Lighting walk about

On Tuesday Neil and I were invited for a ward walk about with PCSO Eke, one of King's Hedges PCSOs. It was a useful walk, and we discussed various issues but one key thing was lighting.


With the nights drawing in PCSO Eke suggested it would be useful to do a ward walkabout to look for broken lights. To this end I have started to organise one. We are awaiting confirmation from some partners, but it looks like we will be setting off from City Homes North (on Arbury Road) at 5pm on Tuesday 10th November. We will post confirmation of this to the blog.

Two things: if you know of a broken light let us know before then so we make sure it is included, and secondly if you would like to join us please do so.

From the nostalgia files...

For those old enough to remember the last Conservative government I thought I'd share this video off You Tube. It is a Liberal Democrat broadcast starring John Cleese. It is quite funny, but then I may be biased.



Here in Cambridge we are lucky not to have the problem he describes: the Liberal Democrats not only can win but have!

Blue Bin Changes - 16th November 2009

If you've had your bins collected this week you should have noticed a sticker on the bin letting you know that, amongst other things, the way we collect recycling in the city is about to change.

"From November 16th 2009 your new Blue Bin will be emptied on the same day as your Green Bin.

Your collection day will not change.

If you do not have a Blue Bin, put your recycling boxes out with your Green Bin from November 16th instead. Do not put any recycling out with your Black Bin".

If you have any questions either leave a comment, contact one of the team (the address is on the left), or you can contact the City Council directly on 01223 458628 (or via email; enquiries@cambridge.gov.uk)

Shrinking bins as blue bins roll out

The first of the blue bins are being delivered to the City today, and on Monday we start delivery to residents ready for the first collections in November.

One of the suprising but pleasing aspects of the blue bin roll out is the number of people who have chosen to switch their black bin from the large to smaller size. Yesterday we received our new mini wheelie bin, shown here this morning next to our normal (large) green bin and me ready for school.

Since we started the blue bin awareness over 500 households have asked to shrink their bin.

They are the same height as normal bins (to make loading easier) but narrower, holding just over half the amount of rubbish.

Many households obviously can't cope with a smaller bin, but if you could cope with a smaller black bin now we have the blue bins I'd ask you to consider it. Waste reduction is much better for the environment than waste recycling, and the shrinking bins shows people taking this seriously. It also gives you back some space!

Meanwhile: expect your blue bin sometime in the next few weeks!

More Guided Busway traffic problems...

Hopefully this will be the last time I write that headline!

The team received an email from the County Council highways team about more work on the Guided Busway around Orchard Park (or Arbury Park).

The temporary lights should be gone by the weekend.

The email says:

On behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council, Busway contactor BAM Nuttall Ltd will be carrying out adjustments to the traffic signals at the junction of Kings Hedges Road and Chariot Way. At the same time permanent traffic signals will be installed here for The Busway.
Whilst carrying out some of this work, it will be necessary to operate temporary traffic lights at this junction and reduce Kings Hedges Road, Arbury Road and Chariot Way to a single lane at the approach to the temporary traffic lights.
This work will take place between 20 and 28 October 2009, from 7.30am to 6pm, however the temporary traffic lights will only be in use between 20 and 23 October 2009. They will be in place day and night.

They give contact numbers in case of problems: 01223 716 972 for the County Council, and 01954 785 200 for BAM Nuttall Ltd, the constructors.

As ever give us a call if you want more info, or this causes problems.

Cambridge News on recycling contract

The Cambridge News have run article about the newly agreed contract with a Materials Recycling Facility. It can be read online.

You should be getting a sticker on your black bin explaining the next steps with the blue bins soon. The bins will be delivered over the next few weeks and the service will start city wide on 16 November: your first collection will be the first green bin day after that date.

Planning app on Lovell Road

It is Tuesday so it must be planning application time!

This week there is one in KH, on Lovell Road for a "single storey and first floor rear extensions" to number 36. The reference is 09/0924/FUL.

As usual more information can be obtained from the Development Control people at the City, or by contacting the team.

News from eCops about Halloween

If you haven't signed up for ecops then I'd strongly suggest you do. This is a roughly weekly email newsletter from the police that contains local information.

You can sign up from the Police website.

At the moment they are reminding people about acceptable behaviour around Halloween, in particular the efforts being made with local shopkeepers and the usual safety reminders.

They are also offering posters for those who don't want Trick or Treaters to call.

Email the police if you want one.

Cambridge City Centre Parking Changes

At the Area Joint Committee (AJC) this week we were asked to support Cambridge City Councils proposal to increase the parking charges for the City Centre Car Parks from 1st April 2010. On-Street parking is going to be reviewed at a later date.

This was supported by the Committee and will now go out to a wider consultation with organisations across the city.

