Who was Guy?

The best we can say about the poem 'Remember Remember' in this month's Cranfield Express is that the writer should relocate to Northern Ireland circa 1968. The Orange Order would love this kind of pompous celebration of protestant ascendancy and catholics being hung, drawn and quartered after vicious torture. Catholics were seen in the late 1500s as the terrorist threat and it is true that if Fawkes and Catesby had been successful it would have been Britain's 5/11. On the basis of that one attempted outrage an awful lot of intolerance has been built, however.

So we should be grateful in some respects to Ms Cook for reminding us of what Guy Fawkes night is all about - a complete historical irrelevance in age when we have other more serious issues to hand.

Infrastructure Planning Commission

I received 30 copies of the Covanta application registration form this morning for Budgens and the Coop. The process for interacting with the application is pretty clumsy and you wonder why. However I thought the present government promised to get rid of the IPC. So why is it still here? Localism should mean local planning decisions.

Update

American founding father Benjamin Franklin said there were only two certainties in life – death and taxes.

For the parish council, this translates as maintaining the village cemetery, tucked away in Rectory Lane and setting the budget every year.

The two are linked, like all parish council services, but there are ambitious plans for the cemetery in the future. That will require money (or ‘resources’ as they say in government) and that means careful budgeting.

With the village set to grow by say, 20 per cent, with the Home Farm – and who knows what other – development, parish councillors have been thinking about capacity in the existing cemetery, opened in the early 1990s. Interment of full remains (as opposed to interment of ashes) on the north side will soon be moving into an earlier extension which is due to be tilled and reseeded. An extension road was also constructed several years ago to allow access for hearses and mourners.

To ensure there is enough space, in the long-term, the Parish Council is hoping to buy some adjoining glebe (Church of England) land to the north of the cemetery. At time of writing we are still waiting to hear if the Diocese of St Albans has accepted our offer. If we are successful, however, the land could mean a chance to meet another need in the village – at least for a few years.

There has been a big interest in allotments in Cranfield and the council has had enquiries from quite a number of people. The new land, if a sale is agreed, would offer a medium-term location for allotments. This, in my view, would be only the start for a search for suitable allotments sites. The interest in freshly grown food from an identifiable place is now starting to link in with concerns about the economy, world food prices and massive damage to the global environment by, for instance, green beans flown in from Kenya.

Apart from that, gardening is a great way to stay active without busting a gut in a sweaty gym. So it looks like a win-win-win situation.

We are inviting an allotment expert to a forthcoming meeting to check out the practicalities (maximum permitted size of sheds, are dogs allowed? etc). For more information email me on broadgreen68@btinternet.com or tel 01234 757689.

If all goes according to plan – big ‘if’ – parish council land could both feed parishioners and then bury their well-nourished bodies, eventually. Now that sounds like recycling.

High Street

High Street closed before I made it up on the bike so a quick reversal and then down Bourne End Road, Astwood Road College Road and into the uni. Round Shire Lane up to Nissan and back into the campus. Thank God the rain has stopped. But loads of gravel is still jumping around on College Road.

Cranfield Cemetery visitors/friends' group

Cranfield Cemetery is a key service provided by the parish council. The council has developed and invested in it in recent years in preparation for an expected growth in population. It has also redesigned and enhanced the memorial garden.

Unsurprisingly, there is a regular engagement with the public on the state of the cemetery and the facilities, some of it quite animated. In line with many other public service providers I am, therefore, proposing a visitors’ group, which would meet with a nominated parish councillor or parish councillors. The aim would be to hear issues and deal with enquiries and simultaneously to provide feedback to those concerned enough to attend. This would not exclude contact with the parish council on an ad hoc, day to day basis.

It might meet just twice a year plus a site visit during the growing season, perhaps. Non-parish council membership would be flexible and self-selecting. The group’s views would not be binding on the parish council in any way but ideally it should be listening to what its members are saying.

If the parish council agrees to this proposal I would place an advert in the October Cranfield Express seeking expressions of interest.

Hot material

My own experience of road resurfacing in Flitwick this week was daunting. On Monday morning, having dithered over a second cup of tea I left it a bit too late. By the time I got to Steppingley Road, Flitwick it was being closed off at the Tesco roundabout for about 200 metres. This handily blocked the entrance to the station car parks (rip-off First Capital Connect and value for money Cowlgrove). I decided to head for Harlington rather than cruise the suburbs of Flitwick looking for a spot. I cannot recall any prominent notices the previous week announcing that this was all happening and I have not the faintest idea how people who parked at the station and came back before 5 pm actually got out.

