There are a number of consultations out at the moment, to which the Parish Council can respond – but it is also possible for individuals and other organisations to give their input directly – the more the merrier! Some of them close on September 16, so early action is needed.
Luton airport flight paths – CAA report
The CA are seeking feedback about recent changes to the flight paths into and out of Luton airport.
- visit https://airspacechange.caa.co.uk/PublicProposalArea?pID=51 and scroll to the bottom to see the ‘Provide feedback’ button.
- Feedback closes on 11 September 2024.
- other useful links:
- https://mediahub.london-luton.co.uk/news/11072024/review-of-airspace-change-is-published
- The local action group website: https://www.relas.uk/
Active Travel Hierarchy, CCC – consultation
To quote from the Cambridgeshire County Council website,
We are looking for feedback on Active Travel routes and public rights of way in Cambridgeshire. We want to know which routes are important to our communities. We also want to seek your views on the concept of prioritising maintenance activities according to how important a route is.
In 2023, Cambridgeshire County Council adopted its Active Travel Strategy. … The Strategy aims to promote walking and cycling as a first choice for shorter journeys, as well as supporting the use of mobility aids. To support the Strategy, the Highways and Transport Service is proposing to introduce an Active Travel Hierarchy. A hierarchy is a system of ranking things according to their importance. This consultation will help us rank routes in the Hierarchy by asking which ones are important to you. The Hierarchy will inform how we choose to prioritise maintenance standards for active travel routes. We are considering the whole highway network, including Public Rights of Way.
The hierarchy will affect prioritisation for improvements and maintenance of roads, footpaths, bridleways etc throughout the county, So, feedback on the routes that are important to you will help protect those routes.
- visit https://consultcambs.uk.engagementhq.com/active-travel-hierarchy for more information.
- By using the appropriate ‘complete form‘ buttons on that page, you can give feedback on
- the general principles;
- specific highways in the ‘walking and wheeling’ hierarchy;
- specific highways in the ‘cycling’ hierarchy; and,
- specific Public Rights of Way (PROW).
- for all but the first, you can submit the form multiple times, for different highways and PROWs.
- Responses have to be in by 16th of September 2024.
Bus Franchising, C&PCA – consultation
From the website,
We recognise just how important buses are, which is why we believe the way the region’s buses are run needs to change. We want to address the current challenges including the performance of local bus services. Now is the time for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to review how its buses are operated, to improve services for all.
We are holding a formal consultation which will inform a decision by the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough on how to reform buses across the area.
- visit https://cpca-yourvoice.co.uk/bus-franchising-consultation/ for more information, and to have your say; the ‘short questionaire’ is the more relevant for individuals.
- The bus franchising consultation runs from Wednesday 14 August – Wednesday 20 November 2024.
Community Energy Action Plan, CCC – consultation
From the website:
Cambridgeshire County Council is seeking resident and stakeholder views on how the Council can support communities to benefit from the transition to a clean energy system. Ways in which communities can benefit might include accessing grant funding for domestic energy efficiency or heat pumps, developing a community owned solar or wind installation, reducing energy bills through energy efficiency measures etc. Proposals for how the Council could support communities are set out in a draft Community Energy Action Plan for the county. We are seeking stakeholder views on these proposals.
- visit https://consultcambs.uk.engagementhq.com/community-energy-project for more information, and to complete the survey.
- The closing date for comments is 16 September 2024.
National Planning Policy Framework
From the website:
This consultation seeks views on our proposed approach to revising the National Planning Policy Framework in order to achieve sustainable growth in our planning system. We are also seeking views on a series of wider policy proposals in relation to increasing planning fees, local plan intervention criteria and appropriate thresholds for certain Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) set the basic policies used for assessing planning applications, etc. HDC, our Local Planning Authority, has a Local Plan that operates within the framework of the NPPF, but has to be revised whenever the NPPF is updated. As a community, we have a Neighbourhood Plan that refines and adapts the current Local Plan, and planning authorities have to take into account the Neighbourhood Plan when making decisions. The Neighbourhood Plan plan has to be reviewed when the Local Plan and/or the NPPF is updated.
The changes the current government are planning to introduce significantly affect the NPPF for neighbourhoods such as ours: in particular, what are suitable area for development, and acceptable densities for new housing.
- Visit https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-reforms-to-the-national-planning-policy-framework-and-other-changes-to-the-planning-system/proposed-reforms-to-the-national-planning-policy-framework-and-other-changes-to-the-planning-system for more information, and to respond.
- Chapter 14 summarises all the 106 questions!
- You can respond online or via email – see the ‘how to respond‘ section
- This consultation will close at 11.45pm on Tuesday 24 September 2024.