Histon & Impingtonsome thoughts about the future

David Jenkins and Denis PayneHiston & Impington Parish Council

September 2013

Histon & Impington: now and later

What makes Histon & Impington so special?

What do we imagine it will look like in 2020 and beyond?• Identity and vision and our new web-site

Taking control of our own destiny: the Neighbourhood Plan

Bypass Farm: why and what can we expect?

A14 latest: a play in 2 acts!

And some improvements in our village

We live in a village but it’s a very special village

•Plus Homefield Park, Orchard Field and Rowleys•And there are the adjacent woods and green spaces north, east and west of the villageThere’s a village green and a windmill

• IVC is an academy with its roots firmly in the community• It’s a (the?) leading provider of IB in the state sector in the countryWe’ve got primary and secondary schools

•Histon FC is in the Conference North with teams from much bigger communities•Cambs FA has its headquarters at the football clubThere’s a football club

•Not just Vision Park but offices along Station Road as well•There are even some global headquarters including the International Whaling CommissionWe’ve got an office park

•Chivers became Premier Brands became Hain Daniel produces 90% of the UK’s jams•Sadly we’ve recently lost Unwins and SC PackagingAnd a significant manufacturing site

•With plans for the acquisition and development of Bypass Farm•And we are starting to think about leisure as well as recreation

We’ve got a rec and several children’s play areas

•With a dozen successful shops and several more on Station Road•Many of our retail outlets are ‘destination’ stores for people from outside the communityThere’s a high street

•6 pubs, 2 restaurants and 4 coffee shops/outlets (and counting)•We intend that the Station development can deliver moreWe’ve got several places to eat

•The concrete busway runs through us; it gives us excellent cycle connections• It will soon connect us directly to the new Cambridge station at Chesterton

And not forgetting regular bus services to our big city neighbour

We don’t expect much to change in the future; but we do expect …

• Not much bigger than it is now• A little more employment but certainly no less• A little more variety in the High Street• Better public transport connections• (continued) Low crime and low fear of crime• An increased range of leisure and recreation

activities for all ages• A destination as well as a great place to live• A sustainable community

Our identity and vision takes us to 2020 and beyond

• Colours to reflect our heritage, our environment and our confidence

• Fonts to reinforce our confidence but also chosen to facilitate communication

• A logo which is less formal, more youthful and compatible with the medium of most of our communications

A new web-site will go live ‘shortly’

The Neighbourhood Plan will enable us to influence our future

• https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/giving-communities-more-power-in-planning-local-development

• ‘We want people to be able to influence decisions about new and modified buildings and facilities in their area’

• ‘To give people more control over the development of their local area, we are:– giving communities the power to set the priorities

for local development through neighbourhood planning’

If we’ve got a Neighbourhood Plan we will have more power and control

• Neighbourhood planning gives communities the power to:– make a neighbourhood development plan– make a neighbourhood development order– make a Community Right to Build order

• A neighbourhood development plan establishes general planning policies for the development and use of land in a neighbourhood

• Neighbourhood plans allow local people to get the right type of development for their community

But it can’t be a Parish Council plan

• Neighbourhood planning will be led by the local parish or town council.

• Parishes with a neighbourhood plan will receive 25% of any Community Infrastructure Levy arising from developments in their area compared to parishes without a neighbourhood plan who will receive 15%.

• The local planning authority has a duty to support communities making their neighbourhood plan

This is how we think we will organise our plan

Histon& Impington

Environment

Public open space

Farms

Drainage

Transport

Street scene

Connections Sport, recreation

and leisure

Housing and demography

Economy

Commerce

Employment

Community

Faith and religion

Safety and security

Health and well-being

Education and training

Heritage

Sustainable community

• Each major block will be led by a Parish Council committee chair– We will need lots of

‘stakeholder’ support as well

• We will probably need someone external to help with:– Heritage; and– Sustainable community

Bypass Farm is both tactical and strategic

• It’s available• By some measures we

have insufficient green space in the village

• It would be a tempting housing development for the County Council

• We don’t expect it to cost a lot and be a drain on the Parish Council’s budget

So what are we proposing to do with it?

• Fill a gap between play grounds and the Rec

• Provide a home for the brownies and scouts and other clubs and societies

• Enable people to enjoy more than just soccer, cricket, tennis and bowls

… but we don’t know yet

There will be an extensive consultation exercise

• Firstly we will ask the village if we should go ahead and acquire Bypass Farm (soon)

• Then we will find out what the village wants and needs and develop a plan to deliver it

• And then we’ll consult on that (next year)

Act 1: the pinch point workan extra lane eastbound

Act 1: the pinch point workand an extra lane westbound

Act 2: the full Montynote no access at Dry Drayton

The Girton junction is not quite as ambitious as it was first time

And some improvements in our villages

• 30mph limit to be extended to the village sign north on the B1049/Cottenham Road

• Improvements to Co-Op corner:– Narrowing of the lead-in to Station Road and an

island to make it easier to cross– Improved pavements along the front of the Co-Op

• Possible improvement at School Hill• Some ideas about the cross road by the Green

It’s such a challenging future and we’re going to need a lot of help

Please sign up now to be a part of our Neighbourhood Plan team