Community Governance Review - stage 2 - Caddington

Responses from consultation

Parish council:

“Here is the resolution taken at the full meeting of the Caddington Parish Council on Monday 12th May. As part of the ongoing Community Governance Review, Dunstable Town Council informally approached Caddington Parish Council to seek support for two proposed boundary changes: 1. That the field adjacent to the entrance of Manshead C of E High School and St Mary’s Primary School be transferred into Dunstable, with the intention that it would be used as a cemetery. 2. That the boundary be amended to include the land on which Manshead C of E High School and St Mary’s Primary School are situated, thereby moving both schools into Dunstable. It was resolved to strongly reject both proposals on the grounds that the parish boundary had already been moved in the past, resulting in the loss to Caddington of a hotel, care home, and a number of residential properties. The council considers Manshead and St Mary’s to be Caddington schools, and any further boundary adjustment would leave Caddington without a secondary school, which would be unacceptable to the community. The clerk then informed the Dunstable Town Clerk/CEO of this decision. Caddington Parish Council subsequently noted with concern that, despite its strong objections to the Dunstable proposals—and the fact that the land in question is not included in the Dunstable Neighbourhood Plan—Dunstable Town Council voted to accept the proposals put forward by a working group and agreed to incorporate them into Dunstable’s plan review. At the same time, a similar informal request from Totternhoe to adjust the boundary in its favour was rejected on the grounds that the land concerned was not included in the Totternhoe Neighbourhood Plan.”

8 responses

Comments:

“Caddington boundaries should remain unaltered. It’s unacceptable that Dunstable is making a land grab for Manshead and nearby fields from Caddington. The land is Caddington’s and has been for over a thousand years, it’s a hostile takeover and should not be enabled without Caddington agreement.”

“Please do not move Manshead into Dunstable. The school is a part of our identity and history and is the local secondary school for us all. Moving this would mean risking our children having to go to school in Luton which is not preferred.”

Feedback received through the public consultation indicated a preference to retain the current level of representation and to make no other changes. This view has been considered alongside the working group’s rationale to ensure that any final draft recommendation reflects the aims of the terms of reference as well as the views of the community.

Draft recommendations

1. that the parish name of Caddington should remain unchanged
2. that the number of parish councillors on Caddington Parish Council is reduced from 10 to 9
3. move the parish boundary incorporating the land forming part of and also adjacent to the Downside Recreation Ground together with the land occupied by St Mary’s and Manshead Schools into the parish of Dunstable (see map)

Reason for recommendations

The recommendation to reduce the number of councillors is made in accordance with the terms of reference due to the number of councillors being disproportionate to the electorate or to avoid uncontested elections and the subsequent need to co-opt members to fill the outstanding vacancies. Dunstable Town Council intends to purchase Cotton Bottom Field and develop a new cemetery on the site. Moreover, the schools are geographically adjacent to Dunstable and some distance from the village of Caddington.