Feedback on Lodge Road

From a Court Road resident (via email)

My comments for what they may be worth -

I spoke to the men in the low loaders when they arrived that day. They
informed me that they wouldn't have to do much with the heavy machinery
as the majority of the archaeological areas would have to be cleared by
hand. As they were blocking Court Road immediately passed my house,
they had to move their equipment to let me through in my car after I had
pulled off my drive.

There is now a lot of mud over the pathway where they have gone through
the hedge which is making the path very slippery. I also noticed one of
Bedfordshire Council's 4x4 pickup trucks was stuck in the mud and
abandoned in the entrance to the field yesterday morning - it is so wet
and muddy and it looks awful. There has been no attempt made to clear
any of the mud from the public pathway and as I walk my dog that way
morning and evening, I have now elected to step onto the road to avoid
slipping and my shoes becoming covered in mud, which strikes me as
hazardous!

I was stuck for 15 minutes on Lodge Road from around 8am till after
8.15am this morning due to a petrol tanker blocking the road near the
compound where the diggers are kept. They told me they were filling up
the fuel tank and the machinery and would only be a couple of minutes so
I decided to wait. 10 minutes later they were still pumping fuel and
there was a queue of 4 or 5 vehicles including the school bus now stuck
on the single track road, which meant it was not possible for me to turn
around and go another way. I was nearly late for work!!

Pole axed

A parishioner writes concerning several prangs on Bourne End Road which currently is not salted in frosty/snowy weather. Should this not be a 'hot spot' along with Marston Hill salted in addition to A and B roads? I understand some utility neanderthals who are out on parole from the Jurassic era just think its all down to women drivers.

Anyway the telegraph pole has taken quite a hammering. Luckily that's all see below:

Hi Laurence,

As discussed today, the following is a brief outline of events to date:-

Monday January 11th - 1st pole destroyed (around 9 am)

Tuesday Jan 12th (a.m.) - a motorist skids into new pole, but no damage done

Weds Feb 10th (8.30 p.m) - a car hits metal stantions that keep pole in ground, drives off with undercarriage of car exposed and leaking oil over the road (witnessed by our neighbour).

Our neighbour's fence is also damaged on the same evening by a different car.

Thurs 11th Feb - 2nd pole destroyed (around 9.30 am)

Sun 21st Feb - 3rd pole destroyed (around 8 am)

I would also like to formally request that we are added to the list for salt bins on Bourne End Road.

Thanks for your advice Laurence. I will compose a piece for Cranfield Express if I feel it is still timely for the April edition. I have contacted Beds on Sunday who I hope will run a piece this weekend.

Airfield development

Leaflet just through the door from the University's development company seeking a different allocation of houses under Central Beds' core strategy. Currently the draft plan suggests 160 houses divided between a main site at central motors and a small site at 1/2 High Street owned by the University. The University states (correctly) that up to 250 houses can be built up to 2026. It doesnt say whether they want the full allocation or not. visit

www.cranfieldplans.co.uk or www.talktocentralbedfordshire.co.uk

Churchyard paths

Useful meeting at the Churchyard to discuss state of the paths and what can be done about it. My report to the parish council is below.

Churchyard site meeting

13 February 2010

Present: Sheila Ewen, Derek Jones, Hugh Symes-Thompson (Parochial Church Council), Peter Meadows, Laurence Pollock (Cranfield Parish Council)

Those present examined the condition of churchyard pathways at a variety of locations with a view to establishing need and priorities.

This report will be forwarded to Cranfield Parish Council

Areas of particular concern

• The Church Walk-Court Road public footpath is subject to water entering from the churchyard. The PCC is exploring the possibility of a soakaway to deal with this. The path is choked with leaves that block the drain and cars churn the surface when turning at the top of Church Walk. Wooden posts that once protected the path have disappeared. This might be a suitable project for Probation Service community work. The PCC has contacted the land registry but it has been unable to establish ownership. Advice from Anglian Water on the soakway would be useful.

• The north west path is probably unsuited to pea shingle as this is the vehicle entrance. PCC members also pointed out the benefits of some hard standing adjacent to the path for vehicles to use when parking on site.

• The northern path is also of concern and some has been dressed with pea shingle. Hugh reports that the shingle is not the correct colour but could not give a view on whether this renders it entirely unsuitable. Part of the path has little shingle and is muddy while the section near the lych gate shows hard core coming through. As an interim measure I believe the path should be dressed with shingle as soon as possible.

The back paths (east and south east) while a cause of concern might benefit from the following:

• Spraying out moss.

• Reseeding: it transpires that the existing paths are far wider than the original as the edges have eroded

• Permitting grass beside the path to grow longer in order to strengthen the sides.

Home Farm

Resident reports: 0815hrs Fuel Tanker stoped to fill up digers on blind bend Lodge Rd. Traffic could not pass

Home Farm

Work is taking place on the home farm site. It was a bit sooner than we were expecting and no one told us. It was reported (ta to Cranfield's most senior white van man) that low loaders turned up in Court Road just as the school rush was getting under way. Lots of concerns therefore.

