Cardington Parish Council
Summer 2016
The Community Governance Review for Cardington and Eastcotts is set to begin on June 15th. We will formally submit, jointly with Eastcotts, an option for realigning the parish boundary so that the developments which would currently add more than 300 new homes to our Parish, fall entirely within Eastcotts. Bedford Borough Council will formulate alternative options and additional proposals for aligning the parish boundaries with the by-pass. We will report on this part of the process in the September LINK. Draft recommendations, which take account of consequent changes to polling districts and warding of the Parishes, should be published for consultation by all electors sometime between November and February 2017. This should enable the final decision to be applied after March 2017.
If you have any questions about the Review let our Clerk, Mike Dewar, know or come along to the next Parish Council Meeting on 11 July when the Review will be on the agenda and you can also speak directly to Councillors.
As part of the process of developing the next Local Plan for Bedford Borough we have submitted proposals for 10 Local Green Spaces along the Southill and Cople Roads. This follows discussion at the Special Village Meeting, 10 December last and the Annual Parish Meeting, 7 March. All the proposed Green Spaces are designated as Village Open Spaces or Views in the existing Local Plan adopted July 2013. The proposals are being assessed by the Borough and if agreed and incorporated in the next Local Plan they will preserve the open aspect of the village with the surrounding rural landscape blending into the conservation area.
There is a new timetable for the next Local Plan because new submissions for potential development sites offer the Borough options for one or more large scale settlements and a consequent review of the distribution of development throughout the Borough. The end date of the Plan has been extended to 2035 and we can expect the consultation on the next draft to be in early 2017.
With all this going on in addition to the regular issues, we need new residents to join the Parish Council to ensure continuity as we lose Councillors who move away or retire after long-service. Please let our Clerk know if you wish to learn more about working with the Council or becoming a Parish Councillor.