A very Happy New Year to everyone in Soham and Wicken.
We are starting strong with the opening of the new Soham to Wicken cycle path – thanks to a collaboration across councils – and the news that Back Lane will be resurfaced urgently.
But this month, I turn my column over to some observations about a contentious and important area of Local Government: the planning system.
East Cambs grows about 2% each year, making us a national leader. I welcome this, provided it is locally led and well supported. We need good homes for young families and economic growth, in the right places.
Local councils can’t set their own housing targets (this is done by Government). But we do write a Local Plan. This specifies where and how development must be built, such as size, design and infrastructure requirements. It also protects our countryside.
This constantly depends on being able to demonstrate we are meeting our allocated target. If we can’t, our Local Plan becomes void. This means development can go ahead without local input or infrastructure.
Generally, planning applications are delegated to professional officers for decision. Councillors can choose to consider them ourselves at Planning Committee, which may apply different weighting to different factors. I have ensured that the Battery Storage application outside Wicken will be one such application.
It is illegal for planning to be predetermined or party-political so, to represent this, we never sit in political groups.
Parishes can add hyper-local rules by writing a Neighbourhood Plan. I am proud that, following a Motion I brought to Full Council, East Cambs is funding up to £5000 per parish for this purpose after the Government withdrew funding. Soham has a Neighbourhood Plan, with Wicken’s well underway.
East Cambs offers a comprehensive pre-application advice service for residents. And if you ever want to share your views on local development, or anything else, please get in touch via lucius.vellacott@eastcambs.gov.uk.
