Liberal Democrat Community Newsletter
For Foxton, Heydon, Melbourn, Meldreth, Shepreth, Great Chishill and Little Chishill

We are writing to you, as your 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 email newsletter who would like to do so, please ask them to email philippajhart@btinternet.com, susanvandeven5@gmail.com, or jose@josehales.me.uk.

ELECTION DAY, MAY 5th: MELBOURN DISTRICT COUNCILLOR, CAMBS POLICE COMMISSIONER

On May 5th all registered voters will have the opportunity to cast a vote for the next Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner. The Liberal Democrat candidate is Rupert Moss-Eccardt: http://rupertmosseccardt.mycouncillor.org.uk/ .

South Cambridgeshire District Council currently elects seats in thirds, but in 2018 the ward boundaries will change and an entire new council will be elected. Meanwhile, in our division there is no District Council election this year for Foxton, Shepreth and Meldreth, but Melbourn, Heydon and Chishill will elect one of its two seats. The Liberal Democrat candidate is Alex Wasyliw, a local architect.

You can read the Liberal Democrat Manifesto for South Cambridgeshire – prioritizing affordable housing, rural business, environmental policies and transport planning – at http://www.sclibdems.org.uk/about.

BOUNDARY COMMISSION: UPDATE ON CHANGES FOR OUR VILLAGE CLUSTERS

We’re expecting any day now information on how to respond to the Boundary Commission’s re-consultation on County Council Division boundaries. As you may remember, there is much concern over the proposed splitting of the current Melbourn division and aligning Shepreth, Foxton, Heydon and Great and Little Chishill with villages stretching to Pampisford, Ickleton and Hinxton: this new division would encompass no village college, no common school catchment area, and no strategic transport commonalities. Meldreth and Melbourn would be aligned with Bassingbourn, forming another new division with two competing village colleges and no base of catchment primary schools. Both new divisions would be ill-equipped to form constructive village alliances. A map of proposed changes is here: https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/node/4143.

The Boundary Commission had already carried out a costly consultation process and published its results to take effect in 2017. Complaints about procedural issues have triggered a further late consultation, so there is a chance to make further representations. Indeed, it is important that the Boundary Commission receives feedback – if you are concerned about the current proposals, please do plan on responding. We will let parish councils know response details as soon as we have them, and can provide this to you directly on request.

HOUSING BILL: HOUSE OF LORDS ON THE CASE

A cross-party effort in the House of Lords is doing a great job of sending some of the harsher elements of central government’s Housing Bill – the right to buy housing association properties and means testing housing entitlement to existing council house tenants – back to the House of Commons for further consideration. The stock of council-owned homes in our villages has been greatly depleted through right-to-buy, and if housing association homes are subject to the same rules, that would reduce the supply of affordable housing even further. The Housing Bill will be debated in Parliament on Tuesday.

ROYSTON AND DISTRICT COMMUNITY TRANSPORT: NEW MINIBUS, NO PETROL

Government is stripping councils of the revenue support funding they need to run public services, and offering one-off capital grants – creating some not quite perfect outcomes. Large grants for buying new community transport vehicles have recently been awarded, but without revenue support to operate them.

Royston and District Community Transport has won funding for a new 16-seater minibus, which will be very helpful in helping to transport people young and old with mobility and access difficulties (including young parents with small children whose partners may need the single family car to get to work). However, government provides no funding to service, fuel and operate the minibus. The Conservatives’ recent freezing of Council Tax means even greater limitations on support for community transport.

This is a not-for-profit scheme which relies on a combination of volunteer and paid drivers. More at http://www.roytrans.co.uk/

VOLUNTEER DRIVERS NEEDED FROM HEYDON, GREAT CHISHILL AND LITTLE CHISHILL

Royston and District Community Transport serves Heydon and Great and Little Chishill and would love to hear from anyone living in those villages who could spare time to serve as a volunteer driver. Please ring 01763 245228.

STREET LIGHT REPLACEMENT EXCITEMENT RETURNS

Balbour Beatty, who are contracted to carry out the County Council’s street lighting replacement project, will be working along the A10 at the Frog End junction from the middle of May, for about 20 days. They write, ‘some barriers may appear as early as next week. This is a traffic route, traffic management will be arranged where necessary to ensure work can be carried out as effectively and safely as possible between the hours of 09:30 and 15:30. This date may be subject to change.’

Meanwhile, street lights in some roads in Melbourn and Meldreth are now switched off during the early morning hours, to save money. It was deemed too expensive to extend the switch off programme to smaller villages – an illustration of the dysfunctional state of the street lighting project and severely depleted County Council finances, where there is often no money to save money.

