News

Eye Library and Youth centre petition presented to full council

Resident Dale McKean gave an impassioned plea at this week’s full council to save Eye library and Youth Centre on Crowland Road in the village. The building which was originally the villages school then a library and Youth Club, was gifted to the council, but now finds itself in the firing line to be sold. As well as the youth club the centre is used by the Brownies, Rainbows and Girl Guides. You can read more about the sale in our previous story here. The Mayor, Councillor Nick Sandford invited Dale to present the petition which has over 1,517 signatures. Just a few comments from the meeting below. I’ve left out the party politics, if you want to see them and the full meeting you can see it here: www.youtube.com/live/kpyb-wvKKW8 Continue reading “Eye Library and Youth centre petition presented to full council”

Allison Homes present at Eye Parish Council meeting

Eye Parish Council yesterday saw Allison Homes giving a presentation on the Tanholt Development and local resident Dale McKean giving a response on behalf of the parish council.

One of the points was the implementation of a Construction Management Plan (CMP). Construction Management Plan (commonly referred to as a CMP) is a plan that outlines the proposed building works to be undertaken and how the constructor intends to manage the project to minimise the impact on the local residents during the works: “For the Eyebury Road development this means having a mandatory access to the site to be from the direction of Oxney Rd rather than Eyebury Rd which has a weight limit and is unsuitable for construction traffic and has the school, pre-school and after school wrap around facility (Longer opening hrs than school). Below are key Issues, other items are also needed in condition for the CMP.

  • There should be no parking of construction and delivery vehicles off site.
  • Eye Primary School is in urgent need of expansion so the access road to the school drop off area on the northern boundary of the site should be provided as work begins so the school construction traffic can use it and the school expanded.
  • Vehicle traffic adjacent to the Residential Care/Nursing Home (Field House) should be kept to an absolute minimum over the period of the build as many residents have dementia and any noise will be very upsetting.
  • There should be strict control of construction noise, vibration, dust mitigation, clearing of mud on Eyebury Rd and air quality for our children and residents, with a complaints procedure.
  • Building operations hours need to be limited so as not to impact the residents adjoining the site.
  • The Public Right of way should be safely open throughout the development with suitable security fencing from the building sites.”

As seen in the news on this website many times, this has been a contentious development due to the size and proximity to Eye Primary School to what can already be a busy road on at school opening and closing times.

Due to the pressure on budgets local authorities can be afraid of being challenged by large businesses due to the costs involved. Added housing targets that have to be met and the erosion of planning regulation over the past decade has meant developers can have the upper hand. And more planning reforms are due to take place in 2024, which aim to further simplify the planning process for home builders.

 

Outline Planning Permission approved for Tanholt Farm Site – Dec 23

Outline planning permission 19/00836/OUT for the construction of up 265 homes on Eyebury Road next to the primary school was approved on the 18 Dec 2023. Supporting letter here. Without a doubt this is the largest single housing development in the villages history.

Continue reading “Outline Planning Permission approved for Tanholt Farm Site – Dec 23”

Eye Library and youth centre at risk of sale

As reported in this week’s Peterborough Telegraph and by the BBC, Peterborough City Council is planning to sell the building that houses the village’s youth club and library. The review into the sale of the building was approved by Peterborough City Council’s Conservative cabinet in July 23 (Appendix B – Disposal Plan) and council officers have already completed a valuation of the building. In 2019 the government investigated the council to see if they broke the law by selling public assets to help meet its running costs. The issue is many of these assets to bring in much needed revenue in the form of rent over a longer term, selling these assets may bring a chunk of money in one big hit but once they are gone they are gone for good.

The governments asset disposal guidance calls for local authorities to dispose of assets they deem as surplus in fact: “At the Spending Review 2015, the government announced a package of measures to enable the release of public sector assets for more productive use, supporting growth and efficiency.” As it says “assets that could be made surplus” not assets just assets that are currently surplus.

The building which is in the village’s conservation area dates back to 1855 was originally built to be the village’s school. It was a working school for almost 100 years but when the current school on Eyebury Road opened in 1951 it closed. Today it continues to be the villages library and is used by both the youth club and the Girl Guides group with nearly 70 children between the age of nine and 12 using the Eye junior youth club. The City Council has said Manor Farm community Centre could be used to provide the facilities in the current building but it isn’t a suitable alternative for a number of reasons, including a lack of storage, no secure outside play area and unsuitable flooring. I’m sure if the council found a million pounds to build a suitable extension to Manor Farm Community Centre before they close and sell the current building, residents maybe more amenable.

MP Paul Bristow said “It’s a fantastic, thriving community hub for young people in Eye. The resources there are already stretched, this Youth Club is and will be a vital hub for the community as the village continues to grow.”

