Focus on King's Hedges

Local Residents To Be Asked Their Views On New 20Mph Zones

2012-01-31T08:00:00.000Z

Cambridge City Council is to launch a consultation and review to find out whether people in the city want more 20mph zones.

The council’s ruling Liberal Democrat group has allocated £60,000 in the council’s budget to pay for a review, research, consultation survey and design work over the next two years.

They have also reserved £400,000 to implement new schemes if the idea gets the approval of residents and businesses.

Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Planning and Sustainable Transport, Tim Ward said: “There have been some concerns that the current approach of creating a patchwork of small 20mph zones may not work very well. So we want to carry out a review to determine which work best and look at other areas which might benefit from a lower speed limit.

“We already have several 20mph zones which have been implemented following campaigns from local residents, and there are other small schemes in the pipeline. The proposed project includes extensive consultation to find out where people do and don't want 20mph zones. A possible outcome is that all residential and shopping streets will have 20mph limits whilst main roads will stay at 30mph.”

Cambridge City Council was granted the freedom to implement 20mph speed limits after the government announced it was cutting red tape so that local authorities no longer had to get Whitehall permission before they could act.

Cllr Ward added: “There are clearly safety benefits from introducing lower speed limits in areas where there are more pedestrians such as streets where there are shops and homes.

“And it has been well documented that, if a road accident were to happen a pedestrian has a far greater chance of escaping serious injury or being killed when a vehicle is travelling at 20mph.

“But we won’t be making any decisions until we have fully consulted on this issue and reviewed how present schemes are working; and we will only act if it’s what our residents want.”

The move has been welcomed as a victory for localism, allowing councils to act faster in response to the needs of their residents.

Local County Councillor Andy Pellew who has been campaigning for a 20mph speed limit on Northfield Avenue outside King's Hedges Primary School said; "This is a very welcome development. We must make sure that this opportunity is fully utilised by making sure that local residents are fully involved in the process of setting up these new zones."

Vince Cable: Putting More Money Back In Your Pocket

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000Z

As families face more of a squeeze, today Liberal Democrats are arguing for greater tax cuts for hard working people.

Between now and the Budget, Nick and Danny and I will be arguing for faster tax cuts, giving you a reward for hard work. And Nick will be setting out our case in a speech today.

Given the budget constraint we have to raise money for the tax cut elsewhere and have plans to raise an equivalent amount from the wealthiest taxpayers.

At the last election the Liberal Democrats promised to raise the personal allowance for ordinary taxpayers to £10,000. I am proud that the Coalition has committed to doing so over the course of this Parliament.

For millions of ordinary hard working people, that means paying £700 less in income tax each year. Low earners, mostly women will benefit from being lifted out of tax altogether.

But times are tough and quite simply, Liberal Democrats in Government want to help families who are currently being squeezed by moving more quickly.

Whether it’s targeting an extra £7bn from tax evaders and avoiders, taking an extra £2.5bn every year from the banks in a balance sheet tax, or the announcement I made on Monday to curb the excesses of executive pay, this Coalition is taking important steps to deliver a fairer economy.

And we have already made a big difference, click here to see how.

We are building a new economy, one that benefits the whole country, not just bankers in the City of London. Making the tax system fairer is crucial to that. This is a huge task that will make Britain a fairer and more liberal country for generations to come.

Yours,

Vince Cable MP

Member of Parliament for Twickenham and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

Speeding: No-One Thinks Big Of You

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000Z

Cambridgeshire County Council Road Safety Officers have launched a new campaign targeting young male drivers who speed.

The campaign, titled 'Speeding: no-one thinks big of you', is inspired by a similar campaign in Australia and aims to use peer pressure in a cheeky, subtle way to reduce young male driver and female passenger casualties.

Given the target audience, the campaign centres around information, advice and discussion on the Road Safety Team Facebook page and Twitter feed.

This will be accompanied by posters, featuring students from Huntingdonshire Regional College, which depict young females waving their little fingers, 'pinkies', at guys who are speeding or driving dangerously to show off.

Local Cambridgeshire County Councillor Andy Pellew said; "It's encouraging to see the County Council taking the issue of speed seriously but there is a great deal of work still to do to make our roads safer, especially for young people who are disproportionately victims of this kind of crime.

The target of this campaign is the young male driver, the aim is to give their passengers the confidence to tell their friends to slow down. Let's hope, with the high numbers of young people attending CRC and the Manor this new approach is successful."

Matt Staton, Road Safety Officer for Cambridgeshire County Council, added: "The aim of this campaign is to encourage teenage girls to tell their boyfriends/friends when they don't like their driving and show they are not impressed. We also want to make young male drivers aware that they don't impress people when they show off in their cars."

North Area Committee Meeting Tonight!

2012-01-26T13:42:00.000Z

Just a quick reminder that tonight the City Council’s North Area Committee will be meeting at the Shirley School, Nuffield Road, Cambridge CB4 1TF – note that this is a change from the usual venue of the Manor on Arbury Road.

The agenda for the planning part – which starts at 6.00 pm – is here.
The agenda for the main meeting – which should start at 7.30pm – is here. The main meeting will start when the planning items are completed, if that’s after 7.30.

The main items on the agenda (aside from the planning items and the Open Forum) are:

The Fen Road Area – Issues and Solutions
Policing and Safer Neighbourhoods
Future Work Programme for the Area Committee

If you have any issues you would like your local Councillors to raise then please let us know.

Corn Exchange To Get £200,000 Modern Sound System

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000Z

A new modern sound system costing £200,000 is to be installed in Cambridge’s Corn Exchange to attract a wider range of performers and improve the venue’s profitability.

The Liberal Democrat-led Cambridge City Council has included the investment in its budget for the coming year.

The new system, which will improve the quality of the venue’s acoustics for audiences, will replace the present system which is over 20 years old.

Cllr Rod Cantrill Executive Councillor for Arts, Sports and Public Places said: “The Corn Exchange misses out on hosting a number of performers because our current sound system is out of date.

“This investment will not only improve the quality of the sound for audiences, but will enable the Corn Exchange to attract a broader range of performers, reduce the number of dark days at the venue and therefore contribute towards thecouncil’s goal of improving the financial performance of the Corn Exchange.”

The investment will be considered as part of the Budget proposals at the Community Services Scrutiny in January.

Lib Dems Back Move To Help More Street Drinkers

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000Z

Outreach workers are hoping to extend a successful project and take more drinkers off the streets of Cambridge.

The £33,000 scheme, backed by Liberal Democrats on Cambridge City Council, would increase the number of successful detox programmes offered to alcoholics who cannot maintain normal out-patient treatment.

Street Outreach and Mental Health Team workers have asked for half the funding from Cambridge City Council and half from the GP consortium, Camhealth following successful working with street drinkers which has led to 30 a year treated under the detox programme. If both partners agree to funding this number could be increased to 50.

The money would pay for a Project Worker to support the Community Psychiatric Nurse.

City Councillors Catherine Smart and Tim Bick, responsible for housing and community safety respectively, are set to approve extra funding from the city council and are hoping Camhealth will follow their lead.

"Over the past two years, these community detox programmes have built an impressive track record," says Cllr Smart. "It now looks like we can capitalise further on the effectiveness of the Community Pyschiatric Nurse with a modest additional investment.

“With support from the city council we can increase treatments to at least 40 a year. If Camhealth come on board too and make this a full-time position, we could make it at least 50.

"Alongside education and training, interim accommodation and housing, these detox programmes fit into the Council's endeavours to rehabilitate those often seen on the streets, sometimes creating a nuisance by their behaviour," says Cllr Bick.

"I don't think there's a more sustainable alternative. One more individual getting their life back on track is one less potentially living on the streets: it's a win-win approach."

Rachel Everitt from the charity, Crime Reduction Initiatives, which manages the Street Outreach Team said: “"Our nurse does really positive work and secures some great outcomes. “But the time-consuming engagement and follow-up work with clients tends to hold back the capacity of his clinical role.

"With a Project Worker to support him, we think we can significantly increase the number of successful detoxes."

Subject to Council protocols, the city council will provide an immediate 12 months grant for half of the Project Worker's costs paid for from budget under-spending elsewhere.

It plans to assess the impact as part of a major review of policies to combat anti-social behaviour from the street life community in October.

Cllr Tim Bick, Street Outreach and Mental Health Team Manager, Rachel Everitt, Alcohol Community Psychiatric Nurse, Malcolm Stork and Cllr Catherine Smart

Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-23T11:40:00.000Z

Happy Chinese New Year to all our readers.

Today (I am told) marks the start of the Year of the Dragon.

The picture comes from Wikimedia

City Council Makes Youngsters A Top Priority For 2012

2012-01-21T08:00:00.000Z

Cambridge City Council is making young people a top priority for 2012 with a range of projects to give them a head-start.

Plans just published include:

Expanding the impact of the Council's Children and Young People's Participation Service (ChYPPS) across the city's 9-13 year olds, through greater use of volunteers and closer working with schools, following a major all-party review.
Budget proposals from the ruling Lib Dems for a new Youth Officer post to strengthen the council's role in work with the older, teenage group
A new scheme to engage young people at risk of exclusion in sport.

"We are committed to do things well that we have only one chance to get right, especially in this time of austerity,” said Tim Bick, Executive Councillor for Community Development.

“What more important, in this context than the experience of a whole generation of the city's young people who face so many risks and challenges?"

He welcomed the new strategy for ChYPPS adding: "This service in Cambridge is almost unique and something the whole council is proud of. Growing it further through the engagement and training of volunteers will enable it to amplify its impact. Transmitting and sharing the council's huge expertise in 'play' can build capacity in the wider community, which is a wholly healthy ambition".

Referring to the new Youth Officer post included in the Lib Dem budget proposals, he said: "Teenagers are typically not looking for the same structured activities which ChYPPS provides for the younger ones. Services for them have historically been provided more by the county council than the city council. The county council has drastically cut them back recently and it seems time for the city council to play more of a role.

“This post will support our investments in facilities for teenagers, such as last year's expansion of the cafe at The Junction and the project we are currently discussing with the YMCA on Gonville Place - and enabling activities that go with them."

Of the scheme to engage young people at risk of exclusion in sport, Rod Cantrill, Executive Councillor for Arts and Recreation, said: "Over the next 12 months the city will focus on participation in sport as part of the Olympic celebration. This project seeks to use sport as a means of involving those young people who feel on the edge of the community."

North Area Committee – Meeting 26th Jan

2012-01-18T21:11:00.001Z

The next meeting of the City Council’s North Area Committee will take place on Thursday 26th January.

It will be at Shirley School, Nuffield Road, Cambridge CB4 1TF – note that this is a change from the usual venue of the Manor on Arbury Road.

The agenda for the planning part – which starts at 6.00 pm – is here.
The agenda for the main meeting – which should start at 7.30pm – is here. The main meeting will start when the planning items are completed, if that’s after 7.30.

The main items on the agenda (aside from the planning items and the Open Forum) are:

The Fen Road Area – Issues and Solutions
Policing and Safer Neighbourhoods
Future Work Programme for the Area Committee

If you have any issues you would like your local Councillors to raise then please let us know.

Old Woodhead Drive play area

2012-01-18T07:25:00.000Z

As reported in a blogpost from our neighbours in West Chesterton the old play area on Woodhead Drive, just across Downhams Lane from Gladeside and Alice Bell Close is due to be removed shortly. Councillor's have been sent an email by officers with an update about the park.

A project is about to be drawn-up to install a new play area at Woodhead Drive by the Summer of 2011 to replace the existing one which admittedly is not a fine example of the city’s play facilities at present. The council has taken the view that pouring money into a temporary solution would not be prudent when a completely new play area is imminent. Further, the opening of George Nuttall Close play area last year, a few 100 metres up the road has meant that any play area provision in the area has not been severely lessened. At present this play area has been fenced off with chestnut pale as the site is not deemed fit for purpose. Instead I would like to propose that we bring forward the decommissioning of the play area which would have a two-fold benefit of removing the unsightliness and the necessity for a more costly hired heras fence to stop unwanted intrusions.

Whilst we had hoped this play area would be refurbished last year (as accidentally stated in the email!) it is good news that the park is in fact on the agenda to be refurbished this summer. If you have any thoughts on this please do let the team know, and watch this space for further updates.

Planning application on Milton Road

2012-01-17T15:19:00.000Z

This week there is one planning application on the weekly list an application for a single storey rear extension to 398 Milton Road. Reference number 12/0019/FUL, and you can get more details from the online monitoring system.

In the interests of openness the applicant is well known to several of the King's Hedges team.

As always if you have any difficulties getting more information please do get in touch with us.

Drop-in session tomorrow

2012-01-13T17:43:00.000Z

Just a quick reminder, our monthly drop in at Arbury Community Centre (on Campkin Road) is tomorrow, from 10am to noon.

Rail Fares Too High On One Of World’s Most Expensive Networks

2012-01-11T21:40:00.000Z

MP Julian Huppert has warned that rail fares across Britain are “far too high” and the nation has one of the most expensive railways in the world.

He said the Liberal Democrats believe fares should fall in real terms rather than rising year on year as they did under the Labour government.

“Thanks to pressure from the Liberal Democrats inside and outside of government and arguments won by the new Secretary of State, fares rose by one per cent above inflation this year rather than the planned three per cent,” he said.

“But Liberal Democrats believe that fares should actually fall in real terms rather than rising even further above inflation as Labour did year on year. Labour policy, confirmed today, is for fares to go up above inflation year on year and that is what people should be concerned about. “

Julian was speaking during a debate in the House of Commons on rail fare increases today (Wednesday, January 11).

He told Parliament that during 13 years of Labour government fares rose by a staggering 66 per cent in cash terms.

Julian called for efficiency savings identified in the McNulty review of the railways to be passed on to passengers in the form of lower fares as soon as possible.

He welcomed the government’s £1.4 billion investment in rail saying: “That’s £400 million more than was announced for the roads – a very good rebalancing towards sustainability.

