Real Time Information is the technical term for the lighted panels at bus stops that tell you how long your bus will take to arrive. Quite handy when you are trying to work out whether to get the bus that doesn’t take you quite where you want to go, or wait for the next direct one; or even to decide whether or not you’d be quicker just walking.

We’ve been asked for views on which of the following stops benefit, or would benefit most from RTI displays. If you use buses from these stops, please give us your views:

• Mowbray Road opposite Mander Way (inbound)
• Mowbray Road near Mander Way (outbound)
• Mowbray Road near Glebe Road (inbound)
• Mowbray Road opposite Glebe Road (outbound)
• Mowbray Road near Holbrook Road (inbound)
• Mowbray Road opposite Holbrook Road (outbound)
• Wulfstan Way opposite no 13 (outbound)
• Wulfstan Way outside no 13 (inbound)
• Wulfstan Way opposite Queen Edith Chapel (outbound)
• Wulfstan Way outside Queen Edith Chapel (inbound)

Why are we waiting?

Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have launched a petition to reverse the Tories’ 100 per cent cuts to rural bus services.

The petition, started by county councillor Susan van der Ven, “Stopping the cuts to bus services in Cambridgeshire” reads:

“We the people of Cambridgeshire are opposed to the Conservative County Council’s decision to scrap 100% of funding for subsidised buses, which led to an application for Judicial Review.

“Socially necessary bus services are vital to the whole of Cambridgeshire, especially for young people who need to access to centres of employment, those with mobility issues who wish to access the wider community and its resources, and for tackling the root problem of ‘rural isolation’.

“We also believe that the “Cambridgeshire Future Transport” project, to which half of bus funding has been transferred, is fundamentally flawed and not capable of delivering an adequate replacement for the existing public transport network, never mind the improved system that has been promised.

“We call on the Conservative administration to reinstate 100% of the cuts to bus funding and to conduct a systematic view of Cambridgeshire residents’ transport needs before making any changes to it.”

The petition can be found here: http://epetition.cambridgeshire.public-i.tv/epetition_core/view/Buses

Are you considering a street party to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee or the Olympics this summer?

Cambridge City Council is waiving its usual road closure fees for parties in Cambridgeshire marking the Diamond Jubilee or the Olympic Games. The application process has been simplified too, to make it easier for people to mark the two big events. Anyone who would like to hold a party can contact the City Council on 507176, or visit the Council’s website on this topic.

People putting on the party as part of a group might also want to consider applying for a grant to help pay for it. The South Area Committee has funding for community events, and should contact the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation to find out how to apply – telephone 41535, or email info@cambscf.org.uk.

50 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE KNOWN ABOUT JUBILEES

The Queen is the oldest monarch to celebrate a Jubilee. But who was the youngest? Find out here:

After a lovely mild autumn, it is now  feeling appropriately wintry for December!

Which calls to mind an idea first put to me last summer when the temperature was a balmy 82 degrees. It is a creative scheme to help the vulnerable elderly.

The people who came up with it are the creative folk at Cambridgeshire Community Foundation (CCF), a charity that matches grant givers to groups or individuals in need of funds.

Here’s how it works:

Most people over 60 receive a Winter Fuel Payment of between £100-300. It’s what is called a universal state benefit, so everyone eligible for a pension gets it. I know it is much appreciated by many older people, who need the extra money to heat their homes properly, yet I hear some people say they are comfortably off and can manage perfectly well without state benefits.

Here is an answer for them. If they prefer to give the money to help someone less fortunate, they can donate their Winter Fuel Payments to the CCF’s Winter Fuel Fund. The Fund will go to charitable projects for older people – for example, it might pay for an old lady to go and have lunch at a day centre one day a week, or for an outing. People can register their interest on line at http://www.cambscf.org.uk/the-winter-fuel-fund.html; or email Sam Weller at sam@cambscf.org.uk.

Schools, churches, councils, the police and fire service are coming together next Tuesday to celebrate Christmas outside the Wulfstan Way shops in Queen Edith’s.

There will be children’s craft activities (under 5s) from 5.30, then the Mayor of Cambridge, Cllr Ian Nimmo-Smith, will switch on the Christmas lights at 6 p.m. Next comes a community carol-singing, with special performances by the choirs of St James’s, St John’s and the Queen Edith Primary School.

It is hoped Father Christmas will come to join the fun.

See you there. Click here to download a programme.WWXmas2011

At the South Cambridge Area meeting this week (7th November), police agreed two new priorities:

• attending the Morley and Queen Edith’s Primary Schools and Homerton Children’s Centre to crack down on illegal or dangerous driving and parking
• cycle theft in Trumpington, as there has been a big increase in the last few months, mainly in Hills Road

They will continue with these objectives from the last quarter, slightly adapted to take account of offenders moving from one area to another:

• moped misuse in Queen Edith’s and Cherry Hinton
• anti-social behaviour and drug misuse in Cherry Hinton

Thanks to Mrs Ann Winter from Queen Edith’s, who addressed the meeting about the problems experienced with bad driving and parking in Godwin Way (the road where Queen Edith’s Primary School is). The petition for yellow lines on the Godwin Way/ Close corner now has nearly 50 signatures: do sign it if you haven’t already. Thanks to Layla Vandenbergh, who has put it on line on the County Council’s website: http://epetition.cambridgeshire.public-i.tv/epetition_core/view/GodwinParking. I have paper copies to sign if anyone would like one.

