Kingston Village

Photo of roof and tower of Kingston Parish church, trees in the foreground

Parish Council News

As reported in the November village magazine:

East West Rail: further to the report in the September magazine, considerable
support has emerged for a more Northern route for the new railway, following the route of the A428, although this has not been offered as one of the options in the consultation so far. There are several arguments in favour of this route, which
Kingston Parish Council has enumerated in an email to Anthony Browne, our MP. It is understood that Anthony Browne supports this route. He recently hosted an
online forum to which representatives from local Parish Councils were invited, to
exchange views and information.
Sue Dalgleish attended the forum on behalf of Kingston Parish Council.

Peter Stokes, Parish Clerk

Playground

The goal nets at the playground are replaced from time to time by the Parish Council at some expense. It is disappointing to find the nets with large holes in them that cannot have happened in normal use. We can only conclude that the damage has occurred through abuse or vandalism. Please keep your eyes open for any such behaviour at the playground and if possible discourage it. If you are aware of misbehaviour and know the culprits, please let the Parish Clerk know.

Flooding

Fortunately flooding is not a major problem in the village, but there are some documents available from the County Council everyone should be aware of:

Riparian Owners Factsheet - Do you have a watercourse running through or adjacent to your land? Click here
Emergency Contacts - Do you know how to get help in an emergency? Click here

Blue bins

South Cambs District Council has changed its guidance regarding what to do with blue bin overflow. They now advise as follows:

If the blue bin is full, excess recyclable material will be collected if placed in one transparent sack next to the blue bin. Please put any glass in your blue bin, not in the sack for safety reasons. One bundle of cardboard may be left next to your bin if it is of a size which would fit inside the bin if there were space. Please tape or tie into a bundle to assist collection. Please do not use other colour wheeled bins for your excess recycling. You can get an additional blue bin free of charge. Contact: email refuse@scambs.gov.uk, tel 03450 450 063.

Noisy Neighbours

If noise from your neighbours becomes a regular nuisance, you should first approach the neighbours to try and reach a reasonable solution. If this fails, you need to contact South Cambs District Council Environmental Health department. There is some useful information on this page: https://www.scambs.gov.uk/environment/pollution/noise-nuisance/

They have a statutory duty to take action where appropriate, but will expect you to have approached the offending party first, and to keep a log of occurrences for a period of time.

Parking

We have had several complaints about inconsiderate parking in the village. We know that parking space is at a premium, but please consider your neighbours when you or your guests park. In particular we ask that vehicles are not parked on village greens, which are a pleasant visual feature of our village, intended as a public amenity. If you do not have space on your own premises, the village hall car park can be used as a temporary parking place.

For more parking advice, and an advisory map: click here

Audit of Accounts 2019-2020

The auditors have completed their work on Kingston's Parish Council Annual Return and have found everything to be in order. A copy of the Return including the audit report can be downloaded: click here

Previous years: 2018-19

Kingston Community Plan

To download a copy of the plan: click here

South Cambridgeshire Local Plan

The new Local Plan to cover the period up to 2031 has been found to be "sound" by the inspector and accordingly has been adopted. More information is available on the SCDC website https://www.scambs.gov.uk/localplan

What is a Local Plan?

A Local Plan is a statutory document that local planning authorities must prepare that sets out the Council's vision for its area and includes policies and proposals that set out a framework for new development, the use of land and conservation of key assets. It should look forward over a 15 year period from the date it is adopted.

Under the Government's new Localism approach that will see the abolition of regional plans, the District Council's plan making responsibilities have been enhanced and it is now, for the first time, for the Council to set the overall development strategy for the area, as well as sites for development, working with neighbouring authorities under the 'duty to cooperate'. - From SCDC Briefing Paper

Kingston Oil Club

A reminder that Kingston has a group purchasing scheme in operation to save hassle and achieve good prices for heating oil. We use our local broker Agricole Oil.

For more information: click here

Junction of Church Lane and the B1046

There have been complaints from time to time about long grass at this junction resulting in poor visibility for drivers turning towards Cambridge. The Highways Department is responsible for cutting grass verges, and has a programme to cut them. Unfortunately weather variations can result in growth of the grass between scheduled cuts.

The Highways people can carry out additional cuts, but they need to be requested to do so. Please therefore report to Peter Stokes any problems in this area, and he will pass on a request to the Highways Department.

Meeting Dates (subject to confirmation nearer the time)

Parish Council meetings in 2021 will be held on 12 January, 9 March, 11 May, 3 July, 14 September, 9 November

The Annual Parish Meeting is held in May (cancelled in 2020 because of covid-19 restrictions). The provisional date for 2021 is Thursday 20th May.