“If we’ve managed to find these funds now in difficult times just think what could have been done in the boom years,” he added. “That opportunity was missed. It is deeply regrettable that the necessary investment was not made sooner – the funding would have been higher, the decisions easier and the fares would be lower. It is a great shame that that did not happen when money was available to do it.”

And he warned that unless there is investment in the railways now the country will never achieve a cheap, efficient and sustainable transport network.

He said that rail lines had been pushed to breaking point and, as a result fares are now far too high.

Since 1980 the number of passenger journeys has doubled but government after government has invested far too little in the network and infrastructure spending has not kept up with demand, he said.

“This has put pressure on our railways and forced them into a downward spiral,” he said. “An overcrowded, inefficient and unreliable service is far more expensive to run. UK railways are up to 40 per cent less efficient than its European counterparts, despite the price of tickets. This has put fares up and reduced the level of investment available.

“The public deserves a good, reliable and affordable rail system,” he said.

First planning applications of 2012: Milton Rd and Campkin Rd

2012-01-11T11:13:00.000Z

After a few weeks without any planning applications this week there are two to report to you.

Firstly the Jenny Wren pub on Campkin Road has applied for a "new pitched entrance canopy to existing main entrance." The planning reference number is 11/1567/FUL, or click on the link to go to the online planning system of the City Council.

The second application is at 347 Milton Road and is a retrospective application (meaning work that has been made without permission and the applicants want to make it legal) for "front boundary wall, fences and gates". The reference number is 12/0008/FUL, or again follow the link.

Details of how to look in person, or how to comment on applications is available online. In case of difficulty contact the team.

Lib Dems Invest In Plans To Help New Communities Succeed

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000Z

Cambridge City Council is preparing to bring residents' views centre stage to shape the future of their own communities.

In their budget proposals, they plan to invest in a new post of Community Engagement Officer to organise the processes.

Over the past year the council's Area Committee covering the nothern part of the city has experimented with methods of involving residents more in setting the agenda for its work. One of the successes was receiving the contributions of nearly 700 people to the setting of priorities for the city council and other agencies.

The LibDems are now making sure that other communities in Cambridge have the same opportunity to say what is best for their areas.

In addition to guiding the committees' regular work, this can help communities grasp opportunities such as the targeting of funds contributed by developers as a condition of their planning approval to schemes for neighbourhood open space and community facilities. From next year the council is planning to devolve much of this responsibility to its four areas.

Executive Cllr Tim Bick, who has responsibility for Community Development, said: "Lib Dems firmly believe that communities know what is right for them. We want to build on our track record in area working and community engagement to support neighbourhoods to shape how they are managed and how they develop.”

Council’s Multi Million Pound Investment To Protect Services

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000Z

A multi-million pound investment in Cambridge to secure and improve services for years to come has been unveiled by the Liberal Democrats as part of the Cambridge City Council’s budget.

They have set aside £3.4 million to carry out crucial work at the city’s Park Street car park. A study in the new year will look at how the council can be smarter in the way it uses the car park while still retaining much needed spaces for shops and businesses.

Work refurbishing the city’s Lion Yard toilets is included in the budget at a cost of £300,000. The toilets will be retained on ground floor and money will be spent bringing them up to a high standard with the facilities that people want. A working party will oversee the work.

Cambridge’s crematorium and cemetery buildings will be refurbished at a cost of £240,000.

This will also include renovation of the chapels and waiting rooms at the Huntingdon Road Crematorium and the waiting room and reception area at the Newmarket Road Cemetery. The work will follow the major £2 million project to upgrade the technical side of the crematorium, enabling greater energy efficiency and the most recent environmental standards, which is currently nearing completion.

Neil McGovern, Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Customer Services and Resources said: "It is vital that in these difficult times the council continues to invest in its assets and does not let them deteriorate. This investment now will help keep services running for years to come."

Also the council plans to recruit a new Head of Property Services to manage its £100 million commercial property portfolio.

Cllr McGovern added: "Our commercial property brings in about £8 million a year in extra income. This is the same as council tax receipts, so it is vital that we use our assets to keep tax low and protect services"

Lib Dem Campaigner Given Assurances Over Blue Badge Fears

2012-01-09T21:05:00.000Z

Leading Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrat campaigner, Clare Blair has received assurances that national changes to the Blue Badge system, designed to prevent fraud, will not affect existing users.

Clare contacted Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Ian Manning, who represents East Chesterton because she was worried that existing disabled users might have to immediately changeover to new style badges leaving them without their permits.

She said: "It can take a long time to get a new or replacement badge and I was worried that the changes could have meant users having their service interrupted while the new badge was sent.

“I've received assurances that existing users won't be affected and current badges will continue until they expire. For new badge applications the process will remain exactly the same as before although new style badges will be issued. This is good news for all disabled people who rely on their badges."

The Department for Transport has launched changes to the badges to reduce the potential for fraud and misuse and to streamline administration of the scheme, which is carried out by local authorities. The move will save up to £20 million per year.

Other changes include the potential to increase the price of a badge from £2 to £10, to cover the cost of the new technology. But a decision will not be made on whether to pass this onto users until Cambridgeshire County Council’s Cabinet meets in January.

Cllr Manning said: “I know how valuable these Blue Badges are for people with limited mobility and the thought that they might lose them while the new system is rolled out can be extremely worrying.

“The assurances Clare has been given will put a lot of minds at rest.”

Public Speaking Protocol for Overview and Scrutiny

2012-01-07T08:00:00.001Z

Cllr Shona Johnstone has recently reported back to all County Councillors that the Overview and Scrutiny Management Group has recently concluded it's review of public participation in the Overview and Scrutiny process and published a document regarding Public Speaking at Overview and Scrutiny meetings.

There is a lot in this document that's good. It does tend (slightly) towards the overly bureaucratic - I have yet to attend an Overview and Scrutiny meeting where a member of the public raising their hand in the public gallery and being called by the Chair wouldn't have been a sufficient notification for public speaking but this document is at least a step in the right direction.

I would have preferred there was an opportunity for written statements as well; once again the County Council seems to be working to actively discourage people who have a job from engaging in the political process. I mean it's pretty rare that people care enough about these meetings to attend in person but to expect people to take a day off work as well is just a non-starter.

The published guidelines are available here (word document).

So the next step is over to you ... Do you care enough about what's being done in your name to turn up and speak at these meetings? If not what would we have to do to encourage you to participate?

Primary School Applications - One Week To Go!

2012-01-07T08:00:00.000Z

Just a quick reminder; if you have a child born between 1st September 2007 and 31st August 2008 that they need to apply to the school they wish their child to attend from September 2012. The deadline for applications is the 15th January (next Sunday).

The process can be completed online at www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/admissions or by returning a paper form, which can be obtained from any primary school and returned to the Admissions Team at Cambridgeshire County Council.

Alternatively you can pick up the form from either King's Hedges Primary or the Grove.

Residents Struggling To Pay Fuel Bills Urged To Seek Help

2012-01-05T20:32:00.000Z

Home Heat Helpline - Website

Four thousand homes in Cambridge are entitled to help with their fuel bills and MP Julian Huppert is backing a campaign to make sure people apply for the grants available.

Julian is urging people on low incomes to call the Home Heat Helpline – 0800 33 66 99 – to find out about grants which are worth an average of £250 per household.

He said: “Families, couples and individuals living in around nine per cent of the homes in Cambridge can get help to stay warm this winter. No-one should be struggling to pay their fuel bills just because they are forced to manage on low incomes.

“I would also urge people to look out for neighbours, friends and relatives who may be finding this winter difficult and make sure they know they can get help.”

The Home Heat Helpline, which can also be accessed online at www.homeheathelpline.org.uk, is a free service which provides independent advice on how to get help with gas and electricity bills as well as grants for insulation or a new boiler.

People are also being urged think about what they can do around the home to reduce their energy consumption such as turning down radiators in rooms which are only used occasionally and switching off lights when not using them.

Julian added: “A few simple changes could make all the difference by saving energy and reducing costs.”

Massive Recycling Project To Be Rolled Out Across The City

2012-01-03T20:29:00.000Z

A massive programme to promote recycling on the go is being launched by the Liberal Democrat-led Cambridge City Council at a cost of £800,000 over four years.

Dual purpose bins, designed to collect rubbish and recycling, will be located in streets and open spaces across the city.

It is expected Parker’s Piece will be the first big open space to get the bins following a daily litter problem in the area last summer.

Consultation is to take place on the style of bins to be provided, ensuring they are aesthetically pleasing and easy for the public to use, and on areas which have seen particular problems.

Cambridge City Council has allocated £200,000 a year for the next four years to fund the project.

Jean Swanson, Executive Councillor for Environment and Waste Services said: “This scheme would tackle some of the main problem areas in the city and allow large amounts of waste to be recycled at the same time.

“Bins will be designed to be dual purpose – collecting the litter and recycling - making the whole process much more efficient and less time consuming. We hope that these bins, which may be of several different styles, can be placed on streets and open spaces where we know there are on-going litter problems to encourage people to take responsibility for keeping these areas clean.”

2012-01-03T17:38:00.000Z

The first drop-in session of 2012 will be on Saturday 14th January at the Arbury Community Centre. As usual we'll be there from 10am until noon.

You don't need an appointment, just turn up and we'll be happy to chat to you about whatever is on your mind.Whether it is a local problem like graffit, flytip; or a wider issue please do drop in.

If you have a problem but can't make the session then you can contact us by phone, email or post: see the details to the left of the page.

The next drop in after this will be Saturday 12th February.

City Council's Plan For Face-To-Face Justice To Beat Crime

2012-01-02T20:26:00.000Z

Offenders are to be encouraged to face their victims as part of a new initiative proposed by the Liberal Democrat-led Cambridge City Council.

The idea, which has already led to big reductions in re-offending in other parts of the country, is designed to broaden street restorative justice launched by the city’s police.

It is hoped that by bringing together victim and offender along with the police or another organisation which had referred the crime, all parties could work together for a successful outcome.

Neighbourhood Resolution Panels would be created, similar to those introduced in Sheffield, Norfolk and Somerset where they have led to reductions in re-offending in low level crime or anti-social behaviour which is not serious enough to prosecute.

It is hoped £34,000 can be made available in the council’s budget to fund a project leader over two years to set up the Neighbourhood Resolution Panels.

The scheme is designed to complement street restorative justice pioneered by the police where on the spot reparation, such as an apology or a clean-up, takes the place of formal cautions or warnings for minor offences if both victim and offender agree.

Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Community Safety, Tim Bick said: "Experience elsewhere suggests that victims value the opportunity to ask questions about the offence, to talk about its effect on them and others, and to work with the offender to help stop them offending again.

"The experience of confronting the personal impact of their deeds has clearly had a positive effect on offenders, as resulting re-offending rates, particularly for young people, have been much lower than they are nationally.

"These panels have the potential to complement street restorative justice already started by the police. They provide slightly more structured events for situations where more reflection and discussion is appropriate. And they have the enormous benefit of being firmly grounded in the community itself.

"This approach to crime will not suit every case but the evidence is that it has an important role to play. It ought to fit well in a city where we are concerned to prevent people embarking on a life of crime before they get started."

The initiative on Restorative Justice features as a priority in Cllr Bick's plans for community development and community safety over the coming year.

"The city council will be working closely with our partners, particularly the police, in order to design the scheme in a way which commands the confidence of the community,” added Cllr Bick.

Happy Christmas

2011-12-25T05:00:00.000Z

Seasons Greetings from the King's Hedges Liberal Democrat team.We hope you have a great day!

Tories Block Liberal Democrat Move To Freeze Allowances

2011-12-22T08:00:00.000Z

Lib Dem attempts to freeze councillors' allowances for the next 18 months have been blocked by Conservative Councillors.

A proposal put to a meeting of Cambridgeshire County Council by Lib Dem Peter Downes called for there to be no rises before April 2013 at the earliest.

But Conservative Councillors, who controversially voted themselves a 25 per cent pay rise last month, voted the Lib Dem proposal down

“We need to reassure the public that councillors won’t vote themselves a pay rise at a time when services are being cut and staff are being made redundant,” said Cllr Downes.

Lib Dem Leader Kilian Bourke said: "The Conservatives made a mistake in voting the increase through and it is a relief that it was scrapped, but another review will have to take place soon. We wanted to commit in advance to not accepting any increase until 2013 at the earliest.

"Councillors should not be giving themselves pay rises at a time of wage freezes and redundancies."

A report about raising allowances will be coming to a council meeting in early 2012.

Liberal Democrats' Move To Attract New Councillors To Be Discussed Publicly

2011-12-20T20:35:00.000Z

A move by Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats to attract councillors from a wide range of backgrounds is to be discussed publicly with a view to forming a county council policy.

The group has been invited by the Tory-led administration to produce a report increasing the diversity of elected members by holding a quarter of council meetings out of office hours and organising training in the evenings.

Cambridgeshire County Council Cabinet Member for Resources and Performance, Steve Count agreed the idea was a positive one and promised that the report and its recommendations would be presented to a public forum.

Cllr Ian Manning, who proposed a motion setting out the idea, said “I'm pleased that the Conservatives have agreed our idea is a positive one and have invited us to form the policy.

“It is particularly important that the report and recommendations are presented to a public forum – meaning it will be transparent and open.”

Cllr Sue Gymer seconded the motion explaining her reasons for wanting training out of hours.

"After the allowances debate, I thought long and hard about what would make it easier to get working mums like myself to become councillors. I voted against because it was the wrong amount at the wrong time. In addition a small pay rise would make no difference to me personally but being able to get training outside of working hours would make it a lot easier to mix my council duties with my employment.

“I am pleased to see that a report would be coming back to a public meeting like Cabinet or council.

