After many hurdles securing local land on which to plant a community orchard, but with many members keen to bring fruit growing and an added sense of community to the area, March Community Orchard Project did some outside the box thinking and came up with the FRONT GARDEN FRUIT project.

This is kind of like a community orchard, but spread across the town, in people’s own front gardens.

We provide a free tree, with stakes & guard, plant it for you and perform a tree health check. You provide a bit of front garden area on which to plant it. In future years, when (hopefully) you have more fruit than you know what to do with, you can opt in to be provided with a crate to leave near the footpath for passers-by.

You can also opt-in to be added to our Google pin map of trees dotted around the town so that it feels more like a cohesive community orchard.

Down the line we would love to organise community events like juice pressing, pie making and other fruit & garden related gatherings open to our FGF beneficiaries, local gardeners and the wider community. And we’d love to hear your ideas too!

If you’d like to be a part of the March Community Orchard Group we meet the last Wednesday of each month at 7:30 in the Wordsworth Room of March Library.

Or apply for a FREE tree for your front garden HERE:

https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSc…/viewform

Temporary operational change at water recycling site on Creek Road during the summer period.

As you may be aware, our waste treatment activities, particularly the use of lime, have led to increased odour and traffic in the surrounding area. While this work is essential, we recognise the disruption it can cause nearby residents.

To support the community and minimise further impact during the school holidays, we have made the decision to pause all waste treatment operations from 27 July to 22 September at the site.

This means that:

• Odour reduction: Lime treatment will cease, and associated smells should dissipate quickly.
• Traffic relief: Vehicle movements to and from the site will return to normal levels during this period.
• Community engagement: We are proactively contacting local residents by email and letter, and will continue to update our website with the latest information.

We remain committed to being a good neighbour, and this pause is part of our ongoing efforts to balance operational needs with community wellbeing.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards

Grant

Grant Tuffs

Regional Engagement Manager

Public Affairs

We are delighted to start this Summer season of band concerts tomorrow afternoon
with the Fenland Music Centre Association

Bring a chair, bring a blanket, bring a picnic – enjoy an afternoon of music FREE

The Mayor, Cllr Andrew Woollard, joined Councillors Gary Christy and Martin Field in receiving a grant from Persimmon Homes East Midlands, who donated £1000 from the Community Champions scheme to March Summer Festival.

We MARCH TOWN COUNCIL Do hereby give notice that we have applied to the Licensing Authority at Fenland District Council for a Premises Licence at The Car Park, The Market Place, March, Cambridgeshire, PE15 9JF.
The application is to permit:
Films (outdoors) 10:00 – 22:00
Live Music (outdoors) [weekends] 10:00 –- 22:00
Recorded Music (outdoors) [weekends] 10:00 – 22:00
Performance of Dance (outdoors) [weekends] 10:00 – 22:00 Anything of a similar description falling under Music or Dance 10:00-22:00

Any person wishing to make representations to this application may do so by writing to Licensing Department, Fenland District Council, Fenland Hall, County Road, March Cambs, PE15 8NQ or by email
to licensing@fenland.gov.uk not later than 29 July 2025.
Representations received after this date cannot be considered.
A copy of the application can be viewed at https://fenland.gov.uk/article/15345/Licensing-Public-Consultation
It is an offence knowingly or recklessly to make a false statement in connection with this application, the maximum fine on summary conviction being unlimited.

Armed Forces Day takes place on the last Saturday each June.

It is a chance to show support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community: from currently serving personnel to Service families, veterans and cadets.

Junction Youth Project, a new initiative aimed at young people in March, is a weekly drop-in being held in Broad Street every Wednesday 6pm-8pm.

Over 65, and live in Fenland? Join Fenland District Council’s Travel Buddies trips to help increase your confidence using public or community transport – details on the FDC website.

A survey asking people to comment on the future of local government in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

From 19 June to Sunday 20 July, you can submit your views as part of this engagement work.
CLICK HERE or see the Fenland District Council website

Why is the survey taking place? 

Local government in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (and across the country) is going to change. You’ll remember that there was an announcement by national Government in December last year, setting out plans to move towards a new system of local councils. This will remove the two-tier system of district and county councils. Existing unitary councils including Peterborough are also included. 

In Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, the idea is to replace multiple layers of councils with one or more larger councils, called unitary authorities. Parish and town councils, which are smaller and have different local responsibilities, are not currently being asked to change. 

The Government says this reorganisation should bring services together, potentially leading to improvements and making it simpler for residents to know who to contact. Financial savings are also expected by reducing the number of councils.  

What will the new structure be? 

All seven of the councils in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have been working together to discuss potential options for a new arrangement of councils. Three options – based on existing council boundaries – are currently on the table. Following initial work between all seven local councils, these options are all deliverable and have different strengths:

Proposal A – A North-West/South-East Option 

• Unitary 1 
  Peterborough City Council, Huntingdonshire and Fenland District Councils – along with County Council functions. 
• Unitary 2 
  Cambridge City Council, East Cambridgeshire and South Cambridgeshire District Councils – along with County Council functions. 

Proposal B – A North/South Option 

• Unitary 1 
  Peterborough City Council, East Cambridgeshire, Fenland and Huntingdonshire District Councils – along with County Council functions. 
• Unitary 2 
  Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council – along with County Council functions. 

Proposal C – An East/West Option 

• Unitary 1 
  Peterborough City Council, East Cambridgeshire and Fenland District Councils – along with County Council functions. 
• Unitary 2 
  Cambridge City Council, Huntingdonshire and South Cambridgeshire District Councils – along with County Council functions. 

Before these proposals for potential new structures are submitted to Government in November, we need to hear what local people think.  

So, we are now at the stage where residents, businesses and other stakeholders (including you as Council colleagues) across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are being asked to share views on the future of local government. Ultimately, it will be for the Government to decide on any new local Council structures. 

What does the engagement work cover? 

Rather than asking people to feed in what geographical areas they think new unitary authorities should cover – the engagement instead focuses on the connections that people feel they have to different areas; like where they work, socialise or get healthcare.  

It also covers what priorities they think the new unitary authorities should have and what is important to them when it comes to dealing with local government services. Responses will then be used to feed into the business cases that will be developed by the councils – which must be submitted to Government in November.