Surface Water

According to a report by Alex Riley in the recent Longstanton Life (Volume 11, No. 1) the surface water in Longstanton is generally not handled by Anglian Water.  Does this mean that we are paying for a service that we are not receiving?  According to my water bill, there is a sewage charge which is collected on behalf of AW and includes an amount for surface water.  The small print indicates that we are entiled to a reduction on the standing charge if AW do not handle the surface water.  Has anyone successfully made a claim and received a reduction?

How to complain about the Nelson Cresent Planning application that has been re-submitted for the Community Land site

We understand that the proposed planning application is still in the process of being considered by the Planning Office and that Councillor Den Harradine is keen to hear from any residents who wish to complain about the use of the land that was originally set aside for community use.

Please email Councillor Den Harradine directly at djharradine@goldenlodge.freeserve.co.uk

Below is an outline of the proposal submitted.

Proposals

1.4 The proposed content of the scheme is as follows:

·         Convenience Store (279 sq. m.);

·         4 no. retail/commercial units (A1, A2, A3, A5 or D1)

o    Unit 1 – 68 sq. m.

o    Unit 2 – 65 sq. m.

o    Unit 3 – 46 sq. m.

o    Unit 4 – 65 sq. m.

·         6 no. flats comprising:

o    1 no. 3 bedroom flats;

o    5 no. 2 bedroom flats.

·         4 no. houses with 4 bedrooms, garages with usable space above and gardens;

·         Associated stores, access road, parking areas, waste storage and landscaping.

1.5 The convenience store will be located on the corner of Nelson Crescent and High Street, with four smaller units adjoining the store. The outlets will front the High Street with 11 customer car parking spaces (including one space for disabled use) located in front of the smaller units. 20 cycle parking spaces are also provided at the front of the site.

1.6 The six flats will be located above the commercial floorspace. Access to the flats, ten residential parking spaces and two bin stores will be provided to the rear of the retail/commercial units.

1.7 Two of the houses will be located towards the north of the site fronting High Street, with associated garages and gardens at the rear. The remaining two houses will be located towards the west of the site, fronting Nelson Crescent.

1.8 The new access road will be provided from Nelson Crescent to the rear of the commercial units. This road will provide access to the rear of the units and the car parking area for the flats and houses.

Where Barratt Homes and Taylor Wimpey have got to so far

After a reminder from us here is the latest update from Mark Hadfield, Technical Director, Barratt Homes Northampton

Sorry for the delay in my latest update but much works has been complete at the site as follows and progress is being made daily:

Joint sewer inspections have now been completed with our consulting engineers and Anglian Water to determine the likely remedial worksrequired in order to bring the sewers within the site to an adoptablestandard. These remedial works have also been costed by our contractors.We have discovered through those inspections a defect that requiredfurther investigation located within the Taylor Wimpey part of the siteand I am awaiting confirmation from Tw that we are able to completeinvestigation works to determine the source of this defect.Once this work has been completed we will have our cost for the completion of remedial works in order to seek adoption of the sewers.

Similarly joint inspections have been completed on the roads within thesite and again remedial works have now been costed by our contractors.Again we have discovered an error with the vertical alignment of theroad and commissioned a topographical survey and consulting engineer tocomplete a proposal that meets Highway Authority requirements in orderto bring the roads to an adoptable standard. This design work willcomplete in Feb when we will be able to put a costs to the worksrequired to bring the roads to an adoptable standard.

Once we have these costs we will be able to approach the stakeholdersfor release of the monies currently held in order to fund these requiredworks, this submission is intended to be made in March. On satisfactoryagreement with the former Cofton stakeholders for release of the heldmonies then we should be in a position to complete the required worksand seek ultimate adoption of both the roads and the sewers within the site.

I hope this proves to be a suitable update, as you can see a lot of workhas progressed and whilst other investigation works are underway, wehope to have our submission made to the former Cofton Stakeholdersshortly. Clearly as landowners and fund holders we will need theirapproval before any final works can be completed.

If you wish to comment on this update then please either email Mark Hadfield directly mark.hadfield@barratthomes.co.uk or email us here at the forum and we’ll discuss it when we next meet or send it on to Mark Hadfield or Mark Edmonds at Taylor Wimpey.