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Month: August 2016

Chivers and Hill masterplan for Hardwick

Chivers Farm and Hill have joined together to promote and develop a long term masterplan for the land to the East of Cambridge Road. I am writing to make the Hardwick Happenings aware of this news and I attach details.

Chivers Farm and Hill aspire to rebalance the village, reinforcing a village centre based around the Community Primary School and shops and providing significant additional community facilities.

Other features include:

  • A relief road to avoid the current route past the shops
  • Large areas of public open space and recreation fields
  • Areas for possible use as shops, community buildings, sports pavilion, car parks and a barn style office development

The masterplan is put forward as an initial concept that will be shaped by extensive consultation over the coming years.

Master Plan
You can see this plan in more detail here

The land is currently Green Belt and as such a development would not receive planning approval except in very special circumstances and this would require positive support from the village and is expected to take about 10 years.

I believe the consultation process involving the village starts now. Hardwick residents are encouraged to study the plans (available here) and comment on them.

Comments could perhaps be made to Hardwick Happenings or to the village website. Feedback can also be sent to the Clerk of the Parish Council or to myself. We would be pleased to hear of comments as would Chivers Farm and Hill.

Regards

Steve Rose

Chairman

Hardwick Parish Council

Agreement between Cambridgeshire County Council and the Trustees of Hardwick Village Hall and Social Club relating to finance and use of Hardwick Community Primary School

Some residents are understandably concerned at the possibility of losing use of the community facilities at the school. This is being proposed by developers so that pre-school provision can be increased to meet the additional need caused by new developments.

It is true that the County Council can, if they wished, take over the community rooms and use them for pre-school use. This has always been the case. However if they do so they must either provide equivalent accommodation elsewhere or offer financial compensation.

The text of the agreement with the County Council is shown here.

Hardwick Primary School Legal Agreement – Appendix‏

Steve Rose
Chairman
Hardwick Parish Council

July Parish Meeting Report

There was a well-attended Parish Council meeting on 26th July and a lively open session before the formal meeting began.  Alison Talkington from South Cambs District Council gave a brief presentation about Neighbourhood Plans.  Hardwick already has an active Village Plan Group, supported by the Parish Council,  but there are advantages to the more formal Neighbourhood Plan when it comes to local decisions on planning issues – but also a lot of extra work.  The Parish Council decided that it wanted to adopt a Neighbourhood Plan for the whole of Hardwick and Tony Gill, Pauline Joslin and Jim Stewart were appointed to a newly formed group.  The new Group was asked to meet with the Village Plan Group with a view to combining resources.

A planning application for 98 houses on land adjacent to Grace Crescent was on the agenda for discussion and a number of village residents attended the meeting to make their views known to the Parish Council.  There were some  thoughtful and constructive comments which the Parish Council were pleased to receive.  There followed a detailed and wide ranging discussion of the application by the Parish Council.  The proposal would provide much needed affordable housing in the village which the Council is keen to support but the Council had significant misgivings over the sustainability of a development on this site and, on  a show of hands, unanimously decided to object to the application.

Clare McGowan of Hardwick Play Park Group gave an interim report to the Parish Council on the activities of the Group.

Other items on the agenda included

Recycling collection for electrical goods in Hardwick which was approved

Tree Survey of all Parish Council trees in the village – the Clerk will invite tenders for remedial work needed

Grounds maintenance – the Clerk will seek tenders for grounds maintenance in the village.  The Council considered the suggestion that some verges be sown with a wild flower mix with interest but further consideration was needed regarding locations to be seeded.

Written by Steve Rose

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