20/00164/OUT Planning application for rural exception housing for up to 16 houses on Church End, west of Wychwood

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Hilton Parish Council is considering the steps that could be taken to challenge the decision to approve the rural exception housing scheme on the land at the end of Church End. The next step would involve seeking legal counsel from a barrister which will cost between £3,500 and £4,500, with no guarantee that this would overrule the decision.

When the development was proposed, the overwhelming majority of those parishioners who expressed a view were against the proposals and although it was approved by Huntingdonshire District Council (after appeal and the threat of legal action by the applicant) the Parish does not have a right of appeal unless it looks to a judicial review.

The advice from the solicitors is that the case is worth pursuing and the next spend would clarify from counsel regarding a number of points that would inform potential grounds to challenge this decision. The following steps would depend on the strength of the counsel’s advice, but may include taking the matter to full High Court judicial review which may incur further costs of circa £30,000 to £40,000. The funds for these costs could be raised through a crowd funding scheme, which is what has happened in another parish.

The Parish Council appreciates that in these COVID times parishioners may be reluctant to attend a meeting in person and would therefore welcome your input via email to either the Chairman, Peter Balicki at  or our Clerk, Nicola Webster at in time for our meeting on Thursday 20th January 2022.

We would like to know if:

1) you think the Parish Council should continue to object to the scheme and spend £3,500 to £4,500 on obtaining counsels opinion

2) you would be prepared to contribute to the higher spend if opinion is that we should continue to challenge by way of a crowd funding scheme.

Village Sign

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Graveley Way, Temporary Traffic Regulation Order

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Cambridgeshire County Council Highways Department has applied for a temporary traffic regulation order (TTRO) to allow them to resurface the red rumble strips at the entrance to Graveley Way. The TTRO is for a road closure from 14/02/22 to 18/02/22. The proposed diversion is below:

Map showing route of diversion via A1198 and B1040

St Ives Viaduct, A1096, Harrison Way, St Ives – Weekend Closures, 2022

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Cambridgeshire County Council has advised that there is a proposed closure of St Ives Viaduct, A1096, Harrison Way, St Ives over three weekends.  The closures will run from 20:30 on the Friday until 05:00 on Monday morning during the following  weekends;

18th March 2022 – 21st March 2022

25th March 2022- 28th March 2022

1st April 2022 – 4th April 2022

8th April 2022 – 11th April 2022

The reason for the closures are that the bridge joints that were installed in 2017 have been found to have faults within the joints themselves and concrete, and need to be repaired.  This will mean they require access to the entire stretch of the carriageway and are looking to minimise commuter traffic by carrying out 24hr works on rotating shifts at weekends.  It is hoped they can complete one joint per weekend, hence the 4 dates.

Please click on the link to see a copy of their proposed diversion – St Ives Viaduct Diversion

The diversion route seems long but CCC has advised that, as they have to consider larger vehicles, the diversion may not be the shortest route but is the shortest route for HGVs to take. They are not allowed (on the whole) to divert from a higher class road onto a lower one.

The diversion route will use the following roads; St Ives: A1096, Harrison Way; London Rd; A1307. Boxworth: A1307; A14. Brampton: A14; A141. Huntingdon: A141, Spittals Way; A1123, Huntingdon Road; Houghton Hill Rd; Houghton Rd; St Ives: Needingworth Road; A1096 and vice versa.

Floodmobile Event

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Cambridgeshire County Council has advised that there will be a Floodmobile event in Godmanchester, at Town Hall, 1 Post Street, Godmanchester PE29 2NB, on Saturday 29th January from 10 am to 3pm.

A roadshow of events are being hosted by the Ox-Cam PFR Pathfinder Project, in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council, which are designed to help households and businesses located in areas that have previously seen flooding, receive expert advice onboard a special ‘Floodmobile’ – an interactive demonstration vehicle which provides examples of over 50 practical measures of flood resilience.

Renowned flood resilience expert and representative for Ox-Cam PFR Pathfinder Project Mary Dhonau OBE will talk to visitors and offer advice, alongside Fola Ogunyoye CEng CWEM FCIWEM, Director of TJAY Consultancy Ltd who has over two decades of expertise in providing flood risk, water and environmental management consultancy service.

Cambridgeshire Flood Risk Management Strategy Consultation

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Cambridgeshire County Council has produced a draft document which is a revision of the previous Cambridgeshire Flood Risk Management Strategy (2015-20). Created by Cambridgeshire County Council as Lead Local Flood Authority in consultation with its partner organisations, it outlines how flood risk will be managed across Cambridgeshire between 2021 and 2027.