Christmas Bin Collections and City Council opening hours

2011-12-14T17:00:00.000Z

The Christmas holidays always bring some disruption to bin collections owing to the cluster of bank holidays. This year is no exception and collections usually scheduled between Boxing Day and January 6th are all moved back one day.

This means if your bins are due to be collected on Thursdays, then they won't be collected on the 29th December and 5th January, but will instead be collected on Friday 30th and and Friday 6th January.

Collections should be back to normal on the week starting Monday 9th January.

On the subject of bins and Christmas, after the holidays real Christmas trees can be recycled by either taking them to Cherry Hinton Hall, or (more likely from this side of Cambridge) by cutting them up and placing in Green bins.

More details can be found on the Christmas Opening pages of the City Council website.

Cambridge City Council have also published details of opening hours for the Service Centre, City Homes and King's Hedges Learner pool (among others). These can all be found on that page.

Hopefully we won't have the same problems with snow as we had last year, but if we do then keep an eye on the City Council webpage for service updates.

If you have any problems or comments on the services, please let the team know.

Planning application on Abbots Close

2011-12-13T18:00:00.000Z

It has been a while since we've had a planning application in King's Hedges ward, but this week we have been notified of one.

It is for a "Ground floor extensions to provide additional bedroom and shower room" to 7 Abbots Close. The case reference number is 11/1441/FUL and you can get more details from the City Council online planning service.

For more information on the application, including how to comment, check the Development Control pages of the City Council website.

In case of any difficulty contact the team.

Lib Dems Call For Evening Meetings To Attract New Councillors

2011-12-06T16:00:00.000Z

In a bid to attract a diverse range of people to stand for election to Cambridgeshire County Council, the Liberal Democrats are calling for some meetings to be held in the evenings.

They want to see a shift away from meetings being held exclusively in the daytime which are often difficult to attend for those in full-time work. And they believe holding some in the early evening would give more people the chance to stand for election as councillors.

A motion calling for support for the idea will be proposed to Cambridgeshire County Council members on December 7 by Councillor Ian Manning, who represents East Chesterton in Cambridge.

It calls for two of the full council meetings and 25 per cent of each of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings to be held outside standard working hours which are defined as 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

And it says councillors should be given the opportunity to take part in training outside standard working hours.

Cllr Manning said: “At the moment, it can be extremely difficult for anyone with a full-time job or other daytime responsibilities to commit to attending meetings during the day. I have to take unpaid leave on occasion from my job to do so.

“This means that we can only attract those people who don’t have to work full-time or have commitments that are extremely flexible. By switching some meetings to the evening I think we will be able to attract a wider range of people and our councillors will be a better reflection of society generally.”

Cllr Sue Gymer, who represents Cottenham, Histon and Impington said: “Many of our present councillors run their own businesses or have part-time jobs or flexible commitments allowing them to work round council business. But this is not the norm for the majority of working people. How can working people be expected to participate if the first step is to take the day off work?

“We want to encourage people from all ages and all backgrounds who have an interest in representing their communities to stand for election and that is not going to happen unless we hold our meetings at a time when they are able to attend.”

Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrat Leader, Kilian Bourke said: "We fully accept the importance of attracting a wider range of people to stand to be councillors, but felt that the Conservative proposal to give councillors a 25 per cent pay rise was totally inappropriate at this time.

“We feel that the same could be achieved by shifting some of our daytime meetings to the evenings. That is why we are putting forward this proposal and I hope the Conservatives will support it."

Drop in session at Arbury Community Centre

2011-12-05T17:33:00.000Z

Second Saturday of the month means it is time for our monthly drop in session.

Do you have a local issue you'd like to discuss with your local Councillor? Maybe you have a view on a local problem, changes to the library services, or what you'd like to see your Council (either City or Council) doing in King's Hedges?

This Saturday (December 12th) from 10am until midday you can come and talk to us at the Arbury Community Centre.

No need for an appointment, just turn up!

Minor Highways issues within Kings Hedges

2011-12-05T08:00:00.000Z

As you might have picked up from the minutes of the Cambridge Area Environment and Traffic Management Committee (no? It's a riveting read) Cambridgeshire Highways used to have a list of all the open highways issues in each division (split into unfunded and those with an identified means of funding) which would come to the AJC meeting, be discussed (usually added to) and then would be back in the hands of officers who would get done what they could, identifying new streams of funding if possible, and then report back to the next meeting of the AJC.

As you can see it's a fairly simple process but doesn't actually add a lot of value as a) most of the work is done by officers and (in my view more significantly) b) it encourages Councillors to get things added to the list that won't ever get done. Basically anything that doesn't have an obvious source of funding, isn't a legal requirement, or isn't part of some bigger project is just not going to happen.

The list, after a few years of b), is now pretty long and some of the the reasons why some of the items are sitting on the list have been lost in the mist of time.

Clearly it's time for a change and so the County Officers are now proposing that they spend some time in each Division with local members and prepare a list of highways issues relevant to that division.

In light of that I've been looking at the highways list we already have for Kings Hedges and the new items that people have already suggested (note that in some cases it is a problem that needs a solution rather than a solution!) and come up with the following list;

20mph speed limit on Northfield Avenue (outside KH Primary School),
Coach parking on Woodhead Drive,
Car parking on Lovell Road,
Arbury Road cycle path (specifically doing something around the Milton Road junction),
Verge parking on Milton Road,
Pavement parking across the division,
Traffic improvements on Arbury Road outside the Manor,
Verge parking on Hawkins Road, and
Cycle route on KH road (specifically around CRC junction)

That's just off the top of my head. What else do you think should be on this list?

St Kilda Road/ Campkin Road Potholes

2011-12-03T20:18:00.001Z

This is just a quick blog post to let you know what we (your local Councillors) can do when things are brought to our attention. In this specific case a local wheelchair-bound resident had noticed significant potholes in the route they took to the local shops (Tesco on Campkin Road).

They raised this issue with the County Council (Highways) and were told that the specific road they were concerned about was not actually a part of the highway and that they, the County, had no idea who owned it but that the resident should try Tesco - this of course wasn't obvious immediately and a lot of frustrating back-and-forth went on before they managed to get to this point.

It was at this stage, feeling incredibly frustrated, the resident contacted me and I started looking into it.

The first thing to note is that the road in question is directly behind the row of shops on Campkin Road. It is where the shops have their "loading bays". When you look at the road itself it is pretty clear that it is not part of the highway, it's generally in a very poor condition and just doesn't (despite what you may think about the way Cambridgeshire County Council looks after their highways) look like a properly maintained road.

If you'd like to see the area in question it's available on Google Streetview here, and it's the un-named road in the centre of the map here.

The road itself is off St. Kilda Avenue and from what I know of the area a lot of the shops are owned by Cambridge City Council so I made them my first point of call (rather than Tesco). It actually took quite a number of contacts to identify the person at Cambridge City Council and get an answer to the question of who owned the land.

As you can see from the attached map (which is excellent by the way, produced by the City Council) the land in question was owned by the City Council.

Once it was clear that the potholes were the responsibility of the City Council it was just a matter of asking the correct officer, in this case the Area Housing Manager, to have the area inspected and see what the Council can do.

Within 24 hours of me contacting him the officer had had the area inspected and had concluded that a three square meter area of the road will be resurfaced. Excellent news all round.

Of course it shouldn't have taken this long to get to this stage, but at least it is now well on it's way to being resolved.

So what's the point of this blog post? Well basically it's to let people know that contacting your local Councillors *can* get problems solved. We are here to help you, we know it's not always 100% clear who you should be talking to (City, County, Police, etc) and we can help get to the bottom of local problems whoever they are with.

If you have an issue you'd like us to look into you can contact us via the links on the left.

And, just in case you were wondering, here is the before picture;

Bus Consultation: One Week To Go!

2011-12-02T16:00:00.000Z

We're into the final week of the County Councils bus consultation which will officially end at 4pm on Friday the 9th December. The consultation is still accessible through the website;

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/around/buses/busconsultation.htm

Following on from the Conservative-controlled Councils disastrous decision to cut 100% of bus subsidies without any consultation this review was forced onto them as the only way of avoiding a Judicial Review.

Once the consultation has closed the results will be published and then Cabinet will propose what to do next. It's unlikely the entire cuts will be reversed, but hopefully some of the key subsidised routes across the County which are relied on by the most vulnerable in society will be saved.

Police at Arbury Court tomorrow

2011-11-29T12:15:00.001Z

The police are holding their monthly drop in session at Arbury Court tomorrow morning. To quote from them...

Just a reminder that next Wednesday, 30th November some of your local officers from the team will be in Arbury Court between 11am – 1pm to hold a police surgery. If you have any concerns or issues, please do come and tell us.
Alternatively, if you cannot make our police surgery, you can always send us an Ecops message or phone our non-emergency number, 101.
Please do remain vigilant and let us know if you see anything suspicious. If you would like to do this anonymously, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

You can subscribe to email updates from the Police using the eCops service, follow the link to sign up.

North Area Committee: Update on Woodhead Drive/ Milton Road Junction Improvements

2011-11-23T19:32:00.001Z

Update from Cllr Ward regarding Tree Works Application and other suggested improvements at the MiltonRoad junction of Woodhead Drive.

Theimprovements to Milton Road/ Woodhead Drive junction, relate to trees with aTree Preservation Order (TPO) (38/1988). These are unusual circumstance in thatordinarily the Council would not TPO its owns trees, however, when the land wastransferred to City Council ownership, this also transferred the TPOs.

Asworks were proposed, an application was considered on the basis that the CityCouncil was an external applicant, and the Council therefore followed theestablished process for determining TPO decisions.

Attachedbelow is a link, which shows the proposed works, neighbour letter andconsultation drawings:

http://idox.cambridge.gov.uk/onlineapplications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=LFQA7TDX03Q00

Theapplication was also included on the planning application register that iscirculated weekly.

Asthere where no objections, the application was determined at Officer level.

Lib Dems Act To Help Families Plagued By Speeding Drivers

2011-11-22T21:45:00.001Z

Speeding drivers and inadequate traffic calming measures have made life a misery for families living on a Cambridge road.

For years residents of Fen Road, East Chesterton have been plagued by cars racing along the road and heavy lorries bouncing across the speed bumps.

Now the city’s Liberal Democrats have scrutinised the issue and come up with a number of ideas to solve the problem.

They are taking their findings to Cambridge City Council’s North Area Committee on Thursday (November 24) and again in January to give residents the chance to have their say.

Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Ian Manning, who represents East Chesterton and campaigner, Clare Blair who lives in the ward have set out their ideas in a document which will be presented to the committee.

And it has been endorsed by Cambridge MP, Julian Huppert, who represented East Chesterton on the county council for eight years.

Ian said: “This has been a blight on our ward for a long time. In order to fix the problem, we are asking the whole area committee and all parties to support our push for solutions.”

Julian said: “Families living in this road have been plagued by speeding drivers for many years and traffic calming measures have failed to address the problem.

“I applaud Ian and Clare on the work that has gone into this document. I hope residents will take this opportunity to make their views known so that a solution can be found quickly.”

A year ago, at Clare’s request Cambridgeshire County Council highways officers drew up a scheme to improve traffic calming measures and prevent cars mounting grass verges to avoid speed bumps.

The scheme could cost around £150,000 and it is hoped this could be funded from the Northern Area Corridor Transport Plan.

Clare said: “This is certainly the most important highways issue affecting East Chesterton.

“Yet despite raising this issue with officers and the county council Cabinet for many years, no solution has been acted upon.”

Other solutions suggested in the document prepared by Ian and Clare include:

an alternative route out of Fen Road to remove lorry traffic;
minor environmental improvements;
a footpath over the railway crossing to allow children to walk to school rather than be driven.

PDF attachment with the plans is available here.

E-Cops - 101; Single Non-Emergency Number For Police

2011-11-20T08:00:00.000Z

The following update has come from e-Cops;

"I wanted to let you know that you can now contact Cambridgeshire Constabulary on 101 for all non-emergency calls. The 0345 456 456 4 number will remain in use alongside 101 for several months to allow people time to get used to the new number.

The change comes part of a national programme to make 101 the single non-emergency number in England and Wales, giving residents an easy-to-remember number to contact local police wherever they are.

The call system is designed to recognise where you are calling from and connect you with the local police service. If you did not want to speak to your local force, or the force area you are in, you will be given the option to be connected to different one.

The number change does not affect the way that calls are handled and we will continue to take non-emergency calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Please continue to call 999 when an immediate response is needed because a crime is happening, someone suspected of a crime is nearby, or someone is in danger.

Kind regards,
Superintendent Mike Brown
101

http://www.police.uk/101 - Details on 101 and the national roll-out"

Primary School Applications

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000Z

The County Council is currently reminding parents across Cambridgeshire who have a child born between 1st September 2007 and 31st August 2008 that they need to apply to the school they wish their child to attend from September 2012.

The application process opened on the 14th November and parents have the choice of returning a paper form (which can be obtained from The Grove, King's Hedges Primary School, of in fact any Primary School) or applying online via the Counties website;

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/admissions

The completed form needs to be received by the Admission Team before 15th January.

Applications received after that date will be dealt with last which could mean some children will not only not receive a place at one of their preferred schools but they might not even get a place in the school in the catchment area in which they live.

County Tories Making Money On Children’s Cycle Training

2011-11-16T08:00:00.000Z

Cambridgeshire Tories have been accused of making money out of teaching youngsters to cycle even though the full cost of the courses are funded by the government.

The Conservative-run County Council has started charging schools £15 for each pupil taking part in its cycling schemes – Bikeability and Safer Cycling – despite receiving a government grant to pay for the training.

In the past, the cycling courses had been offered free of charge to Year 5 and 6 schoolchildren.

Susan van de Ven, Lib Dem Shadow Cabinet Member for Transport has questioned the county council on why it has suddenly decided to raise money on the back of the cycle training schemes.

She is worried that schools will not be able to afford the new charges and youngsters will no longer receive the training.

