Meldreth issues

Meldreth Parish Council website: www.meldreth-pc.org.uk.

 Susan’s monthly reports are posted with parish council minutes.

Meldreth District Councillor, Surinder Soond: www.surindersoond.mycouncillor.org.uk

Village groups

If you run a village group and would like help advertising an event or recruiting volunteer helpers, please let Susan know and she would be glad to include a few lines in her monthly community e-newsletter.

Meldreth Station garden

Thanks to Melbourn and Meldreth residents, and the Meldreth Primary School Gardening Club, for their excellent work on the flower and veg patch outside the Spice Hut and the eight platform tubs.  If you’d like to help out please contact Susan – the more the merrier!

Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group

Please see our website at http://melbourn.org.uk/railusergroup/

This group has been instrumental in developing a constructive dialogue with the rail industry.  The purpose of the RUG is to protect and enhance access to rail service at Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Stations.  Susan chairs the group which meets every three months.   New members are not only welcome, but much needed!

Bus stop, High Street near rail station entrance

At long last progress is being made toward reinstating an officially marked out bus stop here.  The parish council have agreed to fund the necessary line painting andthe County Council has installed a bus stop pole (which now needs a flag).  The bad news is very bad, however – the County Council has withdrawn funding for all bus subsidies; we have lost the 139 and the 128 is on the list of cuts to come.  Watch this space.

Royston and District Community Transport scheme

If you are elderly or mobility impaired, and need lifts to the doctor’s or to get shopping done, you could benefit from the Royston and District Community Transport scheme.

A fleet of volunteer drivers donate their time free of charge.  Passengers contribute 45 pence per mile; the minimum charge is £4 per journey of up to nine miles.  The scheme also operates a wheelchair-accessible 12/16 seat minibus and a four-six seat Multi-Purpose Vehicle.

The service can be used for health care appointments, day centres, special needs clubs, social purposes and shopping.

If you require a lift – or would like to volunteer as a driver – please text or phone 01763-245228 between 9AM and 3PM Monday to Friday;  an answer phone will take a message if the phone is unmanned.  (Please don’t be put off by the answer phone – it does get checked regularly!) You can also email the service at rct1@totalise.co.uk.

Parish Council Flood Avoidance subcommittee background

This subcommittee seeks to raise awareness, investigate critical points in the drainage network, and assist in the coordination of neighbourhood working parties to do light ditch clearing work on a little and often approach.

In the summer of 2008, Mike Cooper of the Highways Agency and John Gipson, former Meldreth Parish Council chairman, met at the Stocks, to try and determine what could be done to alleviate the flooding problem there and to understand how the drainage system there was maintained in years gone by.  Two drains were cleared of muck and Mr Cooper then sent a jetting team in clear the drains further.  Shortly thereafter we experienced heavy rainfall, and no flooding or pooling.  Fingers crossed, nearly two years on the area remains flood free.

John and Jill Price, together with a team of helpers, have worked to clear the historic drainage ditch that runs alongside his property and emptying into the River Mel.  Conservation officer Rob Mungovan came out to have a look and advise on how best to plant up the banks of this restored ditch.  This will alleviate further the stress on surface water in the High Street.  Our thanks go to John and Jill and their team.

Top Tips: If you are having your house re-thatched, please be aware that deposits of straw in nearby drains can cause serious blockages. Please don’t be tempted to put grass cuttings or other garden waste in ditches near or bordering your property. This will simply obstruct the flow of water.

Remember: The serious house flooding in Meldreth of July 2006 occurred as a result of blocked waterways, not Environment Agency flood risk areas.  Flooding has not recurred.

Representation to SCDC Planning Committee on proposed Whitecroft Road development (3 April)

Housing need:  I am convinced of the need for affordable housing in Meldreth; clusters of very small developments are obviously desirable but unfortunately not enough have come forward. 
 
Drainage issues: I am satisfied that the parish council has thoroughly explored drainage issues.  I have explored the matter of the blocked ditch on the corner of Station Road and Whitecroft Road with county council officers and the cause of the blockage has been identified and isolated; it does not appear to relate to any problems of general capacity but rather to tree works nearby and a need to clear out debris from that specific event.
 
Capacity of local schools:  Melbourn Village College is signifcantly undersubscribed.  It is designed as a relatively small village college and feed-in of local children is vital to its future.  This is a community-based college and it is in the interest of the cluster of villages around Melbourn that the college be well supported in all ways.  It depends primarily on feed in from strong primary schools.  Meldreth Primary on the other hand is near capacity.  There is a delicate balancing act ahead, no doubt, and I would like to cite the email below from the county council which outlines the situation.  On balance I believe that it is in the best interest of the community to accept the challenge of more not fewer children in the village and heading eventually to the primary school.  As the county council email points out, the growth projections do take into account feeding into Meldreth from other villages, and don’t reflect an estimation based on the village of Meldreth alone.
 
Highways: My concerns about the position of the access which I made to the District Council late last year remain, though from our conversation last week I am encouraged to learn about the pedestrian provision that is being considered at this time. I would urge the Planning Committee, should it decide to approve the planning application, to give serious thought to imposing a condition for some measures to alleviate the force of traffic coming down from Station Road bridge.
 
Transport and access:  The advantage of this application is that it is accessible to public transport, and it is within easy walking distance of local shops and schools.  This includes Melbourn’s 26 bus stop and Meldreth’s Rail Stationm Meldreth Primary and Melbourn Village College, and a multitude of local businesses.  It would be possible to live in this development without the need to own a car, and this is would be an obvious draw to live in this prospective development.   The chances are that private transport will become increasingly expensive and unaffordable and so these transport and access links are absolutely vital – and should be designed in to housing developments of any type whenever possible.  There are also obvious important benefits from an environmental standpoint.
 
Concentration of growth in one part of the village: I genuinely understand that the prospect of a large development imposed on one part of the village is a source of concern to those who live nearest and it is difficult to manage growth of a village by perfect design.  Overall I would have to rate the housing need as the over-riding factor in favour of the application, with transport and access features strengthening the case very considerably.
(From Cambridgeshire County Council:
Cllr van de Ven,
 
Ian Trafford has passed you question about the planned housing development in Meldreth to me. 
 
I have consulted colleagues in the Growth and Economy Service (formerly New Communities) who are responsible for co-ordinating the Council’s response to development proposals and developer negotiations.  They confirm that colleagues at South Cambridgeshire District Council consulted us in December 2011, about the proposed development, and the impact this may have on have demand for places at Meldreth Primary School .
 
The proposed development is for all of the 26 dwellings to be affordable housing, which would be expected to lead to around 9 additional primary aged pupils across all year groups.  If this were a commercial housing development, County Council officers would have sought a developer contribution towards mitigating the impact of the development at the school.  However, the development proposals are for a 100% affordable housing scheme, and the Council’s policy does not support seeking a developer contribution from such schemes.  Furthermore, the emerging national policy direction, through the Community Infrastructure Levy prevents contributions being sought from affordable housing units.
 
It is noted that the five-year forecasts, produced by the Research and Performance Service, indicate that the school is forecast to fill to operate at capacity over the next few years.  However, looking at the NHS birth and registration data, a number of these pupils would appear to be forecast as being from outside Meldreth Primary’s catchment area.  Nevertheless, officers are aware of the potential impact of this development on the school, and should planning permission be granted, will work with the school to ensure it is supported in meeting any pressure on places arising from the development.