North Area Committee 17th May @ The Manor

The next North Area Committee will be at the Manor on Thursday 17th May.

The planning part of the meeting will start at 6.30; there are two applications on the agenda but the one that will probably be of the most interest is the application to convert the Grove Pub (opposite the Manor) into a Sikh temple.

The main meeting starts at 7.30 and the agenda is available on the City Councils website (see here). The main agenda items are:

• Community Development and Leisure grants*
• Engagement with Young People
• Primary School places in North Cambridge
• Northern Corridor Area Transport plan
• Policing and Safer Neighbourhoods

And, of course, the usual open forum where you can ask questions.

* (see here for report) There are two grants specific to King's Hedges in the list; Cambridge Music Festival (requesting 2,000), and Cambridge Carbon Footprint (requesting the very precise 2,323). The Cambridge Carbon Footprint event is targeted at both King's Hedges and Arbury.

Minor Highways issues within Kings Hedges

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?

Primary School Applications

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.

Pupil Premium Brings More Money Into King's Hedges

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.

Monday Planning Update: Northfield, Minerva and Milton Rd

Three application on the weekly planning list in the ward this week.

Firstly King's Hedges Primary school on Northfield Avenue are applying for a single storey extension. This is application 10/0173/FUL. I ought to point out that I am a Governor of the school on this one.

Number 412 Milton Road have applied to build "one 3-bed dwelling at rear of site". This is application number 10/0155/FUL.

Finally 36 Minerva Way has applied for a two storey extension to the rear of the building.

As always more details from the City Council website, or by contacting the team.