February 2010
All the information below has been written by HAE Stroude.
17 Feb. 2010
Today Terry Fuller, Regional Director of the Homes & Communities Agency came to The Manor to discuss our concerns regarding clearance of the airfield site and the Longstanton Conservation Area. It was a positive and friendly meeting and we greatly appreciate Terry Fuller giving up his valuable time to see us. Terry Fuller also looked at the LDHS archives and we discussed our hopes that a heritage centre can be included in the Northstowe plans. It was a constructive meeting and I believe that Terry Fuller could see the merits of creating Northstowe without allowing the destruction of either the airfield archaeology or the Longstanton Conservation Area. I hope that Terry Fuller will follow up this meeting with a letter detailing the HCA position on these various issues. If we receive a response from HCA we will certainly let you know.
15 Feb. 2010
I have received the following advice which I have no reason to believe is not true. I am currently seeking verification and I will let you know the results. The reason for providing this is information is to ensure that the society and its members are aware of the important Northstowe decisions and policies, and how these may affect the heritage of Longstanton & District. If we do not understand the implications of the various planning documents, decisions and policies we are not in a position to understand the threats that Northstowe may pose to our heritage. Over the last weeks and months I have tried to establish an understanding of the major decisions and important polices. However, there may be other decisions, policies or information that I am not aware of, but which could have a profound effect. This is my best shot at reaching an understanding about the implications of the decisions and policies I do know about. We have asked SCDC to respond to a number of concerns over recent months but answers have not been forthcoming.
The advice I have received is that The Inspectors Report of June 2007 could have been accepted or rejected by SCDC.
The decision by SCDC to adopt the Inspector’s Report unchallenged led to the current Northstowe Area Action Plan (AAP) which is legally binding. In both the Inspector’s Report, and the Northstowe AAP, provision has been made to allow ”open uses” (allotments; cemeteries and sports fields) on the Ridge and Furrow of the Longstanton Conservation Area. Both reports also mention that the Longstanton Conservation Area must be part of the Northstowe Green Separation. Does this mean that legally the conservation area has to be part of Northstowe town after the boundaries have been drawn? We have asked SCDC this question but we have had no satisfactory answer. Although the Northstowe AAP appears to suggest that the Longstanton Conservation Area must be part of Northstowe; SCDC’s position has always been that the political boundary is another issue altogether.
If SCDC had the option of rejecting /appealing? the Inspector’s Report, by failing to do so they appear to have “sealed the fate” of Longstanton and it’s conservation area. However, The Northstowe AAP’s provision for “open uses” on the conservation area, may have been contrary to SCDC Conservation Area adopted policies in place at the time. Currently conservation areas are protected by SCDC - Development Affecting Conservation Areas SPD (adopted Jan. 2009). SCDC Policy SP/15 (adopted Jan. 2010) appears to contradict this latest Conservation Area SPD. The adoption of this latest policy has moved Longstanton a step closer to losing parts of the conservation area to allotments; cemeteries and /or sports fields. Unfortunately, without a legal challenge, no one can prevent “open uses” on the Longstanton Conservation Area except the developers themselves.
We have to hope that, in view of the newly announced eco-town status, the developers will submit new plans that do not allow the destruction of any of the heritage of Longstanton, the airfield or the Longstanton Conservation Area.(At this stage we have not heard of any threats to heritage in Oakington & Westwick.) Perhaps legally they do not have to preserve all the Longstanton Conservation Area unharmed, but it would be a goodwill gesture on their part, and one that would be appreciated by many.
There can be no moral or political justification for the destruction of archaeology or conservation area habitats during the construction of an “Eco-town”. Fortunately the Northstowe AAP does contain obligations that will protect some of our heritage. If the Northstowe AAP is indeed legally binding these obligations must be met by the developer.
Our commitment to protecting and promoting the heritage of Longstanton & District remains, and any threat or actual harm to our heritage will be monitored, recorded and made public.
LDHS would welcome the opportunity to meet the developers, to discuss our heritage concerns and aspirations, before the new Northstowe plans are finalised. If we cannot meet the developers personally perhaps there is someone else who would be prepared to represent us and stand up for the interests of Longstanton; our archaeology and our conservation area. Failing that we will have to hope that common sense, and respect for heritage and the natural environment will prevail.
You will see that in the Latest News section of the website we have created a page of links to all the important Northstowe documents and SCDC adopted policies. Please do look at all the documents, in particular the Northstowe AAP, and make up your own mind! (Perhaps you will not agree with the interpretation put forward here.)
However, when looking at the Northstowe AAP remember that what its says is legally binding! The list of documents and links is not exhaustive and there may be others that we should provide details on. Do let us know if there is any other information/ links that should be placed on the list.
