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NORTHSTOWE IS COMING
As we head into the new year, the Parish Council faces some challenges that will effect this village in a way that will change it for ever. The seriousness of what we are faced with has not escaped our attention but we need more and continued input from the people we represent so we can be sure the decisions we make are the right ones for Longstanton.
Parish Councils generally only have to deal with the day to day administration of a village such as the maintenance of bus shelters and the provision of recreation facilities, grass cutting and tree maintenance. Dealing with planning applications is rarely more than checking a single house extension or alterations, important as that is, what faces us now are fundamental changes to our village to accommodate the new town of Northstowe and ensure we don't become just a part of an urban sprawl.
The planning applications will be the biggest ever dealt with by your Parish Council so we must get it right, that means your input must be included in our deliberations.
The proposed new Schools on Northstowe when they come, will materially effect the children and families of Longstanton, as will the provision of health care centres and other life services. The need to provide these services for the first residents will fall in part, on our existing facilities and have an impact on all of us in the short term.
Our surgery for instance will be used by the first residents of the 1500 homes in phase1 of Northstowe. This may bring pressure on appointment availability and additional parking issues for Magdalene Close residents. The same will apply to our primary school.
The new Northstowe School will be managed as a satellite of, and by the same management team as Swavesey Village College and this is seen as a very positive and welcome step. Students who would currently go to SVC by bus will be able to walk or cycle to the new facility roughly at the end of Rampton Road. However, because of the way catchment areas work and the access provided by the CGB we need to understand how the priority for local children will be determined or we could have the ridiculous situation where our children cant get places at the nearest schools.
Recreation and sports provision will also take time to develop and we have the opportunity to provide those facilities in the early days with new planned improvements to our current recreation ground. This should give us what is now referred to as a legacy benefit in the longer term, hopefully providing a new community centre in the process.
The Parish Council has a well developed proposal and business plan for the new Community Centre and sports pavilion on the recreation ground and an exhibition/consultation to allow you to comment on this,will be announced shortly. Our proposals and business plan are predicated on the assumption we will achieve funding, at least in part, from the s.106 agreement with the Northstowe developers, and negotiations have been going on for some time to ensure Longstanton doesn't lose out again.
We have, through hard work and persistence, developed a good dialogue and working relationship with SCDC, the Joint developers Gallaghers and the HCA and we have representatives at all the meetings where Northstowe is being discussed making sure the interests of Longstanton are not overlooked. This will continue and we will report back whenever we can and urge you all to keep up to date with the application as it goes forward.
You can check the news on our website http://
In other news:
As you will probably know by now, the footpath from the Golf course to the CGB P&R site was black topped before Christmas and now provides a smooth surface for walkers, cyclists and other users. We would like to thank our County Councillor, Shona Johnstone for driving this forward and surviving the continuous pressure we applied on her to get this done.
We are now looking at alternate ways we can provide lighting on the section that doesn't currently have it. One possible solution is solar powered up-lighters like the ones installed on the cycle path at Girton, these are lot less costly than conventional street lights and we are more likely to achieve funding for this lower cost option. Street lamps are expected to follow in the fullness of time as the Northstowe development starts.
We are also working closely with Shona and the Highways department to provide some additional traffic calming measures on Woodside/St.Michaels and parking restrictions at various locations in an attempt to mitigate the impact of construction traffic in advance of the commencement of Northstowe next year. We are also looking to removing some of the out of date road signs that litter the village and we will move the interactive speed sign from Hattons Rd to School lane.
The subject of the speed limit on Home Farm Road has been discussed again and the proposal is to raise the limit to 40mph which is much more in keeping with the road layout and fairer to enforce. The new speed limit will apply from the roundabout on the B1050 Hattons Road to the roundabout at Over Road where 30mph will still apply.
The 40mph will also apply to School lane as far as the 30mph at the pinch-gates, and on the short section of Hattons Road from Home Farm Road to the existing 30mph signs by the burial ground. This gets rid of all the short 60mph stretches from the by-pass and unifies the speed limits into the village from all directions.
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Those living on home Farm will be pleased to know we are at last getting some positive responses to the matter of the unadopted roads, we hope this will be resolved sooner rather than later. The Parish Council is talking to one of the developers and a possible solution is on the table for discussion, we will keep you posted as progress is made.
This has been a difficult situation to resolve as currently there is no requirement or legal obligation nationally, for developers to complete these works to adoptable standards, a bizarre situation we believe the Government is trying to change.
Our meetings with the District and County Councils also continue on the Home Farm Farm issues as a priority, and we have an action list the results of which which will be posted on this website as soon as they are finalised.
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It is our intention to invite a representative of all the estate management companies and other resident committees such as those on Home Farm, Rampton Drift, The Leas, Thatchers Wood, Prentice Close, the sports clubs, Church groups and any other village group that would like to be represented at discussions on the subject of Northstowe.
If you are interested, please contact the Parish Clerk, we ask that you should appoint one person to attend and suggest that they also attend Parish council meetings on a regular basis.
The hope is, by regular contact and reporting, we can prevent the well oiled and maintained rumour machine from obscuring the facts and allow everyone a say in what happens in and around YOUR village based on facts, not rumour and malicious gossip.
We also hope to be able to invite those appointed, to sit in on some of the meetings with the joint developers and planners, subject to the agendas allowing this.
It is important that an open channel of dialogue develops and the concerns and views of villagers don't go unheard.
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The Pavilion now has a fully operational kitchen compliant with all food safety requirements and our Chef, Barnie Varga will be serving up a mix of menu items initially on Friday, Saturday and Sunday Lunch, also Monday lunch with a special rate for pensioners has been proving popular.
We will revue restaurant opening times when we can gauge the response from customer and hopefully will be extending the number of hours during which food will be available.
Monday night Bingo is back at the Pavilion and we are very pleased to see the regulars again and every other week. (Check the village events calender)
The "Parish Pantry" afternoon tea has been moved to the Pavilion following a successful trial. On Fridays 2 - 4pm, anyone wishing to join in for a "cuppa & natter" is very welcome.
The regulars have been joined by some new Mums & Tots who have been enjoying the mix of Barneys delicious "baked-on-the premises" cakes and the relaxed atmosphere.
Why not give it a try ? We look forward to seeing your there.
Longstanton Parish Council