South Cambs District Council recently completed a public consultation on a proposal to help address a county-wide housing shortfall of over 2000 homes by building another 220 on three sites within Orchard Park that are currently unplanned. The background and full details on these proposals can be found here:

http://www.scambs.gov.uk/Environment/Planning/DistrictPlanning/LocalDevelopmentFramework/Site_Specific_Policies_DPD.htm

The three proposed sites are:

• Parcel L2, the undeveloped land north of Graham Road between POS6 and Starr End/Flack End. Proposing 30 homes on 0.29ha of land previously designated as mixed use.
• Parcel Com4, the undeveloped land to the north and east of the Topper Street play area. Proposing 70 homes on 0.94ha of land previously designated as commercial.
• Parcel Q & HRCC, land to the south and west of the school. Proposing 120 homes on 1.93ha of land previously designated as mixed use.

It can be a little complex, but the simple story is that it costs money to run the local council and that cost is paid by Orchard Park residents through the Council Tax...

In June 2009 a new Community Council will be created for Orchard Park - that local council will be responsible for a number of duties, including maintaining all the public facilities (community centre, sports pitches, public open spaces, play areas etc), verges and streetlights, litter bins as well as responsibilities for representing Orchard Park residents with the District and County councils, reviewing planning applications, taking part in major developments such as the the Guided Busway and the A14 widening. The council is also responsible for leading community development and the provision of sports, entertainment and public art.

Whilst the council in Orchard Park will eventually receive some money from Gallagher towards the maintenance of the facilities (eg community centre) that they will transfer to the Council's ownership once they have been built, this money is intended to cover the maintenance costs, not the management/administration costs, developing use of the facilities, or developing the facilities themselves, such as upgrades, replacement etc.

Nor will this money cover all the other council costs - so the council has the power to raise its own money through taxation, through the Council Tax process in fact. And that process is remarkably simple - the Council decide how much money they want, divide it by the number of homes in their community, and then ask the District Council to add that amount to the Council Tax charge for each home. This charge is called the "precept" and in the current year, that charge is just under £70 pounds.

So the real question is how does the council decide how much money they want?

Arbury Park is widely considered to be a flagship housing development in the UK - well planned, well designed, great facilities etc etc - and if the original vision is delivered, I would whole-heartedly agree.

There has been a significant effort put in by parish, district and county councils to ensure that the right decisions were made with Arbury Park with respect to housing design and layout, designing for community living, mixing residential and commercial spaces, open spaces, public facilties, retail facilities, public transport, traffic, A14 noise, etc etc and the work is by no means finished!!