Thanks to all who came to the launch of the new facilities at Nightingale Avenue Recreation Ground last Saturday:

• to the Mayor, Cllr Sheila Stuart, who cut the tape of the new games area and also cut the cake
• to the CHYPPS team who ran the games and painted faces
• to Mark Buckton, who ran the Bin Challenge and gave recycling tips
• to Authentic Cakes, who made the cake
• to the City Council’s Active Communities team who managed the series   of improvements to the recreation ground over the past few years
• to James Day, who took this photo.

The games area can be used for a variety of ball games whatever the weather. The other recent enhancements have been:

• a second tennis court
• a revamped playground
• a second tennis court
• a path around the recreation ground that can be used by wheelchairs and pushchairs
• recycling bins for bottles and cans
• new benches

It was great to see a mixture of all ages enjoying the event and the sunshine!

This evening over 100 people crowded into the Cambridge Professional Development Centre in Trumpington to hear the two organizations bidding to run the new school set to open next year on Gunhild Way, where Netherhall Junior School is now.

The Queen Edith’s Federation team, presented first. The Head, Caroline Peet, spoke of their vision over the next ten years of two schools working in partnership. The Queen Edith’s chair of governors, Pam Jones, described the other sort of partnerships that Queen Edith’s has in the community – with educational institutions, faith groups and bodes promoting wellbeing and inclusion. The schools’ deputy head explained how Queen Edith’s serves the needs of a community that is diverse in its ethnicity, religions and economic backgrounds.

Mr Rossi spoke for the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia, explaining the theological imperative for education and their belief in the uniqueness of every child as a child of God. He told us there are 26 Catholic schools in the diocese, so there is plenty of experience. They aim to serve South Cambridge, as there are many Catholic families from the local churches who would like to send their children to a catholic school if there were more provision.

The meeting was very well attended, mainly by parents from Queen Edith’s, but there has been scanty local publicity in the other local schools.

Questions were wide-ranging, covering special needs provision, school economics and the logistics of split sites, but the major concerns led back to the main difference between the two bids: admissions policy.

While the Queen Edith’s Federation if successful would serve the immediate community — children residing in the current catchment areas of Queen Edith’s, Ridgefield and Morley primary schools — the Roman Catholic school would cover half of Cambridge, but give priority to children baptized as catholics, and only then to local non-catholic children.

Concerns were expressed about the extra traffic that would be generated by children coming from across town. It is unlikely children would walk or cycle to school from Newnham or Newmarket Road … especially at the speed of your average 4 or 5 year-old. More importantly, many people expressed alarm at the prospect of the new school having insufficient places for children living near the school.

These are concerns that I very much share. While I appreciate the value of a faith school (I attended two myself), it is even more vital that a school is embedded in the local community. Children going to a school in their neighbourhood has to be a good thing, not just for parental convenience but for the social life of the child and community cohesion.

I am hoping there will be more opportunities for people to hear the two sets of proposals again between now and the end of the consultation period, 20th August. It would be good to have something actually in Queen Edith’s, at a time that’s more convenient for parents than the early evening, a time when many parents will be on bedtime duty and I shall be making this request of the County Council.

The Conservative Cabinet of Cambridgeshire County Council will make the final decision on which organization runs the school at the end of September.

The two organizations bidding to run the new primary school on Gunhild  Way in Queen Edith’s will be presenting their proposals to the public at the Cambridge Professional Development Centre in Trumpington (CB2 9NL) this Thursday 15th July. There will be public displays from 5 to 6 p.m. before the presentations. The meeting is open to everyone.

There are just  two bidders: The Queen Edith Community Federation Group and the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia.  You can read their full bids here, or see a summary and fill in a questionnaire here. If you can’t make the meeting, you can comment by contacting:

David Clark,  CYPS Infrastructure, Cambridgeshire County Council, Box CC1209, Castle Court, Castle Hill, Cambridge, CB3 0AP.

David.clark@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

The new primary school will be on what is now Netherhall Lower School, off Gunhild Way and it is to cater for the ever rising numbers of children in the south of city. It is intended it will open in September 2011.

The Queen Edith’s bid includes proposals to create a catchment area of children from the existing Queen Edith Primary School catchment area, as well as those of Morley Memorial and Ridgeway. It has broad support, including from local councillors and from the Diocese of Ely.

The Roman Catholic bid covers a broader area, and in their own words, ‘will serve in the first instance, the Catholic community of South Cambridge’.

There will be more road diversions from tomorrow — at least tomorrow is the date advised by Cambridgeshire County Council — as they begin a new road layout.

