Broadband
I spent a morning with Connecting Cambridgeshire in my role as a Broadband Champion. Fowlmere will not have access to the new speeds for a few more months but it will be in by Christmas. If you see activity at the junction box in the High Street then you will know it is happening. I will update the Parish Council on specifics as the time for Fowlmere to go live gets nearer, but in the meantime:
Connecting Cambridgeshire has been successful in its bid for £1.2 million from the European Regional Development Fund Regional Competitiveness Grant to deliver support for local businesses. This means a countywide support programme for small businesses will be delivered to assist with the adoption of broadband and broadband-enabled technologies.
If a household is served by the "live" junction boxes then the next step for people who want faster broadband than they currently have is to test the broadband speed - the Connecting Cambridgeshire webpage tells you how to do this - and then shop around for an improvement by buying what is known as a fibre based package from an ISP provider. Moneysupermarket.com has a good introduction. In some cases - if someone bought a deal from a provider some years ago - it may be cheaper, or it may be a few pounds more a month.
Transport strategy
Transport Strategy for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire - Consultation is currently underway on the draft Transport Strategy for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire. This is being run alongside the consultations on Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council’s draft Local Plans. The consultation period closes on the 30 September. The intention is for the Strategy to be adopted in early 2014 to support the submission of the draft Local Plans to the Planning Inspectorate.
Transport issues locally: 31 bus route and highways improvement bid.
I met with Mike Cooper in late July. His role is now about keeping what is already there going, ie repairs etc, while for new initiatives, Stuart Rushby is more the contact. Mike has carried out further work on drains in Long Lane up the hill to the centre of Fowlmere and is awaiting heavy rain to see if that solves the problem of the outstanding drainage issue in the vicinity of Hope Cottage.
He has forwarded the problem with the sign in Piper Close to the county signals team, and has removed the sign pointing down at the Foxton crossroads and ordered a replacement.
The panel to decide the bids from parishes meets in October. In terms of any bid going in from Fowlmere, I am ready to offer advice and support on the day itself if the parish would find that helpful.
31 bus route - I will be able to give an answer tomorrow re bus costs using the 31 and other buses in town. The proposal to route some services via Shelford rail station so enabling people to get trains down to London seems sensible and is worth considering. Replies to the consultation are due in now.
District plan and housing
The lack of a five year land supply continues to cause problems for district councils across the country, and in South Cambs this is also the case, as per the recent application at Waterbeach and also at Melbourne where the developers are confident they can win on appeal even though the district planning committee rejected. It follows that the parish council needs to keep close to any possible developments for putting forward land as even though the land may be not part of the district council's plan, the bid could still succeed. Deborah as your district councillor may have more details.
Thriplow recycling depot.
The County Council is running a consultation on the future of its Household Recycling Service and this survey finishes on 26 Sept. So if you use Thriplow Recycling Centre - and even if you don't - then it is important to give your views. The County is looking at various efficiency and money-saving options including closing sites, reducing their hours or possibly their days, getting a charity or a not-for-profit to help run, charging for certain types of waste from DIY activity.
There are forms that are on hand to be filled in if you visit the sites or you can go to www.cambridgshire.gov.uk/recyclingcentreservice.
The decision on the future of the service will be made in the autumn. This is a very useful service and the Thriplow site is always busy. So please let the county know what you think. The concern is that reducing access to these facilities could increase fly-tipping.
and finally . . .
I am now vice-chairman of the Audit Committee at the County Council, and have been asked to represent the county on the Local Access Forum which has the job of improving access to public land and making sure developments include good access to the countryside.
Some villages are doing interesting work in terms of local outreach wardens for elderly and isolated people, lunch clubs and hospital lift groups and I am doing some research. I have met with a local charity that has good insight into this issue and what services are available. I am happy to advise the parish council on any points coming out of this.
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