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:

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

The Government is conducting a review of parliamentary constituency boundaries, to cut down the number of MPs and even up the number of people in each parliamentary constituency, ie the number who elect each MP. The Boundary Commission is responsible for carrying out the review and they are holding a hearing at the Gonville Hotel in Cambridge now (10th-11th November)

As readers of the Queen Edith’s Focus and this website will know (Queen Edith’s is in Cambridge!), I am disappointed that they are not taking this opportunity to restore Queen Edith’s to its rightful place as part of the Cambridge City constituency, and I have made a submission to the Boundary Commission, which I reproduce at the end of this post.

You can comment in person at the Gonville Hotel Cambridge hearing today, or on line at the Boundary Commission’s website before 5th December.

(more…)

Queen Edith’s Liberal Democrats are organizing a family games afternoon on 29th October, at Morley Memorial Primary School on Blinco Grove (5-8 p.m.).

Come and enjoy a traditional game – bring your own or play Monopoly/ Cleudo/ Scrabble with us.

Tickets £7 adults, £1.50 children, to include slices of pizza and drink. Available from me: amanda@ajtmail.co.uk or phone 249787.

Proceeds go towards producing our regular FOCUS newsletter.

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.

Would you like to see a Farmers’ Market in Queen Edith’s? Possibly outside the Wulfstan Way shops, or in the Hills Road area?

A farmers’ market is a market in which farmers, growers or producers from a defined local area are present in person to sell their own produce, direct to the public. All products sold should have been grown, reared, caught, brewed, pickled, baked, smoked or processed by the stallholder. For more information, see http://www.farmersmarkets.net/

Farmers’ markets are a great way of bringing producers and customers from the same area together. Not only do they support the local economy, but they gives you fresh and healthy food and they reduce food miles – helping the environment as well as making life easier for those who cannot get into town easily.

If you’d like to be involved, please contact me.

books

The Save Cambridgeshire  Libraries petition was presented to Tory county councillors at Shire Hall yesterday (28th September). It is the Conservative administration at the County Council that we need to persuade to keep our libraries in their current form. Professor Jane Elliott, the chair of the Friends of Rock Road Library, spoke eloquently of the need for a professional service rooted in the local community.

The 8,000+ names calling for Cambridgeshire County Council to keep libraries open with professional librarians were presented to Cambridgeshire County Council’s Cabinet at Shire Hall and the Cabinet  heard from campaigners from various Cambridge libraries. There was a strong contingent from Rock Road Library to ‘welcome’ the councillors – you may have seen us on the news. If not, you may still catch it at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rpwxj.

Thank you to all the people who signed the petition, emailed friends, stood around in school playgrounds, as well as everyone still involved with the campaign.

Here is the wording of the petition, which garnered 2,500 electronic signatures and 5,500 on paper. Stupendous.

We the undersigned call upon Cambridgeshire County Council to reject proposals to close libraries or to replace the existing professional service with a reduced service run by volunteers. We believe that libraries are a vital part of the community.

The Council has now dropped its plan to set up a Trust to manage the library service but is still looking at the use of volunteers. While we know there are many people who value their libraries and are willing to spend some of their own time helping to work in the library and raise funds, there is still a need for the experience and expertise of professional librarians.

Co-location, putting public services together is an interesting idea if it can work without too much compromise. Books and bookcases however, do not move easily, so it may be more practical for other services to come to the library rather than for the library to move elsewhere.

lady and coffee

Welcome to the newest establishment on Wulfstan Way – The Coffee House & Takeaway, which opened last month where E C Sandwich used to be.

There’s a good range of snacks, including various different types of bread with British, Italian, Greek, French and Polish names, all with various tasty fillings, and a range of cakes, many of them seriously chocolatey. They do a takeaway service as well – phone them on 07763 652717.

For drinks, you’re in for a treat. The coffee is freshly ground and there’s also a brilliant choice of teas and tisanes, with the popular classics such as English Breakfast joined by some unusual ones, such as Russian Caravan and Belfast Brew. Served in a proper teapot too. There’s also a range of fruit tisanes and teas – and, as the menu puts it so nicely, ‘Fairtrade to boot’.

With nearby parking and an array of small shops selling everything from speciality cakes to wonton soup, this is a great place to stop off after a trip to the shops or after dropping off children at school, or when you go to collect a prescription.

I wish Lorel, the manager, and the new Coffee House all the best.

CHYPPS stands for Children’s and Young People’s Participation Service. They run play and youth activities throughout the year, including SummerDaze, a programme of things to do for children in different parts of Cambridge throughout the school holidays. Anyone can go.

The nearest places to find CHYPPS round here are:

• Cherry Hinton Hall,
• Coleridge Recreation Ground
• Nightingale Recreation Ground
• Gunhild Close Recreation Ground.

There’s loads of activities to choose from, but some of the highlights are a carnival, a Mad Hatters’ Tea Party, an alien space invasion, and visits from the Archaeology & Anthropology Museum and Botanic Garden.