November 2023

5 Buckden Roundabout November 2023 From your District Councillor From your District Councillor Dear Residents, The year has passed so quickly. It ’ s October already and we ’ re into autumn, though it ’ s difficult to judge these days from the weather. Apparently, September was the warmest month of the year so far. Rains that seem to be more like the tropical storms of the Caribbean, than the drizzle of my childhood, are now commonplace. I continue to have regular meetings with the Local Flood Au- thority (LLFA) and I understand that we need to prepare for more flood events in the future. It seems that we are going to be prone to both flooding and drought in this area. The answer may be that a lot of small things can add up to a big thing in terms of flood and drought prevention. Creating small ponds and wetland areas that hold up run - off water and prevent drought could be the answer. A report has been com- missioned to provide advice – I will monitor and report back, but for biodiversity reasons creating a small pond or wet sec- tion of your garden is likely to be a good idea. New Cycleway Between Brampton and Buckden I ’ m starting to get reports from residents who are using the new cycleway to Brampton. The traffic lights are now working so it ’ s now properly open. Feedback from residents has been largely positive, though I am concerned about school children crossing the busy Brampton to Huntingdon Road. I think that it ’ s a huge step forward and again I thank all those who have helped, donated and lobbied for this change over many years. It ’ s disappointing that we have to make massive compromises in order to get any footway / cycleway improvements made at all. I think that we have made some wins with the cycleway improvements, but it is far from a panacea. That said, we need to celebrate our successes and hard work on this occasion. Happy to listen to interest and continued observations from residents on all areas of active travel. I will continue to push for improvements and to get Buckden ’ s Local Cycling and Walking Plan (LCWIP) implemented. Free business support and grant funding competition launched via UKSPF Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) is pleased to announce a new business support programme utilising UK Shared Pros- perity Funding (UKSPF). The council ’ s Economic Development team are working in part- nership with the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Business and IP Centre (BIPC) to launch a dedicated programme of support. This includes the return of the BIPC Jumpstart, a ground - breaking initiative aimed at supporting entrepreneurship and innovation locally. The scheme includes £75,000 of advice, and tools to help new businesses and has been made possible through substantial funding provided by HDC via the UKSPF. The Jumpstart competition is now open to all Huntingdonshire - based businesses and entrepreneurs with £25,000 of grant funding available. The winners, set to be announced in early 2024, will be deter- mined following a live “ Dragon ’ s Den ” style pitch event, where each business will present to a panel of judges. The grants will be available for capital expenditure, with several prizes availa- ble across four different tiers: • 1 x Platinum: £10,000 • 1 x Gold: £6,000 • 1 x Silver: £4,000 • 5 x Bronze: £1,000 With a commitment to nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit by providing practical resources, support and guidance to help new businesses overcome early - stage challenges, Jumpstart aims to help start - up businesses move forward with confi- dence, while also acknowledging that funding is often crucial to early onset businesses. Further information about the application criteria and process can be found online: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/ BIPCjumpstart. Connect with the HDC Economic Development team: economic.development@huntingdonshire.gov.uk Government to delay new environmental building rules – im- pact to HDC You may have seen in the news that the government is delay- ing its promised implementation with regard to biodiversity net gain. Not only is this disappointing, but it has significant effects on local authorities. The uncertainty of the government ’ s position is likely to impact HDC in the following ways: • In anticipation, HDC are already in the process of re- cruiting both ecologists and planning officers with ecolo- gy experience – this creates uncertainty in our recruit- ment processes. • Ecologists and planning officers with ecology experience are valuable in their own right, but one of their main roles was to help us prepare for the November imple- mentation of this law. • Biodiversity net gain cannot be truly scrapped unless the environment act is amended. The government's announcement simply delays implementation, but this does not rule out a future amendment of the act, which creates uncertainty. • Now planning authorities are essentially in limbo. Much like national laws on food waste, the law stands but the government delays guidance effectively stopping imple- mentation by local authorities. • One approach we could take is to build a local plan that includes many of the aspects which were due to come (Continued on page 15)