She said: “Bikeability, which is delivered by trained professionals, has full funding available from central government, so the steep county council admin charge makes no sense.

“Safer Cycling is delivered by volunteers, often school teachers and parents. Schools don’t understand why they are suddenly being charged this fee. The cost of £15 per head is prohibitive for many schools and there is a real concern that cycle training take-up will drop off.”

Cllr Sarah Whitebread, Lib Dem Spokesperson for Climate Change, added: “‘Habits taken up at an early age have a good chance of sticking, and walking and cycling bring so many benefits.

“I’m very keen for the council to find a way of making primary school cycle training more accessible. We want to encourage youngsters to see cycling as a viable means of transport so that they continue riding as adults.”

Huppert’s Victory As Government Gives Extra £10m For Schools

2011-11-14T08:00:00.000Z

MP Julian Huppert is celebrating victory after today’s (Thursday, November 3) announcement by the government that it will be giving Cambridgeshire schools an extra £10.2 million.

Julian had been pushing for more money for the county’s schools which are among the lowest funded in the country.

He joined MPs from across the county to campaign for extra funding and raised the issue in the House of Commons.

In February, Education Minister, Michael Gove promised Julian a review the county’s grant allocation – and today he announced the county would be among 100 benefiting from an extra £500 million to provide more school places.

Julian said: “This is good news for Cambridge and Cambridgeshire as a whole.

“It goes some way to addressing the major shortfall in funding which puts the county’s schools near the bottom of the pile compared to other local authorities across the country. Even with this payment, however, the county is still £25 million short of the national average and we cannot afford to be complacent.

“But in allocating this money, the Minister has recognised that our region is experiencing rapid growth and that we are facing a severe shortage of school places in the city and across the county. It’s a start in giving our children the education they so rightly deserve.

“The fight is far from over, however, and I will continue until Cambridgeshire is put on a par with the rest of the country and receives the money from government to which it is entitled.”

Liberal Democrat Peter Downes, Cambridgeshire County Council’s Shadow Cabinet Member for Education said: “I am pleased that Cambridgeshire’s plight has been recognised by the government and it has been chosen to receive this extra money.

“Our schools have suffered from years of under-funding by successive governments and finally steps are being taken to address that.

“I hope that the coalition will build on this and allocate Cambridgeshire schools the money they need to meet the growing demand for places across the county.”

Changes To Whippet Bus Service for Arbury

2011-11-12T08:00:00.002Z

Whippet Coaches have informed the County Council that theywill be making changes to services 14 and 21. The 14 is relevant to us in NorthCambridge and will from the 5^th December have a revised route;currently this is via Bridge Street and Histon Road, and will switch toVictoria Avenue and Milton Road. It will also serve Howgate Road in Arbury.

Timetables are available from Whippet, although sadly when Ichecked their website to put together this post the 14 Service seems to becompletely missing (and the only service that mentions Arbury is the T4 FreeBus to Bar Hill Tesco!).

Hopefully all will become clear before the changes happen on the 5th!

Whippet Coaches are contactable on 01954 230011.

Real-Time Passenger Information (on Milton Road)

2011-11-12T08:00:00.001Z

The County Council is currently rolling out it's RTPI project across Cambridge. This is the system you see on bus stops with the electronic signs that tell you how many minutes till the next bus arrives; this information is either based on the busses actual location (via a tracker installed on it) or is just the repetition of timetabled information.

I have been asked to express a view on the order in which the bus stops along Milton Road should be upgraded with RTPI. The view I have expressed is that the Downham's Lane and Union Lane stops, based on north/south traffic, are the two I'd like to see upgraded next.

If you have a different view let me know and I'll pass it on.

Councillor’s Victory As Lords Back Campaign To Help Students

2011-11-12T08:00:00.000Z

A Cambridgeshire County Councillor’s campaign to get a fairer deal for part-time university students under the government’s education loans scheme cleared another hurdle last night (Tuesday, November 1).

In the House of Lords, the government agreed with the Liberal Democrat amendment for the move, clearing the way for it to be written into the government’s Education Bill and become law. It was then also supported cross-party in the Lords.

Dr Belinda Brooks-Gordon teamed up with former Cambridgeshire County Council Liberal Democrat leader, Baroness Sal Brinton, to make sure part-time students were not discriminated under the scheme.

From 2012 eligible part-time students will be able to borrow the full cost of their tuition fees for the first time. Students become eligible to start making repayments four years after they begin their studies instead of the three years originally planned by the government.

“I am absolutely delighted,” said Cllr Brooks-Gordon. “The Lords have supported this move which gives part-time students the same rights as enjoyed by their full-time counterparts.

“This will make such a huge difference to those people struggling to get a university education against a backdrop of financial hardship. These are the very people that we need to help and this change will make it possible.”

Cllr Brooks-Gordon and Baroness Brinton were both mature students at Cambridge’s Churchill College and fully admit what without support they would have struggled to achieve their qualifications.

“I was determined that part-time students, many of whom are single parents, mature students or disabled, should not be discriminated against in the loans system” said Dr Brooks-Gordon, a Reader at Birkbeck, University of London and past tutor at the Open University.

Part-time students make up 40 per cent of undergraduates and Cambridge is national hotspot for part-time students including Anglia Ruskin, the Open University, and Cambridge University."

Baroness Brinton said: "It was clear when I made the case repeatedly in the House of Lords that the Government’s original proposal was bizarre and illogical.

“The Lords and now the government have backed our proposals and cleared the way for these changes to become law. That will bring a great deal of relief to many part-time students and hopefully encourage others to embark on courses that might otherwise have been completely out of reach.”

Local Councillor Drop-In Surgery This Saturday!

2011-11-09T20:28:00.000Z

Do you have a local issue you'd like to discuss with your local Councillor? Maybe you have a view on Councillors allowances, changes to the library services, or what you'd like to see your Council (either City or Council) doing in King's Hedges?

This saturday from 10am until midday you can come and talk to us at the Arbury Community Centre.

No need for an appointment, just turn up!

Be Bright, Be Seen As The Nights Draw In

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000Z

Road Safety Officers at Cambridgeshire County Council are urging all road users to take extra care on the roads once the clocks go back this weekend.

The change of the clocks means it will be darker in the afternoons, when many people are making their way home from work or school. The darker conditions make it harder for pedestrians and cyclists to be seen by other road users.

Parents are being encouraged to make sure they and their children 'be bright, be seen' by attaching reflective strips to their bags and coats or other clothing. Cyclists are also reminded that they must use lights during hours of darkness and should ensure their bike reflectors are clean and clearly visible.

To support this message, Richardsons Cycles are providing reflective bands to be given to children at selected primary schools around the county, along with advice for parents from Road Safety Officers.

Matt Staton, Road Safety Officer for Cambridgeshire County Council, said: "It is very important that pedestrians and cyclists ensure they can be seen when making journeys in the dark, but it is equally important that other road users are extra vigilant in the knowledge that pedestrians and cyclists will be harder to see."

Simon Haydn, Bikeability Project Officer for the County Council, added some extra advice for cyclists: "All lights should be fitted to the bike, and although helmet or head torches are useful, they can be potentially blinding for other road users."

Councillors' Allowances Rise Rejected As Process Was Flawed

2011-11-02T13:03:00.002Z

A controversial decision to raise county councillors’ allowances by 25 per cent has been thrown out after it was found that the process was flawed.

Mistakes made by the Tory-run Cambridgeshire County Council have wasted over £5,000 of public money and means the whole process must go back to square one.

The decision is a victory for Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats who had voted against the increase and campaigned to overturn the decision.

It came after former Liberal Democrat councillor, Clare Blair, called the issue into the council’s Standards Committee today (Tuesday, November 1) claiming the process broke the rules of the council’s constitution and government legislation.

Committee members agreed after discovering that the council had made serious errors in the process of appointing members to the Independent Remuneration Panel which recommended the 25 per cent increase in members’ allowances and failing to advertise its report for public comment.

Cllr Blair, a former Cambridge City Executive Councillor who represented East Chesterton, spoke at the Standards Committee meeting calling the whole process into question.

Later she said: “This whole process was flawed. The Conservative administration made one mistake after another by rushing this matter through the council.

“This is has been a terrible waste of public money. Now the process must begin again. I hope ordinary residents will also consider joining the new Independent Panel and that the Conservatives will see that a 25 per cent increase at this time is totally inappropriate.”

In the meeting Lib Dem group leader Kilian Bourke said: "To retrospectively ratify this decision would almost certainly lead to a judicial review, which could end up costing the council as much as the 25 per cent pay rise itself.

Later he added: "I welcome the fact that the 25 per cent increase will now be overturned, although the Tories should not have voted it through in the first place. The increase was totally inappropriate at a time of wage freezes, redundancies and cuts to frontline services and the public have made their anger at this decision clear.

"I want to thank the 3,000 people who supported our campaign to have the increase reversed. I have no doubt that the weight of public opinion contributed to the decision to scrap the report."

Planning applications: Arbury Road

2011-10-31T16:18:00.000Z

This week there is one planning application in the ward to report. It is from the City Council and concerns "installation of of 9.88kwp solar photovoltaic panels to approximately 67m2 of the south-west facing roof slope" of the City Homes North office on Arbury Road. The reference number is 11/1227/FUL and you can see the detailed documents online too.

As normal you can get more information from the City Council website, and in case of difficulty contact the team.

In case you wonder why we didn't have a planning post last week: there weren't any applications in King's Hedges.

Remember, remember...

2011-10-29T16:44:00.000+01:00

We are approaching November 5th and the City Council is once again hosting a bonfire and fireworks on Midsummer Common. The event is always good fun, and public displays tend to be both more spectacular and safer than private ones. The funfair opens from around 6pm, with a display by Wildfire Productions from 7pm to 7.20pm.

The main event are the fireworks and bonfire lighting at about 7.30pm.

The display does cause transport problems around Misummer Common, and this tends to have knock on effects up Milton Road. The police have used the eCops to pass on some of the details:

Victoria Avenue, Trafalgar Road, Trafalgar Street, Fair Street, New Square, Maids Causewaybetween Four Lamps Roundabout and just west of Brunswick Gardens, Jesus Lane and KingsStreet between Four Lamps Roundabout and Manor Street, will be closed between 6.30pmand 8.30pm, as crowds build up.

There is also a one way system in the De Freville area north of the River. The River is also closed to traffic.

Full details of closures, and access arrangements are on the City Council website.

I hope as many people as possible enjoy the display.

(Finally a thanks to all the sponsors, listed on the website, for making the event possible.)

Your Views Count – Have Your Say on Bin Collections

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000+01:00

Cambridge City Council is carrying out a survey asking residents for their views about bin collections.
The survey is part of a major project to review the routes that bin lorries take around the city. Using specialist software to re-map the routes taking traffic and other factors into account, the council aims to reduce the costs and carbon footprint of bin collections in the city.

Re-mapping the bin lorry routes means that some residents might see a change to their bin day in 2012.

Executive Councillor for Environment and Waste Services, Cllr Jean Swanson said, “The software will tell us where we could make savings, but we want to take residents’ views into account too. As well as finding out what people think about some of the options that the software may present, we are also asking what people think about things like incentives for recycling, and what services they would like to see.

I’d like to encourage as many Cambridge residents as possible to visit our website and take the survey.”

Residents can visit www.cambridge.gov.uk/binsurvey until November 5th to complete the survey.

A telephone survey of a representative sample of 1000 residents will also be conducted this week.

NO to 25% Pay Rise For Councillors ...

2011-10-26T22:18:00.000+01:00

The number of signatures on the online-petition has now passed the 700 mark with at least 400 more people signing the paper version. Have you signed yet? The petition link is available here;

http://noto25percent.com

If you'd like to sign the paper-based petition the Liberal Democrats will be in the markets of Cambridge and Ely this Saturday if you can come and visit us.

We are encouraging people to download, circulate, and return the paper petition forms wherever they can. This is a cross-party effort supported by members of the Trade Unions, as well as Councillors from across the political spectrum; Labour, Green, UKIP, as well as Independents. There are two versions attached - one with our (Liberal Democrat) logo and one without.

Don't let them get away with it ... help us reverse this unjust pay rise.

Action on litter in King's Hedges

2011-10-24T15:39:00.000+01:00

September marks the return to school and college, and the unwelcome increase of the litter problem between Campkin Road shops and Cambridge Regional College.

This is an issue that the City have been working hard on to try and deal with.The City Council has taken a multi-pronged approach. Working with CRC to educate pupils, and sending the enforcement team out with the power to issue £70 on the spot fines for those caught littering.

The second part is litter picking. The City Council teams pick daily in the affected area, and both Tesco and Ocean Dragon are also providing litter pickers. Ocean Dragon have agreed to pick between 1.30 and 2pm, and Tesco at 3pm. The hope is this will pick litter after the lunchtime rush which seems to be the time of the worst problem. The City has also used powers to clean up some of the gardens that were impacted by the litter dropped.

Alongside the picks and the enforcement powers the Council have also used some of the City Summer Bins along the route used by the students.

The City Council is monitoring this, but as always contact the team should there be any problems.

It is also worth noting that if you see a problem with litter when out and about in the City you can call the City Council on 01223 457000 to request a pick for the area. You can also use this to report flytip or graffiti.

Petition to stop the Tory 25% pay rise

2011-10-24T07:49:00.000+01:00

The Conservative group on the county council is set to award themselves a 25% pay rise while cutting services and making staff redundant.

The LibDems oppose this. Cuts were made to sort out the mess of the economy.

If you're as angry as us, please sign the petition at http://epetition.cambridgeshire.public-i.tv/epetition_core/view/remuneration asking them to reverse this decision, before December, when there will be a full council meeting.

'Make A Difference Day' Celebrating Community Service Volunteers

2011-10-24T07:00:00.000+01:00

This year's 'Make A Difference Day' will highlight how volunteers can tackle loneliness and isolation at a special fair held at Cambridge Central Library on Saturday, October 29.

