Tag: Fenland District Council

Estover – County Council Leader bids to save the land from development

07:20 Thursday 15th January 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: A campaign to prevent developers moving onto the Estover playing fields in March appears to have made a significant breakthrough. It’s been reported in the Cambs Times, who are supporting this campaign, that the Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council has pledged to hand over half the area to March Town Council. The other half would be offered on a lease to sports groups. The Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council Steve Count joins me now. So Steve, what are you suggesting now for these playing fields at Estover?
STEVE COUNT: Good morning Dotty and thank you for giving me the time on air to put a couple of these things right. The County Council isn’t pledging anything. What I’ve done is take a personal motion to the Council, where I think I’ve got enough support to win, to actually give just about 60% over on a 99 year lease, and 40% roughly on a 7 year lease. And both leases, as opposed to what was in the paper, go to March Town Council, who have the constitutional set-up to receive them. March Town Council will then set up a charitable trust with the local playing fields association and all the sports bodies in March, trying to get as much interest as possible to actually set that up for a more sustainable long term development. So just a little bit of clarification there. The point about being a Private Motion is as opposed to the County Council that once things are passed they go ahead and do it ..
DOTTY MCLEOD: It’s an attempt, rather than a pledge. Is that right?
STEVE COUNT: Yes. I have to win the vote. Yes.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Sure.
STEVE COUNT: I think the way that local people have demonstrated to the people at Cambridgeshire County, just the depth of feeling and the reasoning why it shouldn’t be developed on, has given me a great help in putting towards a package that I now believe we can deliver all the sports facilities without the need for development.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Because there was previously this suggestion that there would be 100 odd homes on the site. What’s happened to that?
STEVE COUNT: That’s still sitting there. That is still the County Council option that they believe is the preferred option, and it is, if I succeed at Full Council, that my option becomes the preferred way forward. If I fail, then it goes back to the General Purposes Committee, which will be afterwards, to go back to Plan A so to speak.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Were you involved Steve in the initial decision to put that County Council proposal in place?
STEVE COUNT: Very much so. Yes. I’ve been involved in this ever since I’ve been a county councillor.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So what’s changed your mind?
STEVE COUNT: The fact that I now believe that we can get the sporting facilities without the development, and the way that the local people have been able to help with this massive massive campaign. Without that, I don’t think I could have convinced a number of other people to back this new approach. It will be on a knife-edge. I think I have enough support to actually achieve this, and I think if the people of March continue to lobby in exactly the same way as they did before, I think we can get this over the line.
DOTTY MCLEOD: OK. And when does your motion get decided?
STEVE COUNT: 17th February.
DOTTY MCLEOD: OK. So a little while to wait.
STEVE COUNT: Yes.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And that’s Steve Count there, the Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, bringing a motion to stop the plans for development on the Estover playing fields. Johnny D is in March this morning. He’s been meeting one of the men behind the campaign to keep these buildings off these playing fields.
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Mixed feelings in Fenland on Tesco retrenchment

08:26 Friday 9th January 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: A £22 million Tesco store which was due to open in Chatteris last year has been binned by the retail giant. The sprawling store had been earmarked to open its doors to customers two months ago, but has ended up on the scrapheap without serving a single customer. The store is one of 49 planned new-builds shelved by the retailer, including stores planned for Ely and Whittlesey. Martin Curtis is the Conservative county councillor for Whittlesey North. Martin, what did you think about this, this news that there will be no Tesco store now in Whittlesey?
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Estover Road playing field preservation campaign petition to sack Fenland Leader

07:18 Friday 31st October 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: A petition has been launched calling for the Estover playing fields in March to be protected from development. It also calls on the Leader of Fenland District Council John Clark to resign over what it says is an ‘unprecedented breakdown in trust‘ between him and the people of March and Fenland. There are proposals to build on the former grammar school fields, but with Cambridgeshire County Council highlighting the town has a lack of green spaces, some local residents are calling for the plans to be put on hold. Our reporter Johnny D. has been on the fields this morning.
(OB)(Tape)
JOHN DEVINE: Dotty I’ve come down to the Estover playing fields, and I’ve got with me Trevor Watson. He’s a resident and one of the organisers of the petition. So just to put us in the picture, paint a little picture of what we can see in front of us Trevor.
TREVOR WATSON: Well at the moment we’re standing in front of a long-established playing field, going back many decades, probably seventy, eighty years. It’s been used by previous schools. It’s now used by the public and for football matches for the last fifteen years. As you can see it’s a beautiful field. It’s got about fifty very mature trees, some about a hundred years old, they’re all covered by tree preservation orders. And it’s more than just a playing field. It’s like a small town park.
JOHN DEVINE: And we’ve got some residential housing just over the road, so it’s quite close to people as well.
TREVOR WATSON: Indeed. Yes. It’s being increasingly used by people as the population grows around this area. They’re using it as a very pleasant place to walk the dog, and for children to play in in the evenings and at weekends during the summer. So it’s a very well used playing field.
JOHN DEVINE: So why have you set up the petition then Trevor?
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Cambridgeshire waste merger has union support