Motorists will not be able to turn into Brooklands Avenue from Hills Road during the period of the work, which could take seven months or more, but will instead be diverted down Long Road.

The County Council has trialled cycle lanes on the bridge this year. The trial has been very well received, surprisingly so — and they are now installing permanent cycle lanes. Bizarrely, the new layout won’t be the same as the one that’s been trialled, but the cycle lane will actually be in the middle of the carriageway. My concern is that some less confident cyclists, or people cycling with children, will be nervous about being in the middle of the road. I hope my fears are misfounded.

On the positive side, the cycle lane will be a good wide one of over 2 metres, and there will be new signals at the end as well as improved junction arrangements and access to the station. For the full story, see the County Council’s website.

Liberal Democrat Cambridge City Council has devolved some functions to local ‘area committees’, each covering a geographical quarter of the city. Queen Edith’s is part of the South Area, which also includes Cherry Hinton and Trumpington. The committee comprises the councillors for the three wards.

Last Thursday it met at Homerton College for the first time – a handy venue on the mainbus routes, but swelteringly hot last week. Fortunately chilled water and fans were close at hand.

For my sins, I have been elected to chair it for the coming municipal year, taking over from Trumpington councillor Andy Blackhurst who is chairing the Council’s Housing Management Board this year. Fortunately he is staying as vice-chair.

The first item of business was ‘Safer Neighbourhoods‘, a report by the local police on their activities and recommendations for priorities for the coming quarter. The meeting agreed to carry on with tackling anti-social behaviour in Paget and Foster Roads in Trumpington and in Tenby Close, Cherry Hinton. Following a request from Cllr Sheila Stuart, drug abuse in Hanover and Princess Courts (council flats in the northern part of Hills Road) were added.

We received a report about the Council’s revision of its Statement of Licensing Policy, which has to be renewed every three years, and a consultation on the same. The meeting did not give much detail about any changes, but was more a means of bringing the renewal to people’s attention. If you would like to see what is proposed, and comment, you can view the policy on the City Council’s website — any time up to 5th September.

More wonders of the web were presented by the Council’s planning officers in a Powerpoint presentation on a new virtual facility for viewing and tracking planning applications: Planning Public Access. You can view plans on line, comment on them, see what others have said about them,  and set up an email alert so you know when something changes. Use it at home, or if you prefer, at the Council’s Customer Service Centre on Rewgent Street, where planning officers are there to help form 10.30 till 3 p.m.

Community development grants were approved for  the following groups:

• Little Bunniers Mothers/ Carers Playgroup
• Trumpington Residents Association
• 2nd Cherry Hinton Guides
• Hanover and Princess Court Residents’ Association
• Trumpington Elderly Action Group
• Denis Wilson Court Social Club

There were two environmental improvement bids:

A topographical survey was agreed for the Wulfstan Way shopping parade, to take forward improvements (see my previous post on this).

The other bid was for road humps in Clarendon Road and Shaftesbury Avenue, to stop speeding, alleged to be coming from the Government offices and Cambridge University Press. I am sorry to report that police checks demonstrated that there is indeed speeding taking place, 15% of the vehicles driving not just over 30 mph but over 40 mph, though it’s not proven who is speeding. Two cats were killed in one of the streets last year.

The chair of the Brooklands Avenue residents’ association, spoke in support of traffic calming. E-mails expressing opposition to traffic calming had been sent to councillorsbyC.U.P. and one of the residents of the street.

The committee considered that while they viewed the speeding with concern, other measures than speed humps should be considere, possibly a 20mph limit, flashing lights warning people of the speed limit or chicanes. Officers will report back at the next meeting.

Two planning applications were approved: a retrospective application for a tall fence at 54 Kelsey Crescent and two new houses at 102 Glebe Road (with conditions for new landscaping on the boundaries with neighbouring properties and for a ban on deliveries to the site during construction during the school rush hour).

Cambridge City Council has four area committees, which take decisions on grants and other local matters, s well as planning applications.

Next Thursday (8^th July), the South Area Committee meets at Homerton College, and will be discussing safer neighbourhoods (that’s council-speak for community
policing), licensing policy, a presentation on how people can view planning applications at the Council’s Customer Service Centre in Regent Street, grants and planning applications.

