Cambridge Liberal Democrats Elect New Leader And Front Line Team

Cllr Tim Bick
(LD, Market)

Cambridge Liberal Democrats have today (Monday, May 14) announced that Councillor Tim Bick will be taking over from Councillor Sian Reid as the group’s new leader.

Sian has decided to step down following surgery earlier this year and the need to take some time to fully recover.

The Lib Dems have also elected their front line team for the coming year with Cllr Catherine Smart continuing as the group’s deputy leader. They propose she will continue to have responsibility for housing, Cllr Tim Ward with the planning and sustainable transport portfolio,

Cllr Rod Cantrill with arts, sport and public places and Cllr Jean Swanson with the waste and recycling portfolio.

They will be joined by newly re-elected Cllr Mike Pitt who they propose to take responsibility for community development and health and Cllr Julie Smith for customer services and resources. Both have experience as executive councillors.

Tim will be proposed as Cambridge City Council Leader at the council’s annual meeting on May 24 when councillors will also vote on the nominations for executive councillors.

The Lib Dems will also be nominating Cllr Sheila Stuart as Mayor and Cllr Paul Saunders as Deputy Mayor for the coming year.

Tim said: “I am delighted to be given this opportunity but at the same time we are all sorry that Sian has decided not to re-stand. She has been a formidable leader of the group and the council and we are sorry that she wanted to step down."

Tim has represented Market Ward on Cambridge City Council for the past four years and served as Executive Councillor for Community Development for the last two. He has worked in human resources in the local technology sector for over 10 years and lives in the city centre. He brings experience of leading his party in local government in Warwickshire.
 
The Lib Dems are the largest party on the city council with half the seats and will propose a full Lib Dem administration at next week’s annual council meeting.

“We have a strong vision for this city and have far from run out of energy and ideas,” said Tim. “The council has work to do and needs to satisfy. There is no other party or collection of parties that is in a position to deliver sound, consistent government to the city.

“It is good for the city that the council's procedures envisage close results and help to avoid deadlock. The same procedures will give voice to the stronger Labour representation and we hope this will add richness to the council's decisions."

Sian’s two year leadership saw the city council through hard economic times. She faced tough decisions setting the council’s budget while at the same time making sure that basic services and those for the vulnerable were protected.

Before taking the leadership, she was Executive Councillor for Climate Change and Growth for four years.

During this time she worked hard to get the city council national recognition for its policy requiring developers of new homes to meet the highest levels of sustainable building.

One of her greatest achievements was the recognition for Cambridge in the Centre for Cities report which named it as one of the top cities in the UK to lead the country to economic recovery.

“I am delighted to hand over to Tim,” she said. “He brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role and I have every confidence that, together with his new front line team, the Liberal Democrats will continue to work hard for the people of Cambridge.

"I have been part of a fantastic team of people through extremely challenging times, and very much remain part of that team.”

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

Vote to Re-elect Mike Pitt Today!

Mike has served local residents in King's Hedges as a councillor for the last four years before which he was a local activist. During his time on the Council he has worked hard for the ward. Some of the many projects he has been involved in include;

• The refurbishment of the forecourt in front of Campkin Road shops, 
• The campaign to save Milton Road trees (pictured), 
• Getting new dog waste bins installed, 
• Improving the path from Ramsden Square to Campkin Road, and
• Installing safety bollard on Northfield Avenue.  

This is alongside smaller, local work such as getting street lights repaired and potholes fixed.  He has also ensured that the City Council works more effectively with the Cambridge Regional College to tackle problems with litter in the area (particularly Campkin road forecourts).

He is also involved in our local community.  He serves as governor of King's Hedges School on Northfield Avenue, and is a trustee of the Arbury Community Centre on Campkin Road. Both of these are central to King's Hedges.  He is also a Friend of Arbury Library (pictured with Local Councillor Claire Blair and Cambridge MP Julian Huppert).

On the City Council he has served two years as the Executive Councillor for Environmental and Waste Services: responsible for bin collections, and street cleaning.  He led the roll out of the new blue bin collections that has seen our dry recycling rate shoot up by making recycling easier for residents.  This service will be further enhanced after the elections when the City Council will begin accepting batteries for recycling as part of the collections for the first time.

