION FOR DISTRICT COUNCILLORS

Annual Awards Celebration: Village Hero, Parish Councillor of the Year & Community Pride Awards

The Annual Awards Celebration will take place at 7pm on 5 March at South Cambs Hall. Nominees, nominators and elected members have been invited to attend and all nominees will receive a certificate and/or prize.

Nominations were received for individuals, groups, organisations or businesses in the following parishes:

· Barton

· Cottenham

· Croydon

· Duxford

· Elsworth

· Eltisley

· Fen Drayton

· Gamlingay

· Girton

· Grantchester

· Great Shelford

· Hardwick

· Ickleton

· Kingston

· Longstanton

· Oakington & Westwick

· Sawston

· Waterbeach

For more information please contact Gemma Barron, Sustainable Communities & Partnerships Manager, on gemma.barron@scambs.gov.uk or 01954 713340.

A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme - Comments welcome

MM900286794[1]

An application for a Development Consent Order to build the A14 improvement scheme was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate by the Highways Agency on 31 December 2014.

The Planning Inspectorate has now accepted this application for examination. There is now an opportunity for interested groups and members of the public to register as an interested party, and provide an outline of their comments on the application. This must be done by Thursday 12 March 2015 at 11:59pm.

This is the last opportunity to have your say about the A14 scheme before an Inspector examines the application. If you wish to comment, whether in support or objecting, it is important that you do so via the Planning Inspectorate's website. The Council will be considering the proposals and deciding its response.

Everyone who registers their interest or makes comments will be invited to take part in the examination, which can take up to 6 months.

For further information on the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Scheme visit the Highways Agency website.

For further information on the Development Consent Order process and/or to make comments on the application visit the Planning Inspectorate's website.

MC900053326[1]

Reporting faults to Highways PDF 1 MB

We have been contacted by Highways, who have requested that any faults are reported online:

http://www4.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/highwayfaults

A guide on how to use this online tool is attached.

Highways can be contacted on 0345 045 5212

UPCOMING DISTRICT COUNCILLOR TRAINING

Unless otherwise specified, please confirm your availability to attend any of the following briefing or training events by contacting Patrick Adams on 01954 713408. This will ensure your training records are kept up to date and suitable venue and catering booking can be made. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

A14 Seminars - Developing the response to the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Scheme

Officers from Cambridgeshire County Council will be holding further Member seminars on various aspects of the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme. The seminars will outline issues the Councils may like to consider in the development of their formal response to the A14 Scheme. The seminars will take the format of a presentation followed by a question and answer session.

Seminar 1: Environmental Impacts and Legacy of the scheme

Date: 9 March 2015 from 4pm to 6pm

Venue: Civic Suite, Pathfinder House, Huntingdonshire District Council, St Marys Street, Huntingdon PE29 3TN

Seminar 2: Traffic and Design

Date: 23 March 2015 from 4pm to 6pm

Location: Kreis Viersen room, Shire Hall, Cambridgeshire County Council, Castle Hill, Cambridge

To book a place contact Claire Spencer Senior Planning Policy Officer on:

01954 713418.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Media Monitoring

Arising from the results of the Member Communication Needs Survey, many members highlighted the fact that residents found out about SCDC matters through the media.

The Council’s Communications Team will produce a weekly summary of recent news items to be published in the Bulletin to help keep members informed of recent coverage of SCDC.

Contact the Communications Team for further information.

Date	Publication	Details

04/02/2015	Royston Crow online	Foxton homes development approved as part of drive for more council housing	Link
04/02/2015	BBC Radio Cambridgeshire	Budget - Cllr Edwards interviewed about plans to generate income to offset cuts to funding
05/02/2015	BBC Radio Cambridgeshire	Cllr Howell interviewed about Ermine Street Housing and plans to generate income to offset cuts to funding
05/02/2015	Heart Radio	Council announce budget as grant funding likely to cease
05/02/2015	Cambridge News	Register to vote today	P9
05/02/2015	Cambridge News and online	Council tax set to rise by 2 per cent for South Cambridgeshire residents	P11 and link
05/02/2015	Cambridge News	Approval given for 'affordable' homes (Foxton)	P46
06/02/2015	Cambridge News	Planning applications given green light	P4
06/02/2015	Cambridge News online	‘Ethical’ housing programme set up by South Cambridgeshire District Council to offset government cuts	Link
07/02/2015	Cambridge News and online	MP Sir Jim Paice joins residents to save former Pear Tree pub in Hildersham from becoming house	Link and page 9
09/02/2015	BBC News Online	East of England councils 'frightened' to reject housing plans	Link
09/02/2015	Cambridge News	Getting students ready for voting	P5	SCDC and City Councils signing up Long Road Sixth Form students on National Voter Registrations Day
09/02/2015	Cambridge News and online	Questions about how to best protect Government funding	Link and p12
10/02/2015	Cambridge News online	Cambridge councillors demand answers about events surrounding the Libyan troops	Link
10/02/2015	Heart Radio	Councillors to hear from MoD about Libyan troops
10/02/2015	BBC Radio Cambridgeshire	MoD bosses to discuss Bassingbourn Libyan troops

Items of Interest from the Local Government Association (LGA)

The Local Government Association provides a list of news headlines relevant to its members. Please click the headlines below for more details.