The Volunteer Recruitment fair is being held by Cambridgeshire County Council Library Service together with Volunteering Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

The free event will celebrate community service volunteers and will give people the opportunity to find out more about volunteering in their local area or opportunities in Cambridgeshire County Council and other organisations.

The event is being held in the Central Library, Cambridge from 10am to 2pm in the third floor conference room.

There will be staff on hand to talk to and more information can be found at;

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/libraries/news/

or contact maggie.brown@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Secondary School Application Deadline Approaches

2011-10-20T21:07:00.001+01:00

Parents of children due to start secondary school in September 2012 are being reminded that the relevant forms must be completed and submitted by the end of this month.

The Secondary Application Form - and Supplementary Information Form if required - must be submitted to Cambridgeshire County Council by 31 October 2011.

Information and guidance about how to apply for a place is available in the Next Steps - Admission to Secondary School: a guide for parents 2012 - 2013 leaflet. This publication is available from Cambridgeshire County Council's website at: www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/admissions, where parents will also be able to access the online application facility, or download a paper copy of the Secondary Application Form

If parents submit their applications late, there is a real risk that their child will not offered a place at one of their preferred schools, as other children's applications (those received by the 31 October deadline) will be processed ahead of theirs.

For further information, e-mail admissions@cambridgeshire.gov.uk or log onto the County Council's website at:

www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/admissions

Planning application in Milton Road

2011-10-19T20:10:00.000+01:00

After a little break from us the weekly list of planning applications is back.

Just one to report this week:for "Installation of two fascia signs and one pylon sign (all internally illuminated)." at 383 Milton Road. The online planning system now seems to allow direct links to the application, so if you need more details follow that link.

383 Milton Road is in the stretch between the Lovell Road and the bus way on that side of the road.

As always in case of difficulty contact the team, and for more information see the Development Control pages of the City Council website.

Buses: Cut First, Ask Later

2011-10-15T08:00:00.000+01:00

The County Council has paid a heavy price for its cavalier decision last February to cut 100% of bus subsidies. No research had been conducted on people’s transport needs, and there was no plan in place for those who lack transport of their own and would end up stranded, though the council said it expected Community Transport to make up the difference.

In May an application for Judicial Review was lodged against the Council on several grounds, including lack of consultation. In July the Council’s bid for £5 million from the government‘s Local Sustainable Transport Fund was denied, specifically on the basis that the Council had gone too far in its cuts. The government refused to fill in the gaps.

In order to make the Judicial Review go away, the Council has been forced to consult on residents’ transport needs—something the Lib Dems have been pressing for all along.

It is now doing so, though the consultation is being run primarily via the council’s website:

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/around/buses/busconsultation.htm

Unfortunately the web version does not allow you to view the entire document before starting to respond.

Campaign Against Cuts to the Fire Service

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000+01:00

Tomorrows scheduled meeting of the Fire Authority was originally intended to be the kick-off meeting to implement the cuts to the service. Fortunately Cambridgeshire Fire Service has had a stay of execution until next year in order for the Fire Authority to assess their Financial situtation - particularly with regard to changes to the grant settlement.

The Liberal Democrat group on the Fire Authority have been working hard to safeguard the front-line Fire Service including opposing cuts to the number of fire-fighters.

We have organised a petition to oppose the cuts and this petition will now be extended until the February Fire Authority meeting. To add your signature just follow the link below;

http://cambslibdems.org.uk/en/petition/petition-against-cambridgeshire-fire-service-cuts

The FBU is similarly campaigning against the cuts, for information on their campaign see;

http://www.savecambsfire.org.uk/news.html

The FBU recently did a street survey across the County that showed around 99% of respondents were happy to have the Fire Authority increase Council Tax in order to avoid front-line service cuts.

Help us to protect Cambridgeshire Fire Service - Oppose the cuts to your Emergency Service!

Pupil Premium Brings More Money Into King's Hedges

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000+01:00

Today figures have been released by central government for the amount of pupil premium each school is to receive. The total figure for each school is based on the number of Free-School-Meals pupils the school has enrolled.

King's Hedges schools will receive the following amounts;

The Manor £52,704
King's Hedges Primary School £55,632
The Grove £27,328

The total amount for King's Hedges is £135,664.

As Chair of Governors of the Manor this is fantastic news for the school and for the local community. King's Hedges contains some of the areas in Cambridgeshire with the highest levels of deprivation. Any extra money that helps our local schools invest more in the future of our children the more benefit, both in terms of higher achievement and - critically - aspiration, that we will see.

MP Welcomes Pupil Premium Cash For City Schools

2011-10-12T12:52:00.000+01:00

Cambridge MP, Julian Huppert has welcomed today’s announcement that city schools will receive extra money than originally expected through the new Pupil Premium.

More than 1,300 youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds will benefit from £652,000 which means that every school in Cambridge will now get nearly £500 for every child on Free School Meals.

Among the schools benefiting are Chesterton Community College which receives more than £52,000, Coleridge Community College which gets almost £43,000 and the Shirley Community Nursery and Primary School which receives just over £50,000.

Liberal Democrat Children and Families Minister, Sarah Teather announced the extra money which gives Cambridgeshire as a whole £4,152,000 for 9,020 eligible pupils.

The total Pupil Premium funding for next year nationally will rise to £1.25bn, double the amount in 2011-12. And it will rise again each year until 2014-15 when it will be worth £2.5bn.

Julian said: “This is excellent news. Youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds struggle through the school system often failing to achieve good GCSE results and go on to further education.

“This money, which is more than expected, will make a real difference to children in Cambridge. It will help from their early years through to secondary school and put them on a more even footing with their classmates.

“I am delighted that, as a party, we have been able to achieve this and I look forward to seeing how it can help.”

Today's Cambridge Area Joint Committee

2011-10-10T20:20:00.000+01:00

Earlier today the Cambridge Area Joint Committee, a mix of City and County Councillors representing the interests of Cambridge city (for which I am a substitute member) met to discuss city-wide traffic management and environment issues.

The leader of the County Council, Cllr Nick Clarke, was in attendance at his first AJC representing the Conservative-controlled County Council.

The agenda was fairly straight forward and the meeting took a little over two hours (which isn't that bad to an AJC meeting - as Cllr Clarke pointed out the room is booked for four hours for the meeting). There was nothing really contentious and so there was only one or two members of the public in attendance. Not really a surprise but given the County councils pending review of AJCs it would have been nice if more people where there as it does seem to be the only AJC in the County which is actually fit for purpose and working!

Agenda item 4a (off-street parking) was the first real item with debate. Several members raised the issue of queuing to enter Park Street being a real issue during peak periods over the weekend (with long tailbacks interfering with the bus network amongst other things), comments were also raised regarding full day charging (£25) and officers clarified that the high charges were to discourage use for long periods, and finally the "grace period" was asked about and officers revealed that the grace period isn't fixed and varies across the cities car parks and even at different times of year. You have been warned!

When the vote was taken Cllr Clarke abstained and all other members (Labour and Liberal Democrat) voted in favour.

Agenda item 4b (On-street parking account) was looking like a fairly uncontentious item right up until the point where Cllr Clarke decided to raise the issue of why the AJC was even discussing it as it had no power of control over it.

The debate was lengthy and the gist was that committee members (except Cllr Clarke) believed that as the Committee looking strategically at traffic management across Cambridge it was right that it should express its view on how the surplus in the scheme should be spent - Cllr Clarke seemed of the view that the best place for local members (by which he specifically said County Councillors - not City Councillors) to raise their views was directly at Cabinet. I think Cllr Clark doesn't understand how the City works - the interdependency across Electoral Divisions seems to elude him. For example how Kings Hedges users would benefit from a Milton Road crossing opposite Downhams Lane (in East Chesterton) or how having additional Cycle Parking and/or a disabled bay outside the Milton Road shops (in West Chesterton) would be of direct benefit, etc.

Cllr Clarke seemed to adopt the view that democracy started and ended with local members and that committees, like the AJC, were a bad thing. There is, of course, a balance to be struck but I'm happy with where the AJC puts this balance and I do believe it benefits the people of Kings Hedges for certain decisions (like Radial road/bike routes) to be taken by a joint City/County committee.

The fact is if it didn't exist we'd need too invent it.

Cllr Rosenstiel proposed an ammendement, which I supported, which asked the County Cabinet to look at (not necessarily do, just look at) using some of the scheme surplus to reintrouduce the scrapped city centre shuttle bus.

Cllr Clarke voted against this amendment, all other Councillors (Labour and Liberal Democrat) voted in favour.

To be fair to Cllr Clarke he does seem to be generally trying to understand the city (which is in many ways better than the seemingly complete indifference that preceded him) but despite doing a few good things in Kings Hedges and Arbury I still feel that he just doesn't "get" the City. And judging by the number of Conservative City Councillours I can't help but feel that he isn't alone in his party on this one ...

Cllr Clarke also agued against this item even being on the Agenda.

Other items of note; ANPR was raised as an issue and a report requested from officers regarding the entire system (to assuage privacy concerns - which officers largely did in the meeting), a tour of the highways management centre is going to be arranged so members can see what goes on there, and the (Civil Parking Enforcement) CPE deficit is currently the subject of a review by government on how local councils can move out of permanent deficit.

This nicely brought us on to item 4c which dealt with the CPE account in detail. There was some concern expressed at the numbers (as they seemed to be different from those given in the previous section!), an offer was made to send round the CPE process flow diagram to clarify what was being covered by "There has been a procedural impropriety by the council" (down from 11% to 0%), it was agreed that a clarification would be sent by email.

Item 4d (South Area Parking plan) was uncontentious except that there was a request to add the Cambridge Cycling Campaign to the list of member organisations (not just the forum), officers responded by saying that the members list was intended to just be elected members and the parking demand generators, AJC members could see this point but still felt that having the Cycling Campaign would help.

Item 5a the Ring Road and Radial Route Parking Review was next, members suggested that Milton Road and Histon Road would benefit from being in a Northern Area more closely aligned with the North Area Committee. Milton road was the only radial route in Kings Hedges mentioned and the current plan is for no stopping at peak times, no waiting, loading or unloading, no parking on footways, no parking on highway verges, and a 24-hour clearest on all bus stops. All of those things I support, and no parking on verges is something I have been after for a while!

There was a debate about priorities and it was agreed that the new Northern area would be second (unfortunately I failed to note the positions of the other schemes - that will come in the minutes).

Agenda item 5b (Regent Street Toucan Crossing Upgrade) gave Cllr Clarke another opportunity to display his lack of understanding of the city. He raised the question of why the local member had not just decided this themselves rather than it coming to Committee. Officers pointed out that the local member had been consulted and Committee Members pointed out that the proposed upgrade was on one of the arterial cycle routes and so the change would have an effect on many divisions - in fact several of the Councillors sitting on the committee had used the route within the last few days.

Cllr Clarke, to the frustration of many of the Committee members present (including me) didn't seem to deviate from his point that taking decisions like this in committee will in some way "disenfranchise" local members.

Cllr Clarke then responded, rather darkly, to a comment from Cllr Nethsingha that the Committee had spent quite a lot of time on discussion whether or not issues should come here but saying that this "would be born in mind during the review [of AJC's]".

Cllr Brown (Chairing) attempted to help Cllr Clarke understand by comparing this cycling issue to issues we had discussed around Newmarket Road (i.e. strategic - bigger than a single division).

This issue was never going to be resolved in this Committee. Chair moved us on.

Agenda item 6 (Cambridge Centre Area Quality Bus Partnership) followed. Cllr Rosenstiel raised the issue of pollution (specifically nitrogen dioxide) in the City Centre and how buses with higher Euro ratings have lower emissions and asking if there was any plan to move providers like Stagecoach and Whippet onto buses with higher Euro ratings. Past progress has been quite good;

There was major investment a few years ago and officers did stress that it was unlikely that this would continue over the next few years.

The Committee questioned the reporting officer regarding "Low Floor Buses" as the current 90% of buses entering the central area are apparently "low floor". Officers clarified that this means that the bus is not just having a physical low floor but is also suitable for buggies, wheelchairs, etc - i.e. is suitable for disabled access (Cllr Rosenstiel had raised an issue with some low floor buses having a central column in the middle of the doorway and thus not being suitable for buggies).

It was pointed out that national legislation will require all single-decker buses to be low floor buses by 2016, double deckers by 2018, and coaches (which is going to be the most interesting to see!) by 2020.

The officer also pointed out that buses on the Guided Busway must be a minimum of Euro 4 and that the one hybrid bus currently being trialled by Stagecoach will be trailed by Whippet in a few weeks. This bus cost approximately £100,000 more than the already £120,000 cost of a Euro 4 bus. The fact that London has them was raised, and the officer confirmed that Transport for London paid for them - not the operators. As prices come down I'm sure hybrid (or maybe purely electric) buses will be the solution to Cambridge's air pollution issues but clearly at these prices it's not going to be this year or next year!

The final item of note, item 7 Programme Delivery Monitoring and Issues Update, followed and officers revealed that the list was going to be ripped up and tours arranged with local members and officers so that a definitive list of Division-based issues can be assembled.

That being said I raised the issue of the "missing" slow sign (that King's Hedges School agreed to pay for) on Northfield Avenue and the fact that there seems to have been some confusion regarding no-waiting on a bend in King's Hedges - I think this refers to Woodhead Drive but the table says Molewood Close which is actually in Arbury.

After a brief discussion of future Agenda items the meeting was closed.

Party leader speeches, Autumn 2011

2011-10-05T17:51:00.000+01:00

With another set of autumn conferences finished, the respective leaders have all set out their vision for the future of the UK.

As a comparison, here's three word clouds from the three main parties:

Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Ed Miliband, Leader of the Labour Party

David Cameron, Leader of the Conservative Party

Solar Power - Coming To A School Near You!

