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Over-Swavesey cycleway: Work has started on widening the pavement between the two villages to create a shared use cycle/pedestrian path between Middle Fen Drove Swavesey and top of hill at Over (Station Road). The parish council remains opposed to the idea of converting the existing pavement outside terraced houses in Station Road, Swavesey into a shared use cycle/pedestrian path because people's front doors open onto this pavement. Guided bus: The parish council are very unhappy at county council plans to close Middle Fen, Mow Fen and Lairstall Droves' "level crossings" to vehicles, keeping them open only as public footpaths or bridleway, despite the county's idea to create new access tracks north of the railway for landowners to access land along these droves north of the railway. We want these three droves kept open and recognised by the county as having been used since inception by all the public by all means of transport. County reply that these droves are only recorded on their definitive map as footpath or bridleway, not as vehicular use. Interestingly, up until 1987 they were recorded on the county's definitive map as Roads Used As Public Paths and the county reclassified them as footpath and bridleway. Traffic calming: Work on traffic calming in the village will start later this year. At the time of writing, the details have not been finalised but the county keep telling the parish we need speed bumps and the parish keep saying we don't want speed bumps. Ramper Road Despite the dreadful state of this road's edges, county inform us that they have no budget for repairs to it. We have also raised the Fen Drayton Road (outside village college's back entrance) as this is cracking badly since the county started using it as a school bus route, as we told them it would because it's not wide enough for two buses to pass. Likewise, there is no money in the county's budget for other than temporary repairs... Parish council precept: Although your council tax will be going up this year, you may be pleased to know that the parish council part of it remains at the same level as last year. Funfair: Open to the public in Market Street 6-8 May. Village entertainments committee Did you enjoy the carol singing? The Millennium Celebrations? Do you wish Swavesey had a Feast Day or Carnival? If so, perhaps you'd like to help form a village entertainments committee to get these sorts of things off the ground? Please contact the parish clerk. Youth centre re-establishment: It would be nice to get the youth centre at Swavesey Village College off the ground again. All you young adults out there - what do you want from the village in terms of facilities? How about some of you come forward, invite some older people too if you want, to form a youth centre committee and get your ideas off the ground. Contact the parish clerk if you are interested. (these 2 things can probably be omitted as somebody else in the Meridian is hopefully covering them in more detail!) Swavesey Your Library: Needs books. If you have unwanted hardbacked books in good condition, especially children's books, please let the library have them. |
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Where are you parked? In the last month I have had complaints about irresponsible parking from a number of people. They relate to parking on blind corners and on the pavement. It is very tempting to park as close to your destinatation as possible, but the highway code is very clear about where you should and shouldn't park.
Apart from the potential dangers from irresponsible parking, parking on the highway is the most effective form of traffic calming and also the cheapest - given that my postbag is often full of complaints about speeding traffic, the easiest way that you can help is to park on the road. Negotiations about this year's council tax have been extremely protracted this year and as I write this, although a settlement has been agreed, it has yet to receive the approval of the full council. As I predicted Charles Clarke at the Department for Education called in our budget and demanded that we put an additional 3% on our council tax in order to pay for the extra £4.5m he claimed we were withholding from our schools. At the same time Nick Raynesford, the local government minister, wrote to a number of authorities that he claimed were being profligate by raising their council tax by more than 5% - you may recall that we were proposing 6%. We appealed against Charles Clarke's direction, which would have resulted in a debate in the House of Commons. Given the size of the government majority, we would have lost and been forced to raise the council tax by 9% (I wonder what Nick Raynesford would then have done). However, we have been seeking a negotiated settlement with the government and the result has been a compromise by all sides. The government have agreed a loan of £1.75m, which won't be paid back until the system of ceilings and floors which has hurt us so badly has been ended. More people living in the county has meant that our income will increase by another £500,000 next year and we have agreed that in turn we will raise council tax by 6.95%. This is obviously more than we wanted, but it is far less than the 9% we would otherwise have been forced into. I am not happy with the outcome, because I am very conscious that for many people this is a large increase, but I think it is the best deal we could have reached. Finally, I am pleased to report that at last, the cycleway between Over and Swavesey that I have been pushing for for the last 7 years is finally to be built - indeed by the time this article is published work should be well underway. I hope that it will be well used and that the benefits in terms of less traffic and more cycling will be worth the investment. I am always available for consultation, either in person or by phone, letter or e-mail. I can be reached at the address or telephone number below.
Shona Johnstone
Tel: 01954 230565
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Parties, feasts and dances could be coming to your village soon thanks to the launch of Springboard - Cambridgeshire's Toolkit for the Arts.
Historically, villages and towns celebrated and commemorated together with street parties, festivals, feasts and dances. Traditions were made, kept and continued. Councillor Deborah Roberts, portfolio holder for community development at South Cambridgeshire District Council explained, “Cambridgeshire is famed for rural communities that were once self-sufficient, divided by watery stretches of fenland. There was a real sense of identity and community spirit - something easily lost in our busy times, but something easily regained.” Springboard aims to give villages and towns the opportunity to build community spirit and confidence through the arts. It provides everything a village needs to use the arts to bring a community together. Packed with useful information about involving local people and professional artists, it helps celebrate local identity, deal with the press and find sources of advice and funding. It's also full of event ideas and examples of successful projects that have happened in parishes across the county and further afield. Councillor Deborah Roberts continued, “Springboard is the ultimate resource to help villages regain and celebrate that sense of identity and pride in their community, making the arts work for you.” Springboard has been funded by Cambridgeshire County Council, the five district councils - Fenland, East Cambridgeshire, Cambridge City, Huntingdonshire, South Cambridgeshire - and the Arts Forum for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
For a free copy of Springboard - Cambridgeshire's Toolkit for the Arts, contact Stephanie Hogger, arts development officer at South Cambridgeshire District Council on (01223) 724142, stephanie.hogger@scambs.gov.uk |