South Cambs District Councillor (SCDC) Bill Handley’s Report to Over Village News – February 2024
South Cambs District Councillor (SCDC) Bill Handley’s Report to Over Village News – February 2024
Local Plan update and “Cambridge 2040”
The Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service continues to work on the new Local Plan which is intended to supersede the one delivered belatedly by the previous administration in 2018. Adopted Local Plans become the planning policy framework for an area and they are incredibly important. Progress this time has been hampered by matters out of the councils’ control, such as uncertainties relating to water availability, the relocation of the Waste Water Treatment Plant (from its current site off Cowley Road Cambridge to Horningsea which, in doing so, creating a huge brownfield site suitable for development) and a sustainable transport strategy.
Further complications have been introduced by the government and their so-called Cambridge 2040 policy. Although details of the plans are still very vague, it proposes supercharged development in Greater Cambridge of commercial/scientific capacity and a quantum of new homes that is three times that proposed by local authorities in the emerging Local Plan. The government has also announced that the responsibility for the delivery of this growth will be taken from our local planners and transferred to a development corporation “DevCo” which will operate remotely and answer directly to the Secretary of State. The obstacles to their plan will be the same as those facing our own planners (as described above) and it will be interesting to see if they elect to spend the huge sums necessary in mitigation and/or adopt unpopular policies to relieve the congestion and air-quality issues that such growth is bound to create. Populism is easy, delivery is not.
Corporate Peer Challenge
SCDC recently published the conclusions of a Peer Review which was conducted by the LGA at the administration’s request. The review panel was made up of elected members and senior officers from other councils. These reviews are voluntary, politically neutral and act as a critical friend, highlighting strengths and suggesting areas for development. The report praised the Council’s high levels of engagement with communities, especially related to the Greater Cambridgeshire Local Plan and praised its ‘Statement of Community involvement.’ The review noted the positive working culture within the Council and recognised the improvements made in this respect since the administration took control in 2018. The leadership team and CEO were singled out for special praise.
The report recognised the Council’s performance-led culture and highlighted several successful practices. They highlighted revised key performance indicators (KPIs) emerging from the Scrutiny and Overview committee and suggested the incorporation of additional KPIs into specific areas. They recognised that the council has adopted best-practice by appointing a member of the political opposition to chair the Scrutiny and Overview committee.
Most importantly, the report recognised the Council’s strong financial position with a balanced budget predicted through to 2024/25 and with reserves of £61M recorded at the end of the last financial year. They identified minimal investment risk and a well-structured and robust investment governance strategy. SCDC is one of very few councils in the country able to show such a positive financial position and, as a result, the council has been able to devote significant resources to deliver cost of living support, green initiatives and positive community outcomes.
The review’s authors explicitly noted that the ongoing Four-day Working Week trial was not within the scope of the Corporate Peer Challenge.
Bill Handley January 2024.
Contact 01954 200287 (please leave a message) or email cllr.handley@scambs.gov.uk