2011-10-03T12:59:00.000+01:00

The 10:10 campaign, dedicated to helping people reduce their carbon emissions, is currently developing a new project called "Solar Schools".

This new project allows individuals and businesses, for as little as £5 each, to sponsor new solar panel installations for their local primary or secondary schools. In the words of the founder; "The idea is simple: we help schools get their own solar panels by giving them tools to raise money from the local community. This cuts their carbon emissions, generates long-term income via the Feed-in Tariff and provides a brilliant educational resource for the pupils."

The beta project is far from complete but they are already asking schools to register for the 2012 programme.

If there is a school in your local area that would like to register please direct them to;

http://www.solarschools.org.uk/registerinterest/

If you'd like to find out more, or sponsor one of the existing schools in the scheme, then please visit the URL;

http://www.solarschools.org.uk

NOTE: The nearest school registered with the scheme to King's Hedges is Newnham Croft Primary School (3km away) - http://www.solarschools.org.uk/newnhamcroft/

Councillor Gains Party Conference Backing For Student Fight

2011-09-28T07:00:00.000+01:00

Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Belinda Brooks-Gordon has won support from Liberal Democrat conference delegates for her fight to get a fairer deal from the government for part-time students.

She teamed up with former Cambridgeshire County Council Liberal Democrat leader, Baroness Sal Brinton to put a motion to the Birmingham conference to ensure part-time university students were not discriminated against under the new education loans scheme.

For the first time, part-time students are eligible for loans to pay for their education; but they have to start repaying those loans after three and a half years before they have completed their courses.

And the system for accepting repayments will not be in place until 2016 meaning that students who become eligible to pay in 2013 will have to wait three years and fear their loan may start accruing interest.

Cllr Brooks-Gordon and Baroness Brinton, who were both mature students at Cambridge’s Churchill College, are fighting to get changes to the Education Bill to address the issue.

“I am delighted that members and supporters gave their support to this fight,” said Councillor Brooks-Gordon, a Reader at Birbeck College, London.

“Under the government’s proposals, part-time students, many of whom are single parents or disabled, are being discriminated against. I want to make sure that all students are getting the best possible deal to allow them to accept places on higher education no matter what their circumstances. With the support from conference, we have taken a major step forward in getting this Bill changed.

“I took my degree as a single parent with two children and would not have had my career without my university education.”

Baroness Brinton said: “Part-time students make up almost half of all students. The Government’s higher education policy means that for the first time since fees were introduced, they won’t pay a penny up front.

“Without a doubt, this will encourage people who wouldn’t otherwise have been able to afford it, to come back to education.

“But we can still go further. Liberal Democrats supported calls to ensure both part-time and full-time students are eligible to begin repayments at the same time.

“This will ensure part-time students are treated fairly, create a level playing field and promote wider participation in our universities.”

Local Liberal Democrats @ Conference Videos

2011-09-26T20:22:00.000+01:00

Your local Cambridge City Councillor was fully involved in the recent Liberal Democrat Conference, here are some Press clippings;

Cllr Neil McGovern On the new planning policy (from BBC Look East)

Responding to the leader's speech (from BBC Daily Politics)

Speech on IT policy (from BBC Parliament)

Fight To Give Part-Time Students A Fairer Deal Under Loans Scheme

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000+01:00

Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Belinda Brooks-Gordon is fighting for a fairer deal for part-time university students under the government’s education loans scheme as the government’s Education Bill is debated in the House of Lords today (Wednesday, September 14).

She has teamed up with Baroness Sal Brinton, former Cambridgeshire County Council Liberal Democrat leader to make sure part-time students are not discriminated under the scheme.

Cllr Brooks-Gordon and Baroness Brinton, who were both mature students at Cambridge’s Churchill College, are fighting to get changes to the Education Bill to address the issue.

“I am determined that part-time students, many of whom are single parents, mature students or disabled, should not be discriminated against in this way,” said Castle Ward Cllr Brooks-Gordon, a Reader at Birbeck College, London.

“I took my degree as a single parent with two children and would not have had an academic career without my university education. I am determined that students should get the best possible deal in these difficult times.”

North Area Committee – Thursday 22 Sept

2011-09-20T08:00:00.000+01:00

The next North Area Committee will be held on Thursday 22nd September in the Large Hall at the Manor on Arbury Road.

As always, proceedings start at 6.30pm with the Planning Applications, of which there are 3:

11/0727/FUL Cambridge Guest House, 201 Milton Road
09/0731/FUL 107 Darwin Drive
11/0776/FUL Rear of 43-59 Elizabeth Way

Also starting at 6.30, there will be a Photograph Exhibition ‘Living in Horth Area’, and a City Council Customer Service Centre ‘Drop-in’ Session (until 7.30).

The main meeting starts at 7.30 (or following the conclusion of the Planning Applications), and will include the regular item on Policing and Safer Neighbourhoods. The full agenda is available here.

mySociety: New Website Launched >> FixMyTransport.com

2011-09-17T08:00:00.000+01:00

After a lot of very hard work the mySociety team (the people behind other successful websites such as TheyWorkForYou, WhatDoTheyKnow, ElectionLeaflets, etc) have just launched a new website that aims to allow users to report problems with their journeys on public transport.

If you'd like to make use of the new service it can be found at;

www.FixMyTransport.com

E-Cops - Kings Hedges Community Action Day

2011-09-16T19:28:00.001+01:00

The Kings Hedges Community Action Day is tomorrow, Saturday 17th September 2011 between 9.30am - 3.30pm.

Local churches are working together with the City Council & other agencies to offer help in the area. Housing Officers, City Rangers, Re-cycling Officers, Police & Fire Service will be attending.

Rubbish skips will be located on The Ship car-park (Northfield Avenue) during the morning & help can be provided to collect items of bulky rubbish from people's homes. It may also be possible to offer assistance with gardening or small odd-jobs.

There will be a 'Take it or Leave it' scheme for people to recycle and exchange their unwanted items.

From 12:30 there will be a family BBQ outside the North Arbury Chapel, plus lots more........

For further information please contact:-

Reverend David Maher on 01223 351844 or e-mail vicar@churchofthegoodshepherd.co.uk

Beverley Clissold on 01223 458403 or e-mail beverley.clissold@cambridge.gov.uk

Hope to see you there.

Your North Police Team

More Positive News from The Manor

2011-09-15T08:00:00.000+01:00

The march of continual improvement at the Manor* is continuing (despite very turbulent times in Education in England) as this years results build on last years success.

This year for the first time over 60% of the Manors' Students achieved 5 higher grades wit almost 50% managing the same achievement including Maths and Science.

Given the significant areas of deprivation (some of the worst in the County) within King's Hedges and Arbury this is an impressive achievement.

The overall figures are;

5 higher grades = 61.3% - 3% up on last year,
5 higher grades including Maths and Science = 48.4% - about the same as last year (0.2% change)
5 A* - G grades = 91%

The continual improvement is probably the best news. Being able to build on last years fantastic results is a real tribute to the hard work of Ben Slade (the Principle), the staff, the Governing Body and above all the students.

*- Just in case you aren't aware; I'm Chair of Governors at the Manor.

Cambridgeshire Boundary Commission Proposals Published

2011-09-13T08:00:00.001+01:00

The Boundary commission has published it's proposed changes across Cambridgeshire in order to make MP's constituencies roughly balanced with somewhere between 72,810 and 80,473 electors. At the same time the number of constituencies (and therefore MP's) will be reduced to 600, in England this will mean a reduction from 533 to 502.

Here in Cambridge there is no change at all the only slight exception to this being that Queen Ediths will now sit in a slightly reconfigured South Cambridgeshire. Cambridge will not change in the slightest.

The brief, from Government, was for "minimal change" and that certainly seems to have been the guiding principle in Cambridge. In the rest of Cambridgeshire the changes are;

two seats in Peterborough (North & South) will include wards of Huntingdonshire and Fenland
Huntingdon takes in Chatteris
A "new" seat is formed from St Neots (from Huntingdonshire) and a great chunk (roughly Gamlingay, Cambourne, Hardwick and Bar Hill) of South Cambridgeshire
The remains of South Cambridgeshire District teams up with Queen Edith's
The whole of East Cambridgeshire District joins with the 4 wards of Newmarket to become a cross-county seat with Suffolk
March and Wisbech join Downham Market to form a cross-county seat with Norfolk

What effect these changes will have, if they go through - consultation is scheduled to start soon, I'll leave up to the papers to crunch the numbers and produce the interesting pictures. Given that all other seats in Cambridgeshire were Conservative and the one Liberal seat (Cambridge) is unchanged I predict the only significant piece being the changes to South Cambridgeshire and the new seat.

Arbury Carnival 2012: Calling all Volunteers! (Meeting Tonight!)

2011-09-13T08:00:00.000+01:00

The meeting for volunteers interested in being involved in next years Arbury Carnival is taking place at 7pm tonight at the Arbury Community Centre (on Campkin Road).

The more volunteers there are the more that the Committee will be able to do for the local community and the better the event will be.

Events like this only happen because of the small band of dedicated people working hard behind the scenes to make it happen; Could you be one of them?

Arbury Carnival 2012: Calling all Volunteers!

2011-09-06T08:00:00.003+01:00

This years Arbury Carnival was one of the most successsful ever and if you'd like the opportunity to be involved in the 35th Anniversary event next year then now is your change.
The Arbury Carnival committee is holding a public meeting in a weeks time (Tuesday 13th September at 7pm) in the Arbury Community Centre on Campkin Road to start planning for the 2012 event.

If you would like to help out with this fantastic local event, either on the day or to plan the event, then please come along. The more the merrier!

Play your part in Olympic Games urges councillor

2011-08-25T08:00:00.005+01:00

A leading Cambridge City Councillor is urging people to put forward nominations for Olympic Torchbearers so that the city can play its part in the historic event.

Rod Cantrill, Executive Councillor for Arts, Sport and Public Places met up with young Olympic hopefuls, shooting champion, Anna Rehfisch and fencer, Kristjan Archer to encourage nominations.

The pair are hoping to compete in the 2016 games in Brazil and they joined Cllr Cantrill when the Olympic Torch visited Cambridge at the end of last week.

Residents can nominate anyone who supports them in their lives to carry the torch in the run up to the games next year.

Cllr Cantrill said: “It is really great to see so many people, old and young, getting involved. This event and the whole build-up to the games are important on many levels: it gets everyone interested in all types of sports; it encourages people to achieve their goals and it promotes healthy living and exercise. I would encourage people to nominate anybody that supports them in their life in what ever shape or form to carry the torch next year”

Nominations can be made via www.lloydstsb.com/carrytheflame until September 12.

This is a fantastic opportunity to raise the profile of King's Hedges across the City and highlight the good work that goes on in our community - if you have someone who you'd like to nominate then please make use of the URL, this really will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

E-Cops - Re-appeal over two CCTV images

2011-08-16T08:00:00.003+01:00

We are still trying to trace two people in connection with the disorder in Cambridge on Tuesday (August 9) and would ask you to view two CCTV images we have released.

Officers were called to reports of between 30 and 40 youths, some wearing face coverings, hanging around Midsummer Common at 11.35pm. The group made their way towards the Grafton Centre and some threw items, including rubbish, at officers. Two officers suffered minor injuries.

The images can be found at the bottom of this email (web link).

We are keen to hear from anyone who recognises these people. I would also urge the people who are pictured to contact police themselves. Anyone with any information should call me on 0345 456 456 4 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.

Detective Sergeant Emma Compson
http://www.cambs.police.uk/images/newsitem/download/CB%209.8%206.JPG - Cambridge CCTV 1
http://www.cambs.police.uk/images/newsitem/download/CB%209.8%209.JPG - Cambridge CCTV 2

Petition Launched To Oppose Cuts To Front-Line Fire Service

2011-08-14T08:00:00.004+01:00

Liberal Democrat Fire Authority members have launched a petition against cuts in front-line fire emergency services. The petition is in response to plans by fire chiefs in Cambridgeshire for £6 million of cuts to the fire service budget of the Conservative-controlled authority.

The petition can be signed on-line or can be printed off in order to collect further signatures and will be presented to the Fire Authority at its meeting in October.

Opposition Leader on Cambridgeshire Fire Authority, Councillor Nigel Bell said:

“I urge people in the county to sign this petition to oppose the plans for cuts in front-line services.

“There are serious concerns about the £4 million of cuts already imposed but the extra £2 million of cuts, which will see the closure of up to 4 fire stations and the removal of fire appliances, is unacceptable because of the risk to lives through increased response times.

“We believe that cuts to front-line services are dangerous and unnecessary. Instead we should be raising Council Tax in line with current inflation and be pressing for a fairer grant settlement achieved for rural fire services. We also believe that by closer working with neighbouring Fire Services we can save money through economies of scale, for example in our management costs.”

The petition can be found at:
http://cambslibdems.org.uk/en/petition/petition-against-cambridgeshire-fire-service-cuts

Council May Face Massive Cash Cuts To Fund Academies

2011-08-12T08:00:00.004+01:00

Cambridgeshire County Council may soon find itself forced to make cuts in this year’s budget to find the extra money needed to fund the schools that have become academies.

The government has realised that it is wildly over budget for its academy programme and is now consulting about how to plug the gap.

In a recent consultation document the government conceded that it is facing a shortfall of over £600 million over the two year period 2011-2013. This has arisen because it is paying academies more money than they need and consequently more schools have decided to become academies than expected.

Lib Dem shadow cabinet member for Education, Cllr Peter Downes said:

“This amounts to a bribe to persuade schools to convert to academies and leave the Local Authority so that Mr Gove can demonstrate the 'success' of his academy policy. This will fragment our education system, which is already under financial pressure.

“Mr Gove's policy, clearly supported by the Tories in Cambridgeshire, is divisive, unfair and unsustainable.”

In Cambridgeshire four primary schools have become academies and two more are expected to convert by October 1st. 17 secondary schools have left the Local Authority already and five more are on the way.