Vehicles are unable to drive over hot material

We are waiting, trembling, for the impact of road resurfacing on the High Street, next week. Bedfordshire Highways say:

I am pleased to tell you of highway improvements that are due to start in your area. The resurfacing of the High Street (junction of Mill Road to Merchant Lane) will commence 23 August and is expected to take 7 working days to complete.

Works are scheduled to take place between 08:00 and 18:00 but on rare occasions may overrun due to circumstances beyond our control. The above section will be closed as a through route during these hours and will only be opened when it is safe for all road users.

Vehicles are unable to drive over hot material. Therefore, at the time resurfacing takes place in your vicinity, vehicular access to / from your property may not be available.

Pedestrian access to / from properties affected by this restriction will be maintained at all times as will access for emergency vehicles.

Staff will be positioned throughout the site to help predict these individual restrictions to you.

In order to carry out these works we must ask you to ensure that vehicles are not parked on the affected stretch of carriageway during these hours. Advance warning signs will be in place confirming the start date and expected duration although this is subject to change due to extenuating circumstances. If it is necessary to adjust these details, the warning signs will be altered accordingly.

Should you require further information regarding these works then please do not hesitate to contact us during office hours on 0300 300 8049. We apologise for any disruption this may cause and thank you in anticipation of your cooperation.

Farmers' market

Farmers market this morning. Bought 2 applies pies and a slice of carrot cake from Sue. The only stall. Anyone any ideas for what next?

News Central

I'm wondering what the future of News Central, Central Beds' quarterly newsletter is. Communities secretary Eric Pickles has asserted that there will be a crack down on what have been called 'Town Hall Pravdas' (Chicksands Daily Telegraph to give it is local variation) . It's hard to tell how much money will be saved but local government of whatever political persuasion has struggled to get a fair hearing with the local media. There is the added difficulty that the free papers do not necessarily reach everyone and there are plenty of people who are not internet junkies - unlike the parishmatters blogger! So how will people be informed both about what is being done and how they can participate?

Wind turbines

It was interesting at the Parish Council on Wednesday there was no majority in favour of a protest about proposals for a wind turbine in Marston. A new collection of turbines are peeping over the trees in the direction of Emberton. Personally I believe we have to accommodate ourselves, at some point, to proximity to our sources of energy. Wind turbines are pretty benign compared to a multi-gigawatt power station either coal or nuclear.

Land swap

The chair of governors from Cranfield Lower School and the head teacher attended on Wed evening to discuss the possibility of a landswap between part of the recreation ground and the land allocated to the school on Home farm. They point out that that land on Home Farm is entirely useless to them because of the remoteness from the main site.

This has been manifestly obvious to just about everyone from the word go - a word spoken eight or nine years ago. The only reason large scale housing development got the go-ahead from an earlier enquiry was because it was ruled that this extra land would allow the lower school to grow sufficiently. Education capacity had hitherto been a stumbling block. But this solution is nonsense given the age group concerned. There is even money - more than £100,000 - for a toilet block on the site which needs to be repatriated to the main site somehow, otherwise it will be lost.

Cycle track

There is £100,000 in the Home farm 106 agreement for the cycle path to the uni plus upgrading the path between Church Walk and Court Road and creating a anew footpath and cycleway on the north side of Court Road between the school and the High Street. Found this out at the home farm stakeholder meeting on Thursday. But no one knows how this is to be prioritised. Investigations continue.

Community Hall

Persimmon's community hall looks better in colour with a few illustrative trees behind it. It will have neither a tin roof nor a turf roof (turf roofs are looking a bit yellow at the moment according to MW). Most the meeting was updating with news of the Phase 2 application going in soon and phase 1 being approved in the near future.

I asked about environmental standards for the community hall. These will be to Breeam ' very good'. BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is the leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings. It sets the standard for best practice in sustainable design and has become the de facto measure used to describe a building's environmental performance.

There is an 'excellent' standard that should be aspired to I believe but additional funding would be needed to upgrade. I will be asking the PC to investigate those extra costs and establish whether there are funding streams that could help bridge the difference. In simple energy costs good design will pay for itself and water conservation will become vital in the future (another dry summer looming).

Lodge Road

Designs have arrived for the development of Lodge Road. Sure enough we have indications of a 'No Left turn' sign out of Lodge road (subject to traffic regulation order). There is the beginning of the cycle way at the top of Lodge Road - subject to working with the university and potential funders to create a full length one. The bus stop on the west side has to be relocated and of course there is the roundabout. Now that there is progress on the No Left Turn into Lodge Road this is probably the remaining area of particular concern as it will have to process an awful lot of traffic.

