Liberal Democrat Community Newsletter March 2017

We are writing to you, as councillors and campaigners for our interlinked cluster of villages, to keep you informed of local issues involving the District and County Councils. If you would prefer not to receive this email newsletter, please reply asking to be removed from the distribution list. If you know of someone not receiving this newsletter who would like to do so, please ask them to contact philippajhart@btinternet.com, susanvandeven5@gmail.com, or jose@josehales.me.uk.

BUS INFORMATION EVENING APRIL 19

Due to understandable concern about the future of the 27 and other bus services in our villages, a public information evening will be held on 19 April, 7:30-9PM at the Elin Way Community Centre, Elin Way, Meldreth.

Royston and District Community Transport will be attending, as we are working together to help figure out solutions for people who may be caught out. If you need a lift to the meeting, please let us know.

A petition has been set up for the 27 bus – you can sign it online.

WHY ARE WE IN THIS TRANSPORT MESS?

Bus services were denationalized in the 1980s, and most buses are operated by private companies. Councils have no legal obligation to run bus services, however for many years they have stepped in to provide financial back-up to keep bus services running in areas where private companies don’t find a market. These ‘council-subsidized’ bus services are usually skeleton services only, but they do make it possible for many people to get to school, work, doctor’s appointments, to care for relatives and do food shopping, and other essentials.

Over the past several years, council budgets have been slashed – now reaching dramatic proportions as central government turns off the council funding tap. As a result, councils are cutting services which they are not legally obliged to provide, because the funding simply is no longer available.

The 26 and 27 buses have never been subsidized by Cambridgeshire County Council, but are commercial services run by a private company. Stagecoach propose to run an hourly service for the 26, from Royston via Melbourn, Dunsbridge Turnpike Shepreth, Foxton, Harston and Hauxton, and terminating at Trumpington Park and Ride, because they see a potentially profitable service – though they have made it clear that ultimately it depends on enough people actually using the bus.

At the same time, very worryingly, Stagecoach have announced that they are considering withdrawing the 27 service, because they say that not enough people are riding it to make business sense. The loss of the 27 would mean that people in Meldreth, Kneesworth, Bassingbourn, Litlington and the Mordens have no more bus service to Cambridge. People who depend on it would find this disastrous. Stagecoach say they could loop the 26 through Barrington and Haslingfield only – we have asked several times if they would loop through the Mordens, Litlington, Bassingbourn-cum-Kneesworth, Whaddon and Meldreth, but Stagecoach insist there are not enough people riding the bus to make this commercially viable.

The 15, 31, 127 and 128 buses all depend on council subsidies. They are secure for this coming year, thanks to a stay of execution on County Council bus subsidies – but as government support falls away in two years’ time, it is difficult to see where that funding will come from in the future.

Royston and District Community Transport may be able to help, by running an early morning/late afternoon shuttle service to link up with the 26 bus and/or Meldreth Station. This would necessitate hiring a driver, so it would need to be paid for. All to be discussed at the 19 April meeting.

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT: HOW MUCH FOR CAMBRIDGESHIRE?

As reported, central government is ending revenue support to councils. This policy was initiated by then Chancellor George Osborne and is winding down every year until 2020, when councils will receive nothing. Traditionally, about half of Cambridgeshire County Council’s annual spending for public services has depended on this support. Here are the recent wind-down figures, and projected figures to the end:

2013-14: £85.869 million
2014-15: £72.017 million
2015-16: £53.669 million
2016-17: £33.347 million
2017-18: £15.312 million
2018-19: £3.915 million
2019-20: £0

FAIRER FUNDING, CAMBRIDGESHIRE SCHOOLS

The government’s promise of fairer funding to Cambridgeshire schools is not panning out as hoped due the way funding is being structured. Schools are providing parents with suggested responses to the government consultation, which is quite technical. Most schools and colleges have posted the relevant information on their websites and provided it directly to parents by letter or email. It’s important that a strong consultation response is sent to government.

BREXIT AND A VILLAGE PRIMARY SCHOOL: THE PERFECT STORM

A South Cambridgeshire head teacher who lives locally has raised concerns about the impact of Brexit on the viability of small village schools. Claire Turner’s blog can be found here.

The broader context is set out in the Cambridge News.

VIEW PLANS FOR MELBOURN PRIMARY SCHOOL

A public exhibitions will take place on 22 March, 3:30-7PM, at Melbourn Primary School – plans to expand the school, in line with population growth in the area, have been drawn up. This event is open to all. More information on the school website.

