Susan van de Ven

Regular commuters at Shepreth will be attuned to timing of passing trains and the way the level crossing barriers come down to cover just the oncoming traffic lane. 

Getting off the train from Cambridge, while the level crossing is still down, it is easy for the hurried or absent-minded passenger to nip out the gate at the bottom of the platform and to cross the tracks to the other side of the road.  Often another train may be coming in the other direction.  The absence of a self-locking gate, activated when the level crossing bars go down (as at Foxton), means that passengers are not prevented from making this dangerous and risky move. 

I’ve twice asked First Capital Connect inspectors if this matter could be addressed and will be chasing it up.

As the pot hole catastrophe drags on, the problem of unadopted roads is coming into focus.

Residents will probably have noticed that some of the worst pot holes on our roads are now being filled  following the big freeze, thought the to-do list is phenomenally long.  

We’re also noticing that certain roads are not getting any attention at all, and driving or cycling along them is becoming more and more dangerous.  I know that I get off my bike and walk when I get to Angle Lane, Shepreth, or Vicarage Close, Melbourn, to name a couple.  These roads are ‘unadopted’ - meaning that the County Council Highways department has no responsibility for them.  

Every case must be looked at individually, but there is a common element of at least partial responsibility of those living along the road.   This seems particularly non-sensical where any type of low-cost housing is part of the equation.

Thanks to residents for raising questions about their own particular concerns - these are being put to Council officers for advice and I will be reporting back.

Things move slowly in local government and it is hoped that after bringing the matter to attention many months ago, a clean up of the A10 verges between Foxton Bottom and Frog End Shepreth will take place soon.

This comes under the District Council’s remit, and Environmental Health have acknowledged that the job needs doing.  Very generously, Shepreth WI have long done an annual litter pick around the village, but the A10 is in a class of its own in terms of volume of litter and also safety.

Walkers and cyclists will, hopefully, soon find the A10 path a little more pleasant than it is now - though we need to ensure that this job is planned by the District Council on a regular basis.

The new Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group will meet at 7PM, February 23rd, at the Elin Way Sheltered Housing Communal Room in Meldreth.  All welcome.

The purpose of the group will be to enable local rail users - whether regular or occasional users - to partipate in working toward improvements to local rail service.  We will receiving an update on the local rail campaign and discussing concerns to be brought forward.  Getting formally organised under the Rail Future umbrella will also be on agenda. 

 There is no obligation to contribute - please feel free to just come and listen.

Tickets are still available for the Victorian Magic Lantern show on January 30th, 7PM, Foxton Village Hall.  Tickets are £12.50 and include a homemade lasagne supper, pudding and popcorn.  Suitable for all ages.

Original Victorian glass slides on politics, jokes and world views of the day.  The show will be presented by Amanda and Michael Tuck, who are regulars at the Cambridge University Festival of Ideas.  Amanda is Headteacher at Petersfield Primary School in Orwell.

This is part of a series of Lib Dem Supper Clubs open to all.  Next is ‘Tibet, its Enigmas and Mysteries,’ by Melbourn resident Bruce Huett and Cambridge University Tibet scholar Dr Hildegard Deimberger, also at Foxton VH, March 12th.

For tickets please contact susanvandeven@yahoo.co.uk.

When former First Capital Connect Managing Director Elaine Holt came out to meet local rail users last year, she was asked to explain the business case for Meldreth and Shepreth station car parks.   Parking charges had recently been introduced.   This was a company matter, we were told.

A year on, the car parks remain mostly empty as commuters look for free spaces in residential areas nearby.  Meanwhile, CCTV camera, parking ticket machines, and all the associated paraphernalia of the pay-to-park system cost money.  Surely the revenue from these little used car parks can’t cover costs.

First Capital Connect have now agreed that a review is warranted.  The results are eagerly awaited.

At the January 19th Neighbourhood Police Panel meeting, it was agreed that speeding in Fowlmere Road, Heydon, should be put on the priority action list.

A recent spate of accidents has emphasized the need to get something done on this stretch of road, and special attention by the police, including speed checks, will hopefully give some extra weight to any measures which the parish council may want to propose to County Highways.

We’ll be awaiting with interest feedback from the police on their findings in Heydon.  The next panel meeting is on April 20, Foxton Village Hall.

The decision-making Traffic Management Committee meets January 18th, and as local member I will be presenting the following: 

When parish councillors and I were asked by County Highways for our views on a 20 mph speed limit trial in Melbourn, as an experimental 12-month scheme to be paid for out of pre-allocated County funds for five such schemes across Cambridgeshire, there was an enthusiasm and eagerness to take the next step of public consultation.  20 mph schemes pioneered in other parts of the country had signalled significant success in creating safer road conditions.

