Issue - meetings

Council Agreed that

A)       A new parish boundary between Sawston and Babraham (as proposed by Sawston Parish Council) be adopted (as presented at Appendix A).

B)       A formal request be made to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) to realign the district council ward boundary between Duxford and Sawston wards so that they remain aligned with the new parish boundary.

The Head of Transformation introduced this report detailing a recommendation from the Civic Affairs Committee to establish a new parish boundary between Sawston and Babraham. It was noted that both Parish Councils and the local members supported the change.

Councillor Brian Milnes, as a local member, thanked officers for their work on this project. He fully supported the recommendation in the report which would correct an anomaly.

Councillor Heather Williams thanked officers and the members of Civic Affairs Committee, including the former Chair, former councillor Dr Douglas de Lacey. She fully supported the recommendations which had received the unanimous agreement of the Civic Affairs Committee.

The Chair proposed and Councillor Milnes seconded the recommendation in the report. A vote was taken and by affirmation,

Council Agreed that

A)       A new parish boundary between Sawston and Babraham (as proposed by Sawston Parish Council) be adopted (as presented at Appendix A).

B)       A formal request be made to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) to realign the district council ward boundary between Duxford and Sawston wards so that they remain aligned with the new parish boundary.

The Development Officer presented this report, which provided the details of the consultation on stage two of the Sawston and Babraham Parish Boundary Community Governance Review. She explained that of the 48 responses received, 85% had supported the proposed change and 15% had opposed it. In response to questioning, she explained that the number of responses received was typical for a consultation of this type and that the review was promoted by flyers to all residences in Babraham and Sawston, online and via social media. She advised that whilst residents were encouraged to respond online, they could access hard copy documents on request.

Councillor Brian Milnes, Local Member for Sawston, stated that the proposed boundary change was straight forward and a large majority of local residents supported it. He thanked the officers for their work.

Members of the Committee made the following points:

·         The cooperation between the two parish councils on the boundary change should be welcomed.

·         The consultation had shown conclusive support for the boundary change.

·         The proposed border followed an obvious boundary line.

Councillor Heather Williams proposed and Councillor Mark Howell seconded the recommendations that the Committee recommend to Council that the proposed boundary be adopted and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England be requested to realign the ward boundaries between Sawston and Duxford so that they remain aligned with the new parish boundary.

A vote was taken, and the Committee unanimously

Recommended to Council that

A)        A new parish boundary between Sawston and Babraham (as proposed by Sawston Parish Council) be adopted (as presented in Appendix B)

B)        A formal request be made to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England to realign the District Council ward boundary between Duxford and Sawston wards so that they remain aligned with the new parish boundary.

The Development Officer presented this report, which invited the Committee to consider which submissions the Council should consulting on for Stage Two of the Sawston and Babraham Parish Boundary Community Governance Review.

Councillor Brian Milnes, local member for Sawston, reported that both he and the local member for Babraham, Councillor Peter McDonald, supported the change of the boundary proposed by Sawston Parish Council. It was noted that Babraham Parish Council also supported this proposed change.

It was noted that an alternative proposal for a boundary along the Babraham/Sawston Road would result in neighbouring properties in separate parishes, which was contrary to Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) guidance. The other alternative proposal was that the proposed route of Cambridge South East Transport Project (CSET2) be used, but the Committee rejected this as the route had not yet been confirmed, as according to the LGBCE guidance recommended that boundaries be easily identifiable and were likely to remain so. It was noted that the proposed route for CSET2 was also very similar to the boundary proposed by Sawston Parish Council.

Councillor Aidan Van de Weyer recommended that the Council only consult on the boundary proposed by Sawston Parish Council. Councillor Martin Cahn seconded this proposal.

By affirmation, the Committee

Agreed           to invite submissions for Stage Two according to the timeline set out in the Terms of Reference, on the boundary proposed by Sawston Parish Council presented at Stage One.