Dog warden

Another quick post: I've been in touch with the dog warden quite a bit this year.

They have had some success in dealing with fouling issues in Kent Way and Nuns Way. They have also investigated problems with dogs off leads.

If dogs off leads are causing a problem in parks we would need to place a special order on the park, and I'd rather not stop the majority of responsible dog owners from being able to exercise their dogs! Do let us know of any problems and we will deal with them.

Campkin Road shops - Repaired!

Good news for those following the story of the cobbles outside Tesco on Campkin Road; we've had some emergency repairs carried out as you can see in the picture. These are temporary repairs as we're waiting for a full refit of the area.

In the mean time, I'll be following up with the delivery companies who use the area to try and ensure that they don't drive over the cobbles, which seems to be one of the causes of the problem.

Road Closure featured in Cambridge News

In a report by John Downing, the Cambridge News has helped raised awareness of the closure of King's Hedges Road.

We'd like to thank them for raising awareness of the issue, and putting pressure on the County to improve lines of communication. Thanks also to Stagecoach for agreeing to put publicity on their buses.

Cambridge sport hit by Olympics?

There is an interesting article in the Cambridge News (available here online) about the effect of the London 2012 Olympics on sports funding in the County.

Apparently it could drain off as much as £9.2million from Cambridge City, and a total of £21million from Cambridgeshire as a whole. These figures come from research done by LibDem MP Don Foster.

Whilst I am very excited at the prospect of the Olympics coming to London in 2012, the project does need to be carefully managed. We don't want the legacy of 2012 to be a reduction in sporting activity in the UK! The Labour government needs to learn lessons from earlier projects.

King's Hedges Road Update

I have managed to find someone who knows about the road closure.

A County Councillor Officer has replied to the team to inform us that the closure is due to EDF's substation building works. He assured me that "EDF Energy have informed everyone affected by the closure."

The dates were chosen to coincide with CRC's Easter vacation, and the bus companies and emergency services have been informed.

It is a shame that the signs couldn't have been put up earlier, and the courtesy extended to residents of King's Hedges Road. I have made this concern known to the County Council, and I hope they can improve next time.

Street Signs

Just a quick note: I've put in requests for the missing street name sign for Albemarle Way, and the damaged street name sign in Banff Close to be repaired.

King's Hedges Road Closing?

Like many of you I've seen the signs concerning the closure of King's Hedges Road for two weeks soon. The situation is somewhat confused.

Cllr Mike Pitt has written to the highways department at the County, but the person replying has not heard about the closure. Further investigation is underway and we'll update as soon as we hear anything.

It seems odd that King's Hedges Road residents like myself have not been warned by the County Council about the possible closure, and neither have the City Councillors.

Even the the road closure website for the Guided Busway works, as well as the main County Council road closure website seem unaware of this development.

Markham Close crumbling pavement

For anyone else who's noticed that the pavement on Markham Close is crumbling, good news!

The County Council has been written to, and has scheduled repairs. As usual, we'll check up on this and make sure it's completed.

Campkin Road shops concourse

The cobbles on the concourse outside the Campkin Road shops seem to have come loose again, and some have disappeared. I've written to the city council, and they've ordered some repairs. I'll keep an eye out and make sure this is followed up.

This is the second time your LibDem team have asked for emergency repairs. Mike Pitt got some repairs made last August.

The longer term improvement project is continuing to advance.

Bus passes

I have just heard that the City Council has begun posting out bus passes to those who qualify for free travel.

Just under 10000 passes, all those who applied before the end of January, will be sent out next Tuesday, and so they will start to arrive from next Thursday (20th March). Despite the huge number we expect them to arrive before the end of March, so get in touch if they haven't arrived.

Anyone who applied after the end of January should get their pass by mid-April.

I should stress that the old passes remain valid until September anyway.

Nuns Way rec play equipment

Bad news on the Nuns Way rec repairs. I've just recieved an email from parks about the repairs.

The issue is that to strengthen the boards to avoid future repeats of the damage needs something called "trailer board". This is a special wood and has been on order from more than one local supplier for several months but has not yet come back into stock.

I am expecting another update soon. The equipment will be back in service eventually but I can't give a date yet. I will continue to chase...

Deliverers wanted!

Could you help us by delivering the Focus in your street? We are always keen to find deliverers to allow us to spread the workload!

Get in touch at the usual contact address, mike-kh@einval.com, or phone me on 01223 709544 (leave a message if you get the answerphone).

If you'd like to have Liberal Democrat councillors then a little help could go a long way towards that.

North Area Committee -- Thursday 6 March

This Thursday is North Area Committee day again. It takes place at Manor Community School on Arbury Road and starts at 7.30pm.

The agenda is shorter this time, as well as the open forum, your chance to ask local councillors questions, there are Community Development and Leisure Grants and a few planning permissions to decided.

I hope to see you there!

Campkin Road improvements

The resurfacing of Campkin Road car park is now complete and is a major improvement on the dreadful and unsafe surface we had before. The works were paid for by grants awarded at the North Area Committee.

The planted areas still need to be tidied up, but this work will take place soon.

The next project in the area is to lower the high planted area that obstructs views of people pulling out of the garage area opposite. The plan is to lower it and replant it, which should make the junction safer and make it more attractive.

Verge damage on corner of Kirkwood Road

Just a short note! On the corner of Kirkwood Road and King's Hedges Road the verge has been damaged.

I have contacted the County Council and they are chasing the responsible party to make repairs. I will chase the County until then!