I’m sure that other councillors representing other villages will concur that speeding traffic is among the main issues raised by residents and parish councils, but rarely are solutions available.  Traffic calming measures cost money which the County Council has less and less of.  Police enforcement of speed limits is extremely difficult at best, due to a thinly spread and understaffed police force throughout the county.  Parish councils make regular requests for speed limit reductions, which Highways say it cannot grant, for a variety of reasons involving legal, policy and financial contraints.

So when a blanket speed reduction experiment was offered to Melbourn, albeit with a number of issues to be ironed out, the only justifiable next step seemed to be to take the matter to residents for consideration.

Information about the consultation was disseminated to every house in the village via the Melbourn Magazine; it was also published in the Cambridge News, the Royston Crow and on the village website.  I disseminated consultation contact details once in a paper leaflet distributed to every household, twice through my email newsletter, and on this website.  Two anonymously authored flyers strongly objecting to the scheme and containing some inaccurate information were also distributred in many areas of the village.  All in all, I think it’s fair to say that the topic made it into the public domain, however the level of background information and context has been limited.

A heated debate took place on the newly established village website.  While it is difficult to know the actual number of individuals taking part in that discussion, due to the usage of alias identities, clearly the subject of the 20 mph trial scheme was generating some difficult relations between people.  The parish council’s integrity was called into question on the website forum, on account of the fact that it is predominantly co-opted rather than elected.  Most parish councillor in Cambridgeshire are not subject to election, because insufficient volunteers come forward to trigger the election process.  Nevertheless, accusations still cause damage and for the parish council to be unfairly undermined in its ability to carry out its reponsibilities would be very unfortunate.

In some ways the reaction in Melbourn has been difficult to gauge, partly because of hidden identities on the website, but mainly because only a small percentage of the electorate - 2.8% - responded to the consultation.  Of that response, the view has been about five to one against the scheme.  The second anonymous flyer generated an obvious surge in negative responses.

Out of the opposition to the scheme, two points of particular importance stand out:

The first is that the speed limit will not be enforced, due to lack of police resources.  Some drivers would comply with the speed limit, and some would not, but the freedom to ignore the speed limit makes a mockery of the rule of law. Arbitrary enforcement would cause justified resentment. Bringing the law into disrepute is damaging. Many people have pointed out with some anger that the current 30 mph speed limit is not enforced.

The second is that the main speeding problems in the village appear to exist in exactly the areas left out by the proposed blanket limit - especially between Melbourn Science Park and Cherry Park Industrial Estate.  The parish council has strenuously argued with Highways that this area should be included in the proposed scheme, but Highways has responded that for legal and policy reasons, it cannot be.  Many councillors regard this as a major flaw in the design of the scheme, and this is an undermining factor all round.  Indeed, the parish council has written to me, saying that if this point cannot be resolved, then its support for the scheme will be weakened.

Regretfully, while my own view is that on balance a 20 mph speed limit would probably result in some lowering of the speed of traffic through the village, the following concerns now make it impossible for me to support going ahead with the trial:

1.  Lack of police enforcement to bring about a significantly consistent reduction in speed limit, causing confusion for drivers and pedestrians and also damage to the integrity of the law.

2.  The omission of an important section of the village, between Melbourn Science Park and Cherry Park Industrial Estate, from the trial area.

3.  It is worrying that the consultation has caused so much difficulty in terms of relations within the village, and while this has nothing to do with traffic issues, in my view it is nevertheless an important consideration.  The success of any trial  would depend on the willingness of the community to make it work, and a community that is in disagreement is the wrong foundation on which to begin.

To end on a positive note, I would like to express a huge thanks to the parish council and to residents for their willingness to consider and discuss this matter.  Adopting a pioneering role is not easy and I hope that the steps we have taken collectively will contribute useful knowledge to the introduction of future speed limit reduction schemes elsewhere. 

Earlier this week I was asked by the Cambridge News for my views on the proposed Melbourn 20 mph trial scheme, which the Traffic Management Area Joint Committee will be considering at their January 18th meeting.

My written response:  “As the representative body for the village, Melbourn Parish Coucnil has taken a strong lead in endorsing firt steps toward a trial scheme,and I will be continuing to support their consensus at the Traffic Management Area Joint Committee’s meeting on Monday. This includes some important suggestions for technical alterations to the layout of the scheme based on feedback from the public consultation.” 

Unfortunately my written response was not used, and the article published today gives a very different picture.  I have contacted the paper and they are aware of the mistake.

If you are the parent or carer of children under the age of five, you might like to come along to the newly established Story Time at Melbourn Library, located in The Moor, adjacent to the front entrance of Melbourn Village College (follow signs from the High Street).  This will take place Thursdays, 10-10:45, during term time, starting January 21.  All welcome and this activity is free of charge.

Thanks to local residents who have volunteered their free time to help at Story Time and in general - their enthusiasm to keep the library in good form has provided a big boost.