Travellers

I suppose this is how its supposed to be, but sometimes there is just too much going on to find time to blog. The hot issues has obviously been the proposed travellers' sites at Millennium Park and Mousloe Road. First Mill Park and then Moulsoe Road appeared to come off the list but the latter was still there in the Times and Citizen report on Thursday. It's been a job finding anything on the Central Beds Web site about the process and being sparse on info doesn't help anyone.

Just looking at the Home Farm Development brief (approved October 2005). It says very clearly that the remainder of Lodge Road (beyond access to home Farm) will be retained in its current form with all traffic movements being discouraged.

"There will be no direct access from the development onto Court Road other than for emergency vehicles - private cars will be prohibited from using that route, reinforced by physical constraints."

That seems very straightforward so hopefully if they do get their access down Lodge Road they might remember this paragraph (5.6.9).

My thanks to 'The Lodger' for pointing this one out.

Incinerators

There's no doubt that they are about as popular as a croc in the leisure pool but then landfill was no picnic either. So there have been some hard choices for the PC about campaigning on waste disposal.

There are two current waste schemes - the smaller, Bedfordshire BEAR project (currently 'technology neutral') and the Covanta proposal for a gigatrash processor which in a neighbourly sort of way will burn all Buckinghamshire's waste for it. The PC after a vote has decided to support in principle Our Marston Vale, the group set up to fight both these proposals. But it will not affiliate to OMV because a small local incinerator designed entirely to dispose purely of Beds waste might be the best of several bad jobs. We have reserved the right to decided on its merits. Its was a tough one and I respect those who voted for affiliation but personally I don't think its the way forward.

Persimmon slam the door

It is Persimmon's intention to deliver the access as approved because anything else will derail the programme."

This was Persimmon Homes’s response to continued Parish Council and public pressure for access to the Home Farm development to be rerouted through the Goodman charity land off the High Street, not via Lodge Road. Representatives of the company attended a Parish Council meeting last month.

The company argues that if they go for a new access the planning application to agree it will not allow them time to complete their building programme.

It was a crushing blow after Persimmon’s representative, Clive Drinkwater, two years ago, was highly positive about the possibility of rerouting. Since then Mr Drinkwater has left Persimmon and current management say circumstances have changed and they want to press ahead with the Lodge Road access.

The company plans to create a small "bespoke" development under its high value Charles Church brand on the charity land, with its own entrance off the High Street.

Chair of the Parish Council Mrs Delise Ball said: "The high value development on the High Street will be a showcase front door while the bulk of Home Farm residents will use the Lodge Road tradesman's entrance.

“There is no doubt that Persimmon can go down Lodge Road if they want to. But the Parish Council believes that their worries about timing could be overcome if they were willing. Their lack of cooperation is hugely disappointing.”

The meeting was originally called because Persimmon wants the Parish Council to adopt open space and play areas on Home Farm. No action was taken on this. At present Persimmon do not even own all the land but they say they have triggered the purchase of the charity land.

Persimmon were pressed to explore with Central Beds planners whether a new application, varying the entrance, could be fast tracked but they insisted that there was no point. They also claimed that they could not go through the ancient hedgerow between the charity land and the rest of Home Farm – an assertion that was vigorously challenged.

They have previously argued that they could not reroute the access because they did not own the charity land.

Persimmon said they would look at linking up the Goodman and Lodge Road accesses (creating two accesses), rerouting the construction traffic and reconsider the left turn into Lodge Road, but they made no firm commitments.

Home Farm

Letter from Persimmon declining to attend meeting on October 21st:

By Email & Post: cranfieldpc@btconnect.com

JAL/KE/DC/15854/B1

19 October 2009

Ms Rosie Davey-Hunt

Clerk of the Cranfield Parish Council

Marshmill

Marshbrook

Church Stretton

SY6 6RQ

Dear Rosie

RE: HOME FARM, CRANFIELD

PARISH COMMITTEE MEETING – 21^ST OCTOBER

I have been instructed by our Client, Persimmon Homes (Midlands) Ltd, to write to you regarding the forthcoming Parish Committee Meeting scheduled for the 21^st October 2009, which we had previously arranged to attend to discuss the potential adoption of Open Space and Community Facilities.

