Planning application on Milton Road

Just one application in the ward in the weekly list of planning applications this week.

It is for the "Erection of a one 3-bed dwelling at rear" of 412 Milton Road. The reference is 11/0050/FUL. You can get information from the City website in the usual way, and contact us in case of problems.

Love Food, Hate Waste?

On Thursday 17th February from 10.30 until 1pm, Arbury Community Centre will be hosting a Love Food, Hate Waste workshop for people interested in reducing the waste they send to landfill, and getting the most from the food they buy.

It is aimed at our local recycling champions, who are volunteers, who work to increase our recycling and decrease our waste in their communities. The City Council is on the look for more, so if you are interested in either the workshop or becoming a champion please get in touch with me. (The organisers would like some idea of numbers in advance!)

City Council budget setting

It has been a busy time on the City Council with lots of meetings involved in setting our budget for next year.

The leader of the City Council, Sian Reid, has written a short piece about the priorities and process for the Liberal Democrats on the Council on the Newnham LibDem website.

Here it is:

The council has been working very hard to save money and drive our costs down. We have cut our cost base by about £2m and we will continue this over the next three years to find over £3m more of savings.

We are all dedicated to preserving important services and doing what we do more efficiently. Over 40 jobs will go next year, as in the past years, though five are being created too.

Our grant settlement from the government was unfair, and we are fighting it. However our good savings track record and our cautious forecasting mean we believe we can accommodate this bad news.

These are difficult times but our priorities remain unchanged, to protect services for the vulnerable and make sure our residents really benefit from growth. We are also making sure that we continue to care for our streets and open spaces.

In light of this, we have put together a modest spending programme. It allows us to invest now so that we can save money in future years, and protect the environment.

One of the jobs being created is an extra City Ranger post. I'd like to praise King's Hedges' Ranger Joe (who we share with bits of other wards) for the superb work he does. I am pleased the City Council will be able to expand this programme.

Gladeside Park on Woodhead Drive now open

In answer to my previous post: yes. Gladeside park has opened!

I remain disappointed that the construction company were unwilling to open it earlier. I had worked with the Council officers to deal with possible insurance and safety issues.

I hope to get a pic of it soon!

North Area Committee results...

Last night at North Area Committee a few issues that affect the ward were discussed.

Firstly we had many Friends of Arbury Court Library along, and I'd like to promote the meeting they are holding at 7pm on February 2nd. This meeting is to formalise the group and come up with ideas to support it, and the other libraries threatened by the Conservative County Council. They are also staging a "read-in" at the library on Saturday February 5.

The report back from County Councillors suggests that Milton Road library is under bigger threat, but the local Liberal Democrats are campaigning to save all of Cambridge's libraries.

We also had some community grants to groups in King's Hedges. I managed to get the committee to agree to go against officers and give a grant to the Meadows Children and Family Wing, who do a lot of work with families in Arbury and King's Hedges. This is subject to checks that it isn't a "double" claim, but seperate project work. There were also grants to King's Hedges Brownies and the King's Hedges Family Support Group.

There is still some money in the pots, so if you know of a community group that could do with some help get in touch.

We also had the police priorities and I discussed issues of ASB with Sgt Wragg. He has agreed to meet me to see what can be done about some specific local problems.

Petition to save the City Centre Circular Bus

The Tories running the County Council have decided to ignore residents’ wishes and push ahead with a plan which will see dozens of subsidised bus services lost in the next four years.

A likely early casualty is the free Cambridge city centre “Circular” bus, which the rural Conservatives regard as a luxury. This service was introduced alongside the pedestrianisation scheme, so that people who cannot walk long distances would still have access to it. Losing it would be disastrous for the pedestrian area.

Cambridge LibDems have launched a petition to try and save this service from the axe. You can sign the petition online.

Police surgery at Arbury Court on Wednesday

The latest e-cops email bulletin contains a reminder about the Police monthly surgery at Arbury Court this week:

The 26th January will be the last Wednesday of the month which means its the Arbury Court Surgery. it will be held between 11:00-13:00. In attendance will be 2/3 PCSO's. Feel free to attend, whether it be to discuss any issues or whether it be simply to say hello.

It also has a reminder about the North Area Committee on wednesday that includes a slot on police priorities.

For more details on e-cops, check the e-cops pages on the Cambridgeshire police website.

Will Gladeside park finally open?

The park on the new development on Woodhead Drive and George Nuttall Close has had more opening dates than any other I have been aware of, so I am wary to celebrate yet but it looks like we may be there at last.

On Friday I received an email from the officer at the City Council who has been working to get this open with some very good news. The land has now been transferred from the developer to the City Council and can now be opened!

