Agenda item

The Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town presented this report, which invited the Committee to consider the findings of the first stage of consultation and recommend Options upon which to consult on in the second round of consultation. She explained that:

·         The consultation commenced on 11 November 2019.

·         All homes in the affected parishes had received a leaflet and the terms of reference of the review.

·         430 responses had been received.

·         The majority view was that Northstowe needed to have its own governance arrangements, separate from the other villages.

Rampton Drift

The Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town reported that whilst residents of Rampton Drift preferred to remain in Longstanton, they recognised that their future was in Northstowe.

Oakington & Westwick

Stephen Moore, Chairman of Oakington and Westwick Parish Council, addressed the meeting. He expressed concern at Option A3, received from Homes England, for the following reasons:

·         Homes England had not contacted the Parish Council regarding this proposal.

·         The proposal had been received after the deadline and he was grateful for Council officers contacting the Parish Council yesterday, on this matter.

·         Oakington & Westwick Parish Council wanted to follow the Council’s guidance on green separation, which the Homes England proposal disregarded.

·         Oakington & Westwick wanted to remain semi-rural, which this proposal threatened.

·         Oakington & Westwick wanted to remain responsible for flood attenuation measures, which the Parish Council would lose under Homes England’s proposal.

Over

Geoff Twiss, Vice Chairman of Over Parish Council addressed the meeting. He expressed concern at Option A2, which proposed moving the boundary from Swavesey Drain to minor roads, for the following reasons:

·         Over had been relaxed about the boundary changes, until the proposal in Option A2 had become known.

·         Swavesey Drain had been Over’s boundary for centuries and would continue to be so for much the boundary even if A2 were agreed.

·         Under other Options Northstowe would be 1.5km away from Over village, but Option A2 brought the distance down to 400metres.

·         If the boundary change under A2 was agreed, it would mean that a cold war radio mast, which was part of Over’s heritage, would be lost to Northstowe.

Local Member for Longstanton and Oakington & Westwick

Councillor Sarah Cheung Johnson thanked the Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town and the Development Officer for their work on an emotive topic, which inevitably encouraged responses that were not relevant to the Community Governance Review. Councillor Cheung Johnson praised the Chairman of Oakington & Westwick Parish Council for representing residents’ views, but she suggested that the Committee should consult further on Options A1, A2, A3, B and C to allow residents to fully consider the implications of these Options.

The Chairman stated that the Committee were not evaluating the Options at this stage, but were considering which Options should be taken forward to the second road of consultation. The Committee considered each Option separately.

A1: All phases of Northstowe excised from Longstanton and Oakington & Westwick, with land north of the guided busway transferred to Willingham

The Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town explained that this Option proposed transferring land north of the guided busway to Willingham.

Members of the Committee expressed support for consulting further on this Option.

A vote was taken and with 7 votes in favour, 0 against and 1 abstention the Committee agreed that this Option should be put forward to the second round of consultation.

A2: All phases of Northstowe excised from Longstanton and Oakington & Westwick, with land taken from Over to move the boundary from the Swavesey Drain to minor roads

The Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town explained that this Option proposed moving the boundary with Over from the Swavesey Drain to the minor roads knows as Over Road and Gravel Bridge Road. This did not have the support of Over residents.

Members of the Committee made the following points:

·         The objections expressed by the Vice Chairman of Over Parish Council should be supported.

·         Removing more land from the parish of Over should be resisted.

·         The rights of smaller villages should be respected.

·         There were no obvious benefits to moving the Swavesey Drain boundary.

A vote was taken and with 0 votes in favour, 7 votes against and 1 abstention, the Committee rejected the proposal to put this Option forward to the second round of consultation.

A3: All phases of Northstowe excised from Longstanton and Oakington & Westwick, with the boundary moved further into Oakington and Longstanton

The Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town conveyed the concerns expressed by Homes England regarding the Options under consideration. It was their view that that the entirety of the development area be treated as a single governance unit and Phase 3B was an integral part of the development and should not be excluded. With respect to the boundary with Longtanton, Homes England wanted to include the Paddocks, which was part of the Conservation Area, as part of the Northstowe development area.

The Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town explained that there were concerns from Longstanton regarding the potential loss of green separation and a threat to Longstanton’s Conservation Area. It was noted that the Council’s Conservation Officers advised that moving a parish boundary would have no effect on the status of the Conservation Area.

It was noted that Homes England wanted all of the green separation area with Oakington village to be taken within the governance arrangement for Northstowe. Homes England were developing plans to manage and maintain the public realm and open space across Northstowe. It was understood that the body responsible for management and maintenance of this space might not be the Parish Council, but if it were, it would not make sense to split this between the parishes. For this reason, Homes England proposed a boundary mapped as Option A3. The Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town stated that officers would support consulting on this Option.

Members of the Committee made the following points:

·         It was noted that no representatives of Home England were present at the meeting.

·         Home England’s representation was confusing in places.

·         The representation had been received after the consultation deadline and so should be disregarded.

·         The objections expressed by the Chairman of Oakington & Westwick Parish Council deserved the Committee’s support.

·         The green separation should remain in Oakington & Westwick.

·         Plans for maintaining areas of green separation should be considered.

·         There was merit in allowing consultation on this Option, to allow residents to at least consider it.

A vote was taken and with 2 votes in favour, 6 against and with no abstentions, the Committee rejected the proposal to put this Option forward to the second round of consultation.

B: All phases of Northstowe excised from Longstanton and Oakington & Westwick, with land north of guided busway transferred to Northstowe

The Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town explained that under this Option the land north of the guided busway was transferred to Northstowe. Members of the Committee expressed concern regarding a possible loss of green separation, although the merits in consulting with residents were also noted.

A vote was taken and with 5 votes in favour, 2 against and 1 abstention the Committee agreed that this Option should be put forward to the second round of consultation.

C: Phases 1, 2 and 3A excised from Longstanton and Oakington & Westwick, but phase 3B retained within Oakington

The Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town explained that whilst a number of Longstanton residents supported this Option, it was likely that the implications of 1,200 extra homes in Longstanton had not been fully realised. Separating Northstowe development in this way ran contrary to the majority view that Northstowe should be a separate entity fully, responsible for its own governance.

A vote was taken and with 6 votes in favour, 0 against and 2 abstentions, the Committee agreed that this Option should be put forward to the second round of consultation.

D: No change scenario

The Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town explained that residents who supported this Option had not explained how the existing villages’ governance arrangements would have to change as a result of the extra residents. She suggested that those who supported this Option were expressing their opposition to the development.

Committee members saw no merit in consulting further on this Option, as it was not a workable solution. A vote was taken and the Committee unanimously rejected the proposal to put this Option forward to the second round of consultation.

E: Full merger

The Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town explained that only 3 respondents had favoured this Option and there was clear opposition to it from residents.

Committee members saw no merit in consulting further on this Option, as it was not a workable solution. A vote was taken and the Committee unanimously voted not to put this Option forward to the second round of consultation.

Format of consultation

The Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town explained that following feedback from residents, officers would be liaising with parish councils to ensure that the forms used for the second round of consultation would be more user friendly. It was noted that residents were free to put support any of the suggestions included in the seven Options when responding to the consultation. The Committee unanimously supported the proposed format of the consultation.

The Committee

AGREED

A)        To put Options A1, B and C forward to the second round of consultation.

B)        To approve the format of the consultation material and engagement programme for the second round of consultation.

C)        To Delegate final sign-off of the consultation materials to the Programme Lead – Northstowe Healthy New Town, following comments from the parish councils.