Mike has also recently steered through the introduction of apprenticeships and has, despite the financial strains on local government, managed to create extra posts in both the Ranger service and the enforcement team to tackle litter and flytip.

Re-elect your hard-working local councillor on May 5: Vote for Mike Pitt.

Re-elect Mike Pitt on May 5!

I am very pleased to report that Mike Pitt will be standing again in the Cambridge City Council elections on May 5!

Mike has served local residents in King's Hedges as a councillor for the last four years before which he was a local activist. During his time on the Council he has worked hard for the ward. Some of the many projects he has been involved in include;

• The refurbishment of the forecourt in front of Campkin Road shops, 
• The campaign to save Milton Road trees (pictured), 
• Getting new dog waste bins installed, 
• Improving the path from Ramsden Square to Campkin Road, and
• Installing safety bollard on Northfield Avenue.  

This is alongside smaller, local work such as getting street lights repaired and potholes fixed.  He has also ensured that the City Council works more effectively with the Cambridge Regional College to tackle problems with litter in the area (particularly Campkin road forecourts).

He is also involved in our local community.  He serves as governor of King's Hedges School on Northfield Avenue, and is a trustee of the Arbury Community Centre on Campkin Road. Both of these are central to King's Hedges.  He is also a Friend of Arbury Library (pictured with Local Councillor Claire Blair and Cambridge MP Julian Huppert).

On the City Council he has served two years as the Executive Councillor for Environmental and Waste Services: responsible for bin collections, and street cleaning.  He led the roll out of the new blue bin collections that has seen our dry recycling rate shoot up by making recycling easier for residents.  This service will be further enhanced after the elections when the City Council will begin accepting batteries for recycling as part of the collections for the first time.

Mike has also recently steered through the introduction of apprenticeships and has, despite the financial strains on local government, managed to create extra posts in both the Ranger service and the enforcement team to tackle litter and flytip.

Re-elect your hard-working local councillor on May 5: Vote for Mike Pitt.

You're hired! Council prepares to sign up its apprentices

Cambridge City Council’s new recruits will start work on May 3 under a new apprenticeship scheme designed to give 12 teenagers valuable training and clean up the environment at the same time. 

The scheme has been launched in partnership with cutting edge training company, Nordic Pioneer, which will start recruiting the apprentices next week.

After initial training at the end of this month, they will be taken on by the city council cleaning up nature reserves, commons and cemeteries and removing fly tipping, graffiti and fly posting.

The scheme will be partly funded with £10,000 raised from Fixed Penalty Notices issued for environmental crime such as dropping littler, graffiti and fly-tipping.

Aged between 16 and 18, the young people will work with members of the council's Streets and Open Spaces service delivery team and the scheme will lead to an NVQ level 2 in Cleaning and Support Services and six months of work experience.

The scheme ties in with the national drive to expand apprenticeships after the coalition government gave an extra £50,000 over four years to create 250,000 more apprenticeships.

Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Waste and Environmental Services, Mike Pitt said: “We are very excited about this scheme and looking forward to welcoming the young people to our team.

“This is a chance for them to learn skills and a nationally recognised qualification which hopefully will help them to secure permanent work in the future.”

City council installs rubbish bins powered by the sun

Cambridge City Council is leading the county and the UK in installing state-of-the art rubbish bins powered by the sun.

The Big Belly Bins use solar power to compact rubbish and therefore need to be collected up to five times less than normal bins. This has the potential to cut the fuel consumption and carbon emissions associated with rubbish collection up to 80 per cent. 

The first of the new bins has been put in East Chesterton on Green End Road Rec and a second will follow next month on the river frontage public open space in front of the Vie development in East Chesterton.

Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Environmental and Waste Services, Mike Pitt, said: “These bins harness the power of the sun to compact the rubbish so that they can take more litter without having to be emptied so often. They also encourage recycling with separate compartments."

East Chesterton ward councillor and Executive Councillor for Climate Change and Growth, Clare Blair, said: "These bins will mean that the city council can cut fuel costs and carbon emissions bringing benefits to taxpayers and the environment. It is excellent news that they are being installed in East Chesterton."