COLLAPSING EDGE OF KNEESWORTH ROAD

The edge of Kneesworth Road Meldreth is collapsing into the footway, itself in the process of disintegration. Please take extra care if you are in a car or on any kind of wheels. Thank you to people who have been in touch, about experiencing vehicle damage and the need to file insurance claims. County Highways is planning to fix the problem but the process is incredibly slow and frustrating. Unfortunately budget problems don’t make the matter any easier: the Highways staff has become much smaller than it was, and funds to repair roads have significantly reduced.

EU CAMPAIGNING IN MELBOURN, 14th MAY

If you would like to help support the campaign to remain in the EU, the Liberal Democrats are planning an action day in Melbourn on May 14. Please let us know if you’d like details on how to help.

More information about the the Stronger In campaign can be found at http://www.strongerin.co.uk/#v86GmY5Caucs2sjX.97

EU DEBATE MELBOURN HUB, 1st JUNE

Usually, it’s young people listening to the grown-up experts at the top table. This time the tables will be turned. How do young people aged 15-25 see the future of the UK, in or out of the EU? Everyone is invited to put their questions to the panel. The Out Panel will include Torrin Wilkins and Charlie Arbon, while the In Panel will include Sam Robinson and Ollie Kenzie. Lizzie Quinlan will chair the debate. Categories include Economy, Security, Democracy and Global Challenges. All welcome on June 1st, 7 for 7:30, at the Melbourn Hub.

HOW WOULD POST-BREXIT TRADE DEALS ACTUALLY WORK?

Dr Chris Grey has kindly agreed to give a talk on ‘Brexit: What would come next for UK Trade?’ Dr Grey is Professor of Organization Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, and a Shepreth resident, who has written widely on the practicalities of Brexit. Please do come along:

Friday 13 May, 7:45 PM, Elin Way Community Room, Elin Way, Meldreth
Friday 10 June, 7:45 PM, Foxton Village Hall meeting room.

Continental and British cakes, teas and coffee, and Bring Your Own Tipple. Free entry for all.

OH TO BE A MILESTONE!

Find out what’s been going on in the world of the A10 milestone at Foxton: http://susanvandeven.mycouncillor.org.uk/2016/04/30/historic-milestone-foxton-a10-permission-to-move-aside/#page-content

A10 ANNUAL CYCLE RIDE

The annual A10 Awareness Cycle Ride will take place on the morning of Sunday May 15, starting at Trumpington Park and Ride and heading out to Phillimore Garden Centre, Melbourn, for tea and cake. This will be a great opportunity to experience first-hand the new off-road cycle path connecting Harston to Foxton and Shepreth. It has been decided that the Royston-Melbourn segment is too dangerous to include on this year’s ride. We are continuing to work for a safe link to Royston, our nearest market town.

If you’d like more details, please ask to be put on the mailing list for the A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign, by writing to contacta10cycle@gmail.com. Or check out www.a10corridorcycle.com. The next meeting of the campaign will take place on June 7th, 7 for 7:30, at Sagentia, Harston Mill.

ACTION ON SPECULATIVE PLANNING APPLICATIONS

In Foxton we are waiting for the results of the appeal for 95 houses off Shepreth Road. In Melbourn we are working with County Education officers to ensure that all preparatory work is in place for the July appeal on the 199 houses off New Road. In Meldreth a strong working party has taken shape in anticipation of a planning application for 170 houses off Whaddon Road. Shepreth’s situation has been logged with Council Education officers. Meanwhile, the A10 Corridor Group will soon be hearing from the Council on GP and health services growth capacity in our area.

RAIL STATION AUDITS: HOW SHOULD OUR STATIONS GROW?

Two separate audits have been carried out on Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Stations, following on from our Community Rail Partnership’s work on identifying ways in which the stations could be improved in the short and longer term. As reported previously, footfall is increasing dramatically (about 10% overall just in the past year) and the roll-out of the new Thameslink service in 18 months’ time, with an increase from current four-car to at least eight-car trains, and hopefully a half-hourly off-peak service, will mean further growth in footfall. Car parking space has virtually run out at Meldreth and Shepreth and none of the stations are properly designed for passenger drop off, nor is cycle parking at the standard it should be.

Audits have been carried out by the national lobby group Railfuture as well as the operator, Govia Thameslink Railway, with participation by local businesses and District and County Councils. We are urging all our councils – parish, district and county – to think strategically about the need for infrastructure improvement and indeed the risks of failing to plan ahead.

