Fears have been allayed that the playing field in New School Road – previously used by the former Infants School – could be used as development land now that the school has moved.
Land owners Cambridgeshire County Council have granted a ‘tenancy at will’ to the Parish Council, which has no plans to develop the site, but will open it to the whole community, monitor its use and listen to any good ideas that could further enhance its value to local residents.
Although a ‘tenancy at will’ allows the Parish Council to occupy the land indefinitely, it is only a short-term measure and either party could end the arrangement by giving immediate notice at any time. However, the intention of both parties is that that this temporary arrangement will be turned into a long-term lease of the land. A 7-year lease is currently on offer, which would protect the land from development during this period.
Parish Council Chair Denis Payne explained: “The tenancy is good news because it makes a little more green open space available to the community. The field is a Protected Village Amenity Area in the South Cambs Local Plan, and also a Local Green Space in the Histon & Impington Neighbourhood Plan. Anything that the Parish Council does with the land will reflect these designations.”
Future use
For the time being the field – which will open to the public from Friday 30th July – will simply remain as a field. It is likely to be open for use from 8am until dusk each day and will be subject to a few common sense rules, including ball games being allowed. The rights of existing users will be protected, including the neighbouring Early Years centre, which is a condition of the tenancy.
Among the ideas for the land are a Pump Track – which has long been the vision of some in the community. A post on Facebook commented that the original gift of the land was for the benefit of children’s exercise and neighbours are used to it being used for children’s recreation. “It already has some mature trees. I can imagine it with hedging and additional planting to make it interesting, it would be a great, central use of the space, and it’s big enough with some careful design”.