I contacted Persimmon and received this very prompt reply:

The works that have started are part of the archaeological investigation and I must admit I was not aware they were due to start today. I have liaised with my colleagues as to what the programme and intentions are at it seems the works will be initially concentrating on AAS1 shown on the attached plan that will take approximately 10 weeks. This is not a start on site but merely something we have to do to satisfy the planning permission. It is no different to us carrying out a ground investigation report.

We do not own the charity site yet so can’t use this entrance at the moment, although as I promised and put into the Code of Construction this will be our preferred option at the start of the main construction works on the site.

I understand that the low loader Is to deliver the necessary equipment and once delivered will be contained within the site area with little need for any other deliveries of large equipment until the works are complete, at which point they will be removed from site using the same methods. The machines will only be working briefly to remove the initial topsoil, after which the investigation works will be hand dug to ensure any potential remains are not disturbed.

I would hope that people will not view this negatively, as the works for the archaeological investigation will be confined to the site and will not impact the local people to any degree. The plan attached illustrates the area that they will be working in and the access arrangements. It is no different than if a farmer was using the land and had delivered a large piece of machinery to the site? I am sure the contractors that delivered the equipment used a duty of care to do this safely and with as much disruption as possible? It is unfortunate that this fell on school times, however I’m sure it was not intentional and had a minimal impact on the school users.

I stress again this is not Persimmon starting the site works on any level that will impact on Cranfield and that any negative public reaction will be vastly over exaggerated and would rather concern and disappoint me. As always though if there are any problems or concerns then please contact me to discuss.

I will ensure going forward that any works that are due to be commenced are notified to the Parish before they commence so that we can discuss before hand. If you need to contact the Project Manager who is looking after these works for more information, their details are as follows:

Duncan Hawkins

Director

Direct Dial: 020 7832 1481

Email Address: duncan.hawkins@cgms.co.uk

Mobile: 07740 171834

I hope this alleviates your concerns.

Kind regards

Martin Wright

Moles in the cemetery

There are moles in the cemetery. These characters have form and have been around before but not in my time or in the clerk's as far as she can recall. Its gassing or tapping we are informed. But what happens after trapping? There are no maps for mole culling. Suggestions always welcome.

Cemetery extension tree planting

This is a rough indication of proposed specimen tree planting in the cemetery. The main issue is whether roots of the central trees will adversely affect any grave plots. Currently getting some advice on this. For those not familiar with the cemetery, the extension is the area on the right bounded by the hammerhead, the road and the turning circle.

Home Farm stakeholder meeting 28.1.10

My report from the Home Farm stakeholder meeting

28 January 2010

Present: Anne Samme (development manager), Ken Matthews and Alan Bastable (CBC councillors), Lionel Cooper (Colts), Marjorie Cotton (Village hall Committee), Sheila Howe (Acorn), Janet Orchart (WI), Laurence Pollock (Cranfield Parish Council) and local residents, representatives of Persimmon and their architects, Woods Hardwick.

The initial meeting of this group took place at CBC offices at Chicksands, presided over by Anne Samme. She proposed and it was agreed that the meeting would be:

• Bi-monthly

• Held in Cranfield subject to facilities being available (Persimmon will consider helping with the cost)

• Minuted, with minutes publicly available

• Not open to the public due to capacity issues.

The Stakeholder Group will exist up to two years after the development is completed. It exists to consider the views of residents while the development is underway. Anne suggested that following partial construction, the group would seek membership from some of the new houses.

Gary Surkett of Woods Hardwick explained the eight ‘character areas’, which will make up the site. They vary in type and size of dwelling and the theme or focus (‘barn’, ‘courtyard’ etc).

Questions and discussions included the following topics:

• Need to agree spec and management arrangements for multi-use public building (hall, play group and library).

• Persimmon will provide rough estimates of how quickly they think development phases will roll out and Anne Samme will check triggers for Section 106 money/facilities.

• Martin Wright of Persimmon confirmed the pledge to use the charity land for construction of the main spine road and acknowledged the issue of discouraging a left turn out of the site into Lodge Road.

• Persimmon also stated that there would be safe public access to the site in the event of residents/local reps needing to raise issues about the construction processes.

Subject to ‘reserved matters’ applications clearing final hurdles Persimmon thought construction would begin later this year or early 2011.

Next meeting 18 March. Location TBC.

Laurence Pollock

(Please note that formal minutes will be prepared by Anne Samme)

31 January 2010

Committees 3 Feb 2010

Meeting concluded on time last night. Good work by the chair and the chair of The Mad Hatters' Tea Party (General Purposes). Plenty of discussion in planning about proposed huge extensions to two houses but we resolved not oppose either. Thinking is also developing about establishing salt/grit bins at various locations in the village in the light of recent climate change, semi-Siberian conditions and councils' only being permitted to salt A and B roads. I have been particularly worried about Court Road where there is a real scrum of cars, parents, children and a school bus at 8.45 am every day. The search for a second bottle bank site goes on.