However... the developers are the ones who will be taking down the boards. This is supposed to be happening on Monday but watch this space.

I have been chasing both sides to get this sorted, so it will be a huge relief when it finally opens and gives residents a nice public open space.

New Leaflet: Tories Renew Library Closure Threat

A new leaflet is currently in the process of being delivered across the ward.

If you'd like to read the leaflet on-line it's available via the Election Leaflets Website (click here).

Of course delivery is a lot easier the more people do it. If you'd like to get involved and help the local team please get in touch. Alternatively if you'd like to come and talk to us face to face our next King's Hedges surgery (at the Arbury Community Centre) will be on Saturday 12th February from 10 to 12.

Yes to AV: Time for a FPTP Debate!

A No vote this 5 May is more than a vote against AV. It's a vote in favour of our existing electoral system, first past the post. But we've yet to hear the No campaign clearly explain the merits of the system they're campaigning to uphold this May. I delivered a letter this weekend to the president of the No campaign, Margaret Beckett, challenging her to an honest debate about FPTP's merits. Help make that debate happen by signing up to my petition for a debate now: http://www.yestofairervotes.org/Debate-Challenge We're inviting Beckett to name the time, the day, and the place for the debate. All we ask is that the No campaign answer, with clarity and honesty, why they'll be voting Yes to FPTP in a few months' time. We've yet to hear a logical, consistent, and coherent argument from the No campaign in favour of the broken status quo. Join me in challenging Margaret Beckett to give the public the standard of debate they deserve: http://www.yestofairervotes.org/Debate-Challenge Thank you, Jonathan Bartley Yes to Fairer Votes

Planning applications: Milton Road and Buchan Street

There are two applications on the weekly list this time.

One is for the "Installation of Poster Board on land adjacent to roundabout on Buchan Street and car park", on the land bordering King's Hedges Road. It is application 10/1239/ADV.

The other is for the "Erection of 2-bed dwelling" to the rear of 229 Milton Road. This has reference number 10/1310/FUL.

As usual more details can be found at the City Council's development control team, in particular the public access section. In case of difficulty contact the team.

Low Energy Bulb and Battery Recycling

I've not seen this mentioned anywhere so I thought I'd let people know that the if you are unlucky enough to have any Low Energy bulbs that have stopped working then you can recycle them.

I spotted this recycling unit in the recycling centre behind the Council officers on Arbury Road (in the Arbury Court car park). Given the incredibly cheap price of these bulbs at the moment (one large DIY store I was in earlier today was selling them for 10p each) it's good to see that recycling is now possible as that should remove one further reason for people not to use them.

New Leaflet: Action on Crime

A new leaflet is currently in the process of being delivered across the ward.

If you'd like to read the leaflet on-line it's available via the Election Leaflets Website (click here).

Of course delivery is a lot easier the more people do it. If you'd like to get involved and help the local team please get in touch. Alternatively if you'd like to come and talk to us face to face our next King's Hedges surgery (at the Arbury Community Centre) will be on Saturday 12th February from 10 to 12.

Street Repairs to Speed Humps on Campkin Road

As I'm sure you are aware if you have been travelling around the County lately another hard winter has passed and the effect on some parts of the road network have been to cause serious damage.

The pictures on the right and below show the effects the winter, not to mention tens of thousands of motor vehicles, have had on the old brick speed humps on Campkin Road (just outside Arbury Community Centre).

The County Councils highways team have already been active in the area and most of this damage has already been repaired but, as this report shows (courtesy of Fix My Street), the poor level or maintenance of the roads is causing more and more problems to appear.

If you are out and about and you see anything that is causing you concern then please report it. Money is very stretched at the moment and they certainly won't be fixing anything they don't know about ...

You can report items via FixMyStreet (click here),  or directly to the County Council (click here for the online form, or via the phone number 0345 045 5200). If you have already reported an issue to the County Council and it hasn't been resolved to your satisfaction please get in touch and I'll pursue it..

Digital Switchover is coming up...

Last week I received a leaflet about the switch off of analogue TV, and the switch to digital TV only.

In Cambridge it looks like the switch starts on 30 March when the Sandy Heath transmitter will turn off analogue BBC2, and complete on 13 April when the other channels will go. Digital terrestrial viewers will need to retune after both days.

There is a lot more information on the switchover website.

If you have problems do get in touch and we will do what we can to help out, but I must confess I am not an expert on aerials!

"Charge and Spend" Transport Policy

As regular followers of the Cambridgeshire County Council Liberal Democrat group will know at the end of November we lost Councillor Nichola Harrison who resigned from the group and became an independent. Speculation has been rife about exactly why she left but out of respect for her wishes I, and every other member of the Liberal Democrat group, have been quiet on the issue except for very un-specifc "pursuing her own ideas"-type messages.

