Filed my report to the parish council at Little Abington who meet tomorrow evening - Gt Abington met last Monday the last one of July and most PCs don't meet again until September.
I've entered for the Abingtons 10Km roadrace which takes place in the autumn!
County Councillor Report
peter.topping@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
County Report to Lt Abington Parish Council - July 2014
1. The County Council has signed the City Deal along with South Cambs and the City Council, thereby unlocking significant sums for infrastructure investment.
2. Broadband. The junction boxes are being upgraded ready for super-fast broadband (SF BB) to be made available for Little Abington from SEPTEMBER. This is phase 3 of the roll-out so certainly not the end of the queue. This work means that homes and businesses can receive superfast broadband speeds (minimum 24Mbps)* while others will be able to receive fibre broadband speeds of between 2Mbps and 24 Mbps.
3. Streetlighting - I have not had any indication when any removal of county council owned streetlighting might take place but will continue to monitor.
4. The park and ride car parks are now charging people - which is a pity and will not help encourage people to leave their cars on the perimeter of the City.
5. There is a review of the costs of county council recycling facilities going on and one possible outcome could be that the site at Thriplow is not open seven days a week, as currently, and may close one or two days during the week. I will keep this under review. My concern is that it could lead to an increase in flytipping.
Traffic, roads and transport
The County has received another £1.9m to spend on potholes as well as the £1.5m it was given earlier in the year so now is the time to keep the pressure on if there are holes that residents have noted and need filling in. I have spoken to the chair of the relevant committee and I intend to talk to Mike Cooper at the Whittlesford depot when he is back from leave for a progress report.
Sept 12 is the date by which bids for the county local highways improvement initiative have to be made. The bids from last year's process that were on the reserve list may still get the funding but this is likely to be decided closer towards the end of the year when funding positions are clearer. At the moment the schemes that were successful are still being worked on so it is too early to say if Little Abington's bid might be brought in and progressed.
Looking to this year's scheme I understand that a joint bid with Gt Abington Parish Council is being considered to apply for a 20 mph zone in the centre of the villages near the school and the shop. I think this is a scheme that the county council highways officers would support given that it covers a discrete area where there is a clear need. If this bid - or another scheme - is going to be put forward then there are three things that parish council needs to work in advance of submitting the bid:
demonstrating public support for the proposal, either by way of a public meeting or some form of survey. Having the children at the school involved in this would be especially effective, so suggest discussion with the head teacher/governors.
Discussion with the Highways officers - via Stuart Rushby - on the technical aspects of the application, including an estimate of cost and the amount the parish council would be willing to put forward - minimum 10 per cent of the total cost.
Discussion with the police with regard to data on current traffic speeds and volumes, and their views on enforceability. This is a difficult issue because the police will be reluctant to support something they consider would be very difficult to enforce. Some parish councils have commissioned the Skanskia company to carry out a traffic survey but this can cost hundreds of pounds and may not be done in time for the bid.
Demonstrating an understanding of how various schemes elsewhere are working - I have asked the police about this and can pass on a contact.
I am ready to offer advice and support in advance of the panel meetings and on the day itself if the parish would find that helpful.
Peter Topping
July 2014
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