The police will be presenting crime figures and reporting on their activities over the past quarter, and recommending priorities for the next. The public and councillors should be asking questions and commenting on those priorities. See the policing report here.The big change for planning is that people can visit Cambridge City Council’s new Customer Service Centre in Regent Street to view applications on line, or speak to a planning officer if they wish. The Council’s new online facility can be used to view plans and applications, leave comments and set up an alert about new
applications where you live.We will be looking at community development grants for playgroups (a trip), residents’ associations (Christmas fun and a trip to St Ives)  and youth groups (camping kit). Although the committee covers Queen Edith’s, Cherry Hinton and Trumpington, there are no bids from groups in Queen Edith’s this time. If you are involved in a community group hat could use extra funds, please contact one of your councillors and we can explain the sorts of things that can be funded and to whom.

The other decision to take is on environmental improvements. One is a survey for the Wulfstan Way shopping area to progress the already agreed works (see previous post on Wulfstan Way shops); the other is for a traffic calming scheme in Clarendon Road and Shaftesbury Avenue, subject to its getting the thumbs-up from public consultation. See teh details here.

There are two planning applications: a retrospective application for a 2m fence round a house, the other for two new houses on Glebe Road.

Here is the agenda. I look forward to seeing you there!

If you can’t come along but would like me to raise an issue on your behalf, please let me know.

Families in Queen Edith’s are to be invited to party in the park to celebrate the opening of a new games area at the Nightingale Avenue Recreation Ground.

The event is being organised by myself and the other three Lib Dem councillors for the area and there will be games, sports and possibly face painting during the afternoon of Saturday, July 17th.

Cambridge Mayor, Sheila Stuart will open the new multi-use games area for basketball, volleyball, netball and football at the Nightingale Avenue recreation ground, marking the culmination of a series of improvements to the park.

These include an improved children’s playground, extra tennis court and a pushchair and wheelchair friendly path around the edge of the park. New cycle racks and benches have also been added. So there should be something for all ages!

We have been working on making the park better to serve different people’s needs for some years. Many of the ideas have come from residents of the area, notably the path round the outside of the rec, a bright idea that the council was able to make a reality.

I hope local families will come and bring a picnic to enjoy the celebrations and help us officially open the new area.

Please tell your friends!

Traders and residents are moving forward with a package of ideas to revitalize the shops at Cambridge’s Wulfstan Way and we have just held our second workshop to explore ideas.

They want to see more lighting and seating, extra parking which could be controlled so that it could be used exclusively for shoppers, a community noticeboard and better signage to the shops.

My colleague Cllr Viki Sanders suggested we might incorporate some public art with the help of the local schools and colleages.

We have prioritized the areas we would like to go ahead with and will be taking detailed costings forward to the City Council’s South Area Committee on September 9^th.

I have had several complaints about the drains problems in Hills Road. Whenever we have heavy rainfall, the northbound side of the road turns into a mini-canal. The cycleways are unuseable so you have to go in the road with the cars, and you get a shower as you are waiting to cross Long Road.

Late last year, the gulleys were jetted in various places on Hills Road but that hasn’t solved the problem. The gentleman I deal with at the County Council said he would try a new way of investigating to see where the break in the pipe is, possibly with a CCTV camera, but he told me it would cost extra money and couldn’t promise when it might be done.

Given the very high number of pedestrians and cyclists who use Hills Road, it seems to me it would be worth spending money on so we can actually use the pavements and cycle lanes. After all, there is little point spending millions on cycle lanes on the bridge if you get knocked over as you approach it because you suddenly have to leave the cycle lane where it turns into a stream.

As reported earlier in the year, Cambridge City Council has allocated funds to improve the Wulfstan Way shops – £101,000 to be exact.

There will be a follow-up workshop on 22nd June to discuss proposals in more detail. For more information, contact Penelope Hird — penelope.hird@cambridge.gov.uk.

Have you visited the Nightingale Avenue rec’ lately?

The City Council has put lots of extra kit in over the last few years — new climbing frames and spinners in the children’s playground, a second tennis court, a wheel-friendly path round the park, and most recently, a multi-use games area that can be used for basketball, volleyball, netball or football if, like today, it’s raining and the grass is not suitable to play on. The games area is constructed from wood specially chosen to mimimise noise and as the non-wood parts are dark leaf-green, it blends in well with the local environment.

There’s also some new benches and cycle racks. The other things I really like are the recycling bins for bottles and cans – which arrived this morning.

When I first raised this at the Council, the prevailing view was that people wouldn’t bother to recycle when they’re in a public place but if you are recycling at home then why not when you’re out and about too?

Abbey Pool and Romsey Rec have got some bottle and can bins too and I’m hoping we’ll collect more than they do!

I am currently working on arranging a summer party on Nightingale
Avenue, to celebrate all the improvements, as well as publicise leisure activities and events this summer.

