Bypass Farm lease acquisition proposal

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Bypass Farm

proposal to acquire the leasehold

17/02/2014

Bypass Farm lease acquisition proposal

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• According to South Cambs standards we should have 22.40 hectares but we’ve only got 11.65 hectares

• The deficit is particularly acute for outdoor sport (the Rec is 6.4 hectares, about 50% of what we should have)

• We don’t have enough space for some popular sports and some outdoor leisure activities have no provision

• There’s also a shortage of ‘club-room’ space for societies and activities such as the scouts and music groups

• It seems that there’s a latent demand for less formal recreation space17/02/2014

Histon and Impington is short of public open

space

Bypass Farm lease acquisition proposal

317/02/2014

There were relevant comments at the Our Plan

meeting

Rather than having clay pigeon or archery, create a serendipitous place (physical or online) where people can get together to create new groups, advertise, recruit and then carry out, whether on the rec, village hall churches etc

Activities should be available to just turn up instead of having to join a club or pay subscription

Facilities for late teens/early 20's

Youth activities and facilities, many possible activities but not the places to do them

Music performance space (inc PA system) Kids learn amazing skills at IVC - where can they use them once they've left?

Bypass Farm lease acquisition proposal

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Bypass Farm offers the opportunity to address

this

• It’s available and would deliver 12 acres

• There’s nothing else available

• It would be a tempting housing development for the County Council if nothing else is done with it

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Bypass Farm lease acquisition proposal

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H&I can afford to acquire, develop and run it

Acquiring the lease

• The cost of the lease will be £72,500

• The Parish Council has sufficient reserves to cover this

• It has been saving £20K plus/year

• And there is section 106 funding available

• It’s in the budget!

Developing and managing

• If it costs us £1million to develop we’ll need to borrow about £500K

• It’ll then cost about £60/year to run it

• The extra £40K/year will add about 14% to the precept

• Think of this as a maximum

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Bypass Farm lease acquisition proposal

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So what are we proposing to do with it?

• Fill a gap between play grounds and the Rec

• Provide a home for the brownies and scouts and other clubs and societies

• Enable people to enjoy more than just soccer, cricket, tennis and bowls

… but we don’t know yet

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Bypass Farm lease acquisition proposal

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There’s going to be a program of consultation

• First step is to ask the community what it wants

• Step 2 is then to develop a proposal

• Then we consult on this before going to a development decision

• Today is just about the lease

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Bypass Farm lease acquisition proposal

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This is a strategic opportunity for the

communityLet’s do it!

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