So what are the changes? Well the differential pricing across the cities car parks (something I have to say I hadn't really appreciated) will remain. For multi-story car parks the charges for during the day are valid from 7.30am to 5pm, outside that time the evenings and overnight charge applies.

The proposed changes are (by car park);

Bearing in mind the smallest coin the ticket machines will take is 10p the overnight changes were always going to be the place where the increase made the most obvious difference.

The cheapest car park in Cambridge (by quite a long way) is Queen Anne's;

By contrast the most expensive (but also the most modern) is the Grand Arcade. As anyone who drives and parks in Cambridge regularly will know it is also the most likely to be full - hence the larger (in monetary terms) increases;

I asked for some additional numbers from the officers and this revealed that 80% of tickets are paid within 3 hours, and that 95% of all tickets are paid within 5 hours. There were around 2.5 million tickets sold last year and these changes will lead to an increase in revenue for the City of around £300K - as a side effect of increasing the prices the officers estimate that 80 cars per day will choose not to park in the city car parks.

In the past year (despite the recession) usage in the City Centre car parks has increases by .1% (1/10th of a percent).

The eventual plan seems to be to end the differential pricing for Sundays but the proposal will change the Sunday prices from £1.50 to £1.70 for everywhere but Park Street which will change from 80p to £1.00.

Pricing for the Surface Car parks will also be changing (times these apply vary by car park);

• Adam and Eve Street Car Park: 50p for 20 minutes to 80p for 20 minutes
• Castle Hill Car Park: Up to 4 hours has changed from £3.00 to £3.40, up to 8 hours has changed from £6.00 to £6.80
• Gwydir Street Car Park: 60p for 30 minutes changes to 70p for 30 minutes
• Riverside: 30p for 20 minutes increases to 40p for 30 minutes

The season ticket charges are also changing- these are based on the vehicles emissions and are actually quite a big table. There aren't many of these issued (mainly to local businesses) if anyone is interested in the charges leave a comment and I'll respond.

Lib Dem Group Attends TIF Vote Without Using Private Cars

Something else that came up on Tuesday but was rather drowned out by TIF was the fact that Lib Dem group members who attended the Council Meeting on Tuesday did so by means of transport other than private motor vehicle - this was a mixture of Bus, Train, Park & Ride, Walking and Cycling.

Of course being based in King's Hedges I had the distinct advantage of both a reliable bus service and a pretty comprehensive network of Cycle Paths (the latter of which I used)! Needless to say it wasn't quite as easy for some of the more rural Councillors!

Here is the group standing on the steps of Shire Hall with various Bikes and Tickets;

Hopefully this will be something we can repeat at future meetings.

Changes to Bus Services

Stagecoach and Whippet services are changing from Sunday 29 November 2009. The attached table shows which services are changing and the impact of that change.

Timetables and information for all the services in the table can be obtained directly from Stagecoach or Whippet Coaches (or see here).

The main changes that will affect King's Hedges residents are that the Citi 1 service will stop going down Wulfstan Way and will instead use Queen Edith's Way.

The Citi 4 service will also be changing it's route in Orchard Park.

Three new Guided Bus services (two Stagecoach and one Whippet) will start running.

Transport Innovation Fund (TIF)

The Council meeting on Tuesday, as you may have detected in the press (here, here, and here amongst others!), was a slightly more lively affair than usual. The main topic of debate was always going to be the TIF bid (including the proposal for the congestion charge trigger point). There was lots of opportunity for people to speak, but in the end lots of people were unable to speak as time ran out.

People spoke from both sides of the debate; Shona Johnstone (CON) in particular spoke in favour of the TIF bid - it was interesting to see the force of her argument wielded against something other than the Liberal Democrat Opposition to the Councils private Policy Planning Meetings! In contrast was Peter Reeve (the newest member of the Council from UKIP) who spoke in opposition to the motion but while he was unable to offer any solution to the problem of congestion he did raise the issue of the Carrot and Stick approach. He just didn't like the size of the stick, or for that matter the size of the Carrot!

Whilst I don't agree with his opposition to TIF the idea of "Carrot and Stick" struck a cord with me; a congestion charge is not something that I believe should be anything other than an absolute last resort (when literally all else has failed). It's for this reason I voted in favour on Tuesday - for me the idea of "trigger points" is exactly the right way to go. If all else fails then we'll have a congestion charge - but ONLY if all else fails.

It does have to be pointed out though; We are only going to avoid a congestion charge by working together - not just as individuals but collectively in the organisations that we all represent. Is it really necessary that we all start work or school at 8.30? Is it really necessary we all get to where we need to be by car? If it is necessary then the future will definitely contain a charge - there is simply no way to avoid it. The roads are finite and if the number of cars keeps increasing journey times and pollution will get worse and whatever trigger point the County, District, and City Councils decide upon will be met. Even if there was no congestion charge the situation would still be intolerable!