STRESS-LESS, TAKE 5

MIND in Cambs has some very good, practical advice geared to students aged 12-18, about how to manage the exam period with less stress. Indeed, these are useful common sense tips for anyone trying to cope in a pressured environment! http://www.mindincambs.org.uk/Services/StressLESS

Mind continues to run a free wellbeing service at the Melbourn Hub – please ring Mind on Tel 01223 311320 to make an appointment. There are lots of ways you can support Mind, all listed on their website. These services are funded by Cambridgeshire County Council.

MELBOURN COMMUNITY EDIBLE GARDENING

This new gardening project has taken off in the grounds of Melbourn Primary School, aimed at giving children a first go at the fun and enjoyment of mucking around with earthworms and watching the results of seeds sown. This is aligned to the school’s family support work, and the aspiration is to spark interest in growing back garden vegetables as well as the fun of plant biology.

A few items of equipment are needed – if you have any of the following items spare, please let us know: pots, forks/spades, rakes, gloves, watering cans, folding camping table/wallpaper table, Trugs, vegetable seeds/seedlings/plants. Thank you very much to the new volunteers who have stepped forward to support this project, and for help and advice from the Meldreth Primary School Gardening Club.

ROCKET SCIENCE SEEDS GERMINATE

The Melbourn Village College STEM CLUB is taking part in Rocket Science, the experiment spearheaded by astronaut Tim Peake that compares the progress of seeds that have travelled in space with seeds that have not left Earth. Ten Melbourn Primary School children visited MVC to take part in the project launch, and will be heading back to the college to help track their progress.

SHEPRETH STATION POPPY GARDEN: SORRY M’LAUD, IT WAS ‘ACCIDENTAL HERBICIDE’

Preparation to reseed the Shepreth Station Poppy Garden has begun, following Network Rail’s ill-fated action back in August 2014. Please get in touch if you can lend a pair of hands to help out with occasional light work to help bring this once lovely garden back to life.

Please note that Network Rail’s new official ‘Memorial Garden’, surrounded by the partially painted white fence to the north of the Cambridge platform waiting shelter, is not maintained by the Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group.

COMMUNITY CHEST GRANTS

The latest tranche of funding for the very popular Community Chest grant scheme run by South Cambs District Council is now open. The funding is available to voluntary and community groups, charities and parish councils wishing to improve the quality of life for residents in South Cambridgeshire. Applicants can apply for up to £1,500 for improvements to community facilities, repairs to historic buildings/monuments/memorials, tree and hedge planting schemes, equipment and materials and project sttart-up costs.

Last year, the fund awarded over £84,000 to 73 community groups, supporting a wide range of local projects. For 2016-17, the fund has been reduced to £56,000. Full details about the fund and guidance on eligibility, visit https://www.scambs.gov.uk/communitychest

SHEPRETH AND HEYDON DRAIN INSPECTION

County Council Drainage and Flood Risk officers will be out in Shepreth and Heydon on May 3 and 20 respectively, for our new Highways liaison officer to see first-hand areas of concern where County Council action may be needed. A report and action list will be brought to the next parish council meetings. Parish and local resident support means the addition of valuable local knowledge. If you are interested in getting involved as a local resident, please let us know. We are still awaiting action in Meldreth following a similar initiative there. While things are much slower than we’d like, we still believe it is in our best interest to take the initiative.

POLICE CADETS

The new Police Cadets unit in Cambourne has just been launched and weekly meetings will take place on Tuesdays from 7.00 to 9.00pm. The Cadet Scheme is aimed at anyone aged 13 – 18. If you would like to find out more, please contact Hannah.Watson@cambs.pnn.police.uk

DROP-IN ADVICE SURGERY

We are at the Melbourn Hub every first Monday of the month between 2:30-3:30 – next on May 9th due to the Bank Holiday. No need to book – just come along. We can always arrange to meet you at a time that is more convenient for you, or closer to home. Our contact details are below.

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.

You can learn more about or join the Liberal Democrats at http://www.libdems.org.uk

Sincerely yours,

Philippa, Jose and Susan

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

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

This email was sent using the Liberal Democrat email list server.
Visit http://lists.libdems.org.uk/ to find out more about the lists you can join, or to control your membership of the list. You can leave this list by sending an email to
communitynewsletter-unsubscribe@lists.libdems.org.uk.

Printed (dispatched) by credativ Limited, Suite 2 Bloxam Court, Corporation Street, Rugby CB21 2DU. Published and promoted by and on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, 4 Cowley Street, London, SW1P 3NB, (020) 7222 7999

   Leave a comment