The Parish Council decided to acquire a 30 year lease on Bypass Farm at its Feb 14 meeting. This 12 acre plot to the north of the village will help the Parish Council to address the shortage of open space across the two villages.

1. Bypass Farm
proposal to acquire the leasehold
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Bypass Farm lease acquisition proposal
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2. Histon and Impington is
short of public open space
• 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 space
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3. There were relevant comments
at the Our Plan meeting
Activities should be
available to just turn up
instead of having to join a
club or pay subscription
Youth activities and
facilities, many possible
activities but not the
places to do them
Facilities for late
teens/early 20's
Music performance space
(inc PA system) Kids learn
amazing skills at IVC where can they use them
once they've left?
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Bypass Farm lease acquisition proposal
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
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4. 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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5. H&I can afford to acquire,
develop and run it
Acquiring the lease
Developing and managing
• 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!
• 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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6. 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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7. 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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8. This is a strategic opportunity
for the community
Let’s do it!
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