It now seems this matter needs to be considered in the context of other issues and in such respects I understand that Persimmon have recently confirmed in writing to the Parish Council that the primary access serving the proposed site has to remain as approved, i.e. off Lodge Road. Following Persimmon’s letter, we became aware of an article published in the Beds on Sunday, 18^th October 2009 edition and anticipate the aforementioned meeting will be used as an opportunity for members of the public to reiterate their objection to the approved access strategy. As a result and due to the meeting being open to general attendance, our Client feels that the meeting may not productively facilitate the topic of discussion hoped for in relation to the subject of Open Space and Community Facility adoption.

Therefore, with regret, Persimmon Homes (Midlands) Ltd and Woods Hardwick Ltd hereby withdraw from the above meeting. Instead, we would like to invite the members to a private meeting at a mutually acceptable location to discuss the Parish’s conclusions on the adoption of Open Space and Community Facilities, as initially discussed on the 4^th August 2009 and to further clarify the access strategy if desired.

We would therefore be grateful for any suggested meeting dates in order to move matters forward and would be happy to address any queries the Parish may have regarding the Open Space and Community Facilities in advance of agreeing a new meeting date.

Yours sincerely

WOODS HARDWICK LTD

New health centre

Latest feedback from Bedfordshire NHS on their health centre 'consultation'. They are still talking about implementing the parish plan to justify libraries and cafes in the health centre. They also cite the majorities in favour of these extraneous features without acknowledging that they didn't ask - would you prefer a library or more health facilities? Report from the last board meeting suggested that one official said the business plan had to 'stack up' - are there economic criteria which the Beds NHS are not acknowledging?

BEAR and Covanta

Bedford's out of the BEAR incinerator project so where does that leave the economics for Central Beds and Luton? Are they going to say it would be more cost effective to go in with Covanta?

War Memorial

New promises from QSS about the lettering on the war memorial and fresh explanations why the last promise wasn't kept. By October committees they'll either have done it or we will be seeking compensation for the poor work last year and appointing someone else to do it on an emergency basis.

They won't be told

The grey revolution spilt onto the public highway on Friday when Lodge Road, Villa Park and other residents made their voices heard. Cranfield's shock troops symbolically blocked the road for five minutes to send a message to housing giant Persimmon that Lodge Road is NO THROUGH ROAD for either construction traffic or hundreds of daily car movements. They are also writing to top Persimmon Executive Andrew Hammond asking why the company said two years ago that the access could be changed but has now gone very quiet. These people clearly do not plan to be quiet themselves. Lodge Road residents want as many Cranfield people as possible to write to Persimmon raising their concerns about access and the impact on Lodge road – regardless of whether they live near it or not. You should write to: Andrew Hammond, Managing Director, Persimmon Homes Midlands, 3 Waterside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton NN4 7XD. If you are on email could you send a copy of your letter to royphillips1@mypostoffice.co.uk

Home Farm

Persimmon visiting on Wednesday October 21st. Lodge Road and Villa Park residents are currently running a writing campaign to Persimmon reminding the company of its negotiations two years to change the access. I think their message is 'We haven't gone away!'

War Memorial?

Any word from QSS re re-lettering? I don't think so. Getting a little bit fed up.

Building your community

There many factors that affect our quality of life – health facilities, schools, roads, policing and housing developments to name a few.

The Parish Council is usually the first port of call when developers, planners and service providers are making decisions that impact on the village. Its planning committee, for instance, is always busy assessing proposed developments, large or small and forwarding views of villagers to Central Beds Council.

The Parish Council is made up of ordinary people who are prepared to give up a couple of evenings month to get involved in influencing these sort of proposals. They also help run our own ‘frontline services’ such as children’s play equipment, open spaces and the cemetery. They are currently working closely with the Highways Agency Amey to develop proposals for traffic calming in Cranfield.

New faces are always important to ensure that there is fresh thinking. The Parish Council would like to invite individuals to consider seeking co-option to the council and to play a part in making Cranfield a stronger, more attractive community.

