Work Begins To Improve Safety For Fen Road Residents

Work has begun to improve the safety of residents living in Cambridge’s Fen Road after residents, councillors and council officers got together just weeks ago to discuss long-running issues.

Old wooden bollards at the Water Street and Water Lane junction have been replaced with metal ones in a bid to stop vandals sawing through them to get vehicle access to Fen Road.

The work was carried out by Cambridge City Council after resident Clare Blair requested the new bollards at the beginning of the year.

She said: “I am really pleased that only weeks after our well attended meeting about Fen Road we are already seeing action to improve safety for residents.”

Clare teamed up with Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Ian Manning, who represents East Chesterton to give residents a chance to have their say on how anti-social behaviour, speeding drivers and other problems, which had plagued residents for years, could be solved.

“There is much more to be done,” added Clare, “but I am delighted to see that we have already been able to make a good start.”

Council Digs Deep To Invest £15,000 In New Allotments

Cambridge City Council has dug deep into its finances to provide £15,000 for new allotments in the city.

Seventeen allotments will be created off Kendal Way in East Chesterton and up to 50 plots will be provided by potentially extending Empty Common in Trumpington.

The plots will be allocated to people who have registered on the council’s 290 strong waiting list for allotments.

Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Art, Sport and Public Places, Rod Cantrill said: “We are committed to helping people who want to grow their own produce. This helps them maintain a healthy and sustainable lifestyle and I am delighted that we have been able to invest in creating these new plots.

“Our waiting list is testament to the fact that people are recognising the benefits of growing their own food.”

East Chesterton residents, Clare Blair, Lil Speed and Mike Pitt joined Cllr Cantrill at the site of the new allotments in Kendal Way.

Mrs Blair said: ““We have campaigned for this on behalf of local residents and I am delighted to see that the city council has acted on our request.

“With all the pressures on people’s incomes, it is a real bonus if they can grow their own fruit and vegetables rather than paying supermarket prices.

Mrs Speed added: “These new allotments are going to be really great for East Chesterton and I am very pleased that the council has found money in these difficult times to help some of the people on its waiting list here for allotments.”

Cllr Rod Cantrill (right) joins (from left) Clare Blair, Lil Speed and Mike Pitt to take a look at the site for the new allotments in Kendal Way

Lib Dems Tackle Fen Road Problems Head On For Residents

Cambridge Liberal Democrats are tackling problems on the city’s Fen Road head on by working cross-party and with multiple agencies to find a solution for residents.

Cllr Ian Manning and resident Clare Blair took control of the issue this evening (Thursday, January 26) at a meeting of Cambridge City Council’s North Area Committee.

A working party has been set up which will co-ordinate the work between officers and councillors from the city council, Cambridgeshire County Council and South Cambs District Council.

At the North Area Committee meeting, which was very well attended, Cambridgeshire County Council Cabinet member, Ian Bates, heard directly from residents about the daily issues they experience such as anti-social driving, noise and speeding and traffic calming measures that don't work.

Mrs Blair said: “It was great to see so many people come to voice their opinions and experiences directly to those in power. A wide range of solutions was discussed and there was a clear preference for an alternative access route out of Fen Road to provide a real solution to problems in the area."

Particularly important is the cross area working that the initiative brings.  Cllr Hazel Smith of South Cambs District commented "A solution to the issues on Fen Road will only be found by joined up working between both districts and the County Council, and I'm pleased that this will be taken on by North Area."

Cllr Manning said that the Chesterton Station project presents a real opportunity to make large scale change.
"I'm glad we're looking at really radical solutions like a different route out of Fen Road, which will divert traffic away from East Chesterton, as well as highways improvements to the Water Street/Water Lane area and better traffic calming,” he said.

Police Link With Young Transformed East Chesterton – MP's Told

 MP Julian Huppert has impressed upon Parliament the importance of policing on the ground, citing work in Cambridge’s East Chesterton as an example of “brilliant innovation”.

 Julian, who was formerly an East Chesterton county councillor, told how the police worked with young people who were committing anti-social behaviour to transform that “relatively deprived part of Cambridge”.

 He said: “I would love to claim credit for all the brilliant innovations in that ward.” But he added, they were largely driven by former East Chesterton Community Beat Manager, then-PC Nik Percival who introduced a range of measures to make a difference.

 “What matters in policing concerns what happens on the ground and with individuals,” Julian told a debate on policing in Westminster Hall yesterday (Thursday, January 12). “He created a link with young people. That is important, especially when looking at the factors that led indirectly to the riots.

 “In his first year on the beat, he managed to halve the amount of anti social behaviour and crime that was reported, which was a huge achievement,” he said.

“If all our officers could manage such things – I realise that it is not that simple – this country would be a different place. He also managed to arrest fewer people than was usual for that area. Some saw that as a criticism, but I saw it as a great triumph. Successful policing involves reducing the level of crime, and a greater number of arrests is not the aim.”

 Julian told how PC Percival launched a scheme to deter youngsters from anti social behaviour such as causing trouble and smashing up bus shelters.

Those that behaved well were rewarded with vouchers and the youngsters with the most vouchers at the end of the school summer holiday received £15 to spend in the local shopping centre.

“That was a cheap measure, and it transformed the area,” said Julian. “Rather than having groups wandering around feeling bored, people would play and hope that a police officer would walk by. They desperately hoped that the cop would come over and find them, and they would say, ‘Hi PC Nik, good to see you.’ It would be fantastic to see that sort of relationship in more areas.”

East Chesterton resident, Clare Blair said: “This was on the face of it, a very simple idea but it had huge benefits for the people of East Chesterton.

“This initiative struck a chord with the youngsters and they responded out of respect for PC Percival, now a Detective Inspector. It would be good to see ideas such as this put into practice across the country to tackle anti social behaviour hotspots.”

Lib Dem Campaigner Given Assurances Over Blue Badge Fears

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.”

Lib Dems Act To Help Families Plagued By Speeding Drivers

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.

Councillors' Allowances Rise Rejected As Process Was Flawed

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."