08:20 Friday 17th October 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: There are plans for a shared bin collection service for Cambridge and the surrounding South Cambridgeshire villages. Councillors have been told that annual savings of around £350,000 could be achieved in the next twelve months by sharing services, increasing to around £700,000 within three years. That saving would be shared between South Cambridgeshire District and Cambridge City Councils. Mick Martin is the Cabinet Member for Environmental Services at South Cambridgeshire District Council. Mick, what stage are we at? Has this been decided yet?
MICK MARTIN: No it hasn’t. And I say no it hasn’t hesitatingly. The situation is that South Cambs Cabinet reviewed the proposal yesterday evening and unanimously agreed to move forward with it. But the City Council doesn’t have their review meeting until 5 o’clock this evening.
DOTTY MCLEOD: OK. So it’s still in the pipeline at the moment. The main question for anyone living in either of these areas of Cambridgeshire is what is this going to mean for my bin.
MICK MARTIN: Your bin will be as wonderfully cared for as it has been up until now. The two founding principles of the process that we’re going through are first of all to reduce the operational costs, particularly in the area of premises management administration and fleet and equipment costs.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Is it going to mean fewer binmen? Are we going to see job losses?
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Chatteris Supermarket Opening Delayed

10:30 Monday 21st September 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Let’s speak to Chatteris Town councillor Florence Newell. Florence, morning.
FLORENCE NEWELL: Good morning. I’m also a Fenland district councillor for Chatteris.
PAUL STAINTON: OK.
FLORENCE NEWELL: Yes.
PAUL STAINTON: You’ve got a bit of shock breaking news this morning, haven’t you, concerning Tesco’s?
FLORENCE NEWELL: Not this morning. I got it Thursday morning. I got a letter from Tesco’s, signed by a Mr Bryn Woodward, Corporate Affairs Manager, saying that they will not be opening the store in Chatteris, .. “as we announced earlier this year, we are slowing down our store opening programme. We recognise that some people will be disappointed with this decision, and we are very grateful for the support we’ve received in the past.” And “We will keep you updated on our plans.” And they’re going to retain the current hoardings protecting the site.
PAUL STAINTON: It’s built, isn’t it? It’s finished. It’s there.
FLORENCE NEWELL: It’s finished completely. They’ve put a roundabout which isn’t to my satisfaction or to anyone else’s satisfaction. Because the big lorries are having trouble getting round.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes.
FLORENCE NEWELL: It’s on the main A141 road.
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Cambridgeshire MP calls for Network Rail to be opened up to scrutiny

09:20 Friday 5th September 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: The MP for North East Cambridgeshire Stephen Barclay wants David Cameron to confirm when Network Rail will be accountable to the public. At the moment it’s not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, and according to the MP, with £34 billion added to the national debt this week from Network Rail at a stroke, that needs to change. So what do you think about giving a company billions of pounds, when there’s no way of finding out publicly how where or when the money is spent? Well Stephen Barclay is here. Stephen morning.
STEPHEN BARCLAY: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: It’s almost inconceivable that can be right.
STEPHEN BARCLAY: It is, and I think it’s a matter of time that those paying their rail fares will want to see this done quickly. It’s not just the Freedom of Information that we need opening Network Rail up to, it’s also to give the National Audit Office unfettered access. At the moment, the National Auditors have to go through the Rail Regulator, which creates a barrier in terms of the scrutiny that our public money is under. So I think we do need to let the public have access to information, and really open up the challenge that informed people in the community, particularly those with a knowledge of railways, or engineering, someone who perhaps has had a lifetime as an engineer, allow them to start looking at some of the infrastructure projects, and see whether we can deliver them in a more cost-effective way.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes. It’s almost like it’s been all done behind closed doors, with billions and billions of pounds of our money.
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Private Security Policing the Streets

08:20 Thursday 19th June 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Fenland District Council are paying for security staff to act as street marshals during England games in case of trouble. Why? Was the World Cup in 2010 a particularly violent time in Wisbech? And is it a valid use of taxpayers’ money? Is the Council stepping on the police’s toes? Well let’s find out. Councillor David Oliver is in charge of Licensing and Community Safety for Fenland District Council. David, morning.
DAVID OLIVER: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: How did all this come about then?
DAVID OLIVER: I’d like to just correct you on one thing. Fenland District Council haven’t put any money actually into this, other than officers’ time. It’s actually the Wisbech Pubwatch and Shopwatch and a local security firm that’s actually put the money forward for this to actually happen.
PAUL STAINTON: OK. So it’s a win win really.
DAVID OLIVER: It’s a win win. Yes.The reason for it, Shopwatch and the relevant partners want to improve the perception of safety and reduce crime associated with visiting the town for the football entertainment.
PAUL STAINTON: Is it particularly bad when the football’s on then?
DAVID OLIVER: No it hasn’t been.
PAUL STAINTON: So what’s the point then?
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Wisbech Transport Consultation

17:18 Tuesday 17th June 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[S]UE DOUGAN: A consultation is taking place today and again on Friday at Wisbech on future transport plans for the town. It’s a chance for local people to share opinions on everything from road congestion to the return of a passenger railway. We’ll speak to Simon King who’s Chairman of the Bramley Line Group in a moment. They have long campaigned for the return of the March to Wisbech rail line. But first let’s talk to Jeremy Smith. He’s Transport and Infrastructure Strategy Manager at Cambridgeshire County Council. Jeremy, hello, good evening. There’s a lot for local people to look at and consider. Which proposals and ideas in particular would you like to hear opinions on?
JEREMY SMITH: Well obviously the railway line is one of the big things that are on our agenda at the moment. And work the County Council has done indicates that there may well be a good commercial case for the opening of the line. And one of the key things that will enable us to push that forward with Government and the rail industry is a good response, a good level of support from local people. So we really need to know whether people want this to happen.
SUE DOUGAN: Have they said that to you today then? Have they ventured an opinion one way or the other?
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