The ‘person spec’, to use modern jargon, is as follows:

• Attendance: regular, conscientious

• Interests: community spirited, enthusiastic about local quality of life.

• Patience: Lots of it! Ability to accept decisions you disagree with and understand that decision making and implementation can be a slow process. Committees can be a bit cumbersome but they ensure that all voices are heard.

• Knowledge: Nothing specialist required. Prepared to learn on the job. But curiousity helps.

The current council finishes in April 2011 so those who do join it now are only committing for 18 months. But there is no need to take a decision immediately. You can seek co-option by emailing the clerk on cranfieldpc@btconnect.com or tel 05601 534542. For an informal chat about how the parish council works and the co-option process, ring Laurence Pollock on 01234 757689

Waste disposal

BEAR project people came to see us on Wednesday evening. Our preferred options are:

No incinerators

One incinerator run by Bedfordshire (BEAR)

On incinerator run by Covanta processing waste on behalf of people in Slough.

But we might end up with two incinerators

Traffic calming

Bedfordshire Highways, working with Central Bedfordshire Council and Cranfield Parish Council will be holding an exhibition of proposals designed to look at traffic calming measures and improvements along the High Street, Mill Road and Broad Green in Cranfield.

The exhibition will take place at the Methodist Church, High Street, Cranfield on 10 October between 10am and 4pm where plans will be on display, together with questionnaire/comment forms and staff will be on hand to answer any questions that you may have.

Please take this opportunity to come along and see for yourself, and have your say on the future of Cranfield.

Big Big Thankyou

Phil Bates, former chairman has resigned from the parish council. The Blog speaks for everyone in saying a big big thank you for all your hard work and how. 11 years as chair and 14 on the council was quite a stretch (and no parole for good behaviour either) while holding down a tough day job and doing all that good family stuff. Snot surprising, really, that you needed to get half way up a mountain to get your head cleared.

Phil has been made an honorary life member of the Parish Council refreshment sub-committee which meets as often as it can at a variety of venues after normal business has been concluded. We hope to see him whenever he is able to join us.

Persimmon

Persimmon have written to us accepting our invitation to visit. We are currently dusting the best china and checking who is making the cucumber sandwiches, angel cakes etc. They are going to be visiting us a lot in the next few years so it makes sense to say hello in advance.

War Memorial

It's a job getting the right ink for your memorial! The clerk has launched increased pester power (we are up to P3 with a max of P5) regarding the relettering of the war memorial. The latest response from the lettermen states:

The latest on the special ink is that it should arrive this week, but unfortunately our resident "artist" is away on vacation till the 14th Sept, but given we have the ink by then, I promise it will the first job upon returning, it will only take a couple of days to complete. I'm sorry this is dragging on a bit but we must be sure we have the correct ink - this time!

So the parishmatters blog will come back to this on the week beginning 21 September

War memorial

Need to check on the war memorial lettering. And yes it is 1914-1919 as the war only officially ended with the Versailles treaty in 1919. The German fleet in Scapa Floe scuttled itself because it thought hostilities were about to be resumed if the treaty was not agreed and it did want the ships used against Germany.

Response from war memorial letterists

Dear Rosie,

Weather permitting we will complete it next week for you, enabling you to relax.

Will confirm

Best regards

Chris

Meetings next month

2 September and 16 September. Both in Baptist Church. Officially 8 pm but with safety committee on 2 September and likely speakers on both nights more like 7 pm. Watch the blog for details.

The 'cruise' at the uni was reportedly noisy on Sunday night and it felt like a large part of it convoyed through Broad Green. The peelers have been told and we might get some feedback at the Safety Committee next month. Now that there are double yellow lines at the uni, it is supposed to be easier to see the joyless riders off the site.

Street Light

Hey - the streetlight in Broad Green that has been burning non-stop for six months has actually been taken away. Power to the People.