On Monday Nichola will be announcing a new transport policy for Cambridgeshire - "Charge and Spend".

Now I've had a preview of the general idea but haven't had a chance yet to read the specific proposal - I'll go into more detail on my own views on the proposal (as I'm sure will my City Council colleagues) as soon as I've had some time to digest it. For now though Nichola has launched a new website;

http://www.ourtransportfuture.org/

The website welcomes comments and I'd encourage everyone who is passionate about Transport (both public and private) to go to the website and leave their views.

It's worth reiterating that this policy is *not* a Liberal Democrat policy and her desire to pursue it *is* the reason Nichola left the Liberal Demcorat group on the County Council (announcing an idependent transport policy not being compatible with her role as a Liberal Democrat Transport Shadow Cabinet Member).

North Area Committee: Thursday 27 January

The first North Area Committee of 2011 is coming up soon.

As far as I know there is no planning so the meeting will be starting at 7.30pm at the Manor School on Arbury Road.

As well as the Open Forum, a chance for you to raise any issue you wish with your local councillors, it looks likely that we will have items on...

• Local police priorities
• We hope someone from Tesco to talk about issues related to their stores
• Information about the UK census, which is this year
• A regular item on community grants.

We will also be looking at how we can improve local participation in decisions that affect the North Area. The hope is to extend how many people get involved in making decisions on public services.

We hope to see you there!

Consultation on a prescribed alteration to expand the size of St Laurence VA (RC) Primary School, Cambridge

Not quite within King's Hedges but I know this will affect a great many people both in King's Hedges and Arbury. The County Council has started a consultation about an alteration to the current capacity of the St Laurence Primary school on Arbury Road.

The increase represents approximately a 30% increase in capacity.

The text below comes from the consultation letter;

"Cambridgeshire County Council receives data annually from the National Health Service (NHS) on the number of children who have been born in Cambridgeshire. This data informs the pupil forecasts produced by the Council for individual schools. The Council has identified significant forecast pressure for school places in the City of Cambridge by September 2012. There is also a desire to secure additional Roman Catholic school places in the City.


In order to manage the number of additional children and the number of places available the Council is proposing to expand the size of St Laurence VA (RC) Primary School by increasing the Published Admission Number from 35 to 45. The current capacity of the school is 245, while the current number of pupils registered at the school is 240. The proposed new capacity will be for 315 places.


The Council has developed proposals with the Headteacher and the Governing Body to provide additional accommodation at the school. The scheme has been developed to fit into a space so as to have minimal effect on existing accommodation and playground areas. The plans will be available at the school for you to view at a surgery on Monday 24 January 2011 from 3.00 to 5.00 pm. Members of the Governing and the Headteacher will also be available should you wish to ask questions about this proposal.


The Council is conducting this consultation in accordance with guidance produced by the Department for Education (DfE). Our aim is to;
- Consult widely with all interested parties
- To be clear about our proposals, who may be affected, what we are asking and our timescales
- To ensure our consultation is clear, concise and widely accessible


Subject to the completion of this consultation, Cambridgeshire County Council intends to issue a statutory notice as part of the five stage process that will lead to the change:
- Consultation with parents and stakeholders
- Publication of the statutory proposal
- A period for representations
- Decision by County Council Cabinet
- An implementation period


You are asked to send any feedback to me directly via email or post at the address above by Friday 18 February 2011.


Yours faithfully


David Clark
Assistant Education Officer"


The address for responding to the consultation is;


David Clark
Assistant Education Officer
Children And Young People's Services
Strategy and Commissioning
Infrastructure: School Organisation and Planning (SOP)
Box No: CC1209
2nd Floor B Wing
Castle Court
Castle Hill
Cambridge
CB3 0AP

Ward drop in session

Once again, we're at the Arbury Community Centre on Campkin Road. If you've got a problem that you'd like to discuss, we're here until 12, or you can always contact us with our details on the left hand side.

Happy New Year (from Nick Clegg)

Well what a year! A white-knuckle election; a new coalition government; Liberals in power for the first time in 70 years.

I've recorded a short message reflecting on the events of 2010 and looking forward to what Liberal Democrats will deliver in Government in 2011. Click on the image below to watch it.

Some people will continue to predict the worst for our Party - the same people who have been underestimating the Liberal Democrats for as long as we have existed.

But we prove them wrong at every single turn. The next twelve months will be no different, because we will continue to build the liberal, fairer, greener Britain that we all believe in.

Happy New Year!


Nick Clegg
Liberal Democrat leader