Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

Fenland District Council will go in sweeping changes to local government being planned by the Government – Article Fenland Citizen….©

Councillors representing Fenland are facing serving an extra year in office amid planned changes to local government which will see the district and county councils go.

The once-in-a-lifetime shake-up of local government was announced by the Government at the end of last year, and work is already underway to determine how the outcome of that might look.
In Fenland council leader Chris Boden, who is also a county councillor, is relishing the challenge the shake-up has brought and is looking forward to ensuring our area gets the best representation it can.

Cllr Boden said the “rules of the game” have yet to be clarified by the Government, but one of those already outlined is that each new unitary authority should have a population of between 500,000 and one million residents.

Fenland has 103,000 residents, so it is therefore vital to align our district with others across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and even Lincolnshire to make the right decision economically and functionally.

Cllr Boden said it makes sense to look at the economic functions of the area and agreed that Fenland aligns itself more with Peterborough as its economic centre than Cambridge.

(RG Note :- When I discussed this with many Whittlesey Councillors (some time ago – they were totally against loosing their identity with either Peterborough or Cambridge – It looks likely this will be forced upon us….good, bad or indifferent)

He said the current county boundaries were largely decided in the 9th and 10th centuries by the Anglo-Saxons, and therefore it is not necessarily right to remain “subservient” to decisions made over 1,000 years ago.

The last major shake-up of local government was in the 1970s when the Local Government Act of 1974 came into force and did away with the then-urban district councils, replacing them with the current two-tier system of district and county.

It is likely the new authority replacing the county and district councils will resemble something of those urban district councils.

Town and parish councils are expected to be largely unaffected by the current proposal, however, the feeling at both March and Chatteris Town Councils this week was that they may become responsible for more services.

Chatteris Town clerk Jo Melton told her council that she had little doubt more responsibility would be devolved to towns and parishes and suggested open spaces and leisure facilities could be among the services given to the lowest tier of government to manage.

In the meantime the Combined Authority which covers Cambridgeshire and Peterborough would remain in place, however, the boundaries may change as the Government’s aim is to ensure every part of the country is covered by such an authority.

Services currently divided between the county and district councils – such as highways, refuse collection, housing, education and planning – would become the responsibility of whatever new body comes into place, putting them all under one umbrella.

©Fenland Citizen

Good, bad or indifferent to most people – change is coming…..

After many years of various applications for this site – FDC Planning Officers recommended ‘approval’ – after presentation by the agent along with discussion and debate – the application has been approved by the Planning Committee by a majority vote.
Some debate over Highways not having any issues.
Whittlesey FDC/WTC Councillor Elizabeth Sennitt-Clough voted against the application, stating local knoweledge about the access needed to be taken into account.

Dear Roy,

Following investigation this morning, we are now in a position to provide further detail following reports of an email containing threats sent to schools.

Late yesterday afternoon, Peterborough City Council shared a message with headteachers about a potential threat to schools in another part of the country.

There was no evidence to suggest that Cambridgeshire schools might be at risk, but the message was shared for awareness and to remind them of the need for good safeguarding procedures to ensure the safety of pupils.

Understandably, overnight this has attracted a lot of interest and concern from parents as a result of the message to schools being shared wider, however we would like to reassure the public that this message is believed to be a hoax and at this time there is no specific identified threat to schools within Cambridgeshire and we are not aware of any of our schools having received the email in question.

Best turn the sound up to hear the effects…!!!!!!

Some firecracker this was for Chinese New Year….

Disclaimer: These observations are not the ‘official’ minutes of the meeting, these are supplied by Whittlesey Town Council, normally (1) month following this meeting and can be viewed on their website.
Decisions and Voting at this meeting may be ratified and confirmed at the following months meeting.
I am posting the below for information only – notes taken by Cllr Wainwright – if anyone believes there are any inaccuracies or mistakes made then please contact me – I am as always more than willing to make corrections.
As a member of Fenland District Councils Planning Committee – I make no comments what-so-ever on these notes and keep an open mind as to if/when these applications come before FDC’s Planning Committee.

Planning Notes 3rd February 2025 - BW

Investing in the county’s highways, adult social care and building new schools prioritised in Cambridgeshire County Council’s Business Plan and Budget proposals

The demand for services, increasing complexity of need, inflation and market failures mean the county council is responding to a £35.1m gap for 2025/26, members were told at Cambridgeshire County Council’s Strategy, Resources and Performance committee on Tuesday (28 January).

Despite these challenges, the council’s proposed plans for the coming year include an investment in highways maintenance, adult social care and building new schools, alongside continuing its journey to achieve net zero targets and responding to climate change. 

Proposals discussed included an increase of council tax by 4.99%, the maximum permitted by Government before a public referendum is needed. A total 2% of this increase is dedicated to adult social care services across the county. This increase, if approved, would generate around £20million in additional funding.

At the meeting on Tuesday, the majority of members at the Strategy, Resources and Performance committee made its final recommendation to Full Council, which will agree the budget on Tuesday 11 February.
The Business Plan and Budget proposals are available to view on our website. The meeting is available to watch on our YouTube channel

Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)

People will have seen that the Government announced its devolution plans in December 2024. Cambridgeshire County Council elections will be taking place in May this year, as expected. 

We welcome the opportunities that greater powers and more funding being devolved from Westminster to Cambridgeshire could bring and will work closely with the Mayor and Combined Authority to secure the best outcomes for our communities. Our focus remains on delivering essential services across the whole of Cambridgeshire. 

Visit our website for more information on Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).

Shining a light on lower energy consumption and reduced maintenance costs

From December 2024, our street lighting contractor Balfour Beatty has started work on our countywide street light replacement programme. Over two years, we will be replacing over 47,000 existing streetlights with new LED (light emitting diode) streetlights.

We expect that this will save more than 5,000 tonnes of carbon emissions over the lifetime of the streetlights and cut energy consumption by more than half. The new lights will also reduce maintenance costs and light pollution.

If you have a standard, Cambridgeshire County Council streetlight near you, the light will be replaced within the next two years. In small towns and villages, our contractor is intending to carry out replacements in clusters to minimise any disruption.

The Balfour Beatty website has full details on when the streetlights in your area will be changed, alongside helpful FAQs. You can also visit our dedicated page for more information.