TEACH IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE

In response to the Cambridgeshire teacher shortage, a ‘Getting into Teaching’ event is being organized by Cambridgeshire County Council for anyone interested in a teaching career. All welcome at Anglia Ruskin University on Tuesday 18 April, 6-8PM. Please sign up on line.

30 HOURS FUNDED CHILDCARE FOR WORKING PARENTS

From September 2017 working parents of three and four-year-olds will be entitled to 30 hours per week of funded childcare and early learning – a doubling of the current universal entitlement. In order to access the additional hours, parents will need to complete an online check, and will receive a code to redeem with a childcare provider. There is a new website for parents and providers.

HM Revenue and Customs have already written to some families to raise their awareness of the forthcoming increase, but if you’ve not heard from them please head to the website.

TAX-FREE CHILDCARE

Tax-Free Childcare is to start from April 2017. Parents can register using their tax code to create a special online account with HMRC and will then be able to open an on-line childcare account, which they will use to pay for their childcare directly.

For every £8 a parent pays in, the government will pay in an extra £2. Parents can receive up to £2,000 per child, per year, towards their childcare costs, or £4,000 for disabled children – separate from funded entitlements. The offer will be available for children up to the age of 12, or 17 for children who are disabled. To qualify, both parents will have to be in work, and each expecting to earn at least £115 a week – and not more than £100,000 each year.

MOBILE WARDEN SERVICE THRIVING IN MELBOURN, MELDRETH AND SHEPRETH

The Melbourn Mobile Warden Service is now operating very well in Meldreth and Shepreth, where local people have also signed up to work as wardens. Parish councils in all three villages are providing financial support for the service. If you have any questions or would like to know more about the scheme, please see the Melbourn Mobile Warden Scheme website.

LITTER PICK ON DANGEROUS ROADS

Philippa has been liaising with South Cambridgeshire District Council on litter picking along the A10 where it is too dangerous for volunteer working parties to help with litter picking. The recent March 3rd Meldreth village action day saw a huge amount of litter collected from residential areas, as evident from the mountain of black bags piled up at the Stocks. Many thanks to all who participated.

MELBOURN DRAINAGE ACTION GROUP: 22 MARCH PUBLIC INFORMATION EVENING

The County Council does a fair bit of good drainage maintenance work, but more attention is always needed. To maximize opportunities in Melbourn, a Drainage Action Group has been set up, working with local residents and the parish council.

Earlier this week, Jose, Susan and the Parish Council Chair toured Melbourn drainage hot spots with Highways officers. The plan is to work closely with County Highways officers, sharing local knowledge about problem areas and also, sharing prevention information with the community. If you’d like to know more, or get involved, all welcome to a public information meeting on 22 March, 7:30PM, upstairs at the Melbourn Hub.

KNEESWORTH ROAD/WHADDON ROAD JUNCTION ACCIDENT SPOT: REMEDIAL WORKS

Remedial accident measures, including bollards, signage and lining, are on the way at Kneesworth Road/Whaddon Road junction, Meldreth. The County Council’s Road Safety budget has been greatly reduced, so even at accident blackspots like this one it is only possible to introduce measures that fall within available funding, as opposed to optimum measures.

SUPERFAST BROADBAND GAPS

The County Council’s Connecting Cambridgeshire project, designed to facilitate the roll-out of Superfast Broadband where commercial providers show no interest, is going well – but there are exceptions where investigations and interventions are required. Here are the areas we are aware of where anomalies still exist.

Bassingbourn: Some premises are connected to a commercial cabinet (‘Royston 10’) that is now at capacity. The Council is putting pressure on BT to increase the capacity on cabinets as soon as they are full, but inevitably there’s a waiting period. As this is a commercial cabinet, the council does not have sight of plans. There is also a small group of intervention area premises without superfast broadband access because their lines are connected directly to the exchange – it is doubly frustrating for these residents as the BT wholesale checker shows that they should be able to order but they can’t. These premises are in scope for Phase 3 (summer 2017 – end 2018) but the council is not yet sure if they will be covered, so may need to look at alternative options such as a Community Fibre Partnership registration for these residents.

Meldreth: Mary’s Way and Burtons are included in Phase 3 (summer 2017-end 2018).

Shepreth: Gaps in provision should be resolved by the end of June 2017.