As usual the above is written in good faith based upon information received. In the meantime if there are any errors or omissions in the above please contact us and we will correct the information as soon as possible.
12 Feb. 2010
LDHS was pleased to welcome two new members to our committee last night. We are delighted to report that the ”first” future residents of Northstowe are now represented. When the boundary review is carried out it has always been proposed that Rampton Drift, Longstanton will become Rampton Drift (Northstowe). It is very important to LDHS that we represent the interests of all areas of Longstanton & District. We would still love to have a representative of Oakington & Westwick on the committee. If you are a resident of Oakington or Westwick; enthusiastic about helping us protect and promote the heritage of Longstanton & District and interested in creating a heritage facility – please do get in contact.
12 Feb. 2010
We look forward to hearing why an area of trees within the Longstanton Conservation Area (Long Lane) has been cleared leaving just a few scattered trees and lots of stumps. We hope to post some before and after photographs in due course. The area of concern is adjacent to the Northstowe site and appeared (we believe) on previous plans as some form of access to the new town? The whole of the Longstanton Conservation Area should be protected by SCDC – Development Affecting Conservation Areas SPD (Jan 2009) which states amongst other things that development within or adjacent to conservation areas should at the very least not harm the conservation area. However, emphasis is made in this policy that development should preserve or enhance a Conservation Area! How does this obligation reconcile with Policy SP/15 which apparently allows for the provision of allotments; cemeteries and sports fields within the Longstanton Conservation Area? Does not digging up Medieval Ridge and Furrow for burial plots; allotments or sports fields constitute harm? It certainly cannot be viewed as preserving or enhancing the conservation area as the Development Affecting Conservation Areas SDP (Jan 2009) requires. The “open uses” referred to in Policy SP/15 are destructive processes and should not be allowed under the SPD mentioned above. Will SCDC be putting “open uses” on the conservation areas of other villages or just ours? How can the priorities for Northstowe take precedence over the council’s other obligations? We will of course monitor all aspects of this “open uses” threat to the Longstanton Conservation Area and will keep you informed.
8 Feb. 2010
South Cambridgeshire District Council Policy SP/15 - Conservation Area and Green Separation Longstanton
We have been advised that SCDC recently adopted Policy SP/15. We understand that this policy allows Northstowe “open uses” on the Longstanton Conservation Area. Although this policy appears to allow for some enhancement and protection of the ” best ” paddocks (for now!) - any destruction of Medieval Ridge and Furrow to make way for allotments; cemeteries or sports fields cannot be acceptable to LDHS. The heritage society has been set up to protect the heritage of Longstanton and District and that we are committed to do. We do not intend to act as judge and jury over what bits should be protected, and which bits should not. The value of the Longstanton Conservation Area comes from the value of the whole: its listed buildings; its plethora of protected wildlife; its archaeological remains and the patchwork of paddocks that are grazed by horses and rare breed cattle. The quality of the Longstanton Conservation Area will be irrevocably harmed, if the piecemeal annexation of Long Lane or individual paddocks is allowed to occur; just to satisfy the developers of Northstowe. LDHS believes that this threat to the Longstanton Conservation Area is not justified as there are plenty of other parcels of land, within the developers control, where these “open uses” can be sited. Perhaps as a newly announced eco-town the developers and local authority planners could re-look at this issue. Threatening conservation area habitats and archaeology, based on the findings of a Government Inspector, does not appear to be very “Eco” friendly!
Unfortunately adoption of SP/15 appears to be in accordance with the Government Inspector’s Report and the Northstowe Area Action Plan (AAP) both of which were adopted in 2007 and may be irrevocable. But much has changed since then. LDHS and local residents do not have to like, or accept without complaint, this threat to the Longstanton Conservation Area. For more information on this policy please go the South Cambridgeshire District Council website.
If we hear that our interpretation of SCDC Policy SP/15 is incorrect – we will of course post a correction on the website.
8 Feb 2010
New information has been loaded on Longstanton Railway and Guided Bus-way Sections. Behind the scenes I have gone through all the image files to date; re-sizing the images and including a full description. This description has included where possible details on the donor; dates; places and any other historical information that I think will be useful to have on the record. Providing these images are not deleted off the Media Library this historical information is preserved for the future. From now on as we load on individual photographs we will include as much information in the description as we can. On many of the current photos I did not list individual names. Perhaps this can be done later in a way that website user can access. At this stage I am not sure whether the web user has access to the caption or description details but we will try to find out. In the meantime if you want further information on anything that appears on the website please do not hesitate to contact us.
Birmingham Archaeology has kindly given us the link to their Longstanton Archaeological Reports. I am hoping we can get this link posted on here as soon as possible.