Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - South Cambs Hall. View directions

Contact: Jonathan Malton  03450 450 500 Email: democratic.services@scambs.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Announcements

Minutes:

There were no announcements.

2.

Apologies for Absence

To receive Apologies for Absence from Cabinet members. 

Minutes:

Councillor Peter McDonald, Grenville Chamberlain and Judith Rippeth sent apologies for absence.

3.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

4.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 140 KB

To authorise the Leader to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on Friday, 1 October 2021 as a correct record.

Minutes:

Cabinet authorised the Leader to sign, as a correct record, the Minutes of the meeting held on Friday, 1 October 2021.

5.

Public Questions

The deadline for receipt of public questions is 23:59 on Wednesday, 13 October.

The Council’s scheme for public speaking at committee meetings may be inspected here:

Public Questions at Committee Meetings

 

a)    From Mr. Chris Thornhill

 

Residents of Haden Way Willingham CB24 5HB, and Willingham Parish Council, have for years been objecting to the possibility of this development, for many reasons, such as potential flooding, traffic, shortage of local infrastructure, general disturbance, and access issues, etc.

Despite this, outline planning permission was given in 2017, with some 30+ reserved matters.

It is of note that SCDC have recently stopped an outline approval from progressing in Fulbourn for similar reasons.

The works at Haden way started on site in November 2020, without discharge of most of the reserved matters, against the conditional planning conditions. It has since continued with many questionable discharges of conditions only given 30th September 2021.

Residents have been continually appealing to SCDC and WPC to correct certain errors and recently driven impact piling took place without permission, which was subsequently refused after the event and a Breach of Conditions notice issued.

We have requested the council to investigate this and many other errors and breaches, but so far they have come with no proposal to rectify errors or compensate residents for obvious breaches, causing actual physical harm, damage and loss of quality of life. Of particular concern is lack of apparent control of noise, dust and vibration. 

I have already requested action, by numerous messages and telephone calls and held meetings, right up to CEO Liz Watts, to date, with little concrete action.

To push things along, I now also formally request the Cabinet Committee to seriously investigate this and instigate/propose early solutions. 

 

Minutes:

Cabinet received one public question ahead of the meeting from Mr. Chris Thornhill who was not in attendance:

 

Residents of Haden Way Willingham CB24 5HB, and Willingham Parish Council, have for years been objecting to the possibility of this development, for many reasons, such as potential flooding, traffic, shortage of local infrastructure, general disturbance, and access issues, etc.

Despite this, outline planning permission was given in 2017, with some 30+ reserved matters.

It is of note that SCDC have recently stopped an outline approval from progressing in Fulbourn for similar reasons.

The works at Haden way started on site in November 2020, without discharge of most of the reserved matters, against the conditional planning conditions. It has since continued with many questionable discharges of conditions only given 30th September 2021.

Residents have been continually appealing to SCDC and WPC to certain errors and recently driven impact piling took place without permission, which was subsequently refused after the event and a Breach of Conditions notice issued.

We have requested the council to investigate this and many other errors and breaches, but so far they have come with no proposal to rectify errors or compensate residents for obvious breaches, causing actual physical harm, damage and loss of quality of life. Of particular concern is lack of apparent control of noise, dust and vibration.

I have already requested action, by numerous messages and telephone calls and held meetings, right up to CEO Liz Watts, to date, with little concrete action.

To push things along, I now also formally request the Cabinet Committee to seriously investigate this and instigate/propose early solutions.

 

The Leader of the Council responded:

 

Thank you for your question Mr Thornhill.  I'm already aware of the issue, having been briefed by my colleague Councillor Handley and by the Chief Executive.  Both have met you and the residents with a number of planning officers and have subsequently been working to provide answers to your questions.  I am therefore confident that it is being dealt with at a very senior level within the Council already. I will continue to receive briefings from Councillor Handley and the CEO.

6.

Issues arising from the Scrutiny and Overview Committee pdf icon PDF 331 KB

Minutes:

Cabinet received the Scrutiny and Overview report summarising the meeting held on Thursday, 14 October 2021 relating to the following agenda item:

 

  • North East Cambridge “In Principle” Commitment to Delivery of AAP

 

The Head of Finance requested some minor amendments to the report, relating to the General Fund Medium Term Financial Strategy:

 

  • predicted savings was not one-off, but was ongoing,
  • South Cambridgeshire District Council was in the top ten for business rates growth above the baseline,
  • the figures for Council Tax were assessed on three elements:

a)    An increase of 1.99% or £5 whichever is the higher,

b)    An increased charging base,

c)    Increased income due to the introduction of the Council Tax Counter Fraud project.