The strategy sets out;

  • Background
  • Local and National context
  • Roles and Responsibilities
  • An overview of risk
  • Funding opportunities
  • Management activities and Actions prioritised to manage identified risks

The revised strategy has built in learning from recent flood events and industry developments since 2015. It looks to provide an overview of the wide range of flood related information, signposting areas you may wish to understand in more depth rather than duplicating other sources.

Cambridgeshire County Council would welcome feedback on the strategy and Hilton Parish Council has submitted a response to this survey. The documents and the survey can be found here: https://consultcambs.uk.engagementhq.com/cambridgeshire-flood-risk-management-strategy?s=03. The deadline for responses is 23rd January 2022.

If there is any additional information or evidence you wish to provide please forward these to .

Path between Church Lane and the Church

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Eagle eyed parishioners will have already spotted that the preparation work has been done to get this path ready to be resurfaced. It will be resurfaced with tar & chip on Thursday 16th December. The area will be coned off during the works and please be careful when walking. If you have any queries please contact the Clerk –

PR0752 Proposed Prohibition of Heavy Commercial Vehicles – B1040 at Hilton

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The deadline for comments for the consultation regarding the proposed Traffic Regulation Order to prohibit Heavy Commercial Vehicles (over 7.5t) on the B1040 through Hilton is Friday 17th December.

Don’t Delay – Act Today!

Comments can be emailed to Steve Cox, Executive Director, Place & Economy,  or alternatively posted to:

Steve Cox,

Executive Director, Place and Economy,

c/o Policy and Regulation, Box No.D8E,

Huntingdon Highways Depot,

Stanton Way,

Huntingdon

PE29 6PY

Hilton Parish Council has submitted a comment regarding this consultation:

“Hilton Parish Council wholeheartedly supports its application for a Traffic Regulation Order to prohibit HCVs on the B1040 through Hilton. Hilton has long been blighted by HCVs and has sought this prohibition order for many years. Now that the new A14 is opened, the alternative route of the A1307 and A1198 is much more suitable for these large, heavy vehicles. Hilton is a small settlement that is divided by the B1040, which was not designed for the current high volume of oversized vehicles. The road is narrow and at one point on a blind corner there is not space for two HCVs to pass each other without mounting the footpath. Several sections of this road have no footpath either side and where there is footpath it is often very narrow and there is no verge between the highway and the narrow footpath. There are listed buildings along this road which are being damaged by the vibrations caused by these gigantic vehicles and one of these, situated on a blind corner, has also been hit and damaged. There is also the issues of the detrimentally high levels of noise and air pollution. In fact, it is very difficult to even hear the person next to you if you are walking along this road, whilst these enormous vehicles thunder past mere inches from you.

The alternative route of the A1307 and A1198 is much more suitable for this type of vehicle, whilst maintaining safety for non-motorised users. Where this route does pass near a settlement, there is a wide safe off-carriageway non-motorised users’ route, with signal-controlled crossings to provide safe passage for both cyclists and pedestrians. The residential units in this settlement are situated a good distance away from the road, unlike in Hilton where homes are within striking distance of these oversized heavy vehicles.

Hilton Parish Council is pleased to have received the support of Cambridgeshire County Council in approving their Local Highways Improvement bid for this Traffic Regulation Order application and looks forward to the improvements to the quality of life for the community of Hilton and Hilton becoming a safe, clean, green environment.”

Greater Cambridge Partnership Greener Travel Consultation

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The Greater Cambridge Partnership’s consultation on proposals to improve the way in which people travel around our area is now underway.

‘Making Connections: have your say on greener travel in Greater Cambridge’ asks for people’s thoughts on proposals to transform public transport, improve cycling and walking and reduce pollution and congestion. The proposals are of interest to everyone who lives in or travels to Greater Cambridge, whether for work, education or leisure.

The consultation sets out three main areas on which they’d like to hear people’s thoughts.

A new bus network: At the heart of the proposals is an expanded and transformed bus network, offering more frequent services, with longer operating hours, more rural connections, and new routes into our growing employment sites.

Funding transport improvements: A new public transport network will need funding and lower congestion to run. There are two main ways to free up road space and raise money to invest in better bus services and more cycling and walking infrastructure – a road charging zone, or additional parking charges. They’d like to hear what people think about these.

Better cycling and walking routes and high quality public spaces: lower traffic levels would create more opportunities to improve routes for people cycling and walking. Lower traffic levels and better air quality would also create more opportunities to provide high quality public spaces for people to enjoy.

Full information about the consultation – including a range of public events the GCP is holding to talk about these proposals – can be found online at https://www.greatercambridge.org.uk/making-connections-2021. Please note that the consultation closes at midday on Monday 20 December 2021.

Support available again to vulnerable families during Christmas holidays

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