Thursday 5 February 2015: Daily Mail: Fly-tipping surges 20 per cent in a year

Fly-tipping has risen by a fifth with councils having to deal with 852,000 reports of waste being dumped last year – up 140,000 on 2013.

Friday 6 February 2015: Times: Rise in fly-tipping

Fly-tipping increased by a fifth last year nearly two thirds of the incidents involving household waste.

Monday 9 February 2015: Daily Mail: Two-thirds of houses have four bins outside

A report has found that the average family now has to leave four waste containers outside their homes.

Tuesday 10 February: Daily Mail: Town halls reject plea for council tax freeze

Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has warned town halls against raising tax bill for households, as almost have of councils have refused to commit to a freeze. He has accused of councils on sitting on more than £20 billion, whilst the LGA Chair Cllr David Sparks countered that “reserves are all that stands between councils and financial collapse.”

Tuesday 10 February: Telegraph: Bin day trouble? Don’t go to your MP

MPs want to stop helping their constituents with issues including neighbourly rows, problems with bin collections and disputes with councils about street repairs.

Weekly Planning List

To view the list of planning applications submitted in the past seven days, please visit the Council’s on-line Planning Application Search. Once the page has loaded, select the Planning Weekly List option to see planning applications determined or registered each week for the past ten weeks, or use the Search option to set your own criteria.

The system will provide a range of information on current and decided applications since 1948, including a brief description of the development, reference number, decision and the date of decision. More recent applications show the name and telephone number of the council officer who is dealing with the application.

Search results are presented in a collection of pages, the number of which depends on the number of results your search produces. There are navigation tools to allow you to browse your results.

EXECUTIVE DECISIONS TAKEN SINCE WEDNESDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2015

In accordance with the Access to Information Procedure Rules in Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution, any executive decision shall be published normally within five days of being made. That record will bear the date on which it is published and will specify that the decision will come into force, and may then be implemented, on the expiry of 5 working days after the publication of the decision, unless called in for review by the Chairman of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee or by any five other councillors.

A list of decisions currently within the call-in period is available on the Council’s website.

The call in procedure is set out in full in Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution, ‘Scrutiny and Overview Committee Procedure Rules’.

Pre-application advice service

View the background to item 9.

The Planning Portfolio Holder approved

1. The introduction of a one-off meeting service in addition to the existing service;

2. Cessation of the existing free written permitted development advice service with the retention of the Planning Duty Officer service to provide up to 15 minutes of free verbal advice; and

3. Implementation of the above changes from 1 April 2015.

The Planning Portfolio Holder endorsed the increase in fees and recommends that Cabinet approves the increase in fees at its next meeting on 12 February 2015 to be introduced on 1 April 2015 as the new fees are likely to generate an annual increase in income of more than £50,000.

This decision was first published Thursday 5 February, and so the deadline for call-in is Thursday 12 February at 5pm. If not called-in the decision can be implemented on Friday 13 February.

10.

GAMLINGAY; Designation of Neighbourhood Area

View the background to item 10.

The Planning Portfolio Holder approved the designation of the Gamlingay Neighbourhood Area.

This decision was first published in Thursday 5 February and so the deadline for call-in is Thursday 12 February at 5pm. If not called-in the decision can be implemented on Friday 13 February.

11.

Response to Uttlesford Gypsy and Traveller Issues and Options Consultation

View the background to item 11.

The Planning Portfolio Holder endorsed the following response:

“‘South Cambridgeshire District Council has no objections to the proposals in the Issues and Options Consultation. Uttlesford District Council are commended for planning to meet the needs of travellers. However, further clarification is needed as to how wider needs identified in the Essex GTAA, such as for transit provision, will be met in Essex, if this is not in Uttlesford.

The South Cambridgeshire Submission Local Plan, submitted to the Secretary of State in March 2014, identifies a target of 85 Gypsy and Traveller pitches between 2011 and 2031. This reflects the Cambridge SubRegion GTANA 2011 (as amended 2012). The Council has granted planning permissions which meet this figure, such that no allocations are proposed in the Local Plan, although it indicates that opportunities will be sought to deliver sites through new communities. The Local Plan has been subject to objections which consider that the target should be higher, and this will be tested at the Examination. Several planning application appeal inspectors have also indicated that they consider there remains an outstanding need.

Under the Duty to Cooperate, should needs arise in the future that cannot be met appropriately in South Cambridgeshire, the Council may seek collaboration with surrounding areas, as indicated in the NPPF, Planning for Travellers and the Duty to Cooperate.”

This decision was first published on Thursday 5 February and so the deadline for call-in is Thursday 12 February at 5pm. If not called-in this decision can be implemented on Friday 13 February.

DECISIONS MADE BY OFFICERS AND REPORTED FOR INFORMATION

Please click on the link below to find details of decisions made by officers under delegated authority:

https://www.scambs.gov.uk/content/access-information

OTHER INFORMATION

12.

Newly-Published Items on modern.gov