The Council has already lost £1.71 million from this year’s budget and now stands to lose a further £3 to £4 million, depending on exactly when schools convert.

Cllr Fiona Whelan, Lib Dem shadow cabinet member for Adults’ and Children’s Social Care said:

“It is impossible to defend or justify transferring money out of services to the most vulnerable adults and children just so that a few relatively privileged schools can get a cash boost.”

Council officers expect to hear the government’s decision early in September.

Disorder in Cambridge - @cambscops Published Pictures

2011-08-10T20:43:00.001+01:00

Police have released some information on Twitter;

Below are the images the police have released via Twitter - you can click on them for larger images. If you have any information please contact the police on 0345 456 456 4 (or you can DM them on Twitter via their @cambscops twitter account).

Police Advice Regarding Social Media and Riot Rumours

2011-08-10T20:22:00.000+01:00

Cambridgeshire Police have been urging people across Cambridgeshire to ignore the various riot rumours circulating on social networks (Twitter, Facebook) in relation to Cambridgeshire. Cambridgeshire Police have their own Twitter feed which is updated regularly and is probably the best place for news and local updates;

https://twitter.com/#!/cambscops

The official news release is below.

"We are urging social media users not to believe everything they read on Twitter or Facebook – unless it’s an official feed.

We have been receiving a number of calls and Tweets, following rumours and speculation circulating on social media sites.

There is no truth in these rumours, and we have been working hard to reassure the public through their official Twitter feeds @cambscops and @suptpaul.

We would urge people not to believe everything they read on social media sites – unless it from an official police feed. There are a number of unhelpful postings and rumours that are simply untrue.

We are also actively pursuing anyone we believe to be using social networking sites to incite violence and disorder.

Young people are particularly reminded of the risks of committing serious criminal offences with items they post on social networking sites.

We continue to monitor the situation across the county – as well as other parts of the country, and are committed to keeping the people of Cambridgeshire as informed

as possible through our official channels.

Anyone concerned about issues in their area can keep an eye on our Twitter feeds @cambscops and @suptpaul"

Lib Dems Gain Assurance That NHS Won’t Increase Waiting Times

2011-08-08T08:00:00.000+01:00

Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have sought and received an assurance from Cambridgeshire PCT that the local NHS will stick to the 18 week target for operations and treatment in the county.

Shadow Cabinet member for health, Cllr Geoff Heathcock, asked for an assurance from Cambridgeshire PCT after it emerged that some PCTs were ignoring the 18 week target in order to make savings.

Cllr Geoff Heathcock added:

“It’s a relief to know that patients will not be kept waiting longer. To wait at all when you are in pain can be very distressing.”

Unicef: Horn of Africa Disaster Appeal

2011-08-03T12:47:00.000+01:00

I've received the following email from Paddy Ashdown (President of Unicef and former Liberal Democrat Leader);

"As I write this, there is a crisis in the Horn of Africa that is claiming the lives of thousands of children. Famine has been declared. Millions face starvation. In Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia we are witnessing the worst humanitarian catastrophe in a generation.

It is a crisis that has unfolded slowly, so much so that the media has found little drama to force it to top of news bulletins - which have instead been dominated by the phone hacking scandal. But a starving child is a starving child whether a camera is pointed at them or not. There are an estimated 10 million people in desperate need of emergency relief and we must not ignore them.

Unicef, the UN’s children’s agency of which I am the UK president, has called this crisis a “children’s famine”. In those most severely affected regions of Somalia – Bakool and Lower Shabelle – acute malnutrition due to poor diets or inadequate food is now exceeding 50% and the daily death rate for children is peaking at 13-20 per 10,000 children. That's more than 250 children or one child every six minutes. Unless we can have a swift intervention the forecast is that drought will spread to the other five regions in the south between August and December.

We should all be proud that the British government is leading the way, already providing more than £90m of aid to the region, giving emergency assistance to more than 2m people. This means, for example, treatment for starving children and access to clean drinking water. But this is not enough, not by a long shot.

As a government, the Coalition will, I am sure, continue to press our international partners to join us in taking urgent action. As individuals, we can help by contributing to the Unicef East Africa Children’s Crisis Appeal. The British people have been incredibly generous, but we can and must do more. I urge you to give all you can.

As President of UNICEF, I naturally hope you will donate to their appeal - but whatever means to choose to make a contribution, I urge you to do so as soon as you feel able to. This help is needed NOW.

To donate £10 text word FAMINE to 70099; to donate more go to Unicef UK or telephone 0800 316 5353 or visit one of the other donation sites which are available, such as the DEC Appeal.

Thank you.

Paddy Ashdown

President of Unicef UK

Former Leader of the Liberal Democrats"

Libraries Review In Disarray As Trust Conversion Flops

2011-07-29T08:00:00.005+01:00

Cambridgeshire Lib Dems have criticised a glaring oversight in the Conservative administration's plans for the county’s libraries, which means the Libraries Review has to be completely rebooted.

The Conservatives initially planned to make savings of up to £1M by converting the libraries to “Trust status”. This would have made the libraries eligible for dramatically reduced business rates to central government and was the core of the council's plan to make savings.

However, forthcoming changes to taxation, which would see local government keeping the majority of business rates, mean that the Trust idea simply would not work any more. Savings made by converting to Trust status would result in the council’s income from business rates being reduced by the same amount - a zero sum game, with no savings possible.

The Liberal Democrats are concerned that the same savings will now have to be made in other ways, despite the idea on which the libraries budget was based being dead in the water. They are worried that this will put further libraries and jobs at risk.

Lib Dem Shadow Cabinet Member for Libraries, Sarah Whitebread said:

“It is alarming that the Conservatives did not put two and two together on this sooner. The big worry now is that the Conservatives will insist on making the savings they planned for when they passed their unrealistic budget in February.

“Today I call upon Council Leader Nick Clarke to take personal charge of the situation and prevent the disaster we can see is coming by working with the dedicated hard-working staff that form the core of the library service and make sure the people of Cambridgeshire aren’t short-changed."

County Councillor Kevin Wilkins, whose local library is threatened, said:

“The value local libraries like Milton Road bring to our communities is far, far greater than the small sums it costs to run them. Closing libraries cannot be the answer to the county’s self-inflicted financial crisis.”

Nick Clegg talks to Julian Huppert about Hacking

2011-07-27T21:40:00.000+01:00

Over the past few weeks many members have been in contact about the latest allegations on phone hacking, so to help answer some of your questions I sat down with Julian Huppert MP, who has played a prominent role on the select committee, to talk about some of the issues being raised.

You can view the video below;

Or on our YouTube channel here

The phone hacking scandal has uncovered a crisis that strikes at the heart of our democracy, calling into question our trust in the institutions and individuals tasked with protecting our freedom and enforcing the rule of law.

Liberal Democrats have for more than a decade challenged the dominance of News International, with successive Parliamentarians raising the issue, from Paddy Ashdown in 1998 to Chris Huhne just before the General Election. We have time and again battled both the Conservatives and Labour to push for stronger laws on media plurality seeking to prevent the concentration of power in the hands of a few media moguls.

It is vital that we now build on the select committee hearings and cast a greater spotlight on what was clearly a murky relationship between the press, police and indeed politics. That is why the Liberal Democrats have made sure the inquiry is Judge-led and has the power to summon witnesses to give evidence under oath and sits in public.

It is clear that much more detail will come to light, but I think we are now embarking on process of greater openness and greater accountability, finding out what really happened.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email me on this subject at;

phonehackinginquiry@libdems.org.uk

With all best wishes,

Nick Clegg MP
Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Opinion: Academies Overspend Revealed! (By Cllr Peter Downes)

2011-07-27T08:00:00.001+01:00

Figures in a Government consultation paper on the funding of academies have revealed that Michael Gove’s policy of getting schools to convert to academies is expected to cost nearly £600 million more than planned over the two year period 2011 – 2013.

This confirms what Lib Dem activists have been saying for some time i.e. that the programme for converting schools to academies is costly and unsustainable, as well as being divisive and unfair.

When a school decides to leave its Local Authority (LA) and become ‘independent’ (i.e. dependent on central government!), in addition to its standard funding it gets an extra grant called LACSEG (Local Authority Central Spend Equivalent Grant) to allow it to buy in the services it no longer gets from the LA.

Heads and Governors have done the sums and soon realised that the LACSEG gives them far more than they need and so they get a net bonus. In the case of large secondary schools, this might amount to £400,000 or even more.

The word spread quickly, hence the ‘dash for cash’ that has dominated the educational scene for the last year. Gove claims that Heads are attracted by freedom and autonomy (released from the shackles of bureaucratic LAs); in practice, Heads are going for the extra money, especially at a time when school funding is tight.

The LACSEG is partially recouped from the money that the LA spends on pupils with acute needs. This in effect transfers funds from those in greatest need to those with fewest problems. The rest of the money is top-sliced from the general grant to councils, whether or not they have any schools converting to academies! This crude method has incensed local councillors by its unfairness.

Figures published on July 19th show that the expected LACSEG spend on academies in existence and schools likely to convert within the next year will amount to £997 million (mid-range estimates). The clawback from Local Authorities already announced and partially implemented is £148m for 11-12 and £265m for 12-13, making £413m in total.

This leaves a gap of £584 million. This is tantamount to a bribe to tempt schools to convert to academies in order to justify Gove’s flagship policy.

The consultation on what to do started on July 19th and ends on August 16th.

The country surely cannot afford a wasteful and unnecessary policy of this kind. Liberal Democrats in Parliament and in the Local Government Association must speak out about this. Liberal Democrats on school governing bodies are urged to dissuade their schools from converting to academy status.

In two years time there will be a new national funding formula for all schools which, we are told, will treat all schools fairly. That is something all Liberal Democrats ought to be fighting for.

Peter Downes is a former President and Funding Consultant of the Secondary Heads Association (now the Association of School and College Leaders), a Cambridgeshire County Councillor and Vice-President of the Liberal Democrat Education Association. He successfully proposed a motion opposing Academies and Free Schools at the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool last September.

Fight To Give Part-Time Students A Fairer Deal Under Loans Scheme

2011-07-25T08:00:00.000+01:00

Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Belinda Brooks-Gordon is fighting for a fairer deal for part-time university students under the government’s education loans scheme.

She has teamed up with Baroness Sal Brinton, former Cambridgeshire County Council Liberal Democrat leader to make sure part-time students are not discriminated under the scheme.

For the first time, part-time students are eligible for loans to pay for their education; but they have to start repaying those loans after three and a half years before they have completed their courses.

And the system for accepting repayments will not be in place until 2016 meaning that students who become eligible to pay in 2013 will have to wait three years and fear their loan may start accruing interest.

Cllr Brooks-Gordon and Baroness Brinton, who were both mature students at Cambridge’s Churchill College, are fighting to get changes to the Education Bill to address the issue.

“I am determined that part-time students, many of whom are single parents, mature students or disabled, should not be discriminated against in this way,” said Castle Ward Cllr Brooks-Gordon, a Reader at Birbeck College, London.

“I took my degree as a single parent with two children and would not have had an academic career without my university education. I am determined that students should get the best possible deal in these difficult times.”

Cambridge Traffic Management AJC 18-JUL-2011

2011-07-21T08:00:00.002+01:00

On Monday afternoon I was called upon to sit on the Cambridge Traffic Management Area Joint Committee as a substitute for Cllr Burke who unfortunately wasn’t able to make the meeting. I used to sit on the AJC as a full member a while back and found it to be one of the more interesting committees as it combines both the City and the County.

The main issues on the agenda were around Parking Controls in the De Freville Area (by the Old Spring pub off Chesterton Road). The introduction of a scheme managed to bring out petitions both for and against but on balance the residents who would be the most affected by the scheme were fully in favour so I voted in favour and as did the majority of the AJC.

Next the AJC looked at the Ring Road and Radial Route Review: Milton Road. More information on this is available on the website (click here).

We then moved on to discussion of Car Club Parking Bays. This was universally welcomed by the AJC and the only part that disappointed me was that there aren’t going to be any of these Streetcat parking bays in King’s Hedges! I asked for details on how to propose a new parking bay (I’d like to see one either in the Arbury Court car park or outside the Manor School) – when I have the details I’ll pass them on.

There was a brief discussion on 20mph speed limited when I was able to confirm that the cost of signage and paining the signs on the street cost about the same – that was a surprise to me. It was also a surprise that the reported speed changes after the central 20mph zones had been introduced were in some cases up, some cases down, and in some cases minimal change! I do wonder if we could get more meaningful data by looking at the same week over two separate years to see what effect the zone has had, but that’s not very likely unfortunately.

Next we re-appointed the existing members to the Residents’ Parking Working Group and Appeals Panel (with the exception of a new Labour member).

Next we looked at the existing Environment Improvement Programmes – most of these were unfunded and there were two from King’s Hedges (20mph on Northfield Avenue, and Interactive Signage on Northfield Avenue) and I added in getting some double-yellow lines to once-and-for-all stop coach parking on Woodhead Drive. Hopefully as that is only £1,000 (I have already had a quote from the County) that can be done soon!

The decision document has been published online and is available here.

E-Cops - Have your say; name a priority for police

2011-07-19T08:00:00.001+01:00

This week’s ‘have your say’ is from Cambridgeshire Police Authority and asks what police in Cambridgeshire should prioritise in their day to day work?

Cambridgeshire Police Authority engages with the public each year to help inform the setting of priorities for policing.

This includes identifying a single People’s Policing Priority to ensure the police respond to a problem that is particularly important to the public of Cambridgeshire.

This year anti-social behaviour, with an emphasis on speeding and parking outside schools, was supported by members of the public. We want to know if we’ve got this right.

Go to the forum using the link below to ‘have your say’.

For more information on the role of the police authority visit our refreshed website. Whilst you’re there take a look at the local policing plan for Cambridgeshire, or even the easy to read summary leaflet, both show the policing priorities for 2011-14.

