Councillor Tim Alban – District Council Report Nov ’25

Councillor Tim Alban - District Council Report Nov '25

Councillor Tim Alban 

Stilton, Folksworth & Washingley Ward

Huntingdonshire District Council

(First contact for residents in Stilton, Folksworth & 

Washingley, Holme, Denton & Caldecote, Great & Little Gidding, Glatton and Connington).

Tel: 07903 518967

www.facebook.com/TimAlbanForStiltonWard 

(If you are a resident of Sibson-cum-Stibbington, Elton, Alwalton, Morborne, Haddon, Water Newton or Chesterton, please contact my fellow ward councillor Marge Beuttell in the first instance via marge.beuttell@huntingdonshire.gov.uk)

ANEAROBIC DIGESTER LUDDINGTON

Having already written to North Northamptonshire Council with my concerns about the main application, I have now written similarly to Cambridgeshire County Council about the highways application they are considering, which relates to Hemington Lodge Road. I have also written in support of the submission made by Great & Little Gidding Parish Council, who have set out some detailed objections.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT RE-ORGANISATION – HUNTINGDONSHIRE TO GO IT ALONE?

Finally, after weeks of considering proposals which I have little or no enthusiam for, I am pleased to report that Huntingdonshire District Council are considering a proposal (known as Option E) which would see the council become a unitary authority in its own right and take on additional responsibilities such as highways, which are currently undertaken by the County Council.

I want to look at the details of this but instinctively, I welcome the possibility of our area not being in a council which is dominated by either Peterborough or Cambridge.

CIVIL PARKING ENFORCEMENT – VILLAGES COUNT TOO!

Updates I have received from Huntingdonshire District Council are that the response from residents to the enforcement of yellow lines, where it has already happened, has been positive.  

Whilst I certainly welcome this, Marge Beuttell and I, as well as other councillors representing rural communities are concerned that our areas are yet to benefit.  We have already raised our concerns with officers and in council meetings and will continue to do so.  Huntingdonshire villages count too!

Parking Enforcement issues can be reported via Parking.Enforcement@huntingdonshire.gov.uk

PARKING SCAM ALERT

The District Council has received reports that some residents are being sent text messages claiming they have received a parking Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) from “a local council.”  Please be aware that Huntingdonshire District Council will never contact anyone via text regarding PCNs.

The council believes these messages to be part of a nationwide scam and recommends that anyone receiving such a text, does not click on any links or provide any personal information and deletes it immediately.

THE BEST WAY TO CONTACT ME

Please email tim.alban@huntingdonshire.gov.uk or call 07903 518967

October Parish Council Newsletter for Great and Little Gidding

October Parish Council Newsletter for Great and Little Gidding

The Parish Council has published the October 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.


Download the October edition of the Parish Council Newsletter

The Giddings Village Show 2025

The Giddings Village Show 2025

After a long wait of seven years, the village show returned this month on a sunny Saturday which was perfect for the revival of this lovely community event.

It was a joy to see so many new exhibitors as well as the remarkably loyal cooks and vegetable growers who have been the backbone of this event for decades in many cases. As always, the decisions the judges had to make were hard and in some cases, almost impossible, and we hope that every competitor knows how much it’s appreciated that they took the time and effort to enter. Your creativity, effort and community spirit filled the hall with colour, delicious fragrance from the flowers and baking exhibits, fascinating creative work, which all helped to showcase the wonderful talents within our community. We are really grateful for the time and care you all put into making it such a success.

We also want to say a very  big ‘thank you’ to the Village Hall Committee who worked so hard at keeping us supplied with  delicious refreshments which were appreciated by all. Tasty cakes, tea and coffee kept everyone smiling and energised enough to have another wander around the show once they had enjoyed a chat with friends and family. 

We know that every community event is only as good as the fantastic volunteers who bake cakes, help out on the day, do the judging, help clear the hall and tidy up… the list is endless. Thank you for all your help behind the scenes, the show just wouldn’t happen without you.  

We hope you enjoyed the event, congratulations to everyone!

Patrick and Sue Jarvis

Neighbourhood Plan update!

Neighbourhood Plan update!

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. 


Neighbourhood Plan Great Gidding

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:

https://web.tresorit.com/l/J7los#1pQW7pajBxWNBXygIJXCyA


Feedback and meeting

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.

Thank you for your support

The team

District Council report from Councillor Tim Alban

LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION

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

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

Huntingdonshire District Council

Tim.alban@huntingdonshire.gov.uk

07903 518967

https://www.facebook.com/CouncillorTimAlban

June Parish Council Newsletter for Great and Little Gidding

June Parish Council Newsletter for Great and Little Gidding

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.


Download the June edition of the Parish Council Newsletter

Churchyard Biodiversity Project

Churchyard Biodiversity Project

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. 

Community information about the churchyard biodiversity project

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.

Read more about the project observations at inaturalist.org

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

Churchyard Biodiversity Group

April Parish Council Newsletter for Great and Little Gidding

April Parish Council Newsletter for Great and Little Gidding

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.


Download the April edition of the Parish Council Newsletter

Anaerobic Digester Application update

Anaerobic Digester Application update

From Councillor Tim Alban

“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