So what happened to the health centre? It's a desperately-needed response to the growth in housing in Cranfield. 12 months ago it was all systems go and now it's supposedly on ice. There is money in the Home Farm 106 (planning gain agreement - I mustn't write jargon) and as the early planning for this goes ahead we need to be looking at health facilities again and finding out what the PCT's progress is on this.

Cycle track

Cycle track: Cyclists of the world unite you have nothing to lose but your chains.

Hopefully we can step up progress on the southern cycle track which is part of the Home Farm section 106 agreement. I understand the funds are released when the 50th house is occupied but there is no reason why we shouldn't be planning for this now. Cycling is the ideal way to get back and forward between the university. The roads, especially at night and in the winter are not good for either two wheels or two feet.

Wow - Feb 26 since my last post? Does that mean I have a life? Well time to park it a bit. Here's the PC, Home Farm, Cemetery, Covanta headlines:

We passed the traffic calming - at last.

Home Farm is cranking up with the planning app for the community building and offshoots in preparation and the stakeholder group meeting a second time. Some updates in the forthcoming Cranfield Express.

The memorial garden in the cemetery is finished and we are moving towards cultivation of the extension.

Covanta looms large over the Vale. There are a range of possible objections and my principle beef is their refusal to consider the railway line WHICH IS RIGHT BESIDE THE PROPOSED SITE as a means of moving material.

Next meeting Wed 5 May - hopefully with a rep from Persimmon to update us on planning apps and development of the community building. I have been pushing the idea that we need to start thinking of the cycle track.

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.

Home farm section 106

Extremely useful visit from Anne Samme, senior planner at Central Beds last night. A key question is what happens to the section 106 agreement in Home Farm if Persimmon sell on parcels of the ground to other developers. They should all pick up, pro rata, a share of any provision in kind and any cash contribution. But there are so many loopholes that it would be good to feel that 106 enforcement officers are keeping a close eye on this.

The first stakeholder meeting will be next Thursday at Chicksands. It's being held there because the Councul does not have a budget to hire a room in Cranfield. It would seem reasonable for Persimmon to contribute to that.

Cemetery extension

Starting to make some progress on the cemetery extension. VC Pete and I have been planning some additional planting to soften the edges of the new area of cultivation. Apart from that Frosts are clear to proceed in the near future 'when the ground is clear of frost'. That might be a while!

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.