Agenda item

In accordance with the Council Procedure Rules, all questions -

v  Must be relevant to an item which the Council has powers or duties;

v  Must not relate to an item which is included elsewhere on the Agenda

v  Should be limited to obtaining information or pressing for action; and

v  Should not exceed two minutes in duration.

Questions should not divulge or require to be divulged, confidential or exempt information.

In relation to a specific situation in his ward, Councillor T D Alban sought clarification regarding those sites in Huntingdonshire that benefited from planning permission for housing development, which were in the ownership of a housing association or associated / subsidiary companies or had been granted as a rural exception site where either no construction work had started or where construction work had started but there remain homes unbuilt. In response, Councillor Sanderson explained that unfortunately the information was not held in the format requested and planning applications could only be searched by the name of applicant as opposed to the registered provider. Applications from agents would also need to be cross referenced. However, he did undertake to follow this up and provide a more detailed written response. In response to a supplementary question, Councillor Sanderson agreed that it would be helpful for individual members to provide specific details of sites within their wards if they had similar experiences.

Councillor R J West with reference to a recent excellent performance report regarding bin collections, recycling and street cleansing rates asked Councillor Taylor if she would carry on with the present policies and build on the work initiated by the previous administration. In response to which, the Executive Councillor for Leisure, Waste and Street Scene praised the excellent work of the District Council’s Operations Teams who would continue to operate in the same vein. Any opportunities to make further improvements would always be investigated and looked at favourably.

With reference to two pending planning applications concerning an industrial site in Great Staughton, Councillor S Cawley enquired when the residents of Great Staughton could expect a decision on these applications. In response to which, the Executive Councillor for Planning explained that although he was unable to give a specific date as to when the applications would be determined, the overall backlog in applications had been reduced by 28%. These specific applications had been reassigned to a case officer in January 2023 who was seeking to bring this to a conclusion. Councillor T D Sanderson undertook to respond further to Councillor Cawley once he had spoken with the case officer concerned.

In response to a question from Councillor D Shaw regarding the progress which has been made thus far to achieve the goal within the Climate Strategy to replant more trees and rewild the land, the Executive Councillor for Leisure Waste and Street Scene reported that the planting of 151 standard trees had been achieved 150 whips. Within these targets 115 purple leaf plum trees had been planted at the Oxmoor, with crocuses and daffodils planted in between.

Arising from a question from Councillor C M Gleadow regarding planning applications and enforcement, the Executive Councillor for Planning explained that there were currently 224 planning applications over 26 weeks for determination which was down by 88 since the last data collection, a reduction of 28%. In terms of planning enforcement, it was reported there are currently 663 active enforcement cases, compared to over 1,400 in 2019 which had represented a positive improvement.

In response to a question from Councillor C H Tevlin as to how the Council proposed to support local people in the transition to electric vehicles, the Executive Councillor for Climate and Environment reiterated the importance of recognising the scope of the Council’s role within the transition away from internal combustion. She explained that the Authority had an important role to play in enabling and encouraging this transition although the funding was likely to come from other levels of government. However, the Council would remain vigilant to opportunities that arise to fund EV charging and in encouraging local people and businesses to take up that funding. She went on to report on recent developments in this area including a recent behaviour survey or car park users which will be reported to the Overview and Scrutiny Climate Working Group shortly. An update was also provided on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and Council were reminded that some of the rural fund within that would be considered for a scheme to support EV capacity building and infrastructure support for local community groups. Members were also advised that the Combined Authority had also recently competed their public survey on alternative fuels. The Combined Authority has also been awarded £88,000 from Central Government to create a rolling annual delivery plan for public Electric Vehicle Charging. Work had also been ongoing with partners across the county to create a local area energy plan for Cambridgeshire which will provide the necessary evidence to rationalise more investment in the Grid in the area.

Arising from concerns which has been expressed to him by residents, Councillor J Neish expressed concerns about the booking system for classes at One Leisure. Specifically, the situation where Members were booking classes and then not turning up which prevented others from attending. In response to which, the Executive Councillor for Leisure, Waste and Street Scene undertook to discuss this matter further with the Head of Leisure and Health.

In response to a question from Councillor J Neish as to when planning training was likely to be rolled out to towns and parishes, the Executive Councillor for Planning agreed that it was an appropriate time to offer training to Town and Parish Councils. He reported that training on Planning Enforcement had been held for Development Management Committee Members on Monday. This would be rolled out in future months to other Members and then wrapped up in a full training session for Town and Parish Councils later in the Summer.

With reference to news reports regarding the loss of trees planted alongside the new A14 and the recent announcement of Huntingdonshire’s Climate Emergency, Councillor C A Lowe asked what the District Council was doing to put pressure on Highways to replant the trees in Huntingdonshire at their cost. In response to which the Executive Councillor for Climate and Environment provided an update on the situation. Members were informed that a survey had been undertaken of all the trees that had not survived and replanting was expected to begin in October 2023, involving different types of tree guards. She undertook to provide information relating to the funding directly to Councillor Lowe outside of the meeting.