The city council has found itself with a multi-million budget deficit and needs to sell assets to stave off bankruptcy as happened to Birmingham City Council. The council’s overall debt has also increased from around £250 million in 2014 to over £450 million today which has also added to the pressures. This won’t have been helped by the recent purchase of the council’s HQ, Sandmartin House for over £47 million, the loan of £23 million to Empower for a solar panel scheme which went bust a few years ago, a £15 million loan to the developers of the Hilton Hotel on Fletton Keys which also went bust and £3 million spent on developing a solar farm project close to Newborough which then didn’t happen.

Deputy Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Finance John Howard said in the Peterborough Telegraph: “That this is a review, no decisions have been made” and “Every decision that is made will go through the council scrutiny process and cabinet.”

We will be following the outcome of these meetings closely.

An appeal has been launched by resident Dale McKean to try to keep the building in public hands. Dale said to the BBC: “We already have hundreds of signatures. Eye residents are very angry and children are very upset at the council’s decision. No one was consulted or informed about this.” “The village has grown considerably in the last 10 years and these facilities are absolutely needed for young families and children”.

According to the census the village has grown by over by over a thousand residents in the past 10 years, the highest growth in a village in the Peterborough area and more community facilities are needed, not less.

Our MP Paul Bristow has written to the council and will be at the library on Friday 17 November at 11am to talk to residents.

Lets hope common sense prevails and the building is retained in public hands…

In the media

Local resident shares his objections of the Tanholt Farm development

The 264 home for planning application the Tanholt Farm development went before planners on the 25 January 2022. Despite over 350 objections to the development including objections from Eye Parish Council, Ward Councillors and our MP due to its size and location, it was approved seven votes to three. Continue reading “Local resident shares his objections of the Tanholt Farm development”

Tanholt Development – outline planning application v3

 

Planning for 284 homes on the 13 hectare Tanholt site to the east of Eyebury Road in the village has for the third time been put forward for public consultation. This is probably the largest single development put in for planning permission in the village’s history. The development has previously been covered extensively on this website previously so I won’t say a lot more except please do respond by Friday the 17 September 2021. Continue reading “Tanholt Development – outline planning application v3”

Parking restrictions at McDonalds in Eye

Please remember that there is a one hour parking restriction at the McDonalds in Eye, the McDonalds website makes no mention of this. I have heard of a few cases where customers have been caught out and fined. The parking restrictions are enforced by http://metparking.com not the store itself. Met Parking also receive the proceeds of the fines, not McDonalds, although the contract with the parking company to manage the car park will be with McDonalds.

Your car registration is recorded by ANPR as you enter the property and then as you leave. If the time is longer than an hour you will get a fine. Whether you agree with this method of enforcement of not, by entering and parking you are agreeing to the terms and conditions which is why it can be challenging to appeal.

A spokesperson for McDonald’s said: “We have parking restrictions in place at a number of our restaurants, with a time limit to ensure there is adequate parking for all of our customers. We make this clear to our customers with signage in the car park. If a customer feels they have been wrongly ticketed, we would encourage them to get in touch with the third party contractor who issued the ticket by way of appeal.”

Matt Jarett

McDonald’s also doesn’t want people parking in their car park and visiting the adjacent car sales company which is why the time limit was introduced.

If you wish to register a complaint with McDonalds and you think the time limit is too short please visit https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb.html The restaurant in Eye is a franchise restaurant which is owned by franchisee, Matthew Jarrett of M PJ Enterprises Ltd.

You can also read more here: https://moneynerd.co.uk/mcdonalds-parking-fine/

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Eye Green McDonalds, Crowland Road, Peterborough. PE6 7TN

Woodland to the east of Dogsthorpe sold

This piece of woodland, also known as Dosthorpe Spinney to some is just outside the western boundary of Eye Parish. It was sold for £133,000 in May 2021 and there have been concerns about its future. There is very little woodland to the east of Peterborough with only a few small patches surrounded by farmland. Trees play a vital role in removing pollutants from the air, filtering atmospheric pollutants like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide through their leaves. For the busy junction, that the A15/A47 junction is, it may go some way towards counteracting the pollutants generated.
Continue reading “Woodland to the east of Dogsthorpe sold”

Litter: the story continues…

This story comes from the west of Eye, from the service area that contains the Esso Petrol Station, Morrisons and KFC. We previously covered litter from the other service area to the east of the village of May last year. I was notified it was a bit grotty so I took a look myself while I was visiting the nearby Peterborough One Retail Park. The area in question is to the west of the service station, it is an area where customers regularly stop after visiting the fuel station and KFC. Continue reading “Litter: the story continues…”