Tag: Sebastian Kindersley

Inspector calls Local Plan into question

08:08 Wednesday 15th July 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: East Cambridgeshire District Council could launch a review of its Local Plan just two months after it was adopted. Any review would cost up to £145,000 over three years, and see a new wave of public consultations. The Local Plan, we’ve spoken about them so much. You might remember what they are, but just in case, it’s a plan for the future development of a local area. So it decides whether or not any planning applications that are submitted can be given the go-ahead. A report is going to be seen by East Cambridgeshire District Council this week. It says the decision of a Government Inspector to override a planning refusal for 120 homes in Witchford has led to the possibility of a review. In allowing the national developers plans, the Inspector said housing supply plans in East Cambridgeshire were already out of date. Richard Kay handles forward planning on East Cambridgeshire District Council, and we will talk to Richard in just a moment, but first let’s have a word with Sebastian Kindersley, who is the South Cambridgeshire District councillor for Gamlingay, because these kinds of cases have occurred in South Cambridgeshire as well, haven’t they Sebastian?
SEBASTIAN KINDERSLEY: Yes good morning Dotty. I’m afraid it has, almost exactly, where a planning inspector has agreed a number of appeals in Waterbeach in March. And the result of that has been an absolute flood of speculative planning applications from pre-application enquiries, which is rapidly transforming South Cambs. in a way that is unplanned, and actually frankly at the moment unwanted.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And these applications, these speculative applications as you are calling them, they hinge on what?
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Minor party candidates welcome the big debate

09:21 Thursday 2nd April 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

JEREMY SALLIS: This morning we’re asking has the day of two party politics vanished for ever? Is this the election where it really is all to play for, even for every party taking part? Well tonight we’ll see all seven main party leaders from across the UK take part in a live two hour televised debate. It will also be the only time that David Cameron and Ed Miliband go face to face before we go, before you go, to the polls in May. Well joining them on the stage will be party leaders from the Scottish National Party, from UKIP, from Plaid Cymru, from the Green Party and also the Liberal Democrats. Well BBC Assistant Political Editor Norman Smith went as far as predicting tonight’s contest will be a ‘visible symbolic demonstration of the death of two party politics’. .. If you’re thinking will it make any difference to the vote, last time in 2010 similar television debates saw the polls surge in support for the Liberal Democrats, led by Nick Clegg of course. So could tonight’s event have a similar effect on one if not more of the seven candidates taking part? Joining me this morning to discuss this is Darren Bisby-Boyd, who’s the Green Party candidate for Peterborough. A very good morning to you Darren.
DARREN BISBY-BOYD: Good morning.
JEREMY SALLIS: WE also have Mary Herdman, who is the UKIP candidate for Peterborough. Morning to you Mary.
MARY HERDMAN: Good morning.
JEREMY SALLIS: And Sebastian Kindersley, who is the Liberal Democrat candidate for South Cambridgeshire. Morning to you Sebastian.
SEBASTIAN KINDERSLEY: Good morning. How are you?
JEREMY SALLIS: Very good thank you. I think tonight’s debate will be strictly orchestrated, with everyone having their chance to say. I don’t mind as long as you behave yourselves all the microphones being open, so you can pitch in and have your say. But as long as you behave yourselves. First of all, Darren, is this the end of two party politics? There’s a veritable smörgåsbord now for people to choose from.
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Cambridge bloggers on Election 2015

17:13 Monday 5th January 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: So in case you hadn’t noticed, there is a General Election coming up this year. The campaign, well it’s been a slow-burner until now, but it’s beginning to produce more than a few sparks. Let’s find out what we think is going to be in prospect locally from two leading Cambridgeshire bloggers on politics, Richard Taylor .. hello Richard.
RICHARD TAYLOR: Good afternoon Chris.
CHRIS MANN: .. and Antony Carpen, known to many as Puffles. Hello Antony.
ANTONY CARPEN: Good afternoon Chris.
CHRIS MANN: So gentlemen, how much do you think there will be Cambridgeshire issues in this election campaign? Richard first.
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Government Northstowe announcement decried

08:07 Thursday 4th December 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: ‘Unfortunate’. That’s the word that’s been used by the Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council to describe the local authority’s surprise at Government plans to take over housebuilding at Northstowe. In this week’s National Infrastructure Plan the Government announced a pilot project to build and sell thousands of new homes at Northstowe itself, rather than rely on developers. Here’s what South Cambridgeshire District Council Leader Ray Manning had to say when I spoke to him earlier on.
(TAPE)
RAY MANNING: I think it was unfortunate that they didn’t choose to tell us beforehand, but I think the announcement has all the hallmarks of being done very quickly at the last minute to get in the Budget Statement.
(LIVE)
DOTTY MCLEOD: Ray Manning also going on to say he doesn’t feel this shake-up is a direct criticism of the Council, because the recession is what slowed progress with the new town.
(TAPE)
RAY MANNING: The truth is that we did have a recession, but there was money was difficult, and developers are not going to build houses unless the market is buoyant and they’ve virtually sold them off-plan. So what Danny Alexander said was quite true, that the Government can afford to build the houses without waiting to sell them first.
(LIVE)
DOTTY MCLEOD: Well the Government does say that with its involvement, development will be twice as fast as conventional routes, and it says it has been discussing Northstowe with the Council for years. Let’s talk to Sebastian Kindersley. He’s the Liberal Democrat councillor for Gamlingay on Cambridgeshire County Council. So Sebastian the Government say that you’ve already known about this. They didn’t surprise you with this announcement. What’s your reaction to that?
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Cambridgeshire candidates reflect on the rise of UKIP

17:06 Friday 10th October 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: The UK Independence Party, UKIP, has its first elected Member of Parliament, and has gone close to getting a second. Former Conservative MP Douglas Carswell won the Clacton by-election in the early hours of this morning with a majority of more than 12,000 over his old Party. If that wasn’t enough, UKIP came within just over 600 votes of taking the Heywood and Middleton by-election, where Labour just clung on. .. The UKIP MEP for the East and prospective Parliamentary candidate for Cambridge Patrick O’Flynn said it was a great day, but the Party still had work to do before the General Election in May.
(TAPE)
PATRICK O’FLYNN: We can’t take anything for granted. It is an absolute breakthrough for UKIP. We’ve had our first directly elected MP, and the British public are clearly taking a look at us, and saying we like some of the things you say, we quite fancy adding you to the range of parties represented in the House of Commons. But we need to keep building on our strengths, improving ourselves where we’re not strong enough, and showing that we recognise the magnitude of the opportunity we might be given by the British public.
(LIVE)
CHRIS MANN: Well at the General Election next year he will be up against Chamali Fernando, who is the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for the Cambridge seat. She joins me now. Hello Chamali
CHAMALI FERNANDO: Hi there Chris.
CHRIS MANN: So, only one in four voters stayed loyal to the Conservatives. Second place there, and heaven only knows what at the Rochester by-election. Disarray.
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New Northstowe Plans Mean More A14 Madness

17:17 Friday 15th July 2010
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

ANDY BURROWS: Possible changes to the Masterplan for a new town in Cambridgeshire are back on the agenda. Billed as a flagship Government eco-town, Northstowe was due to be built on land near Oakington and Longstanton, just off the A14. There could be a number of potential changes though, to the original plans, including increasing the number of homes by five to ten thousand. We could also see two secondary schools and not one. Independent councillor for Longstanton, Alex Riley, questions the development’s location. Continue reading “New Northstowe Plans Mean More A14 Madness”