County Council Highways officers are coming to the next South Cambridge Area meeting on 11th July to hear what we think of the 20mph speed limit trial in the Wulfstan Way area. Officers would like to make it permanent. The scheme has been running for just over a year and covers Wulfstan Way, Gunhild Way and Godwin Way, and the three cul-de-sacs in that area.

The Wulfstan Way area was chosen because it has a lot of of pedestrians and cyclists, and several community facilities – churches, schools, doctors’ surgeries and shops.

The police will be at the meeting too, so there will be a good opportunity to evaluate the trial – and to ask for more support from them in terms of enforcement. I have also had suggestions that the lower speed limit should be more clearly signed, a very valid point. Clearly those two things need to work together.

The meeting takes place on Monday 11th July at the Cherry Hinton Village Centre, starting at 7.30 p.m. Or if you cannot attend, please comment here or on the Queen Edith’s Facebook page.

I would also welcome views on other streets which would benefit from 20mph zones, as the Government has just relaxed the rules, meaning local people can get 20mph speed limits put in with much less bureaucracy and at lower cost.

St John the Evangelist Church will be holding a graden party this Saturday, 18th June, 2.30 – 4.30 p.m.

There will be musical entertainment, cream teas, books to browse, tombola, and fair trade goods to browse.

There’s also a raffle with unusually good prizes, including a voucher for Don Pasquale.

I’ll be on the book stall – see you there!

George, Amanda and Jean at Rock Rd Library

It is looking increasingly likely that the Conservative-run Cambridgeshire County Council will close Rock Road Library unless the community can offer a solid proposal to keep it going. The Friends of Rock Road Library estimate that we need to raise £6,000 a year and 40+ volunteers. They are conducting a questionnaire to establish what practical and financial support members of the community may be able to offer to keep the library open.

As the chair of the Friends, Jane Elliott, puts it, ‘We are not just looking for opinions now; we are looking for your help!’

Please respond to the Friends’ questionnaire here if you can commit either time or money on a regular basis.

The County Council is already preparing to make cuts in opening hours and they are conducting their own survey on this. Rock Road is set to lose its evening opening. There is nowhere on the questionnaire to object to that – regrettable, since it will leave only Saturday morning for many working people to visit the library. They are asking our views on which days/ half days the library should be open. The questionnaire runs until 18th June and you can complete it on line, pick up a printed copy at the library, or download a copy here. Rock Road Questionaire PR

On a more cheerful note – and boy, do we need one! – the Friends are putting on a talk on 23rd June on Gardening with Wildlife. The speaker is Neil Renwick from Fen Drayton Lakes, the bird-watchers’ paradise near Swavesey. Thursday 23rd June, 7.30 – 9.00 p.m. at the library. It’s free to attend, but donations to the RSPB are requested.

Monkey not listening

Following a health debate at the April meeting of Cambridge City Council, Council Leader Sian Reid issued an invitation to attend a public debate on the government’s health ‘reforms’ to both the city’s MPs, Julian Huppert and Andrew Lansley.

Cambridge City MP, Julian Huppert accepted the invitation very quickly, but nearly two months later, we still await a response from the Rt Hon Andrew Lansley, MP for South Cambridgeshire (into which Queen Edith’s falls) but better known as Secretary of State for Health and the architect of the government’s planned changes to health service commissioning.

This is disappointing since here in Queen Edith’s, we have Addenbrooke’s Hospital. The Addenbrooke’s NHS Trust employs some 7,000 staff, many of whom live in the city. The proximity of the hospital also means we have a high proportion of residents with long-term illness.

During the election campaign and since, I fielded questions about the future of the health service from staff concerned about service provision and of course their own jobs. It would be good to hear it from the horse’s mouth.

Following the concerns at his plans voiced at the Lib Dem conference in Birmingham, Mr Lansley declared that he would listen.He said that government will “take the opportunity of a natural break in the passage of the bill to pause, to listen and to engage with all those who want the NHS to succeed”.

What better place to listen and engage with the public and those working in the health service than Cambridge? In fact, what better area than Queen Edith’s?

We look forward to hearing from our M.P.

Paper people

Homerton Children’s Centre, Holbrook Road, is running a series of free parenting courses:

• First Aid, safety in the home
• Back to work course
• 123 Magic; parenting course

All of the courses are free. To book, contact Carly Bareham at the Centre

There’s also a Careers Fair coming up, plus a range of half-term activities for children.

Peter Facey, Director of Unlock Democracy, will be leading a Policy Forum on Thursday evening for the Liberal Democrats.

In the light of the AV referendum, and with the Coalition’s House of Lords reform proposals just announced, an interesting evening of facts, visions, reflections, debates and hopes is in prospect. Do come along!

Venue: Ramsey Hall, St Luke’s Church, Victoria Road, Cambridge Start time: 7.30 p.m. 19th May 2011

ENTRY FREE!

Cambridgeshire library managers will be visiting the South Area meeting at the Queen Edith Chapel in Wulfstan Way this Wednesday. They’ll be doing a presentation on the Conservative administration’s library review and seeking the views of the public on the planned changes as well as ideas on the library service and its future viability. The Conservative councillor in charge of the library service has been invited but at this stage we are not certain if he is intending to come. As many local people will know, our own branch library, Rock Road Library, is under threat of closure or downgrade, so please come and speak up.

There’ll also be a presentation on the City Council’s new recycling services (batteries, other plastics, small electrical goods) as described in my previous post ‘Cambridge recycling just gets better and better‘.

and three planning applications:

65 Cavendish Avenue (11/0262/FUL)

37 Monkswell (11/0242FUL)

1 Mowbray Road (11/0535FUL)

You can read the full agenda here: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/democracy/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=122&MId=374&Ver=4.

Swap your old stuff for new stuff next Saturday.

Bring along your unwanted but still useable items to pass on to others, or take something others have left. It’s like Freecycle without the Internet or a cash-free bring & buy!

No electrical goods and portable items only please, eg books, clean clothes, shoes and household items. If you have something large (eg a sofa) please bring along a photo, short description and your contact details.

This is part of a Family Fun Day being organized by the Queen Edith’s Community Forum and Cambridge City Council, and will take place outside the shops on Wulfstan Way. Any queries, please email mark.buckton@cambridge.gov.uk.