A short walk down Liberty Lane, Duxford

At the annual Duxford village meeting earlier in the year the issue of the state of Liberty Lane was raised - by mums who use it to get their children to school avoiding the roads. The lane has many access points along so it is a very useful join-up running from Hunts Road east to Mangers Lane.

But if you were pushing a buggy, or had children on scooters or bikes, the state of the path surface makes it almost impossible to make progress. Residents told me that for people in wheelchairs and using mobility scooters the same problems apply.

I have had a meeting with the County and a follow up. If we are successful the work isn't going to happen soon but I am pressing for a start date - it will not be cheap because of access issues i.e. the materials will have to be wheelbarrowed in and the flint wall running alongside protected.

I have asked the school to let the highways department at the county have their views - as much lobbying as possible will help here because the county repairs budget tends to be focussed on roads. 

RETURN TO SENDER - DUXFORD POST OFFICE

Letter from the Post Office informs me that the Post Office in St Peters Street Duxford that closed in May last year will remain "temporarily closed".

Reading between the lines it is unlikely to open again. As with Fowlmere trying to get a PO counter in the church, or Thriplow trying to get a counter in ther village shop, there do not seem to be a lot of flexible business models available. There was hope that the village shop at Duxford might take it on and the owners seemed very willing when I spoke to them. Now the PO says even if someone does come forward they will need to assess the impact on nearby other branches>

Grange Road closes in Duxford and Ickleton this week

Cambridgeshire County Council will be carrying out essential maintenance works in the form of carriageway patching in Grange Road THIS Wednesday 19th March 2014; in preparation for Surface Dressing work to be carried out later in the year. 

Works are anticipated to last four days. The road will be closed in different parts for some of that time, and there will be a diversion. 

But the road needs doing, so it is worth it. 

At least it isn't Somerset

I managed to catch up with the County Highways team and their engineer manager who carry out the jetting of drains using high-powered water pressure etc so that build-ups of silt carried into the drains by the rain do not then block the drains, so the next flood of water has nowhere to go except lie on the roads or into people's houses and gardens. 

I had raised various locations that needed attention in emails over the last week or so and it was good to sit down and catch up on progress. I was grateful for the cup of tea too, though I think they have been out in the weather more than I have. Jetting has been carried out at Duxford today, and will be at Abington tomorrow and Whittlesford (Pond House corner) last week. I also asked the district council to get a supply of sandbags out to Bustler's Rise which they undertook to do this afternoon.

One thing that is very clear to me is that in the past, various drains on private land have not been cleared - in part because people probably didn't know much about it. Do you know where your village drainage ditch is? It didnt really matter if a small development didnt clear out its drains because the County kept on top of their drains and the amounts of rain meant they were not overwhelmed. But if we are to get weather like this going forward, everyone has to do their bit. The top pic shows a small dam across a field that the farmer has put in to slow down the water coming off the land. The next pic shows pathways streaming with water, the third pic is a makeshift diversion to stop water going into a drain that is already blocked, and the final pic is the ford at Babraham the other night when I was coming back from the parish council meeting. But it isnt Somerset, and we should be grateful for that.

Bustlers Rise at Duxford

This is the corner of Bustlers Rise andGrange Road in Duxford. 

At the invitation of local residents I went to see for myself the impact on the soakways which basically can't cope when the rain brings mud and silt from the higher fields to the west. 

As Duxford relies on soakways this is a real problem and ends up with people trying to pump water away from their front door at three o' clock in the morning as happened last Saturday. 

I have asked the highways people to jet out the drains to clear the silt as a short term fix but this will also need a longer term solution. 

Hunts Road spring clean on its way

I took my life in my hands to stop between the A505 roundabout and Duxford on Hunts Road. I was on my way to Bustlers Rise (see next post).

 It is a fast and narrow road, and that means that the verges are worn away and even the safety bollards get knocked over. 

 local residents talked to me at the parish council meeting and I took up the state of the road with the County Highways Engineers. I am pleased to say that there will be a resurfacing of the road in the spring. So that will be very welcome.

A local charity

Went to an interesting and thought-provoking meeting of a local charity in Duxford  - the Kings Educational Trust - which makes small grants to young people from the village to help with their education. The charity is not to do with the Crown, but the Rev"d King who was so fond of the village that he left money to it some 200 years ago.