I’ll post details when they are settled; in the meantime, if you would
like me to update you by email, drop me a line at amandataylor@cix.co.uk.

This morning to church – not unusual for me on a Sunday morning, except today I worshipped at Holy Trinity in the Cambridge city centre instead of my ‘local’, St John the Evangelist. The occasion was the Mott Sermon, an historic endowed sermon, preached today by the Rt Revd David Thomson, Bishop of Huntingdon.

Mr William Mott was an 18th-century attorney who made provision for the poor in various ways, working through the churches. He left 10s 6d (52.5p)for the preaching of a sermon every year as a service to the poor people living in the parish. The money ran out a long time ago (and few poor people can afford to live in  Cambridge city centre these days) but the sermon is still preached every June, in the presence of the ‘Mayor and Corporation’.

Cambridge City Council has four ceremonial bailiffs, elected annually by the city’s 42 councillors; I have been one for most of my time as a Cambridge city councillor. In days gone by the bailiffs used to guard the person of the Mayor and seize goods from people who hadn’t paid their bills. These days I’m relieved to say our function is purely ceremonial, although as the Senior Bailiff I do get to make an equestrian speech every year at Reach Fair.

We accompany the Mayor when s/he goes to civic church services such as today’s, and to the two charter fairs authorized by King John. We have a fancy uniform too – a robe in Cambridge blue and a little top hat.

Today, the ‘corporation’ comprised seven or eight councillors including three bailiffs and an honorary councillor. We were joined by the new MP for Cambridge, Julian Huppert. It was our first bailiff event with the new mayor, Cllr Sheila Stuart, who was looking radiant! She was also attended by the Sergeant at Mace, macebearers and her cadet from the St John’s Ambulance Service.

Bishop David Thomson is the fairly new Bishop of Huntingdon and I hadn’t heard him preach before. His sermon was wide-ranging and both refreshing in style and thought-provoking. He preached on today’s gospel reading, John 15, about the True Vine. I left my notes in my pewwhen we processed out so I am relying on memory – but the full sermon can be read on the Bishop’s own website.

Roots, shoots and fruits

Bishop David started by describing how the community he comes from (Cumbria) has been sharing rather more pain than joy of late, with a fatal coach accident followed by the horrific shooting rampage last Wednesday. (I know people are still recovering from floods and some even from foot and mouth disease. And the local economy was not helped by the crash of a big local employer just before Christmas.)

He spoke on a pretty well known text ‘Love one another’ but also drew our attention to the less often quoted words about fruit trees being grafted one onto another and the superior fruit resulting from the joining of them. It was an apposite reminder of the importance of community and working together; as I looked at Julian Huppert sitting in front of me, I wondered whether the Liberal Democrat MPs feel engrafted onto their coalition partners, or the other way round! Let’s hope and pray for good fruit.

We were reminded of the importance of sharing the fruit, a good lesson in the imperative to share what we have, a lesson learnt at nursery school but often forgotten in later life.

All in all, a thought-provoking and challenging beginning to the municipal year.

Queen Edith’s young people have been taking outdoor cookery classes as part of the City Council’s CHYYPS (Children and Young People Participation Service) this summer.

On Tuesday, I was invited to go and  sample the results. Despite an unseasonally rainy day (what passes for summer in this country!) there were about 20 children chopping and stirring away, aged between five and twelve, plus their chef tutors in the bright red CHYPPS T-shirts.

We lunched on wraps with a variety of exciting fillings. I had a spicy pepper and tomato mixture in a tortilla-type wrap, washed down with fruit juice — delicious, and much healthier than what I normally have at lunchtime!

It all happens on Wednesdays after school on the small park between Godwin Close and Gunhild Close and sessions will carry on till the end of this term (3.30-5.30 pm). For a map, see here.

The Reccy Ranger for Queen Edith’s, Georgina, tells me she’s hoping to do some more outdoor cooking but there will also be games, sports, arts&crafts and urban adventure play.

Other reccy activities near here:

Tuesdays

Coleridge Road, the DEC Bus, 3.30-5.00 p.m.

Aberdeen Avenue (off Brooklands Avenue), the DEC Bus, 6.00 - 8.00 p.m.

Thursdays

Kingfisher Way Rec (off Aberdeen Avenue), Reccy play, 3.30 - 5.00 p.m.

Nightingale Avenue

I am currently working on arranging a summer party on Nightingale Avenue, to celebrate the new MUGA, wheel-friendly walkway and extra tennis court and publicise leisure activities and events this summer. I’ll post details when they are settled; in the meantime, if you would like me to update you by email, drop me a line at amandataylor@cix.co.uk.

