Home Farm planning consent

I've now had a response to my request. This reads:

Dear Mr Pollock

 

Please find attached as requested. The outstanding RM (reserved matters) consents are as follows:

 

CB/10/03462/RM - Phases 1A and 1B Landscaping.

CB/10/03463/RM - Phases 2 & 3 Landscaping.

CB/10/03469/RM - Phase 1C Provision of Lower School Playing Field, Community Building (including library and pre-school / nursery) car parking and all ancillary works. Including landscaping and pedestrian access through Church Walk.

 

 

In addition Central Beds has written to Persimmon (27 May) stating

 

 

 

I can confirm that the Council has now had an opportunity to revisit the current

position in relation to the outline planning permission in respect of ‘Home Farm,Cranfield’.

Please accept this letter as written confirmation that the Council’s position is that no lawful implementation of the outline planning permission (planning ref:

MB/05/00885/OUT) has occurred or is able to occur at this moment in time. To

clarify the following pre commencement conditions remain outstanding:

Condition 15 - New Lower School Playing Field Timetable - details currently

being considered

Condition 17 - Overall management and maintenance – details currently being

considered

Condition 19 - Play Areas - details yet to be received

Condition 20 - Boundary Treatment - details yet to be received.

Condition 28 - Foul and Surface Water - details currently being considered

Condition 30 - Code of Construction Practice - details currently being

considered

Condition 37 - Off site highway works - details currently being considered

In addition, for a lawful implementation of the above planning permission to

occur all of the Reserved Matters (RM) for the entirety of the site need to have

been granted and their relevant pre commencement conditions satisfactorily

discharged before each RM is commenced.

Freedom of Information Home Farm

I have now sent the following  Freedom of Information request to Central Bedfordshire planning department:




I am writing with regard to my enquiry as to which relevant planning permissions and conditions have, up to now, not been granted to or discharged by Persimmon and as a result of which they have been asked by Central Bedfordshire Council to stop work at Home Farm, Cranfield. I am formally making this enquiry as a Freedom of Information request. 

Home Farm

Public accountability is all the rage and I personally can't see it going away. I had a useful chat recently with Councillor Alan Bastable in the fresh produce aisle of Budgens as we foraged for our suppers. Alan has worked very hard for the village and we inevitably ended up talking about Home Farm. As a result I have sent him and his fellow CB Councillors the following request:

I have been in email contact with Central Beds to enquire which planning permissions or consents remain to be granted or discharged before Persimmon can continue to operate the Home Farm site. I would be grateful f you could establish what these are and put them into the public domain.

I would also like to see a copy, electronic or scanned hard copy of any  communication to Persimmon asking them to stop work and explaining why they should do so. I believe these communications should also be publicly available. 

Schools - Community Partnership

Education change is just round the corner it would seem.  Free schools and academies are in the news. A  move from Bedfordshire's three tier to two tier is a hardy perennial. Whatever your kids age this is crucial for your family.

Put this date in your diary - 22 June Cranfield Parish Council 7 pm: Wootton Upper School meeting with Cranfield Parish Council about a school 'community partnership'. I'm not sure what it means but it could be important. It seems that Wootton and the Lower School are applying for 'Academy' status. What the flippin' windsock does that mean? Come along and ask your questions. 

War memorial

We are reconciling ourselves (committees on 1 June) to the impracticality - or maybe impracticability - of refacing the war memorial and reinscribing the  names of the fallen. Sue Clark talked about accepting the weathering of the memorial and celebrating its simplicity.

However, BIG HOWEVER, the plan might be to ensure that the names on the memorial are recorded publicly elsewhere. War memorial are a key part of our local history and after WW1 they were a step forward in recognising the sacrifice (usually in vain!) of ordinary soldiers. We'll be asking the public what they think through this Cranfield Express in July.

Letter in Beds on Sunday today

Persimmon is the biggest house builder in the country and has an obligation to demonstrate best practice in construction ("delight for villagers in row over lorries" 29 May). When 

residents and the parish council were first in discussion  with Persimmon in 2007 we pressed the idea of them signing up for the nationally recognised considerate constructors scheme. This was

politely ignored and we received assurances that they would deal with any issues that arose.

But as Adam Thompson's balanced report shows that has not been the case and Persimmon's period as guest of our village has not started well. I have received many complaints about the 

impacts of construction traffic and frankly many of them are unprintable. 

The parish council also sought to have the access to the site changed from Lodge Road, a picturesque country lane,

to directly from the High Street. That would have solved many of the current issues.  Again there was no interest from Persimmon. 

The debate about new housing is over and homes will be built but that does not mean that existing residents should have their lives ruined for years to come. Persimmon's

representatives need to be working through the local stakeholder group (cancelled last month) and dealing promptly with complaints. That would be a huge step forward. 

Laurence Pollock