Singing the Praises of the Heroes of The South

District councillors were asked to nominate people in their villages who made village life great. The presentation took place at South Cambridgeshire Hall on Friday January 25th . All the nominees were given a commemorative certificate and sent a professional photograph of the presentation. Councillor George Elsbury, Chairman of South Cambridgeshire District Council, said, “This is a great opportunity for district councillors to recognise those people in their villages who make an outstanding contribution to the community.

“Often these efforts can go unrecognised but without the tireless efforts of these dedicated ‘heroes’ the vitality and rich community life of the villages in South Cambridgeshire would be threatened. “These special people work for the love of their village and community and this reception will be a wonderful opportunity to recognise their contribution.”

William Burton Smart, known as Bill, was born, and has lived in Swavesey for most of his life. A carpenter and joiner by trade, he is well known in the village for his designing and building skills. For many years Bill has been a Handyman to village groups by painting and providing advertising boards, erecting remembrance seats, and building staging for village events. For some years he was a member of the local drama group at Swavesey Village College, and built the stage scenery for their productions. At the present time he is Membership Secretary and Standard Bearer for Swavesey British Legion, and erects the flag on Remembrance Days. During the past four years he was one of a hard working group who organised the village Millennium Celebrations. The ‘Swavesey Dome’ and ‘Big Ben’ were Bill’s idea and design, which gave Swavesey ‘National Publicity’ on TV.

John Shepperson,
District Councillor.

Carole and Derek came to Swavesey in 1966 and soon became involved with village organisations. Their children attended the village schools and Carole soon became actively involved with the Mothers and Toddlers Club, the P.T.A. and the Sports & Gala Committee. For 26 years Carole helped to run the very successful Pre-School Playgroup at Swavesey Village College and for most of that time was the Leader in Charge. Carole has been a Governor of Swavesey Village College since 1988 and at the present time helps the weekly Book Club at the Library, and is a Doorstep Deliverer for the house bound. For the past two years she has been Chairman of the Swavesey & District History Society which meets at the Village College.

 

John Shepperson
District Councillor.


SWAVESEY PARISH

Annual Parish Meeting

What has happened during the last 12 months?
Your chance to see!
The meeting will be on Tuesday 7 th May 2002 at 7.30 pm
in the Common Room, Swavesey Village College

Meeting dates and venue

With the Memorial Hall closed for refurbishment where is the
Parish Council to meet?
From 4 th March, all Parish Council meetings will now take place in
the Common Room at the Village College, Gibraltar Lane until
August 2002.


Forthcoming meeting dates at Swavesey Village College are :
Monday 22nd April
Tuesday 7th May - Annual Parish Meeting
Monday 27th May - Annual Parish Council Meeting
Monday 24th June
Monday 22nd July

Members of the public are still welcome to attend

Best Dressed Home Competition

Got your thinking caps on? How will you dress your house? The
competition will be judged on Monday 3 rd June 2002 by an independent
judge. Don’t forget that there will be a prize for the best dressed house.

COUNCIL NEWS

Swavesey Feast Fun Fair

James Dean Fairs will be visiting Swavesey again this year during the Annual Feast Week. The fair will arrive in Market Street from Sunday 5 th May, will open on Thursday 9 th to Saturday 11 th May and will depart on Sunday 12 th May.

Please could residents who use Market Street car park be aware that the car park will need to be clear of vehicles by late Saturday night so that the fair can pull on early Sunday morning. Thank you for your co-operation.

Dog Muck

Not a subject that we like to think or talk about, but it is still around. Many thanks to the person who whilst walking their dog in School Lane picked up any droppings their dog may have deposited, put them into a carrier bag and then thoughtfully threw the carrier
bag into the ditch, but sometimes missed the ditch and the bag was caught in the hedge.

It is better to take the carrier bag home and put it into one’s own rubbish bin or to take it to a designated litter bin attached to a lamp-post which is purely for this type of rubbish -there are plenty round the village now, so please use them to keep our village clear of dog muck.

Thank you to all dog owners who act responsibly in this matter.


JOTTINGS FROM YOUR COUNTY COUNCILLOR

“Why on earth are they putting a new town at Longstanton – it will be a disaster, especially with the A14 already one big car park?” “We don’t need all these new houses, just a few hundred for children growing up in the area” These are just a couple of comments I have seen and heard over recent months, and which seem to fill the pages of the papers.

This month I want to tell you about a constituent – let’s call her Kate. Kate was born and bred in Swavesey where her parents and grandparents still live) and on leaving school she went to teacher training college. In September she started her first job at a primary school in Cambridge. Because she didn’t take a degree her starting salary is just over £16,000. While she was at college, Kate met her boyfriend, who was studying at university in Cambridge and now that he too has graduated they have decided that they would like to set up home together. Kate’s boyfriend has just got a job on the Science Park. He is earning £18,000. Ideally they would like to be in Cambridge because they only have one car, but they knew that it would be impossible to afford the cheapest home in the city on their salaries. So they started looking for a house that they could afford near to the Science Park. Their joint salaries will enable them to get a mortgage of £85,000, but they still have to find enough money to put down a deposit. The cheapest houses even ten miles north of Cambridge start at about £100,000. So what will Kate and her boyfriend do? We are not building enough houses to go round and with demand so high, prices are pushed higher and higher, forcing those at the bottom of the chain to make very difficult choices. For Kate, the solution will be to move to north of Ely, rely on a train to get to Cambridge and then a bus to school. So building houses is not just about catering for “incomers “ – it’s about

providing the right mix of housing for everyone who needs it. In a recent leaflet we have sent to the business community, we talk about delivering a step change in affordable housing, It won’t be about a few ghettos on the edge of the city. It will be about working with many of our partners to provide the right quality at the right price. I don’t imagine there are many people who don’t know of someone who is, or will be, in Kate’s position. That was a brief attempt at trying to answer the second of those questions. I have already written at length in previous articles about the first – why Longstanton, but if you want to know more, we will be holding a series of consultations and public meetings during March to explain our proposals in more detail. The nearest one will be in Swavesey and at the time of writing the date has still to be confirmed. In parallel, but separately to the consultation on the Structure Plan, the promoters of the rapid transit scheme for the old St Ives line will be setting out their proposals in more detail. I hope to ensure that these are publicised as much as possible to enable as many people as are able to see what the Cambridgeshire of the future will look like. I am always available for consultation, either in person or by phone, letter or e-mail. I can be reached at the new address or telephone number below.

Shona Johnstone
Highfield
5 Lowburyholme Road
Over CB4 5NP
Tel: 01954 230565
E-mail: shona.johnstone@cambridgeshire.gov.uk


South Cambs Signs Up To E-Government

A contact centre, newly designed website and digital TV will be the communications tools of the future for South Cambridgeshire District Council. The authority has announced that outsourcing services company, ITNET, has been signed-up to help meet the demands of the Modernising Government agenda.

The five-year, £3 million deal starts in April and will see ITNET replace the Authority’s older computer systems with a new suite of managed applications. ITNET will help design a set of “E-Government” services to equip the Council with electronic service delivery to its citizens through a range of channels including a contact centre, website and digital TV.

John Ballentyne, chief executive of South Cambridgeshire District Council said, “We chose ITNET because they have plenty of experience in supporting Local Authorities, and have the local presence, flexibility, vision and innovative approach vital to implementing our E-Government strategy.

“Benefits will eventually include the public being able to access the Council’s services 24 hours a day. By 2006 we have a vision that residents will be able to check the progress of any query at any time of the day or night by phone, computer, mobile or local kiosks. As a result more staff will be available on front line to deal with customers who want personal help”.