Parish Council November news

Foxton Parish Council News

LHI Traffic calming in Foxton

Local Highway Initiative installations of traffic calming and MVAS units have now gone through the formal consultation which did not receive any queries. The Parish Council is now waiting for County Council Highways to send the final costings and installation work should finally be starting at the beginning of February 2023 at the village gateways on Barrington, Shepreth and Fowlmere roads.

Finally, a result from County Council Highways on the pavement slurry work!

On 19^th October a Parish Councillor met with a representative from County Council Highways, along with representatives from Milestone (the contractor) and Pronin, the sub-contractor of Milestone who actually did the work. Each and every pavement hatch cover which had slurry preventing them being moved, was pointed out to all on St Laurence ,West Hill Road and Rowlands Close. Eventually the contractors and CC Highways agreed it was an unacceptable standard of work and that every cover would be ‘chopped out’ and made good  by Friday 28^th October 2022.

The Parish Council is happy to report that this remedial work has now been  completed but we are still chasing the matter of grass growing though one of the paths at Rowlands Close.

It has taken a lot of work and much complaining to CC Highways from February 2022 until now to get this satisfactorily resolved!

Playground fundraising event on Sunday 30th October 2022

Over 500 laps of the Recreation Ground were completed by 38 fun runners on a   damp autumn morning, and good fun was had by all. Several children ran more than 25 laps of 450 metres, with runners from 2 to 18+ taking part. We have some very fit and athletic children in Foxton, who will all benefit from the rejuvenated playground! The sponsorship money raised will support the parish council’s grant applications, which if successful, will enable us to deliver these exciting new play facilities.

In addition to the run, many families and other villagers enjoyed refreshments, Halloween-themed craft activities and stalls with delicious cakes and attractive homemade crafts. Local wood craftsmen demonstrated how they use hazel poles coppiced from Foxton Woods to make stool and chair legs, and there were displays of wood weaving and pole lathing. Over £550 was raised in just two hours! The Parish Council was delighted with the response and would like to sincerely thank all those who took part in the run, volunteered to help on the morning, and donated a superb spread of cakes, biscuits and preserves. It was a very successful team effort.

Next stage for the playground project

The project brief is now on the national tender portal as we have to follow all the rules and regulations from South Cambs District Council. Bids for the tenders will go through a rigorous evaluation process but any potential award of a contract will be totally dependent on how much grant funding the Parish Council can raise. We are applying to the 2 large landfill companies in our area, Amy Corporation and FCC, both of which have a good track record of donating large funds to projects like this. We will not know if any grant application bids are successful until March 2023, so fingers crossed.

Bus service now running through Foxton

The 915 bus is now the 26 bus service from Centrebus. There was some inaccurate information put out on the Intalink website, so the Parish Council asked Centrebus direct and this is the reply:

‘From Cambridge, service 26 will serve the bus stops on the A10, near to the level crossing at Foxton Rail Station. It will then turn left into Station Road and serve the stop near to Hall Close, and also at the opposite end outside /opposite Burlington Park (aka War Memorial) which is the timing point for the service. The bus turns left into High Street, continuing onto Fowlmere Road and the next official stop is then by Hillfield, although the bus can operate as Hail and Ride, meaning it can stop and pick up at any point where there is not a marked bus stop where it is safe to do so. This is at the driver’s discretion, but does not apply to those areas of the A10 where there are no marked stops.’

Please note that this service and all the other bus services are only secured until the end of March 2023. The Cambridge & Peterborough Combined Authority under Mayor Dr Nik Johnson has the responsibility for the region’s bus services and as yet there are no forward plans that have been made public.

Police report

There have been reported thefts of catalytic converters in Foxton and surrounding villages recently. It takes just minutes for thieves to remove a catalytic converter and on many occasions victims are unaware their vehicle has been targeted even though it was on a driveway. The offences often happen in broad daylight as well at night. Please report any suspicious activity by calling 999.

Planning applications approved

5 High Street – 22/03004 – 8 solar panels on roof of modern garage.

Barn on Fowlmere Road – 20/03934/CONDB – various conditions of Contamination, Surface and Foul Water drainage, Water run-off, Boundary treatment, External material, Lighting design and Biodiversity enhancement all met.

2 Station Road – 22/03582 – Replacement flat roof with PV panels on the stables (rear garden).

1 Hall Close – 22/02796 – side and rear single story extension, external changes and conversion of a garage to accommodation.

Reeds Autos -27 Royston Road – expansion of existing car dealership to provide additional hardstanding for vehicle storage – 21/00560/FUL.

Burlington Park –Mission Street 22/01823/FUL – Extension and external alterations to units 2,3 and 7 of Press Buildings, landscaping and associated work. This application was previously refused but now approval is recommended as the tall single flue has been replaced with 2 strobic flues which are reduced in height and have overall lower visibility. This application has now been approved by SCDC planners.

Parish Council planning responses lodged on SCDC Planning Portal

Burlington Park –Mission Street -22/03826/FUL – approval recommended subject to satisfactory answers to a number of points on car park spaces, travel plan, access to site, disabled parking, foul drainage, noise, use of grey water, and traffic flows within the site. No decision as yet on this application.