Budget/Precept 2009 -2010 

Longstanton Parish Council Annual report for 2008/2009

The Parish Council has met for 12 Ordinary Parish Council meetings and 17 Extra-Ordinary meetings in the last year.  The Council has been involved in three Public Consultations regarding the effect of the Proposed Northstowe Development and the A14 upgrade, and a public consultation concerning the Government’s proposed Gypsies’ and Travellers’ accommodation regional policy as from 2011.  The Council have also considered 34 Planning Applications.

The Parish Council have supported, by funding, individual sports clubs, All Saints Church activities, the Parish Pantry, the Connections Bus Project mobile youth club , the Village School, Children’s activities in the Village Institute, the OAP’s Christmas lunch and more, such as the Over Community Centre attended by some of our older generation.

Achievements in the last year

Longstanton West By-pass.

Probably the most significant achievement of the year is the completion of the Longstanton West By-pass.  Councillor Shona Johnstone formally opened this new routing of the B1050 on the 3^rd December 2008.  The work was completed 8 weeks ahead of schedule.  We commend the whole construction team for their hard work and excellent communication with the Parish Council during the construction.  Those who live off the North end of the High Street and Over Road will be most aware of the dramatic change this new route has made.

Guided Bus Footpath

The footpath that extends the existing pavement at the North end of the village is under construction at the moment.  The initial part adjacent to the new roundabout is completed and is finished with a tarmac surface.  The remainder of the path, which will not be tarmac surfaced as far as the Guided Busway Park and Ride entrance, is under construction and should be finished in the next few weeks.  We owe our thanks to Shona Johnstone who has worked hard to persuade developers to do this work.

The Recreation Ground

The Recreation ground, no longer a registered Charity but directly managed by the Parish Council,  has undergone a significant amount of work over the year.  The playing areas have all had “mole-draining” work, which has improved the viability of the football pitches in wet weather.  Additional drainage work has been undertaken on the area just outside the Tennis Courts.  This area was very prone to flooding in both summer and winter and should improve the outfield for the Cricket Club, and for those that simply walk around the ground.  The whole area, apart from the Cricket Square, has also benefited from work to improve the aeration of the grass and has been re-seeded.  The wooded area to the West of the Recreation Ground has had a major tidying. Trees and bushes, many of them being self-seeded, have been cleared.  The area has been graded and seeded with grass so that it can be easily maintained, thus preventing the weed growth.  In an attempt to be environmentally friendly three “bug piles” have been included in this work.  It is hoped that this clearance will deter the tendency to use the area as a dumping ground for unwanted furniture or other rubbish. We owe our thanks to Steven Wright and all his team for his help in fitting in with the Sports teams requirements and the weather pattern in carrying out this work so expertly.

The Council are currently considering the possibility of banning dogs from the Recreation ground because some dog owners are not ensuring that dogs’ faeces are cleared up.  The risk of serious infections to participants of sport on these grounds is not considered to be acceptable.

Sewage

The upgrade of the Sewage Pumping station at the Northern end of the High Street has been carried out by Anglia Water.  It is hoped that this will rid the village, to the South of the pumping station, of the problems that have existed for some years. We owe our thanks to Councillor Alex Riley for his continued chasing of Anglia Water on this matter. The Parish Council is aware of the remaining problems on properties on Station Road and is awaiting developments brought about by our recent complaints to Anglia Water.

Home Farm

There has been little development of the building on home Farm this year, probably due to the Credit Crunch.  Builders are reluctant to carry out any large projects whilst the housing market remains dormant.  There are a number of issues relating to Public Open Spaces within the Home Farm complex which have been under discussion by the Parish Council. There are two large areas, namely the Village Green and the Central Open Space, that are awaiting completion of planned works prior to hand-over to the Parish Council, with a commuted sum, for maintenance.  The Parish Council have been in communication with the developers responsible for the completion of these works, but have failed to make any progress.  The council have also attempted to enlist the assistance of the local Planning Authority regarding the hand-over, but without much success. There is an added complication with regard to the Central Open Space as the developer responsible for this is under administration of receivers. However we are hopeful that there may soon be some progress on this as a new Officer has been appointed by SCDC to deal with such matters and we have had a recent discussion with him.  The third area is the extension to the Recreation Area; following a meeting in the last year with the Landowner and his Solicitor, and with a subsequent meeting with SCDC planning and legal staff, there is hope for some progress on this front. The current hold-up is that a Section 106 agreement associated with a final Home Farm planning application between SCDC and the landowner has not been written.