Kind regards,
Ruth Rogers
Chairman of Cambridgeshire Police Authority

http://www.cambs.police.uk/newpolicingapproach/haveyoursay/ - Have your say forum
http://www.cambs-pa.gov.uk/index.cfm - NEW(!) Police Authority website
http://www.cambs-pa.gov.uk/newsDetail.cfm?articleId=4958 - Local Policing Plan 2011/14

Reminder: North Area Committee Tonight 19:30 (18:30 planning)

2011-07-14T08:00:00.015+01:00

Just a reminder that tonight from 6:30pm your local Councillors will all be at North Area Committee which will be meeting at the Buchan Street Community Centre (as opposed to it's normal venue of the Manor on Arbury Road).

If you'd like to come along there is an open Forum from 7:30pm where members of the public are encouraged to raise ideas and suggestions for the Committee to look at.

As always you can contact your local Councillors using the links on the left. If you can't make the meeting or you would like one of us to raise an issue please don't hesitate to get in touch.

County Tories urged to look again at axed city shuttle bus

2011-07-12T21:45:00.000+01:00

Cambridge City Councillors are fighting to get the county council to look again at the axed city centre shuttle bus.

They want the bus, which provided a vital link to the city centre for elderly and disabled people, to be included in the county council’s review of bus subsidies.

It was axed in the first round of cuts despite pleas to spare it from numerous residents and city councillors.

The Tory-run county council, which planned to axe all bus subsidies across the county to save £2.7 million, has agreed a stay of execution for the remainder of the threatened services while a consultation and in-depth assessment is launched.

Tim Ward, Cambridge Executive Councillor for Planning and Sustainable Transport said: “The decision to cut the city centre shuttle bus was taken without any consultation with residents. The Tories on the county council had no idea how many people relied on this bus or how its removal would impact on their lives.

“Following the outcry about the withdrawal of bus subsidies generally, they have halted the process to allow residents to have their say; but this won’t help the city centre shuttle unless we can get it included in that consultation.

“It is completely unfair that our residents have lost their bus while other services may be saved. They should have the same opportunity to fight for their service.”

Cllr Ward will put forward a motion to members of Cambridge City Council calling on them to welcome the county council’s decision to consult on the withdrawal of bus subsidies and asking for the city centre shuttle bus to be included in the process.

The motion will be seconded by Cambridge City Council Leader, Sian Reid.

She said: “The city centre shuttle bus was a lifeline for many elderly and disabled residents of our city and yet it was taken away without any consultation.

“The county council’s decision to carry out a full consultation on the withdrawal of the remaining subsidies discriminates against the city centre shuttle which was taken away without the benefit of this process.”

Cllr Reid has also been fighting to save the threatened 199 bus which runs twice a week in her Newnham ward.

She added: “I welcome the fact that there will now be proper consultation. The 199 service is an invaluable way for the elderly and less mobile to reach the shops and have social contact with friends and acquaintances.”

North Area Committee 14/07/2011 19:30 (18:30 planning)

2011-07-08T08:00:00.000+01:00

The agenda for the next North Area Committee has been published online on the City Councils website;

http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/democracy/ieAgenda.aspx?A=960

The agenda is outlined below. The key point (that will take the huge bulk of the time) will be the Open Forum - this is your opportunity to raise any issues that you'd like us as your local Councillors to address. Of course you can contact any of us at any time to discuss practically anything but this is your opportunity to have it discussed much more widely.

Look forward to seeing as many of your there as possible!

1 Apologies for Absence
2 Declarations of Interest
3 Welcome and Introduction
4 Community Consultation (CB4): Local Priorities
5 Improving Health in North Area
6 TO CONFIRM WHAT WAS SAID (MINUTES) AT THE LAST MEETING AND WHAT WE HAVE DONE (ACTION LIST)
7 YOU WANT TO KNOW (OPEN FORUM)
8 Environmental Improvement Programme

Residents urged join the Big Weekend and ignore EDL

2011-07-07T12:39:00.003+01:00

A leading Cambridge City Councillor encourages residents to celebrate at the Big Weekend and turn their back on Saturday’s English Defence League march.

Rod Cantrill, Executive Councillor for Arts, Sport and Public Places has invited everyone from the community to join in with the family fun weekend and ignore the EDL.

“We have so much planned for the Big Weekend and I would urge everyone to go down to Parker’s Piece and join in,” he said. “It is this type of event that makes Cambridge a wonderful place in which to live. I would like to see everyone celebrating all that is good about our city together.”

Cllr Cantrill has joined MP Julian Huppert, Cambridge City Council Leader, Sian Reid, Mayor Ian Nimmo-Smith and Lib Dem city and county councillors in signing up to a statement which makes it clear that the EDL is not welcome this weekend.

They have been joined by others across the city keen to impress upon the EDL that they are proud of their city's "capacity peacefully to embrace people of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds and enable them to regard Cambridge as their home".

The Lib Dems have put their statement on their website at http://tinyurl.com/EDLStatement so that others can make their views clear and in just a week more than 100 people have signed.

Cllr Cantrill says: “This is a true indictment to what people really feel about the EDL coming into our city. I hope residents will ignore this planned march and come to the Big Weekend instead.

Arbury Carnival 2012: Calling all Volunteers! UPDATED DATE

2011-07-06T08:00:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: The date for the next meeting is September 13th, not July as it says below. Apologies for the confusion!

This years Arbury Carnival was one of the most successful ever and if you'd like the opportunity to be involved in the 35th Anniversary event next year then now is your change.

The Arbury Carnival committee is holding a public meeting in a weeks time (Tuesday 13th July at 7pm) in the Arbury Community Centre on Campkin Road to start planning for the 2012 event.

If you would like to help out with this fantastic local event, either on the day or to plan the event, then please come along. The more the merrier!

Lords Urged To Support City's Battle To Protect Independent Traders

2011-07-01T20:05:00.000+01:00

Cambridge’s battle to safeguard city streets like Mill Road has reached the House of Lords.

Baroness Ros Scott of Needham Market said she was particularly struck by the city’s fight to protect the special character of Mill Road.

And she warned that if the Localism Bill “did not allow councils to protect cherished local neighbourhoods and facilities, it will have failed.”

Cambridge City Council Leader, Sian Reid has asked the Lords to support the city council’s call for amendments to clauses in the Bill regarding neighbourhood planning.

The council wants local authorities to have legal powers to promote the shops they want and resist those that they believe will harm their neighbourhoods.

Cllr Reid said: “We need legislation to be able to protect the individuality and character of our streets. We want to be able to choose, with our communities, who should have a place in our shopping centres.”

During the Second Reading of the Bill in the House of Lords, Baroness Scott said: “I have been deluged with requests from councils and other organisations to request specific powers and duties to be put in the Bill.

“I was particularly struck by an approach made to me by councillors in Cambridge who, like councillors across the country, are seeking to protect the special character of a shopping street, Mill Road.

“They are not confident that the general power will give them enough power to override the 2,500 pages of existing planning law, which they believe prevent them from taking the steps that they need to take in order to preserve the special character of the street.”

Cambridge City Cllr Catherine Smart, who represents Romsey said: “"Mill Road has a very diverse mix of retailers so the range of goods on sale is very wide. It serves an area which is very diverse and the shops are mostly in small units which suit independent traders.

“Mill Road Winter Fair goes from strength to strength, attracting tens of thousands of people to Mill Road. It is vital that this legislation gives us the power to keep its diversity through these changing and challenging times.”

Independents Day: Support Your Local Shops

2011-07-01T08:00:00.000+01:00

Next Monday, strike a blow for individuality by buying at least one thing from a local, independent shop. In and around King's Hedges we have a lot to choose from with both Milton Road including a flower shop, hairdressers, and motor accessories and in Arbury Court there is a wide range of shops including a Chinese Takeaway, Bike Repairs, and a butchers.

Cambridge City Council and Love Cambridge, the City Centre partnership, are backing a campaign to help the High Street by Skillsmart Retail and the National Skills Academy for Retail. They have got together with independent retailers and trade associations to encourage people to celebrate diversity on the High Street and support their local, independent retailers on 4th July.

Retailers can download the ‘Your high street needs you!’ poster online, ‘like’ the campaign on Facebook and follow it on twitter, and download a campaign toolkit at: www.skillsmartretail.com/IndependentsDay.

To keep up with the campaign, follow it twitter @Retail_IndieDay or via facebook.com/independentsday.

Liberal Democrats Urge City To Resist EDL Provocation During March

2011-06-30T08:00:00.006+01:00

Cambridge residents are being urged to resist provocation by the English Defence League when supporters march through the city on July 9.

The plea comes from Cambridge Liberal Democrats who want to see business as usual to demonstrate the EDL’s irrelevance to the city.

MP Julian Huppert, Cambridge City Council Leader, Sian Reid, Mayor Ian Nimmo-Smith and Lib Dem city and county councillors have signed up to a statement which makes it clear that the EDL is not welcome.

They have been joined by others across the city keen to impress upon the EDL that they are proud of their city’s “capacity peacefully to embrace people of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds and enable them to regard Cambridge as their home”.

The Lib Dems have put their statement on their website at http://tinyurl.com/EDLStatement so that others can make their views clear.

Tim Bick, Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Community Development said: “We know that a large number of people are keen to register their public opposition to the EDL’s unwelcome visit to Cambridge and what they stand for, but would prefer not to make the EDL feel more important by supporting rival demonstrations. This statement enables them to give them the cold shoulder without leaving their views and their beliefs in doubt.

“We have taken our lead on this from the Cambridge Muslim Council and opened it to the whole community.”

Cllr Reid said: ““There is no place in our city for anyone who does not share our view that diversity enriches our city. We are proud to welcome people from different nationalities and different faiths; we believe this is what makes Cambridge such a wonderful city in which to live.”

Focus on King's Hedges

Local Residents To Be Asked Their Views On New 20Mph Zones

Vince Cable: Putting More Money Back In *Your* Pocket

Speeding: No-One Thinks Big Of You

North Area Committee Meeting Tonight!

Corn Exchange To Get £200,000 Modern Sound System

Lib Dems Back Move To Help More Street Drinkers

Happy Chinese New Year!

City Council Makes Youngsters A Top Priority For 2012

North Area Committee – Meeting 26th Jan

Old Woodhead Drive play area

Planning application on Milton Road

Drop-in session tomorrow

Rail Fares Too High On One Of World’s Most Expensive Networks

First planning applications of 2012: Milton Rd and Campkin Rd

Lib Dems Invest In Plans To Help New Communities Succeed

Council’s Multi Million Pound Investment To Protect Services

Lib Dem Campaigner Given Assurances Over Blue Badge Fears

Public Speaking Protocol for Overview and Scrutiny

Primary School Applications - One Week To Go!

Residents Struggling To Pay Fuel Bills Urged To Seek Help

Massive Recycling Project To Be Rolled Out Across The City

City Council's Plan For Face-To-Face Justice To Beat Crime

Happy Christmas

Tories Block Liberal Democrat Move To Freeze Allowances

Liberal Democrats' Move To Attract New Councillors To Be Discussed Publicly

Christmas Bin Collections and City Council opening hours

Planning application on Abbots Close

Lib Dems Call For Evening Meetings To Attract New Councillors

Drop in session at Arbury Community Centre

Minor Highways issues within Kings Hedges

St Kilda Road/ Campkin Road Potholes

Bus Consultation: One Week To Go!

Police at Arbury Court tomorrow

North Area Committee: Update on Woodhead Drive/ Milton Road Junction Improvements

Lib Dems Act To Help Families Plagued By Speeding Drivers

E-Cops - 101; Single Non-Emergency Number For Police

Primary School Applications

County Tories Making Money On Children’s Cycle Training

Huppert’s Victory As Government Gives Extra £10m For Schools

Changes To Whippet Bus Service for Arbury

Real-Time Passenger Information (on Milton Road)

Councillor’s Victory As Lords Back Campaign To Help Students

Local Councillor Drop-In Surgery This Saturday!

Be Bright, Be Seen As The Nights Draw In

Councillors' Allowances Rise Rejected As Process Was Flawed

Planning applications: Arbury Road

Remember, remember...

Your Views Count – Have Your Say on Bin Collections

NO to 25% Pay Rise For Councillors ...

Action on litter in King's Hedges

Petition to stop the Tory 25% pay rise

'Make A Difference Day' Celebrating Community Service Volunteers

Secondary School Application Deadline Approaches

Planning application in Milton Road

Buses: Cut First, Ask Later

Campaign Against Cuts to the Fire Service

Pupil Premium Brings More Money Into King's Hedges

MP Welcomes Pupil Premium Cash For City Schools

Today's Cambridge Area Joint Committee

Party leader speeches, Autumn 2011

Solar Power - Coming To A School Near You!

Councillor Gains Party Conference Backing For Student Fight

Local Liberal Democrats @ Conference Videos

Fight To Give Part-Time Students A Fairer Deal Under Loans Scheme

North Area Committee – Thursday 22 Sept

mySociety: New Website Launched >> FixMyTransport.com

E-Cops - Kings Hedges Community Action Day

More Positive News from The Manor

Cambridgeshire Boundary Commission Proposals Published

Arbury Carnival 2012: Calling all Volunteers! (Meeting Tonight!)

Arbury Carnival 2012: Calling all Volunteers!

Play your part in Olympic Games urges councillor

E-Cops - Re-appeal over two CCTV images

Petition Launched To Oppose Cuts To Front-Line Fire Service

Council May Face Massive Cash Cuts To Fund Academies

Disorder in Cambridge - @cambscops Published Pictures

Police Advice Regarding Social Media and Riot Rumours

Lib Dems Gain Assurance That NHS Won’t Increase Waiting Times

Unicef: Horn of Africa Disaster Appeal

Vince Cable: Putting More Money Back In Your Pocket

Arbury Carnival 2012: Calling all Volunteers! UPDATED DATE