Issue - meetings

Community Governance Review of the parishes of Longstanton and Oakington and Westwick, prompted by the Development at Northstowe; adjustments to the review timetable as a result of COVID-19 Restrictions

Meeting: 26/11/2020 - Council (Item 8)

8 Community Governance Review of the parishes of Longstanton and Oakington and Westwick (Civic Affairs Committee 3 November 2020) pdf icon PDF 399 KB

The Civic Affairs Committee

 

Recommended to Council 

 

A)       The creation of a new civil parish for Northstowe, as detailed in Option A of the report, with a variation to proposed boundaries:

             i.          The adjacent field boundary, marking the perimeter of the Northstowe Extension Land should be the parish boundary between Northstowe and Longstanton, not the Over Road.

B)       That the new administrative body be called “Northstowe Town Council”.

C)       Elections to “Northstowe Town Council” be held in 2021 with councillors serving for a single year. All councillors to stand for a full four year term in 2022.

D)       “Northstowe Town Council” should have 15 councillors.

E)        Elections to Longstanton Parish Council and Willingham Parish Council take place in 2021 with councillors serving for a five year term.

F)        Officers write to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) to seek re-alignment of district and county boundaries where these are affected by any changes made by this review.

G)       The creation of a new polling district with boundaries to match the new parish boundary for Northstowe; amendment of existing polling district boundaries to match the new reduced size boundaries for Longstanton Civil Parish and Oakington & Westwick Civil Parish; the creation of a new polling district for the area north of the guided busway, which is to be moved to Willingham Civil Parish.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Council

 

Agreed

 

A)       The creation of a new civil parish for Northstowe, as detailed in Option A of the report, with a variation to proposed boundaries:

             i.          The adjacent field boundary, marking the perimeter of the Northstowe Extension Land should be the parish boundary between Northstowe and Longstanton, not the Over Road.

B)       That the new administrative body be called “Northstowe Town Council”.

C)       Elections to “Northstowe Town Council” be held in 2021 with councillors serving for a single year. All councillors to stand for a full four year term in 2022.

D)       “Northstowe Town Council” should have 15 councillors.

E)        Elections to Longstanton Parish Council and Willingham Parish Council take place in 2021 with councillors serving for a five year term.

F)        Officers to write to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) to seek re-alignment of district and county boundaries where these are affected by any changes made by this review.

G)       The creation of a new polling district with boundaries to match the new parish boundary for Northstowe; amendment of existing polling district boundaries to match the new reduced size boundaries for Longstanton Civil Parish and Oakington & Westwick Civil Parish; the creation of a new polling district for the area north of the guided busway, which is to be moved to Willingham Civil Parish.

 

Minutes:

The Chair introduced this report. As local member, Councillor Sarah Cheung Johnson thanked officers for their work and the Civic Affairs for its recommendation, which had the support of the affected parish councils. She urged Council to agree the proposal.

 

The Chair moved the proposal, which Councillor Heather Williams seconded. A vote was taken and by affirmation

 

Council Agreed

 

A)       The creation of a new civil parish for Northstowe, as detailed in Option A of the report, with a variation to proposed boundaries:

             i.          The adjacent field boundary, marking the perimeter of the Northstowe Extension Land should be the parish boundary between Northstowe and Longstanton, not the Over Road.

B)       That the new administrative body be called “Northstowe Town Council”.

C)       Elections to “Northstowe Town Council” be held in 2021 with councillors serving for a single year. All councillors to stand for a full four year term in 2022.

D)       “Northstowe Town Council” should have 15 councillors.

E)        Elections to Longstanton Parish Council and Willingham Parish Council take place in 2021 with councillors serving for a five year term.

F)        Officers to write to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) to seek re-alignment of district and county boundaries where these are affected by any changes made by this review.

G)       The creation of a new polling district with boundaries to match the new parish boundary for Northstowe; amendment of existing polling district boundaries to match the new reduced size boundaries for Longstanton Civil Parish and Oakington & Westwick Civil Parish; the creation of a new polling district for the area north of the guided busway, which is to be moved to Willingham Civil Parish.

 


Meeting: 03/11/2020 - Civic Affairs Committee (Item 4)

4 Community Governance Review of Longstanton and Oakington & Westwick Civil Parishes, Prompted by the Development at Northstowe pdf icon PDF 395 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Civic Affairs Committee

 

Recommended to Council 

 

A)       The creation of a new civil parish for Northstowe, as detailed in Option A of the report, with a variation to proposed boundaries:

             i.          The adjacent field boundary, marking the perimeter of the Northstowe Extension Land should be the parish boundary between Northstowe and Longstanton, not the Over Road.

B)       That the new administrative body be called “Northstowe Town Council”.

C)       Elections to “Northstowe Town Council” be held in 2021 with councillors serving for a single year. All councillors to stand for a full four year term in 2022.

D)       “Northstowe Town Council” should have 15 councillors.

E)        Elections to Longstanton Parish Council and Willingham Parish Council take place in 2021 with councillors serving for a five year term.