Parish Council Response to Health Centre consultation

This will appear in full in Cranfield Express

Bedfordshire NHS consultation on proposed health centre for Cranfield

Cranfield Parish Council response

INTRODUCTION

The Parish Council’s priority is a first rate health centre delivering first class services to the population of Cranfield. The proposals, as they stand for consultation, represent a major, lost opportunity to create a significant facility. The Beds NHS document indicates, for the most part, a continuation of services with only the potential for a few others. Cranfield needs not only the expansion of current services but also their substantial enlargement.

SERVICES

These could include, for instance, lifestyle clinics dealing with smoking, diet, exercise and cardiac monitoring, mental health, physiotherapy, podiatry, prostate monitoring and urology. There should be space for visiting GPs from other surgeries (if they will come) and visiting consultants and well man/well women clinics. The minor injury clinic should have a walk-in facility.

The Parish Council particularly believes there is a demand for physiotherapy and chiropody in the village. Specialist clinics such as radiology, ENT, audiology, and speech therapy would also enhance local health outcomes.

All of the services listed in the consultation are vitally important, but the Parish Council seeks reassurance that same-day access to a GP, currently provided, will remain. There should also be Saturday morning facilities, even if nurse-led.

NON-HEALTH FACILITIES

The BNHS consultation states “the Cranfield Parish Plan has highlighted a number of community initiatives which could work in collaboration with the new health facility.”

It is not BNHS’s role to deliver on the parish plan. That should be the responsibility of the Parish Council and the people of Cranfield. The Parish Council believes the health centre should maximise health facilities. No one will object to a café or eco-centre but they definitely would if it reduces space for much needed expanded health services. The move from 137 High Street is designed to create more space and it would be ironic to lose it at the new centre to non-health activities. The Parish Council supports the other facilities, such as a public library, but located elsewhere in the village. We believe there will be parking congestion issues if other facilities are introduced on this site and this will exacerbate access to and from the High Street. Bus services are generally poor and this increases the need for adequate parking.

HEALTH-RELATED SERVICES

The consultation adds: “In addition, there could be the opportunity for NHS dental and pharmacist services to be located in the building as well.” Cranfield already has a successful pharmacy and dental facility. To include these in the building will again reduce capacity for new services.

THE BUILDING

The consultation says: “We would look to provide these services in a modern, spacious, building that is fit-for-purpose.” The Parish Council wants good access by all methods of transport and easy parking, wide pathways for mobility users and pushchairs. With limited parking for houses as well as the surgery, people will park half-on and half-off the pavements. Dropped kerbs and bobbled pavement area (indicators of places to cross) for visually disabled are also important.

The building should be well-designed for ease of movement, fit into the landscape, be environmentally friendly and made from high quality materials. Cranfield wants a building it can be proud of.

But the Parish Council shares local dismay at the artist’s impression of the new health centre. While it welcomes an innovative and interesting architectural design, the building must sit appropriately within the proposed setting, as well as being fit for purpose.

The phrase ‘Landmark building’ is of particular concern. Functionality is the key criteria. The Parish Council wants a bespoke building whose lay-out and materials are agreed in detail with the local community – not an off-the-peg design (‘landmark’ or not) already used elsewhere.

USERS’ GROUP

The Parish Council supports the creation of a users group, representative of the community as a whole.

LOCATION

The Parish Council supports Option 2, to build a new health centre on the Central Motors site.

CRANFIELD PARISH COUNCIL

AUGUST 2009

Special planning meeting 12 August

Notes from special meeting of the planning committee 12.8.09

(Subject to confirmation at the Parish Council in September)

PRESENT: Delise Ball, Roger Baker, Alan Bastable, Ken Matthews, Peter Meadows, Roy Phillips, Laurence Pollock, John Savill, Jo Stannage.

18 members of the public in attendance

Apologies: Don Allan, Phil Bates, Sue Clark, Alan Morris, Jill Milnthorpe, Rosie Davey-Hunt.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: Peter Meadows, Jo Stannage (both health centre proposal).

Mrs Ball, chairing, allowed 15 minutes for members of the public to speak. Issues raised included access to the Home Farm site and low cost housing. Mrs Ball stressed that in planning terms the accesses, via Lodge Road and High Street into the Goodman land area were set in stone. But the Parish Council was working with Persimmon to change this.