7.

Health and Wellbeing Strategy Update pdf icon PDF 236 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

Cabinet:

 

Noted the contents of the report and the delivery of activities and services which promote physical and mental health and wellbeing.

Minutes:

Cabinet received the Health and Wellbeing Strategy Update. Councillor Bill Handley, Lead Cabinet Member for Community Resilience, Health and Wellbeing, introduced the report, noting the progress of the Covid support, and focus on young people.

 

Councillor John Williams, Lead Cabinet Member for Finance, thanked Officers for their work, and was pleased with the expansion of the Mobile Wardens Scheme in Sawston.

 

Councillor John Batchelor, Lead Cabinet Member for Housing, welcomed the update and thanked Officers for the dual use of the allocated funding.

 

Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Lead Cabinet Member for Planning Policy and Delivery, was pleased with the ongoing work during the pandemic, and the scope of the update for a rural district Council.

 

Councillor Anna Bradnam was pleased with the update coming to Cabinet, and how the report linked with the Chair’s charity, Centre 33, along with the expansion in funding to Wimpole.

 

Councillor Dr. Claire Daunton thanked the Grants Advisory Committee for their continued work in the Community Chest Funding.

 

Councillor Heather Williams welcomed the report but was concerned by the increase in parking charges for residents wanting to access Wimpole Hall. The Leader, Councillor Bridget Smith, noted her comments.

 

The Leader closed the debate, thanked Officers for their work in providing this report and Cabinet:

 

Noted the contents of the report and the delivery of activities and services which promote physical and mental health and wellbeing.

8.

Cambridgeshire Council Tax Compliance and Counter-Fraud Initiative pdf icon PDF 221 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

Cabinet:

 

a)    Approved the business case shown in Appendix A, providing agreement to proceed with the project.

b)    Delegated authority for signing any required agreements as part of this project to the Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Lead Cabinet Member for Finance.

Minutes:

Cabinet received the Cambridgeshire Council Tax Compliance and Counter-Fraud Initiative. Councillor John Williams, Lead Cabinet Member for Finance, introduced the report, seeking to procure data matching software to compare a range of data sets held by Cambridgeshire County Council and District Councils across Cambridgeshire, to detect anomalies, and to share costs and gains between the partners.

 

Councillor Bridget Smith concluded the discussion, and Cabinet:

 

a)    Approved the business case shown in Appendix A, providing agreement to proceed with the project.

b)    Delegated authority for signing any required agreements as part of this project to the Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Lead Cabinet Member for Finance.

9.

North East Cambridge "In Principle" Commitment to Delivery of AAP pdf icon PDF 230 KB

Decision:

Cabinet:

 

a)    Noted that the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan is contingent upon the separate Development Control Order being undertaken by Anglian Water for the relocation of the Waste Water Treatment Plant being approved;

b)    Agreed that the Council is committed to the delivery of the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan, including land disposal or assembly, and subject to formal adoption of the Area Action Plan in due course, to use its Compulsory Purchase Orders powers if required.

Minutes:

Cabinet received the North East Cambridge "In Principle" Commitment to Delivery of Area Action Plan. Councillor John Williams, Lead Cabinet Member for Finance, introduced the report, and explained the possible use of the Council’s Compulsory Purchase Powers, to show commitment to deliver the Area Action Plan for North East Cambridge.

 

Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Lead Cabinet Member for Planning Policy and Delivery, supported this first stage of the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan.

 

Councillor Anna Bradnam supported the improved infrastructure within North East Cambridge and noted the Scrutiny and Overview Committee’s endorsement of the initial project.

 

Councillor Bridget Smith closed the discussion, and Cabinet:

 

a)    Noted that the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan is contingent upon the separate Development Control Order being undertaken by Anglian Water for the relocation of the Waste Water Treatment Plant being approved;

b)    Agreed that the Council is committed to the delivery of the North East Cambridge Area Action Plan, including land disposal or assembly, and subject to formal adoption of the Area Action Plan in due course, to use its Compulsory Purchase Orders powers if required.