All starting at 3.30 p.m.

For more information on this and other children’s events, ring the CHYPPS team on 01223 457873, view their website or email them at chypps@cambridge.gov.uk.

Here are the results for the Queen Edith’s city council election and the South Cambridgeshire parliamentary election held on 6th May 2010:

Queen Edith’s City Council seat

Jean Swanson (Lib Dem) 2129 — a new record!

Vincenzo Marino (Con) 1221

Jonathan Goodacre (Lab) 541

Brian Westcott (Green) 334

Carol Jackson (UKIP) 122

Lib Dem majority 908

South Cambridgeshire parliamentary seat

Andrew Lansley (Con) 27995

Sebastian Kindersley (Lib Dem) 20157

Tariq Sadiq (Lab) 6024

Robin Page (Ind) 1968

Helene Davies (UKIP) 1873

Simon Saggers (Green) 1039

Majority 7838

Swing of 2.5% from Conservative to Liberal Democrat.

Turnout 75%

Thanks very much to everyone!

Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.

Cambridge Liberal Democrats have launched their manifesto for this year’s city council elections, to be held on the same day as the General Election, Thursday May 6th.

The party is preparing to contest the 17 seats on Cambridge City Council which are up for election.

Ian Nimmo-Smith, Cambridge City Council leader said: “In our manifesto, we renew our vision for Cambridge and our commitment to fairness in these challenging economic times.

“We are celebrating 10 years in control of the city council and during that time we have transformed the basic services; we promise to fight to protect these services and continue to work with residents to shape the way the city develops.”

Sian Reid, Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Climate Change and Growth said: “We will continue our commitment to providing affordable homes close to transport links and nurturing the local economy.

“At the same time, we will insist on environmentally sustainable solutions to ensure fairness for the city’s future generations and reinforce our commitment to tackling climate change.”

For a copy of the manifesto, click here – or download as a pdf: libdemcitycouncilmanifesto2010.pdf

Cambridge City Council is to explore a community self-provision scheme on land that it owns in Orchard Park. Potential individual owners will be invited to plan and design the scheme, working with the Council and a development partner.

This innovative approach to housing was approved last Monday at a meeting of my council committee, the Strategy & Resources Scrutiny Committee.

Community self-provision is different from self-build schemes, in that people work together with a professional developer rather than do the various building tasks themselves. One of the advantages of people working together on a big site like Orchard Park means that community facilities can be incorporated into new schemes, thus hopefully avoiding some of the mistakes made in other housing developments.

In Waitrose this morning, I encountered a dismayed City Council tree officer, who told me six newly planted trees on Hauxton Road had been chopped down overnight. What a waste of taxpayers’ money! This was County Council land, but there has been no consultation with the City, who planted the trees.

Any information on who is responsible would be gladly received.

Cambridge councillors at the Lib Dem party conference came home from Birmingham with an award for our work on improving transport from the Local Government Association Liberal Democrat Group. It is the ‘Improving Transport Award 2010′.

Although the County Council is the main transport authority, the City Council were praised for some of our innovative ideas, such as car parks charging recognizing low emissions vehicles and charging points for electric cars. The judges were particularly impressed by our toad-friendly cattle grids on the common … also good for bikes!

Ambitious plans to revitalise a Cambridge shopping centre will be unveiled on Thursday evening (March 11).

The scheme for the parade of shops at Wulfstan Way is being developed following consultation last summer with local residents (see picture), including one survey carried out at the local primary school.

Projects, costing around £250,000 which include landscaping, new paths, seating, lighting, public art and a new community noticeboard, will be put before members of the South Area Committee.

People at the meeting will have an opportunity to comment again, then councillors will decide which projects should be pursued to improve the Cambridge City Council-owned shops.

Queen Edith’s Councillor Amanda Taylor said: “We have listened to residents and schoolchildren who have come up with some excellent ideas of how to improve this local shopping centre.

“Now we want to move forward so that their ideas can be put into practice to revitalise this area, encouraging more people to visit the shops and enjoy this open space.”

The committee will look at introducing two-hour only parking at the centre in a bid to keep spaces exclusively for shoppers. They will also investigate longer opening hours for the shops and additional marketing support.

Anyone wishing to air their views on the plans is invited to attend the South Area Committee at Hills Road VI Form Collegte, starting at 7.30 p.m. There will also be a presentation by the police followed by an invitation to agree priorities for the next quarter, an update on environmental spending, and planning applications. Anyone is welcome to this meeting, which focusses on issues concerning Queen Edith’s, Trumpington and Cherry Hinton.

