Covanta

Watch out for a report in Beds on Sunday tomorrow about the petitions v Covanta collated by Cllr Sue Clark and presented to Parliament

Diamond Jubilee

Claire Jenkins from Cranfield Guides emailed me to ask about local plans to mark the Diamond Jubilee in the village. Claire wants to get guides involved and is keen to work with the parish council  and other interested local organisations and individuals.

I have asked for this to be discussed at the PC on Wednesday 1 February - feel free to come along (Holywell School, 8 pm).  In the meantime please contact Claire on  agent-jenkins@tiscali.co.uk and let me have your ideas and thoughts as well. broadgreen68@btinternet.com

Minutes of the last Home Farm stakeholder meeting

Lodge Road Works: Almost all road works to Lodge Road now complete, some tidying up works to still be finished off. Discussion with regard to the possibility of a “no left turn” on Lodge Road, concluded that the scheme makes it difficult to turn left, but not impossible especially for small vehicles. The road layout situation was judged better than previous situation. Cllr  Bastable raised the issue of mud on the road. Martin Wright of Persimmon apologised on behalf of Persimmon, explained issues with regard to subcontractors not having regard of the road situation. Various discussions on the road situation followed, all agreed that the situation was improved after Persimmon hired a heavy duty road cleaning vehicle to clear back log of dirt. Martin Wright outlined the method which will be used on site, from he believed today (28.11.11) which is a stoned area on the site for suitable drainage and a jet washer. Some concern was raised that this would not be a suitable solution, and that a purpose built wheel washer was required. There will also be once a day cleaning of the road, MW was not exactly sure of the timing of this, Cllr Matthews requested that the timing of the road cleaning by sent to members of the meeting once MW has confirmed.   Issue of deliveries arriving at site before 8am, MW confirmed that the site manager has been turning delivery vehicles away to comply with conditions. Cllr Matthews confirmed that CBC would enforce against any further breech of conditions especially relating to mud on the road/wheel cleaning. MW stated that HP has given final warning with regard to breech of conditions, and the Enforcement Officer has been in contact with regard to this issue. It was agreed that the condition of the road will continue to be monitored and Persimmon would implement their new measures and if this was not sufficient to satisfy CBC then enforcement action would be taken. It was discussed that the paths were also muddy, MW said he would look into the issue, cleaning would take place if necessary. Cllr Bastable read out an extract from local news letter, about the works that have been carried out with regard to mud on the road by Persimmon, and the future works that would be carried out. MW agreed that it was a fair representation of what had been undertaken and the intention to continue keeping the road clear.

Next meeting

The full parish council will be on 18 January at 8 pm in Holywell Middle School. 

Crane Way

We have been chasing Amey about various modifications they made to Crane Way last year. They have either declined to respond or passed our comments on to the "Watchman in chief'. Who has not responded. The pursuit is getting hotter.

On that score where is the consultation on the traffic calming? Is it finished on January 18 or starting?  Sorry to be so in the dark 

Village Hall

Representatives from the Village Hall management committee attended out last meeting before Christmas. They have sought additional funds (allowed for in our current annual budget) for painting the  steel braces on the roof trusses. I proposed that we agree the £3,400 (approx) cost and members have authorised this. 
There are offers on the  former caretaker's house and with these funds the VHMC are hoping to open the hall in time for the Diamond Jubilee in June. We wish them good luck in their venture. 

Home farm

I didn't want to start the year with Home Farm but I'll sort the good news first. Cranfield's Battle of Passchendale, Lodge Road knee deep in mud,  seems to have ended for the moment. Lodge Road is reasonably clear and Lodge Road residents are not  raising any issues. If there are still problems I'm keen to hear.

However, I'm sure you knew there a however coming, I was amazed that options regarding the proposed community hall are only surfacing now. We knew that we could run it ourselves or devolve to a management company (selected by Persimmon) which would mean levying a charge on residents in home farm.

Now we learn we can also opt to either build it ourselves on Home farm or on another site, with money provided by the developer.

Choice is great. I'm all for it. But these additional choices were never made known to us by Persimmon/CBC-MBDC in the past. Two years ago we were rushed into agreeing a spec by Persimmon because it all had to be done and dusted. That urgency seems less understandable now.