1. General planning matters

CB/09/05410/FULL

Create new ditches and pond facilities at land at Home Farm as an off-site surface water drainage scheme for the Home Farm development.

Decision: No objection but following conditions

1. That works are carried out within normal working hours to reduce disturbance and noise.

2. That vehicles do not access Lodge Road at any time and do not use Court Road until after school has opened (9.15 am) and not between between 3 pm and 4 pm (school closure and pick-up time).

3. That a full ecological survey be carried out on the land to be crossed by the scheme.

4. That further trees be planted and other landscaping, including walkways, be put in round the stilling pond and lakes to improve the look of the area.

CB/09/05504

Reserved matters application for a house consisting of two flats at 187A High Street in front of the three fast food outlets.

Decision: To object on the grounds that the parking at the back together with the very limited parking for the fast food outlets will inevitably lead to excess parking on both the access road to the new development and the nearby part of the High Street. The Parish Council fears the planned new house will make it difficult to see the fast food outlets from the High Street and this will mean further applications for some form of signage.

CB/09/05541/FULL

Two storey side extension at 77 Bedford Road.

Decision: Not to object to the revised application.

CB/09/05615/FULL

Extension to the car park on land adjoining building 243 at the University to provide 85 new car parking spaces.

Decision: Not to object, as we welcome existing car parking spaces on the campus as we have commented in the past on parking problems there, but to ask that a biodiversity survey be carried out on the meadow in case any protected species may be disturbed in the construction of the new car parking area.

2. Home Farm development adoption

Members agreed IN Principle, to adopt the proposed green spaces and neaps and leaps at Home Farm as proposed by Woods Hardwick subject to the following provisos:

1. Colour and materials of play equipment at Parish council discretion

2. The provision of satisfactory commutation sum

3. Further discussion on relocating the pavilion

4. Provision of a suitable sum for the Parish Council to acquire its own public art

5. Further discussion on adoption of the community building

6. Seek guidance from RoSPA on risk assessment and safeguarding childen in relation to a pond on the land for adoption.

It was agreed to invite both Woods Hardwick and Persimmon to attend a parish council meeting or meetings in September.

3. GP Surgery

It was agreed on behalf of the Parish Council to merge submissions from Sue Clark and Laurence Pollock and emphasise:

1. Opposition to proposals for a library, café and other non-health functions as detrimental to the expansion of health facilities. The Parish Council would like to see the building purely for health purposes with other facilities such as a public library, elsewhere in the village.

2. Need for a users group representative of the community as a whole.

3. Need for a walk-in minor injury facility.

4. Need for adequate parking as bus services generally unsuitable.

5. Need for space for visiting GPs from other surgeries (if they will come) and visiting consultants

Summer catch-up

Wow - 22 July since the last post. Where has the summer gone? We have been to Orkney and to an Irish wedding and England my well have blown the Ashes. Scattered them I suppose. The footie season has started.

The headlines since then, in no particular order are:

• The church clock is working again.

• We are writing to Persimmon asking them to come and see us. I had a conversation with a representative which seemed to contradict a conversation the chair and I had a little earlier with another representative. Obviously we are very keen to sort out the misunderstanding.

• We have agreed BUT ONLY IN PRINCIPLE to adopt the green spaces, merrily described as NEAPS and LEAPS (neighbourhood play areas and local play areas) on the Home Farm development. But we are in discussion with Woods Hardwick (representatives of Persimmon) about moving the proposed pavilion nearer the community building and clarifying control of this.

• We have responded to the public consultation as a parish council on the proposed health centre. Basically they should be increasing the range of health services and not packing it full of business development centres and libraries and cafes. See next post.

•The lettering is almost all faded from the war memorial - just a year since we had it done to some acclaim. Currently chasing the contractor but I will be blogging obsessively about this.

• The public consultation on traffic calming proposals will not go ahead in September but October according to Amey.

• We held a special meeting in August to deal with the Home Farm adoption proposals, other planning matters and the health centre consultation. 18 members of the public attended and it was a good evening.

• There is on-going consultation about the BEAR and Covanta energy to waste (incinerator) proposals for the Vale.