Although with a small budget, it is very efficient as all the income of the charity goes into the grants, with no overheads. Afterwards we talked about the costs of further education on young people nowadays, and the impact it must have when families are weighing up the affordability of it all.

Duxford trees - update

The parish council, the county highways team and local residents from Polecat Lane in Duxford and thereabouts met on site last week to assess the trees that provide a natural screen but which are also getting under the pavements and threatening foundations, as well as a tree nearby with a preservation order on it. The conservation team at the district have also been consulted and agreed the situation needed sorting out. The questyion was - to trim or to remove? 

The final agreement was that the trees - which are self-seeded and not remarkable specimens - will come down and the parish will work with local residents to plant suitable replacements. 

Woodman, woodman, save those trees!

I am asking the County for a brief stay of execution on the trees in Polecat Lane, Duxford, which were due to come down because the roots were supposedly damaging houses and causing potential trip hazards on footpaths. 

But there does need to be exploration of all the possibilities, because people are attached to trees, and there are different views among local residents on what ought to be done. 

It is likely that some of the trees will have to come done, and they are not brilliant specimens, but better to have a final think before the chainsaws start whirring. 

Hunts Road at Duxford - a spring dressing

Hunts Road gets a fair old pounding as it is the main route through Duxford and on to Ickleton, with lorries as well as cars using it. Despite the traffic calming features, because it is nice and straight people tend to go for it along there too.
Added to this the road is also quite narrow which means that wide vehicles tend to take a few centimetres off the sides, so that the road surface gets eaten into from the sides as the foundations are exposed.
The County Council highways team have been out filling in the worst of the potholes, and will do some more, and then in the spring the whole surface will be dressed.

Formula 1 at Duxford

Formula1 cars first started being tested at the IWM at Duxford in 2009. The testing of F1 cars is a highly specialised activity, and the IWM is paid for the use of the runway.
Since then a number of different F1 teams have used the track, starting with Renault (see left) and their activity is subject to a protocol agreed with the South Cambs District environment officers, and the local parish councils.

This includes the time that the testing can start and finish, duration and break-times, and noise monitoring. I have been talking to the environment officers and I am pleased that the racing teams and the IWM are being considerate of local requirements.
For example, the testing that was due to take place on 15 May was delayed in the morning as local schoolchildren were taking their SATS exams. I have asked that there is noise assessment done during the next test day, on 19 June, so that the situation is kept under review. But so far, this has worked reasonably well for four years.  

Historic Duxford

Brilliant and evocative talk and slide show this evening in Whittlesford about Historic Duxford.   
Historic Duxford is a new exhibition and historic site trail for families which explores Duxford's time as an RAF airfield from 1918 to 1961.
We are lucky to have such an amazing facility and tourist attraction nearby. 

Duxford diary

To the list  of successful local businesses (see yesterday) in the area I must add the delightful and hospitable John Barleycorn in Duxford, where we set up base for a day's canvassing - at the beginning I thought we would be on cool drinks in the sun, but by late afternoon it was hot coffee as the rain clouds gathered in again.
The Hunts Road rat-run and the crumbling road surface featured on a lot of people's agenda, plus the debacle over the Post Office move to the excellent village shop, where it does seem as if local demand and resourcefulness (namecheck Mr Shah) is being frustrated by the corporate Post Office's drive for centralised efficiency. I campaigned to keep Thriplow's Post Office open - and I know the problems Fowlmere are having. As someone said to me in Petersfield: "Are we to have any local services?" 

Scouts II

Whittlesford Parish council is backing Duxford & Whittlesford scouts in their bid to build a hut in Duxford for the benefit of the scouts in both villages. By the by, they have raised £160,000 which is phenomenal, including a £40k chunk from Amey Cespa.

Scout camp at Abingdon

I was a cub, and a scout, and a scout helper, and
I remember how exciting it was to be away from home even if home was only a few miles away.

So I'm disappointed that the land at Little Abington currently used by  generations of the scouts is planned to be sold off. We need to give young people the chance to do things other than play World of Warcraft on their computers.
I'm against it unless the scouts association can show where else young people can go.