The Parish Council has published the August Newsletter which will be displayed on Noticeboards throughout the Parish and submitted via WhatsApp, Facebook and here on the Giddings website.
If you are aware of anyone in the parish who cannot access the noticeboards or the community social media platforms, please contact the Parish Council so a printed copy can be made available for them. If you would prefer to receive a copy of the monthly newsletter via email, please contact the Parish Council.
Firstly apologies for the radio silence in 2024 regarding the Neighbourhood Plan. Some of you may have seen us with clipboards however looking at the buildings across the 3 parishes. The endeavour was larger than we initially thought and as well as the actual Neighbourhood Plan, we have also had to survey the 5 villages and create two additional documents, namely the contextual analysis and the green spaces report.
Consultation period
Today we are starting the consultation period for 8 weeks. This is a formal part of the process whereby we ask for feedback from both yourself and various external bodies such as Natural England. Unfortunately due to lack of budget we cannot print out physical copies of the document, nor due to the size of the documents we cannot attach them to an email.
Download the documents
Therefore Jeff has created the following link from which you can download the 3 documents:
If you have any feedback about the Neighbourhood Plan please visit the Feedback Form on Google Docs.
The Neibourhood Plan team will also be hosting a meeting to discuss any points on Saturday 20th September at 10.30 in Great Gidding Village Hall, please email us on hamwicking@gmail.com or ring Paul on 07775 711514.
As has already been mentioned, three options for reforming the major local councils in Cambridgeshire have recently been announced.
Further details are available on the Huntingdonshire District Council website www.huntingdonshire.gov.uk but in short, each option would see either a merger of Huntingdonshire with Fenland and Peterborough, or a merger of Huntingdonshire with Fenland, East Cambs and Peterborough or a merger of Huntingdonshire with Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire; all the options will include an incorporation of the services currently carried out by Cambridgeshire County Council.
The ultimate decision will be taken by Central Government, who started this whole process off but please do take the opportunity to participate in the survey.
SAWTRY SWIMMING POOL
Having spoken in support of the pool as a resource for the villages in our area, I was delighted when funding was secured to reopen it. The current target for reopening is Spring 2026 but this may be subject to change as work progresses.
ANEROBIC DIGESTER APPLICATION IN LUDDINGTON
Further to my article in March this year, the councillor in North Northants I was liaising with is no longer a council member so I have written to two others who represent Luddington to ask them for an update on what is happending with this application. I will submit provide further information once it becomes available.
WORKING TOGETHER
My fellow ward District Councillor, Marge Beuttell and I believe in collaborative working. As well as working closely with County Councillor Ian Gardener, we continue to set up meetings for local Parish Councils, where common issues and hopefully, resolutions to issues can be shared. We are currently working to arrange the next meeting date, where we hope to invite a County Council Highways Officer.
Tim Alban
District Councillor for Stilton, Folksworth & Washingley Ward
Have your say on plans for the future of local councils
In December last year the Government announced plans to move towards a new system of local government, removing the two-tier system of district, city and county councils (town and parish councils are unaffected).
Since then, all seven existing county, district and city councils in Cambridgeshire have been working collaboratively to identify viable options for new single-tier councils across the region.
We now want to hear the views of residents, prior to proposals being developed further and submitted to Government in November.
The survey asks people what is important in terms of services, what they would like to see delivered by their new unitary authority, and where in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough they visit to socialise, work or access health services. A series of focus groups are also being arranged.
We want to reach as many people as possible with the survey, enabling them to share their opinions and help inform the future of local government in the area. As well as alerting you to the survey for your own completion, we are therefore also asking if you could share information with your residents and any other interested groups, such as businesses and community organisations.
There is both a public survey and one that is tailored for stakeholders, and these are available here on HDC’s website. Hard copies are also available at the reception desk in Pathfinder House, Huntingdon. The survey will close at midnight on 20 July 2025.
The Parish Council has published the June Newsletter which will be displayed on Noticeboards throughout the Parish and submitted via WhatsApp, Facebook and here on the Giddings website.
If you are aware of anyone in the parish who cannot access the noticeboards or the community social media platforms, please contact the Parish Council so a printed copy can be made available for them. If you would prefer to receive a copy of the monthly newsletter via email, please contact the Parish Council.
To increase the range of biodiversity of birds, animals and plants, a small working party of local volunteers have been working together with the aim of increasing the bio-diversity in St Michael’s churchyard.
Much of the bramble overgrowth has been removed revealing long lost gravestones, other plants have been cut back exposing dormant plants such as primroses.
Bird boxes have been added along with compost and recycling bins. Some of the grass will be left long, with cut pathways through to the graves, to create a more diverse habitat whilst other areas will be planted and the remaining grass cut as normal. You are very welcome to view progress or if you want to know more, you will often find one or two of us doing a bit of work in the churchyard and always happy to talk about the project.
The group is next meeting on 18th May in the Fox and Hounds pub at 3.00pm to discuss next steps. For more information contact Mary Read on fmary.read@gmail.com
The Parish Council has published the April Newsletter which will be displayed on Noticeboards throughout the Parish and submitted via WhatsApp, Facebook and here on the Giddings website.
If you are aware of anyone in the parish who cannot access the noticeboards or the community social media platforms, please contact the Parish Council so a printed copy can be made available for them. If you would prefer to receive a copy of the monthly newsletter via email, please contact the Parish Council.
“Concerned that it had all gone quiet with this application, I contacted one of the North Northamptonshire Councillors, who represents the ward which includes the proposed site of the digester.
He contacted his council’s Planning Department and has forwarded the following response:
“Anerobic Digester Application NN/23/00026/ WASFUL, Rectory Farm, Luddington Further to your enquiry received by North Northamptonshire Council on 2 March 2025 on behalf of your fellow councillor, regarding the status of the planning application for an anaerobic digester reference NN/23/00026/WASFUL.
An extension to the determination period has been agreed with the agent to cover the ongoing discussions with the Cambridgeshire Highway Authority to address their concerns through the potential submission of another planning application to deal with a new site access and other works. In addition to the highway matters, the waste planning authority is awaiting a final response from Natural England”.
Kind regards,
Tim
Councillor Tim Alban
Stilton, Folksworth & Washingley Ward Huntingdonshire District Council
The Parish Council has published the February Newsletter which will be displayed on Noticeboards throughout the Parish and submitted via WhatsApp, Facebook and here on the Giddings website.
If you are aware of anyone in the parish who cannot access the noticeboards or the community social media platforms, please contact the Parish Council so a printed copy can be made available for them. If you would prefer to receive a copy of the monthly newsletter via email, please contact the Parish Council.
Firstly a huge thanks to you for submitting a photo or 3: they were excellent and very varied from the humorous to the beautiful. In total we had 75 entries so there was a lot to view. They made the coffee morning a huge success (along with the fantastic cakes) and gave people a lot of enjoyment and difficult decisions on who to give their vote to.
As promised all will be displayed either individually as the 4 winners based on the popular vote or together with others. We had 68 voting slips returned to us:
– 62 of the 75 photos received at least 1 vote
– 31 of the 75 photos were awarded first place by one or more people
The 4 winners
In 1st place
In 2nd place
In 3rd place
In 4th place
Thanks again for your brilliant photos. I know some of them have been converted into Christmas cards in the past and perhaps we should create a calendar. If we decide to do this we will obviously ask permission first.