Northstowe

There has been little obvious progress with Northstowe.  The current situation is that the developers are amending the Outline Planning Application following large number of complaints relating to the application submitted last year.  The new application is expected in the near future.  In the meantime the Parish Council has been in consultation with SCDC regarding the inevitable changes to the Longstanton Parish Boundary as a result of the new planned town.  The boundary has still not been agreed at this stage and the official 12^th months public consultation process about the various options has not been triggered off yet by SCDC Officers.

Footpaths

Footpath 3 has benefited from a new bridge, linking the Central open space with Fews Lane, which was installed by the County Council this spring.  The remainder of the path, which is routed through the Home Farm development, has not yet been legally approved.

Footpath 10, which is actually a Bridleway, which is the extension of Wilson’s Road has had work done on a major rabbit infestation to clear it.  The rabbit holes were causing concern as they were creating a risk for horses and humans using the pathway.  The work was carried out by the County Council and seems to have been effective.

The footpaths are used by many dog walkers which the Council are very pleased to see, however a small minority are careless about collecting their dog’s mess.  Many Red “Pooh Bins” are provided in key parts of the village and it would be appreciated if dog owners could make use of them.

Parish Pantry

The weekly, Friday afternoon, Tea Party which takes place in the Village Institute has proved to be a great success.  All Longstanton residents are invited to partake of some of William Sellwood’s great hospitality and Maggie Wright’s beautiful baking and to join in a little social chit-chat.  If you have read a recent Longstanton Life you will see that it has received a great deal of praise from a relatively newcomer to the village.

Parish Clerk 

The Parish Council has sponsored the Parish Clerk, Miss Pauline Haywood, in her quest to improve her qualifications regarding the administration of the Parish Council.  We, as a Parish Council, benefit from this in many ways.  Pauline is currently studying to qualify for the latest Government project that gives added powers to the Parish Council.  Having completed her course she will then have to train all the Parish Councillors.

Thanks

The Parish Council also thanks the Longstanton Life team who do a great job in producing every other month a very interesting and informative magazine for all the residents of Longstanton.  We also thank Tom Eaton for help in providing images of Longstanton life, both old and new.

The Parish Council thanks Margaret Coxall and her team of ladies for providing an excellent Christmas lunch for the pensioners of the village.  The food, service, and entertainment were all much appreciated by all those present

I personally would like to thank all the Councillors who have worked hard and selflessly to produce what has been a productive and rewarding year.  I would thank Francoise, who is retiring, for her great ability to research legal and administrative aspects of our work.  We will miss her. This means that there will be a vacancy for a new parish councillor as from June:  if you have been thinking of joining us please contact our Parish Clerk.

Future developments

The Sports and Social Club

The fabric of this building is rapidly nearing the end of its life.  Work may well be needed on the roof and improvements are needed to the changing rooms and toilet areas.  The Parish Council have for some years been aware that a replacement building would be needed to support the sporting element of the village and to provide a modern Social Centre for villagers.  The Parish Council is now actively looking at what and where this facility should be sited, not to mention how it should be funded. The cost is likely to be approaching £1 million to provide all that is desired.  To that end the working group looking into this project have enlisted the help of Meredith Bowles from Mole Architects to consider what options should be considered. 

Village Institute

The village institute has been a registered Charity Trust for some years.  All Parish Councillors have automatically been Trustees.  The current set-up has caused some administrative difficulties.  This is a fact that has caused problems to other similar organisations in the country.  A new scheme has been set up that allows the operation to be simpler.  The Parish Council is in communication with the Charity Commission regarding the new options available, and should be able, in the near future to overcome the difficulties we have experienced.  Dr. William Sellwood is the Manager of the Village Institute.

Cllr Tim Tucker

Chairman

Longstanton Parish Council