The Valley newsletter - February 2023
(DOWNLOAD PDF) THE VALLEY NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2023
This is the new form of the ‘News Update from the Chair’
The Valley newsletter - July 2022
(DOWNLOAD PDF) THE VALLEY NEWSLETTER JULY 2022
This is the new form of the ‘News Update from the Chair’
The Valley newsletter - February 2022
(DOWNLOAD PDF) THE VALLEY NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2022
This is the new form of the ‘News Update from the Chair’
Partner Members & Supporters Forum Notes - November 2021
DOWNLOAD COMPLETE TWO PAGE DOCUMENT AS A PDF
The Valley newsletter - August to September 2021
(DOWNLOAD PDF) NEWSLETTER AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
This is the new form of the ‘News Update from the Chair’
Anglian Water eel works at Offord update
Anglian Water announce work for eels now finished and the OVW footpath reopened May 2020
Anglian Water report that work at their Offord Intake Water Treatment Site is now complete, site cabins and equipment have been removed and the public footpath has reopened. They wish to thank the public for their co-operation throughout the scheme.
Anglian Water has now completed one of their £3.2 m investment schemes to protect endangered species. The European Eel is now classed as critically endangered after a 95% declined in population over the last 25 years.
Eels spend their early years in rivers across Europe before migrating to the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic to spawn. The spawn is then thought to use the Gulf Stream to return to our rivers, by which time they have developed into very small glass eels.
One of the reasons why the eel population is thought to have declined so rapidly in recent years is because structures in our rivers, like weirs, locks and other machinery prevents the species from completing its migration cycle in order to reproduce.
The new screens at Offord D’Arcy will stop eels from entering the abstraction intake, but the size of the mesh on the screens will also mean fish and other organisms will be protected from being drawn into the machinery.
For more information or you have any queries, please contact the Anglian Water 24-hour customer helpline on 03457 145 145 and quote reference number 55920018. Information can also be found on our ‘In Your Area’ website at www.anglianwater.co.uk/yourarea
To find out what else Anglian Water is doing for the environment follow this link: www.anglianwater.co.uk/environment
CPCA Transport Plan - GOVT response
Our Chair’s response to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority’s Local Transport Plan submitted 27 September 2019
1 The CPCA Local Transport Plan includes a proposal for a Third River Crossing between Huntingdon and St Ives. This idea was previously proposed partly in order to accommodate the planned residential development of the Wyton Airfield site.
2 Following very strong objections from many sources the proposal was dropped. The Great Ouse Valley Trust is dismayed to see that it is now included in the Combined Authority’s Local Transport Plan and is equally dismayed that a study is about to be commissioned on the feasibility of the crossing.
3 The landscape of the Great Ouse Valley between Huntingdon and St Ives is of national importance and is now being considered as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is loved by artists and is rich in biodiversity. It defines the area and gives the Great Ouse Valley towns and villages their identity.
4 Cambridgeshire has the smallest area of non arable landscape in any rural county in the United Kingdom. The county and the East of England cannot boast grand landscapes. The area in the Great Ouse Valley is small and fragile but also unique and precious. It compares very favourably with Dedham Vale and other special protected areas.
5 The impact assessment refers to a new network giving better access for tourism whilst ignoring the fact that a road would destroy the very thing that brings tourists to this area. The quality of the environment is of course a very significant factor in attracting businesses and a skilled workforce to the area. There is very strong business case for protecting this environment.
6 In the month that has seen the publication of the Glover Report on our fragile national landscapes and international demonstrations about climate change the need to protect these special areas is brought into focus.
7 The proposed plan ignores Government manifesto commitments to leave the natural environment in a better state than it was in when the Government took office. It ignores the Government Wildlife recovery plan and it ignores the Government 25 year environment plan.
8 As the towns and villages on either side of the valley expand and become more urbanised the need to protect this small, unique landscape for the mental and physical health of our community is even more pressing.
9 The value of the landscape to the future success of Cambridgeshire is too significant to be sacrificed for short term convenience. As the urbanisation of the towns on either side of the valley continues the protection of this special landscape is absolutely vital.
10 The starting point for the Local Transport Plan must be the nurture of the resources that already exist in Cambridgeshire and which make it an area that people want to live in and businesses invest in.
11 The Great Ouse Valley Trust believes that a new road across the unique and tranquil landscape of the area between Huntingdon and St Ives is not a legitimate option for the transport study.
Graham Campbell
Chairman
Great Ouse Valley Trust
The following email was received by GOVT on 3 December from Rowland Potter, Head of Transport, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority.
Tel: 01480 277210 Mobile: 07923 250202
Dear All,
Further to our meetings over the last few months, at which time we were undertaking a procurement exercise for a supplier to deliver the Huntingdon Third River Crossing study, as per the brief issued to yourselves for information.
We have now decided to place the supplier award on official hold for reconsideration of an alternative way of delivering the Huntingdon Third River Crossing study requirement.
Kind regards
Rowland
[GOVT would like to thank all those who took advantage of the consultation process for the CPCA Local Transport Plan to express their views on the proposals for a Third River Crossing. We await further announcements from Roland Potter.]
Now read Further Comment from our Chair .....