Cambridgeshire County Council’s Highways Department has promised thorough repairs to the potholes in our area next week.

Queen Edith’s Focus Team member Jean Swanson is keeping a list of all potholes in the Queen Edith’s area and passing them on to the County Council.  Help us make sure they don’t miss any by sending us the details of where the pothole is (nearby house number and street name, whether in the middle of the road or the cycleway) and what it’s like. You can contact Jean at jsswanson@ntlworld.com. You can also report it to Cambridgeshire County Council on line.

Well done to the person who did a citizen’s repair on two deep holes running across Rock Road, by filling them with rubble. The County Council has assured me that they are on the list of holes to be ‘cut and patched’ and promised to get the contractor to attend to them asap.

There are about 2,000 potholes across the county, so the repairs are going to take some time. I have never seen the roads so bad.

My colleague, Cllr Sebastian Kindersley, is in the news today calling on the Conservative-run County Council to take immediate and urgent action.

Along with other city councillors, I was asked if I would like to read my council agenda and papers on a ‘tablet’, with the aim of saving paper (and therefore money) as well as carbon usage.

We often have agenda papers of 500-1000 pages for some of our meetings, particularly the one I chair, where we scrutinize twelve different departments of the Council. An electronic tablet would certainly be lighter to carry, although I would still want to be able to scribble notes in the margin and use Post-It notes as navigation markers. And what if they were stolen or got damaged?

Given the inbuilt obsolescence of technical gadgets I fear that a tablet might be upgraded or become outdated before it paid for itself in terms of saved paper costs.

Any advice welcome! Thanks to those who have commented, who are confirming my scepticism…

UPDATE

My colleague Cllr Salah Albander, councillor for Trumpington, already has one of these devices, an I-pad brand, which he purchased second-hand, doubtless from someone who found it less useful than the marketing hype would suggest. I took the opportunity at last night’s council meeting (25th Feb) to photograph Salah using it and now add it here, to pacify those amongst my readership who require pictures to accompany the text.

I picked up an interesting piece of news at a Lib Dem meeting last Thursday. Local bus operator, Stagecoach, is so exasperated at the never-ending delays to the Guided Bus that it is letting everyone know.

Its fleet of 15 buses bought a year ago for the busway used to sport ads saying ‘I’ll be on the busway soon — will you?’ These strips were replaced last week with new ones plaintively asking ‘Will I be on the busway soon?’

Stagecoach bought the buses a year ago (for a cool three million pounds), but the opening of the busway seems no closer, with Cambridgeshire County Council in deep dispute with their contractor. Not surprising Stagecoach are narked.

Meanwhile, Conservative-run Cambridgeshire County Council is to spend five million pounds of taxpayers’ money just on legal costs . . . not to mention the additional costs of the busway itself, which is not surprisingly way over budget.

I and other councillors have been receiving many more calls about potholes recently, partly because of the colder weather but also because of years of inadequate maintenanfce by the County Council.

One of the things people get justifiably annoyed about is that potholes and other problems such as pavement holes sometimes get mended superficially, but not well enough, so that they need repairing again shortly afterwards.

I have just heard from an officer at Cambridgeshire County Council’s Highways Department that we shall have a super-team in Queen Edith’s for a week to carry out thorough repairs to the potholes in the ward. For all those of you on Wulfstan Way, your potholes are near the top of the list! The bad news is that ‘our’ week won’t be till the middle of March, but I am promised any dangerous potholes (and they are all dangerous if you are on a bike or have a walking stick…) will be made safe as soon as possible.

In the meantime, let me know of any dangerous potholes that you encounter and we will make sure they go on the list of repairs.

Shocking figures have recently shown just how many roads in Cambridgeshire are substandard– for more details, see the Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrat post, which highlights the lack of maintenance over the years.

Cambridge’s South Area Committee this evening determined the following planning applications:

42 Hartington Grove: 2-storey rear extension REFUSED

15 Fitzwilliam Road: demolition of extension and erection of new extension APPROVED

52 Glebe Road: demolition of house and erection of new 3-storey house APPROVED

St Mary’s School Bateman Street: demolition of rear extension and erection of new 4-storey building REFUSED

157 Church End: erection of two houses APPROVED

The City Council had cleared the graffiti completely from the bus stop by Friday, thanks for the rapid response!

To report graffiti within the city, email graffiti@cambridge.gov.uk.