The next South Area meeting on 7th November will include a discussion on police priorities. The meeting’s at the Cherry Hinton Village Centre and open to everyone. It starts at 7.30 and we anticipate the policing discussion will begin by 8 p.m. You can view an agenda  for this meeting on the City Council website, as well as the police crime statistics and reports on the last few months.

The police come to the South Area meetings once every two months to put forward priorities for the next period and hear views from the public, including suggestions for new priorities.At the last meeting, we asked them to prioritise mini-moto anti-social behaviour, and it will be interesting to see what the police have to say about that.

One priority I intend to suggest is driving behaviour near schools. I regularly receive complaints about motorists parking on corners, on yellow zigzags, or blocking the road outside schools – creating a very hazardous environment for everyone, especially children.

If you are concerned about a particular type of crime or nuisance, or have something you would like to propose as a priority, come along to the meeting if you can. It starts at 7.30 p.m. and the police priority setting is the first major item after public questions. If you can’t make it, please pass your idea to me or one of the other councillors for Queen Edith’s, Cherry Hinton or Trumpington and we can put it forward on your behalf, with your permission.

The meeting will also be discussing where to put new CAB advice hubs (see previous post). After that it will determine three planning applications:

11/0900/FUL Hills Road Sixth Form College Sports Ground, Sedley Taylor Road (a new pavilion)

11/0873/FUL 12a Drayton Close (annexe to existing residence

11/0202/FUL 31 Beaumont Road (change of use from private dwelling house in multiple occupation)

Advice hub

Cambridge Citizens Advice Bureau and has 16 touch screen kiosks giving advice on a range of issues, including housing, employment, debt and benefits. The kiosks make it easier for people to get advice, by providing it where people are, and in a variety of languages. Nine of them are earmarked for Cambridge City, funded by Cambridge City Council.

There are kiosks at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the City Council’s Mandela House amongst other locations, and the CAB is looking for some more places in the city to put kiosks. They are visiting the City Council’s South Area meeting on 7th November to gather feedback. The meeting, open to all, starts at 7 p.m. and this item will be taken after public questions and the police report. If you cannot attend the meeting, do send any thoughts to me or one of the other councillors for Queen Edith’s, Trumpington or Cherry Hinton.

Download an agenda: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/democracy/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=882&x=1

CHYPPS (Children’s and Young People’s Participation Service) is running a series of play activities this half term. They take place all over the city the ones closest to here are on Tuesday at Accordia (off Brooklands Avenue) and Wednesday at Cherry Hinton Hall. Here is the full programme:

Monday 24 October

• Artz Mania at Bramblefields, 1-3pm
• Spooky Art and Games at Newton, 2-4pm

Tuesday 25 October

• Spooky Reccy on the Pulley, 5-7pm
• Spooky Reccy on Accordia Green, 5-7pm
• Pop in at Newton Q (11yrs plus), 7-9pm

Wednesday 26 October

• Joy of Elder at Cherry Hinton Hall, 11am-1pm
• Twilight Reccy at Trumpington, 5-7pm

Thursday 27 October

• The Dec at Kingfisher Way, 1-3pm
• Family Fun at Trumpington, 1-3pm
• Spooky Reccy at Ditton Fields, 4-5.30pm

Friday 28 October

• Spooky Reccy at St Albans Rec, 12-2pm
• Picnic Reccy at Jack Warren Green, 12-2pm
• Reccy at Jesus Green, 3-5pm

For more information about any of the ChYpPS projects, email chypps@cambridge.gov.uk or telephone 01223 457873.

I attended a hearing of Cambridge City Council‘s Licensing Panel, which granted a premises licence to Sainsbury’s for its new store on the Cambridge Leisure Park. The store is not trading yet, but is likely to open early next year, underneath the budget hotel — and opposite Tesco’s.

As explained in my previous post, the Leisure Park was designated a cumulative impact zone.because of high levels of booze-fuelled crime in the Hills Road/ Cherry Hinton Road area and a high number of places selling alcohol – 17 on the Leisure Park alone, plus wine shops and off-licences nearby. This means that new drinks licences are only issued if the applicant can demonstrate that their operation will not make existing alcohol-related crime worse.

Premises licence applications are not well publicised, and they go through automatically if there are no objections. When I first heard about this one, there were no objections on file, so I put in my own. I did this because first: I cannot see how a new store selling alcohol can avoid making the alcohol-related crime worse, and secondly: because I thought the proposed finish time of 11 p.m. was too late. I asked that if the committee were minded to approve the application, that the drinks sales should stop at 9 p.m., as does the Sainsbury’s in St Andrew’s Street.

There have been three other objections: one from the manager of the Essentialz shop on the Hills Road Bridge, one from the chair of the Rustat Road Residents’ Association, and one from the police. The objections performed a function, as they enhanced the dialogue between the police and the supermarket, so that by the time of the meeting yesterday, the application had been amended for the better, including an earlier closing time of 10 p.m. (for the drinks sales, not the store). There was also an undertaking to provide security guards on Friday and Saturday nights, and to have the alcohol area locked with shutters outside licence hours. There will be no strong beer or cider on sale and Sainsbury’s will operate a policy of asking anyone  looking under 25 to show ID. They will join CAMBAC, (Cambridge Businesses Against Crime).

The police and the residents’ association were satisfied with the changes and withdrew their objections, but the hearing still went ahead, as there were still two objections sustained.

I am impressed with the provisions that have been put in place and I hope they work. Sainsbury’s assured us that they have a national pricing policy and are not likely to get into a price war with Tesco’s (also on the Leisure Park) – but there are other outlets nearby and I hope they behave responsibly too.

We shall wait and see.