Update

Big gap again due to day jobs and heat (my excuse any way).

Here are the headlines:

Deal on location of houses on Goodman land in relation to Maple Way brokered.

Still complaints from Willow and Plough about location of Community Building on Home Farm

Yet another hitch over timing of traffic calming. The tale of some lost money and whether St Modwen occupation had actually triggered its release.

Significant progress made it getting a 'no left turn' out of Home farm into Lodge Road. A key Parish Councillor goal in the recent discussions.

Housing targets

Communities minister Eric Pickles is abolishing local authority housing targets, I understand from media reports. Could that mean goodbye to 135 houses behind central motors and 21 at 1 and 2 the High Street?

Home Farm

It looks like Persimmon have been able to offer Maple Way residents some satisfaction on the location of plots near them and the boundary. Personally I'm still worried about footpath 16 running between the developments. Ask any resident of Springfield Way (lowish odd numbers) about the impact of the footpath to Lordsmead and they will tell a few tales.

Cemetery

Carried out some direct action on Wednesday. Weeded overgrown segment of the mem garden and watered the evergreen that is suffering. The taps need badly looked at. Frosts will start the extension preparations in September.

Memorial Garden

The Memorial garden in the cemetery is suffering in the heat. It is supposed to be low maintenance but it has only been in two months since it went in. Hopefully our landscape contractors will be able to sort the current wilting look but it should not need weeded or watered on a regular basis.

Bottom of Beancroft Road is strange now that it has been diverted onto the new road and the new roundabout. I have been downloading and printing google satellite images of the area over the last two years tracking the enormous changes. Soon it will be hard to remember what any of it was ever like.

IPC

The Infrastructure Planning Commission which would adjudicate on projects such as Covanta is being abolished. I presume this will then mean it will be judged by the local planning authority. However with threats of costly appeals and the possibility of it being 'called in' by the secretary of state there is still a fair bit of central involvement. IPC 'Instant Planning Consent' as one local wag refers to it. Still, the new government might struggle to get its new nuclear power stations through without it. I predict a new form of control and direction will emerge.

Home Farm stakeholder meeting

It was generally a productive, informative meeting:

Site interface: Martin Wright reported on his meeting with a number of Maple Way Residents earlier in the day. There is some possibility of realigning or shifting the plots, which have been the main cause of difficulty.

Footpath 16: The proposal to divert footpath 16 was also discussed. Anne Samme acknowledged the dilemma between current residents’ preferences and issues around community safety if the existing route between the two sets of houses was maintained.

No left turn: Martin said Persimmon were still in discussion with Highways regarding the viability of a No Left Turn sign into Lodge Road.

Footpath and hedge: Martin said he understood there would be a footpath down the left hand side of Lodge Road (from the High St) with a crossing for Villa Park residents. Scrutiny of the map suggests that the hedge on the right hand side is intact. Anne Samme said the hedge was beyond the ditch so she could not see a problem.

Road widening: Persimmon stressed that residents would be given plenty of notice of work on and through Lodge Road starting. Concerns about flooding were raised if the road level was raised any further above the driveway levels. Martin said one solution would be to design the road so that it drained towards the ditch. He said the road widening would be done on phases but noted points about school buses using Lodge Road.

Development Committee: Anne Samme said the application would probably go to development committee on 21 July. She reminded residents that one representative could speak for three minutes in addition to the parish council speaking for three minutes.

Sports area: Gary Surkitt outlined the options for the village sports area - Two football pitches plus either a bowling green or a cricket square. There was also discussion around the spec for the sports field changing rooms. There is a need for sports club input to this.

Parish Council: On behalf of Sue I confirmed that the work on the community building planning was progressing well and the PC was about to consider adopting the open spaces.

Parish Council 19 May 2010

Big discussion about Home Farm planning application last night. The biggest issue is some plots up close against Maple Way. Residents have already made their views clear to the PC and there is an on-going boundary dispute between them and Persimmon about land ownership. We want these plots shifted back.

We had a lengthy discussion about Persimmon proposals to reroute footpath 16 so that it runs through the new development - not between it and Maple Way. Residents of MW want it to remain where it is. I personally believe that if it does, it will attract anti-social behaviour like similar alleyways elsewhere e.g. Springfield Way/Lordsmead. It is no longer a public right of way across open land in the traditional sense. In the end we voted 4-3 for the original ('alleyway') route to be retained rather than supporting the proposed rerouting.