Whaddon: Some outlying premises at Whaddon Gap are not yet covered, and are included in Phase 3 (summer 2017-end 2018).

SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS: THE CAMBRIDGESHIRE PICTURE

For those interested in trends in local services for rural areas, Cambridgeshire ACRE (the rural community council for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough) has published this report, based on an extensive survey of parish councils.

SEEDING NEW PATH VERGES WITH WILDFLOWERS

Thanks to a generous grant from the TTP Group, the new Shepreth-Melbourn walking/cycling path is being planted with a specialist wildflower mix, to enhance biodiversity. Thanks also to Skanska for providing high viz gear and Manit for donating six children’s rakes. The first seed scattering party took place on March 19, to be followed on March 26 and April 3, all from 1:30-3:30PM. On the 26th, we will be working southward from the Shepreth end of the path.

Cubs, Scouts, Brownies, Guides, Duke of Edinburgh students especially welcome. Please bring a rake, if possible. Cakes will be provided. Any questions, please contact Susan or the A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign.

A10 CORRIDOR CYCLING CAMPAIGN

The next campaign meeting, focusing on a safe walk/cycle connection to Royston, will take place on 18 April, 7 for 7:30-9:00PM, at Sartorius Stedim opposite Royal Mail on the Royston Industrial Estate. Please get in touch if you need a lift to the meeting.

MELDRETH PLATFORM EXTENSION: NOT HAPPENING, SAY NETWORK RAIL

At the Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group last week, Network Rail representatives announced that they will not be extending the platform at Meldreth. There will be no change at Foxton and Shepreth, where the Cambridge-bound platform extensions are happening. The reason given for excluding Meldreth was ‘to save taxpayers money.’

This is concerning because contracts and all necessary planning – including bus replacement services – are in place. Footfall is growing at 10% per year, and this will likely increase with the rollout of the Thameslink half-hourly off-peak service in 2018 – platforms are getting crowded. Meldreth would be the only station between London King’s Cross and Cambridge without an elongated platform on the Cambridge-bound side of the tracks, and it is highly unlikely that adaptions would be carried out in the future as the cost would of doing just one station would be so much higher. Susan has written to the Network Rail Managing Director to ask if this decision can be reconsidered.

SOUTH CAMBS MAGAZINE: ARE YOU GETTING IT?

The spring edition of the quarterly residents’ magazine will be delivered to all homes in the district between 28 February and 19 March. If anyone in has not received a magazine by Monday 20 March please ask them to contact Smart Distribution on scdc@smartdistribution.co.uk or 0800 6444 011 or Gareth Bell on communications@scambs.gov.uk or 01954 713289.

ELECTIONS

May 4 is Election Day for all County Council Divisions. This ushers in new boundary configurations, taking effect straight away after the election. If you want to stand for election, register to vote or find out more, information is here. http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/info/20198/elections_2017

Foxton, Shepreth, Heydon and Great and Little Chishill will join with Fowlmere, Thriplow Village, Thriplow Heathfield, Whittlesford, Duxford, Pampisford, Ickleton and Hinxton to form the new ‘Duxford Division’.

Meldreth, Melbourn, Whaddon and Bassingbourn will join to form the new ‘Melbourn and Bassingbourn Division’.

A new mayor will also be elected. If you’d like to meet the Lib Dem candidate Rod Cantrill, a Cambridge-based businessman who has worked on South Cambs transport issues, he will knocking on doors in our villages on 29 March. Please let us know if you’d like to meet him and he will be sure to drop by.

DROP-IN ADVICE SURGERY

Next drop-in advice surgery, Melbourn Hub Café: 3 April, 4-5PM (time change this month only).

ANY ITEMS WE CAN HELP TO RAISE?

We would be delighted to address any concerns you may have, or help raise awareness of issues affecting our community via this newsletter.

WHAT WE STAND FOR

The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. Learn more about or join the Liberal Democrats here.

Sincerely yours,

Susan, Philippa and Jose

Susan van de Ven, County Councillor for Foxton, Heydon, Melbourn, Meldreth, Shepreth and the Chishills
susanvandeven5@gmail.com, www.susanvandeven.com, Tel 07905325574, @susanvandeven

Philippa Hart, District Councillor for Meldreth and Shepreth
philippajhart@btinternet.com, Tel 01763 261255

Jose Hales, District Councillor for Melbourn, Heydon and the Chishills
jose@josehales.me.uk, Tel 01763 221058

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