No sign of action on the broken timetable display from the County Council yet; let’s hope it doesn’t take too long.

The snow has meant that yesterday’s (Friday’s) waste collections in Cambridge had to be cancelled. There is also some impact on car parks.

Details of the Council’s plans can be found on Cambridge City Council’s website, or by calling 01223 458282.

Friday’s blue bin and black bin collections are now planned for Monday (21st). Green bin collections start again on Wednesday.

The BBC is forecasting more snow, so please check the Council’s website for the latest news.

Bus

I am very pleased to report that the bus changes proposed by Stagecoach have been postponed — see their website http://www.stagecoachbus.com/cambridge/news2_7282.html

This is welcome news, especially given the announcement from the Conservative County Council that the Guided Bus will not be open until January or later.

If you haven’t signed our petition yet, then please do. If you have, please get your friends to sign. And keep those comments coming! Stagecoach bus petitionBus petition

County Council officers will be showing new plans for a central hybrid cycle lane on Hills Road Bridge this week. The design will build on the trial scheme already in place and you can view plans on Tuesday 24th and Monday 30th November:

Tue 24th: 5.00 - 7.30, College Hall, Hills Road VI Form College

Monday 30th: 5.00 - 7.30, Science Lecture Room, Hills Road VI Form College

 This Thursday, the South Area Committee meets at the British Legion Hall, Fisher Lane, and will be deciding on environmental improvement grants. These grants are funds to improve the appearances of an area visible to the public. We will be considering a range of bids, from  hanging flower baskets in Cherry Hinton to the Trumpington war memorial.

There will be a presentation from the police for the south area, and people at the meeting plus councillors will give their views to help set priorities for the coming months. Councillors will also be voting on planning applications  in Glebe Road, Alpha Terrace and Shelford Road.

Here is the agenda. I look forward to seeing you there!

If you can’t come along but would like me to raise an issue on your behalf, please let me know.

Here is an agenda: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/public/councillors/agenda/2009/0924areas/00.pdf

The real time information display at the bus stop near Hills Road VI Form College has been out of action for some time, meaning people have to walk down to the next bus stop to find out whether there’s a bus due.

I reported this to the County Council on the 12th September, and so did two of our Focus deliverers. A response has been a long time coming!

It transpires that there has been a power failure to the shelter, which has burnt the fuses. What alarms me is that neither the City nor County Council had staff available and able to repair it – which is the main reason for the delay.

 See my latest mail from the County Council, which promises a remedy soon.

Dear Cllr Taylor,  Apologies for the delay in getting this display up and running. Our
contractor’s engineers did inspect the site almost immediately. It was found that there
was a power failure to the shelter, which has burnt the main fuse to both the shelter and the display. Because this is not part of the display’s circuitry, our contractors were
neither able nor authorized to replace the fuse.  I have since then been in contact with
the Street Lighting team at the council, who as well is not responsible for power to
shelters, and we have sourced a certified electrician to do the job. I am expecting that
they will visit the shelter sometime next week, and let me know what the outcome is.
Hopefully this should be sorted out next week, but if there are any further delays, I will
let you know.

A car has been left on the corner of Gunhild Close for the past four weeks. One of our Focus deliverers reported it to me and the Council will now be taking action to have it removed.

If you notice any abandoned vehicles, ring the City Council on 458282.

Lib Dem councillors had a conference in Queen Edith’s last Saturday, so we took the opportunity to show our colleagues ‘the sights’. We took the City Council’s Executive Councillor for Sports and Recreation, Julie Smith, to the Nightingale Avenue Recreation Ground to show her where the all-weather games area is to be.

She noticed the poor condition of the park benches — missing and loose slats — and she has put in a complaint, asking for them to be repaired/ replaced.

The toilets at the ‘rec are another cause of contention. The ladies’ loos suffered severe criminal damage to its fixtures and fittings last month and it has taken a few weeks to put things to rights. Even the sign with the emergency phone number had been removed!

It is hoped they will be open again by this weekend.

Next Monday, the committee I chair, the Customer Services and Resources Scrutiny Committee (5.00pm, The Guildhall), will be considering a new procurement policy. Councillors will also be put on the spot as to the practical aspects of procurement and purchasing by a motion and a petition about types of food the Council buys or doesn’t buy.

First, there is to be a petition asking the Council to ban foie gras on its premises, and next there is a report on moving to Freedom Food standards for chicken and egg products – a motion first proposed by the Labour leader of the opposition, Cllr Lewis Herbert.