F)        Officers write to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) to seek re-alignment of district and county boundaries where these are affected by any changes made by this review.

G)       The creation of a new polling district with boundaries to match the new parish boundary for Northstowe; amendment of existing polling district boundaries to match the new reduced size boundaries for Longstanton Civil Parish and Oakington & Westwick Civil Parish; the creation of a new polling district for the area north of the guided busway, which is to be moved to Willingham Civil Parish.

Minutes:

The Programme Lead, Northstowe Healthy New Town presented this report on the Community Governance Review for the creation of a new community at Northstowe, with green space used to separate it from the neighbouring villages. She updated the Committee on the consultation process and the three Options the Committee were being asked to consider A, B and C.

 

Stephen Moore, Chairman of Oakington and Westwick Parish Council, spoke to the Committee and made the following points:

·         Oakington and Westwick Parish Council favoured Option A, as laid out in the report.

·         He suggested that Homes England proposed amendments to the boundaries were unnecessary.

·         He asserted that the green separation was important to the character of the village, had symbolic importance and should not be eroded.

·         The Parish Council wanted to maintain control over an area that was important for flood control.

 

Libby White, Clerk to Longstanton Parish Council, made the following points:

·         Longstanton Parish Council supported Option A in the report, with the amendment of using the field as a boundary, instead of the Over Road.

·         She opposed the amendments proposed by Homes England, which would mean transferring more green space from the parish of Longstanton to the new parish of Northstowe.

·         She supported the formation of a town council for Northstowe in 2021.

·         She reported that Longstanton Parish Council had been collecting precept on behalf of Northstowe and were ready to transfer this in 2021.

 

Emily Jones of Homes England made the following points:

·         Homes England were committed to providing high quality community buildings ang maintaining green space at Northstowe.

·         She proposed some minor amendments to Option A to ensure that  areas important to Northstowe would come under its administrative control.

·         This would be more efficient than the areas being maintained by different authorities and would ensure that future residents would be able to determine its future use.

 

Councillor Sarah Cheung Johnson, local member for Longstanton, expressed her thanks to officers, who had given up evenings and weekends to facilitate the Community Governance Review. She requested that the Committee support Option A and reject the proposed amendments from Homes England as unnecessary. She assured the Committee that the Parish Council could maintain the areas affected by the amendments. She also requested that the new administrative body be named Northstowe Town Council, have 15 members and there be elections in both 2021 and 2022

 

Transferring land from Longstanton to Willingham

It was noted that Willingham Parish Council were willing to receive land that was north of the Guided Busway and they had suggested that the residents on the land considered themselves to be part of Willingham.

 

Recommending Option A to Council

The Chair proposed that, leaving aside the minor amendments suggested by Homes England and Longstanton Parish Council, the Committee should approve Option A. Councillor Heather Williams seconded this proposal and the Committee unanimously agreed by affirmation to recommend Option A to Council.

 

Amending the boundaries in Option A

With regards to the proposed amendments by Homes England and Longstanton Parish  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4


Meeting: 02/06/2020 - Civic Affairs Committee (Item 4)

4 Community Governance Review of the parishes of Longstanton and Oakington and Westwick, prompted by the Development at Northstowe; adjustments to the review timetable as a result of COVID-19 Restrictions pdf icon PDF 314 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Committee unanimously

 

AGREED        to

 

A)        Extend the second round of consultation until 15 September 2020 and proceed with an adjusted timetable as outlined in Appendix D to enable conclusion of the review such that the outcome of the review can still be brought into effect April 2021.

 

B)        Approve the format for re-engagement with the public and successful conclusion of the second round of consultation.

 

C)        Delegate final sign-off of the precise dates of the engagement programme outlined in Appendix F to the Northstowe Healthy New Town Programme Lead, to conform with advice from central government regarding relaxation or retightening of lockdown requirements.

Minutes:

The Northstowe Healthy New Town Programme Lead presented this report, which invited the Committee to consider adjusting the timescales of the review due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. She explained that only 39 responses had been received in the second round of consultations, when 400 responses had been received in the first round. It was noted that if agreed, the Committee would be required to schedule an additional meeting in early November to make a recommendation to Council in the same month.

 

Minor amendments

It was noted that the date of February 2020 in appendix D should be amended to February 2021. It was agreed that the name of the officer in the recommendation in paragraph (c) be amended to the officer’s title.

 

The Committee unanimously

 

AGREED        to

 

A)        Extend the second round of consultation until 15 September 2020 and proceed with an adjusted timetable as outlined in Appendix D to enable conclusion of the review such that the outcome of the review can still be brought into effect April 2021.

 

B)        Approve the format for re-engagement with the public and successful conclusion of the second round of consultation.

 

C)        Delegate final sign-off of the precise dates of the engagement programme outlined in Appendix F to the Northstowe Healthy New Town Programme Lead, to conform with advice from central government regarding relaxation or retightening of lockdown requirements.