I asked central Beds councillors to look into delays by Amey in implementing the traffic calming proposals that have now been agreed.

Bike ride this morning - North Crawley, Folly Lane, Shire Lane (dead badger on the roadside), Nissan roundabout, bowstring road, back into Cranfield and through the Persimmon Expressway (previously Lodge Road).

Lodge Road

EDF gave Lodge Road a fair old battering last month and unceremoniously blocked it several times with their mini-dumpers. At one point I insisted they move the dumper to allow my bike through but other more deferential parishioners just turned back when they saw the road obstructed. I had a chat to two who thought it was all official. Not.

The most recent CenBeds customer service bulletin records :

"I have received the following e mail from the clerk to Cranfield Parish Council. 'I believe the works, which were within Lodge Road at Cranfield, were undertaken by EDF. Can you get someone to check the final finish to see whether further attention is required? E-mail from Parish Clerk It would appear the contractor who has restored the road after doing work has not completed the re-filling by sealing the road – it is suggested that this will deteriorate over the next 6 – 12 months.' "

This road is going to get so much hammer in the next few years and we have to be working to keep it running and well laid.

New Government?

There are rumours that the Government might change. I suspect it is unlikely to affect (a) housing development (b) Covanta (c) the price of fish.

Archaeology?

Cycling down Persimmon Way on Friday and noticed half a dozen men on their hands and knees excavating small holes in the ground on Home Farm. Central Bedfordshire red van nearby. Could these be archaeologists or have they just lost something? I'll pester Central Beds for some further info.

Reports of a Road accident in Lodge Road yesterday. No details at the moment. Thanks to Cranfield's senior WVM for that.

Parish Council 5 May 2010

We had Persimmon present to outline their proposals for the community building on Home Farm with library and pre-school add-ons. There were reps from the pre-school, lower school and cyclists (keen on the 106 agreement provision for a cycle track to the south of the airfield) present. The design has some potential although there may be issues about the current footprint's proximity to nearby houses. The current money will not permit the full construction of the pre-school but with planning permission in place they can apply for other grants more easily.

We also had a first look at the Persimmon application to build 129 houses on the 1A and 1B plots. The biggest issue at the moment is line between Maple Way and building site where there is an argument about the original boundary. Persimmon claim that residents have encroached on their land. While this is, in a sense, a private argument it does impact on whether houses Persimmon are proposing are too close to existing properties for planning purposes. There are rumours of footpaths moved and ditches filled in. Looking on paper or screen won't do it. We need to be tramping the fields to sort this one out.

Home Farm Planning Application

The 129-home planning application application is now in for Home Farm, I understand. I still can't see it on Central Beds Planning Applications. Work on planning the community building is also going on apace.

Under the 'section 106' agreement Persimmon is legally bound to deliver the community building. In addition to this, cash sums are included in the 106 agreement for additional facilities. These are: library £75,000; pre-school £50,000 and toilet block/changing rooms (for the lower school playing area) £120,000.

At last month’s Parish Council Planning Committee, Martin Wright, for Persimmon said Persimmon was willing to engage with the community if it wished to extend the building to include some or all of these facilities in the community building rather than constructing them separately. There are potential benefits to the community if a planning application for an extended facility is submitted at the same time as the first phase of Home Farm.

The Parish Council has now set up a working party to consider the workability of the building, and the feasibility of adding facilities to the basic structure. The working party includes Jonathan Vowles, representing Acorn Pre-school; Heather Knox, Central Bedfordshire; a Central Bedfordshire planning officer; Mrs Delise Ball, chair of the Parish Council; Central Bedfordshire Councillor Ken Matthews; Mrs Sue Clark, chair of the Parish Council Planning Committee; a Persimmon representative and a representative from the library service.

The Home Farm Stakeholder Group held its second meeting in March. In addition to discussion on the community building (see above) it also looked at the Parish Council considering the adoption of open spaces, a possible public exhibition in local retail premises (subject to agreement), archaeology and the design of the Lodge Road exit junction to discourage left hand turns.

The Lower School obviously has a strong interest in developments. Paul Rossiter, chair of Cranfield Lower School Governing Body adds: "We are keen to work through the Home Farm Stakeholder Group to make the most of the opportunities available to the school, for the benefit of our children, as the result of this development. As we have limited space for expansion within our current boundaries it is important to us to take advantage of any facilities available to us and to ensure the appropriate use of funds designated for the school's benefit.”

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.