There were 288 responses out of possible 757 houses = 38%. 46% of responses were from over 60s with 103 of those responses in 1-2 person households showing the village has an ageing population.
There is a lower than S Cambs average percentage of households in the 20-39 age category, with only 26 responses to the questionnaire.
Comments asked for more affordable, smaller houses to encourage younger families to live in the village.
New housing should be varied and compatible with the character, size and scale of existing housing. It should also be high quality design, not boxes, and sustainable in as many ways as possible.
People wanted to keep the rural, village feel of Harston and not become urbanised/ a suburb of Cambridge.
People greatly appreciated the existing services- surgery/dispensary, primary school, local shop/PO, garage/Costa and recreation ground.
Residents and the working population wanted a central hub/meeting place with café.
People wanted more sports facilities and activities on the Recreation ground.
Traffic on the A10 and congestion in church Street were major concerns.
People wanted more connecting footpaths within the village, away from the A10, and (off the road) to Newton.
Business and landowner/ user questionnaires
At the same time as the household questionnaire, over 70 additional simple questionnaires were delivered to over 70 Harston businesses. Only 1 written reply and a few verbal responses were received.
They benefitted being close to Cambridge, but the congestion charge would affect some businesses. Button End was not ideal for large lorries to access the industrial estate.
A similar 3 -4 questions were sent to landowners and landusers of agricultural land in Harston and they all responded.
They were keen to look after the environment and had several areas under environmental stewardship. They need dog walkers to be aware of these areas and not let dogs roam over them. See short article below from Newton Farms.
They had concerns about the impact of East West Rail which would cut through a significant number of fields, also making movement to them difficult.
Church St congestion caused them a major problem as far vehicles can’t use that route during surgery hours.
‘Newton Farms has been farming in and around the village of Harston for nearly 400 years This area includes Beech Farm to the north of the A10 and Park Farm to the South. Recently residents would have noticed the introduction of cover crops and grazing sheep around the village. This is part of our move to a more sustainable and regenerative form of agriculture.
Residents will soon notice that the two fields pictured on the map at Park Farm (South of the A10) are to be cultivated and entered into an agri – environmental scheme called Countryside Stewardship. In recent history the two fields have been left as ‘fallow’. The reason for this was a hangover from European led bureaucracy where farmers were required to leave a percentage of their land unplanted or fallow. This obligation has now come to an end and we intend to plant a Pollen and Nectar Mix in Playing Field and a Wild Bird Seed Mix in Wood Field. The purposes of these crops is to give back to nature and promote biodiversity across the landscape encouraging both flora and fauna back to the area. These crops will not be harvested and sole purpose is to create a habitat and feed source for wildlife. Newton Farms and Mr William Hurrell (land owner) politely ask that residents refrain from walking across this land especially with dogs. There are no footpaths in either of these field parcels and we as a business could face a penalty if the two environmental crops planted are found to be regularly accessed by walkers and their dogs. We encourage all people to enjoy the countryside but please ask that residents stick to footpaths.
For further information about Newton Farms please visit www.newtonfarms.co.uk
Full details of Questionnaire Results will be displayed online and at Better Brew, Village Hall 10.30-12.30, on 1 April and 6 May and at Coronation Day event on Rec pavilion on 8 May.
Following the 15 March interactive workshop where we will be working out a vision and objectives/policies for Harston there may be a final workshop on 12 or 19 April. Hopefully progress made on these will be added to the displays.
From April onwards the Neighbourhood Plan team will start to think about assessing the natural environment around Harston and be starting to consider how to develop a design guide for the built environment, with help from Locality (government Dept).
Should you wish to contribute to any of these workshops or events please let the NP team know.
Contact: hilary.roadley@hotmail.com