Hopefully the mere possibility that there could be a charge, and the fact that any potential charge is many years away, will give us the time we need to adjust our lives in order to allow us to avoid it.

Open space on corner of Woodhead Drive and Milton Road

The state of the open space just on the corner of Woodhead Drive and Milton Road was drawn to my attention in the summer holidays.

Since then I've got several people at the City Council to investigate and work towards turning this rather unpleasant space into an asset.

Last Thursday the City Rangers arranged a visit by the Community Payback team to cut back and tidy up the area and the result is stunning:That had been all overgrown and full of litter before last Thursday.

Today I had an email telling me that the land will soon be transferred into the ownership of the City. The next step is to find some way of making it even nicer.

So...

First, big thanks to the Rangers and everyone else for the help so far.

Secondly if anyone knows of similar projects elsewhere in King's Hedges we can out the Payback team on then the Rangers (and the team!) would be keen to know.

Finally, If you have any ideas for the area we'd be keen to hear from you. When the transfer is complete I hope to arrange a public meeting.

Planning application on Markham Close

There is one planning application for the ward on the weekly list this week.

It is for "Erection of one 2-bed dwelling with associated parking and site works" on "Land Adjacent" to 35 Markham Close. The reference number is 09/0914/FUL and you can get more details in the usual ways, have a look at the City Council development control webpages. You can see plans at City Homes North on Arbury Rd, Milton Rd library or the Guildhall (amongst other places).

(From memory I think that is near the corner with Lavendar Road, so I've added that keyword.)

As always any problems or concerns contact one of the team.

Transport Innovation Fund (TIF)

At the next County Council meeting on the 13th October we will be discussing, and voting, on the Conservative Administrations' application for funding from the Transport Innovation Fund.

The headline for this will be that it could lead to a congestion charge being implemented for Cambridge City in 2017 (eight years time) providing certain, as yet unspecified, trigger-points are reached (levels of congestion, pollution, etc).

As a first stage, the Conservative Administration is asking for early confirmation of Government funding for Chesterton Station which would then be built in 2012 (three years earlier than planned).

As I'm your representative on the County Council I'd be very interested in hearing your views. If you have any questions relating to the TIF proposal either add a comment or send me an email. and I'll try to provide answers.

This is going to be an on-going issue for several years (well, assuming this doesn't fall at the first hurdle on Tuesday!) so there will be plenty of time for people to comment and we (the Lib Dem group on the County) are expecting lots of votes down the line on various aspects of the TIF proposal - I will Blog these as and when they come up.

New Leaflet: "Houses on the Cheap"

We are currently delivering a newspaper/leaflet across the division.

In case you haven't seen it yet, or if you are interested in viewing the leaflet electronically it is available from The Straight Choice website by clicking here.

Unfortunately the Straight Choice website is currently experiencing technical difficulties so at the moment you're not able to search for "local" leaflets using your Postcode - hopefully this will be resolved in time for the General Election next year!

We are always looking for more deliverers in Cambridge. If you are interested in delivering leaflets and becoming more involved in your area please get in touch.

Pro-Wicken Fen Petition (Number 10 Website)

For those of you who aren't aware the National Trust is currently working on a very long-term project (it could take 100 years!) called "Wicken Fen" that will create a new nature reserve just outside Cambridge (to the north-east of the city). When completed this nature reserve will be the largest in lowland England.

Further details of the project are available from the National Trust website;

http://www.wicken.org.uk/vision.htm

The petition says; "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to support the National Trust’s Vision for Wicken Fen, its far-sighted plan to preserve an endangered natural habitat for future generations."

If you'd like to sign the petition then the direct link is;

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/wickenfenvision/

Emergency tree work in Mansel Ct

One of the trees in Mansel Ct is causing a safety issue.

To avoid accidents an emergency tree works will be taking place.

The tree will be replaced, we have been told this year. As always if you have any concerns get in touch.

Yet more GB works on King's Hedges Road...

Andy Pellew has just warned me that the Guided Busway needs more works on King's Hedges Road between Histon Road and Chariot Way.

The works have to take place at night (between 7pm and 11.30pm) on Thursday and Friday this week. The work is being done at those times as they would cause excessive congestion otherwise. We have been assured that the cutting machines are as quiet as possible.

Local residents should have had a letter warning them of details.

Let us know if this causes any problems or if the work doesn't stop at the scheduled times.

The out of hours noise service is available on 01223 457457 if the machines are not as advertised (although the works have been approved by South Cambs and the City and so this shouldn't be the case!)

Another way to stay in touch

We've just sent the second King's Hedges email newsletter out.

We promise not to clutter up your inbox too much (the first was back in August!) and only the King's Hedges team will send out emails.

To subscribe enter your email address in this page or send an email to sympa@lists.libdems.org.uk saying

subscribe kingshedges

with no subject.

Or just ask one of us to sign you up.