Wyton on the Hill

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Wyton on the Hill is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about 3 miles northeast of Huntingdon and 1 mile north of Houghton. The parish is centered around RAF Wyton, and most residents are service personnel and their families.

The parish is one of Cambridgeshire’s newer parishes, created in 2010 after much of the former service accommodation at RAF Wyton was sold to Annington Homes. As a civil parish, Wyton on the Hill has a parish council, the lowest tier of local government. The parish council provides local services such as allotments and a cemetery, grass cutting and maintenance of public spaces. It reviews planning applications and makes recommendations to Huntingdonshire District Council, the local planning authority. The council also represents the parish on issues like local transport, policing and the environment, and collects a parish precept as part of Council Tax.

Local government structure: Wyton on the Hill was historically part of Huntingdonshire, a county and district arrangement. Since 1974, it has been part of Cambridgeshire. The district council is Huntingdonshire District Council, which has 52 councillors across 29 wards and provides services like building regulations, local planning, environmental health, leisure and tourism. Wyton on the Hill sits in the Upwood and The Raveleys ward and has one district councillor, who serves a four-year term.

County level: The county council is Cambridgeshire County Council, responsible for county-wide services such as major roads, fire and rescue, education, social services, libraries and heritage. It has 69 councillors representing 60 divisions. Wyton on the Hill is in the Warboys and Upwood division and is represented by one county councillor.

Parliament: In the UK Parliament, Wyton on the Hill is in the North West Cambridgeshire constituency and elects one MP. The current MP is Shailesh Vara (Conservative), who has held the seat since 2005. The previous MP was Brian Mawhinney (Conservative), who served from 1997 to 2005.

Population and area: The UK census of 2001 recorded 964 residents. In 2011 the parish covered about 2,291 acres (927 hectares) and had a population of 1,383, giving a density of about 386 people per square mile (149 per square kilometer).

Facilities and development: Wyton on the Hill has its own primary school and nursery for families of service personnel and civilians. The airfield is now used as storage for vehicles. A housing development planned by Crest Nicholson is not viable because the current infrastructure cannot support it.