Northstowe Trust

The County's Cabinet discussed the proposed Northstowe Trust again on Tuesday. The idea behind the Trust is that it would manage what is called the public realm in Northstowe and would raise funds for investment in the town. These funds would come from running the leisure centre etc. Trustees would include the developers Gallaghers and English Partnerships as well as local people. Now I have real concerns about the Trust, not least how the Trustees would be chosen - or appointed. I also do not believe that the Trust would be able to raise the sums of money needed in the way that is envisaged. As a simple example, since the main leisure facilities - swimming pool etc - would be attached to the secondary school it would seem reasonable for the school to manage them as already happens elsewhere in the county. Since there is going to be a Town Council in due course, what would the Trust do that a Town Council wouldn't - and the Town Council would be democratically elected, unlike the Trust. It seems to me that the only advantage of the Trust would be to ensure the long term commitment of the developers to the success of Northstowe.So far the District and County Councils have spent three years on this project and we still do not appear to have left the starting post. So my strong preference - as I said to Cabinet this week - is to move ahead quickly with the formation of a Town Council, once the houses start being built - although at the current rate of progress that could be a long time away!