The procurement policy itself sets out best practice, taking in practical measures to ensure good environmental standards and manage risk. It confirms the Council’s commitment to fair trade, which I am particularly pleased about, as it builds on my own council motion leading to Cambridge being recognized as a fair trade city in 2004.

As well as the procurement motion, councillors will be reviewing equalities policies in the light of the new Single Equalities Act and setting a new direction for its door-to-door publication Cambridge Matters.

The meeting is open to the public and if you wish to speak at it or ask a question, contact the Council’s Committee Manager before the meeting, martin.whelan@cambridge.gov.uk. For a full agenda, click here: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/public/councillors/agenda/2009/1012sr/00.pdf

One of the less glamorous aspects to life as a councillor is sorting out blocked drains! They are, however, a pain in the neck as they flood the pavements and roads, turning grass verges into bogs and cycle paths into mini-lagoons.

Two particularly bad ones on Hills Road, one outside Homerton College and the other closer Addenbrooke’s, were reported this week to the County Council and are being attended to.

Speeding traffic causes countless road accidents and makes the roads a hostile environment for bikes and pedestrians. So it’s good news that the County Council has changed its policy to allow 20mph speed limits in Cambridgeshire.

City and county councillors have approved Wulfstan Way as the area to run a trial 20mph zone, on account of the high number of pedestrians and cyclists using it and its many community facilities such as schools and churches. County council officers are proposing to put up 20mph signs in Wulfstan Way and other nearby streets including Godwin Way and Gunhild Way. There will also be posters urging motorists to slow down.

Wulfstan Way is a busy road for pedestrians and cyclists, including many schoolchildren and the Queen Edith Primary School is on Godwin Way. There have been four recent accidents in the area involving cyclists or pedestrians.

Comments are welcome, preferably by 21st October please.

The Lib Dem City Council has divided Cambridge into four areas so that local issues can be determined locally. The area meetings decide on smaller planning applications and environmental, leisure and community grants as well as other issues, including policing priorities. These meetings are open to the public.

The South Area covers Queen Edith’s, Cherry Hinton and Trumpington and usually meets from 7pm on Thursdays in Queen Edith’s.  The next meeting is this Thursday at Hills Road VI Form College and will include a presentation on the new recycling arrangements coming in this autumn.

If you can’t come along but would like me to raise an issue on your behalf, please let me know.

Here is an agenda: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/public/councillors/agenda/2009/0924areas/00.pdf

Now that the cycle lanes have been in place for a week, I’d be interested to know what people think of them.

I was first contacted about the land behind Rock Road Library by Lucy King, a pupil from Morley School, asking if she could turn into a proper garden. She not only sent me a hand-coloured picture of her vision of a garden but offered her labour and that of her friends too. I don’t get many letters from people of that age, so it has great to help her turn her dream into reality. 

A few more gardeners later, all from the local community, and support from both City and County Councils amongst others and I am pleased to say it’s now happening. They have relaunched the ‘Friends of Rock Road Library’ and will be running community events as well as creating a garden.

There is a mixture of schoolchildren from Lucy’s class and from Spectrum, Morley’s After-School Club, local residents and businesses.

A generous garden centre has already offered help and a landscape architect has worked with the Friends to draw up plans. You can see them on the Friends noticeboard as you enter the library.

The first digging session is on 12th September – if you’d like to join in, contact Jane Elliott — chair of the Friends’ Group and Head Gardener – on 710095 or email her at J.Elliott@ioe.ac.uk. See you there with your spade!

Cambridgeshire County Council has just announced two bits of news:

1. that the roadworks for the Guided Bus will finish on Sunday - good news even though it is six months late

2. that they will immediately start a 4-month trial of segregating cyclists and motor traffic by putting them in separate lanes on the uphill parts of the bridge, divided by a ‘rumble strip’ (white line to you and me). They are going to put in temporary kerbs and white lines on Sunday night as soon as they finish the Guided Bus work, so we will wake up on Monday morning to a new traffic layout.

It’s the second of these that takes my breath away. As a cyclist, it’s great news, as the bridge is just about the most dangerous place to cycle in Cambridge. It will make the bridge useable by less confident cyclists including children. However, it’s a shame the County didn’t give more warning before embarking on such a bold plan. They have consultation meetings and exhibitions next week (Tuesday at Hills Rd VI Form College, Thursday at St Paul’s Church) but they don’t have much time to tell people about them.

I hope the manic motorist tendency gives a fair trial to the new arrangements, but more important, I’m pleased that we will have a safer cycling environment for the 4,000 people who ride their bikes over the bridge every day.

To find out more, see http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/cambridgegateway