Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

I have now attended 8 yes that is 8 planning meetings regarding the ‘Supermarket’ coming to Whittlesey…. 4 for Whittlesey Town Council (as consultees) and 2 at March and 2 at Whittlesey.
Yesterdays meeting started at 14:30 and concluded after legal advice at 22:45.
It was a very good turn out and in general the meeting was well handled and behaved.
I still think that the Independent Councillor Mark Archer was the most robust in his questioning of all concerned. To be fair it was Marks first time ‘listening’ to this debate.
Simon King another newcomer to the debate was also one of the better questioners.

So after listening to various comment this morning, everyone is ‘Happy’ –  BUT the decision is still open to appeal and legal challenge. It needs to go to the Secretary of State for ratification.

I hope that Harrier/Tesco now see sense…. and come to some agreement to give up their
plans for Station Road…… there is of course one way to make it work…..
Sort the Railway crossing out and who know!!!!

I and the majority of Whittlesey residents look forward to the long term, a new supermarket, a business park and a country park for future generations.

Everyone can influence hopefully some priorities for the near future.
Fenland District Council have a consultation period for YOU to have some say.

This is YOUR opportunity, take a little time and have YOUR say…

The questionnaire will be available in the following locations:

o               Fenland @ your service shops
Thats at our One Stop Shop on High Causeway
or              Online at www.fenland.gov.uk/yourviews2013

I’ve done MY bit, please do yours …. thank you…..

It will take less than 5 minutes to fill in YOUR Views…..

I have lost most of my hair! maybe caused by the stress of a great deal of inactivity from various council officialdom over the past 35 years….
Perhaps some of our ‘younger’ councillors and there are not many of them…. would have been in their ‘nappies’ or shorts, when campaigners like myself have always been passionate about our Town and Villages.
Yes there maybe some small success, but as a Fenland Town – Whittlesey has been left behind similar Towns through the lack of funding……
There maybe social networking, modern education and engagement…..but I ask – were ‘they’ listening to our issues of 35+ years ago, or are the same ‘they’ still a little hard of hearing what ‘we’ the Tax and Rate payers are trying to get across…..
There have been so many ‘lost’ opportunities for either a By-Pass or the elusive bridge over Kings Dyke….. lets be practical…. its not going to happen anytime soon….

I ask again Mr. Barclay and our County Councillors need to be none stop vocal about these issues.

                                                               
Hope that ‘everyone’ has an enjoyable weekend, safe, sound and trouble free!
When not working I have attended for the past 20+ years, the first digital photo I can find is from 1999…

At Whittlesey Town Council yesterday (09th) we had another (2) applications for Wind Turbines, these were recommended for refusal on the grounds that:

(a) There are enough turbines in the area already
(b) It is out of keeping with the immediate surrounding area….
But it is Fenland District Councillors who will be making the ‘decision’

Today (10th) I have been informed that another Wind Farm is being proposed…

We are writing to invite you to our upcoming public exhibitions which will present information on the Gores Wind Farm proposal located on farmland between Thorney and Whittlesey, to the east of Peterborough.  West Coast Energy proposes to install 8 wind turbine generators, each with a tip height of up to 130m and an installed capacity of 2-3 Megawatts (MW) which gives the wind farm an overall installed capacity of up to 24MW.  The wind farm is projected to generate enough renewable electricity to meet the annual domestic electricity consumption equivalent to around 12,700 homes.

The exhibitions will be held at the following locations on the 23^rd and 24^th January 2013 in order to give the local community the opportunity to find out more about the project and speak to the West Coast Energy team:

Thursday 24^th January – Grosvenor House, Grosvenor Road, Whittlesey – 3.30pm -8pm

I would urge as many people to go along on the 24th and make their views known.
If you can not attend, please contact me and will take your views to the exhibition….

This afternoon I and 3 other Town Councillors attended FDC’s planning committee hearing on the venue for the (3) Planning applications regarding Supermarkets/Business Park. A presentation on behalf of Whittlesey Town Council was given by Cllr Mrs D. Laws driving that the meeting should be held in a Whittlesey venue. Cllr Marti Curtis put in a short but strong argument on the same lines. Emphasising the need for transparency and trust in FDC Planning committee.
After a short debate the motion nominated by Whittlesey Cllr Derek Stebbing and seconded by Whittlesey Cllr Alex Miscandlon was voted unanimously by the rest of the committee….. The venue for the 28th January will be held in Whittlesey…..

I am very sorry to hear that a friend and excellent councillor Robert Scrimshaw has passed away. I have known Robert for many years, his work will be a loss to the community. RIP

Our Street Pride Group continues to ‘make a difference’ to our town and villages. I have for years advocated the issues surrounding re-cycling and ‘more’ that can/could be done.
Some progress has been made, but there is a long way to go…..
One Example is the deposit scheme which many countries have on bottles and cans…. I am old enough to remember the deposit scheme in this country.
The vast amount of rubbish/litter we collect is polystyrene/bottles and cans, if we had a deposit scheme most of this would not exsist.
See this link at the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/world-us-canada-20895902 whereby all small plastic bottles are being banned.

I have in the past approached our MP Steve Barclay about this – his response was it would ‘cost’ too much to implement/administer NO Mr Barclay you are wrong, it would only cost if the Govn set up a quango of hundreds to administer….. it doesn’t happen in other civilised countries…… Even developing countries (Malaysia) ban plastic supermarket bags on certain days of the week, this all helps…..

Maybe Mr Barclay is too ‘busy’ sourcing funding for our Kings Dyke Bridge or our By-Pass! if so I am more than happy…..(Pigs may fly)….

Today 04th major developments, one story breaking on the Cambs News Website 13:37, then later in the afternoon on both the Peterborough ET Website and Cambs News.
First the Sainsburys application for a Judicial review, then the application being refused…..

The Judge gave his reasoning, and one has to question ‘why’ Sainsburys have been ‘sitting’ and waiting so long to make this move.
The Judges reasoning seems quite reasonable…..

It is my intention to attend the meeting on the 09th January. I will be intent on making sure that the ‘procedure/governance/standing orders’ are strictly complied with…..

Having now done some more research …. naturally safety is paramount for our Railways.
The specifications laid down under the Railways act/Network Rail for level crossings are being applied. My own measurements are well within their specifications.
It is the frequency of the ‘Wig/Wag’ signals (Audio) that ‘appears’ to be causing the issues.
Again I will be monitoring and trying to establish with NR whether the ‘Siren/Claxton’ can be ‘re-aligned’ away from pointing at the residential areas……