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Parish & County News
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Oxfam Walk |
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| Composters |
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Healthcare |
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Parish Precept. For 2005/06 will be £44,000 an increase of just under 2.5% over 2004/05. This equates to £46.51 per year for a Band D property, an increase of £1.34 per year. The Parish Council did not increase the Parish Precept last year, so this will be the first increase for two years. In the light of many of the other authorities' increases to their portions of the Council Tax over the ;past years, the Parish Council has worked hard to keep the Precept amount level or to as minimum an increase as possible. The Precept amount allows for annual payments, an audit required general fund and reserve funds for work to the Memorial Hall, village play areas, village youth projects and grants to village organisations during the year. Recreation Green. Incidents of vandalism and litter are constantly reported to the Parish Council. Recently broken glass and empty cans have been found littered around the football pavilion and children's play area. Car tyre marks are also found around the pavilion. This is a serious hazard to the children and adults who play football each weekend and the very young children playing in the play area. Please do not leave bottles, cans and other litter in this area or anywhere else. Litter bins are provided, please use them. Moat Way play area. Vandals have daubed the play equipment with paint and tried to set it on fire. This play area is very well-overlooked on all sides by residential properties. If anyone saw the vandals, please let us or the police know. High Street parking on pavements. Those of you who park in High Street, please do not obstruct the already-narrow pavements on either side of the road with your vehicle. This is a road traffic offence for which you can be prosecuted. Drainage. Swavesey has been called by some the "sink" of the area, accepting every other village's rain run-off, sewage, etc, even Cambourne's, when our drains are already running at critical level. This puts our village at increased flooding risk during wet weather. The Parish Council and Swavesey Drainage Board continue to object to the various planning stages of the new housing development at West Longstanton for that very reason. Now we hear that Milton Sewage Works may be closing. Where will their waste water go? Swavesey Byways. We apologise for any upset caused to Cow Fen landowners by our article on Swavesey Byways maintenance in the last issue. That certainly wasn't the intention. The article was written to inform the parishioners (most of whom aren't landowners) of how the byways maintenance is achieved, by both financial contributions and voluntary means. We are extremely grateful to all those landowners along Swavesey Byways who put in their own time and extra money to keep these droves maintained. We hoped that by explaining to everyone how these droves are maintained, we might appeal to everyone's better natures NOT to drive down any of the drove at high speed (ie over 10mph) because of the damage it causes, and also to appeal to those very very few landowners who don't currently contribute in any way to rethink their decision. Cow Fen is the worst-conditioned drove at present. The annual Swavesey Byways Committee annual meeting in January discussed it at length, the feeling being that whatever is spent on it, the careless use of it again by a minority of people will soon cause new potholes. However something must be done as the potholes are enlarging and the substrate of the drove surface is at risk too. Some lorryloads of aggregate materials, probably road planings, will be supplied by the Byways Committee and spread (thanks to Keith Wilderspin) as soon as the ground conditions are dry enough. Cow Fen planning appeal: A number of residents have asked what is happening in the large field down Cow Fen with stables and caravans on it. South Cambs DC granted planning permission for stabling but what has been built does not comply and they asked the landowners to remove it. The landowners have appealed and the matter is now awaiting a visit from the Planning Inspectorate at Bristol. Agendas and Minutes for Swavesey Parish Council Meetings are published on this website under Parish Council |
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Jottings From Your County Councillor In May, elections will take place for the County Council. Since the last election a review of the county council boundaries has taken place and as a result the boundaries for the Willingham division have changed. The division has been split, with Willingham and Over now linked to Longstanton - and the rest of the division will now be linked with Papworth. I know that this has not been popular with some people in Swavesey and I made representations to the Boundary Commission at the time, but to no avail. As a result, this will be my last article as your county councillor. I will be standing in the new Willingham division in May and Mandy Smith will be the candidate in the Papworth and Swavesey division. It has been a privilege to represent Swavesey for the past eight years and it will be very different not attending parish council meetings most months. I know that the county council has had to make some very difficult decisions which have affected the parish, but I have tried to represent the village to the best of my ability. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support during the past eight years and to wish you well in the future. 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 - until 5 May that is!
Shona Johnstone
Tel: 01954 230565 |
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The Oxfam Sponsored Walk is taking place on 15 May 2005 starting and finishing at Wimpole Hall. Why not spend an enjoyable day walking in the Cambridgeshire countryside with your family and friends to raise money for Oxfam's Emergencies Fund. This year, we aim to raise £50,000 for Oxfam's Emergencies Fund helping communities affected by natural and manmade disasters. Your sponsorship money could help people suffering from the tsunami in Asia as well as the other continuing crises around the world. Just £50 can provide safe water for 125 families for a week and £115 can buy 5 emergency shelter kits. We have an exciting new look to our walk at Wimpole Hall. There are now three circular routes of 4, 9, and 13 miles - you can do any of these distances or combine them to create your own marathon challenge. Walkers can choose either a marathon walk (26 miles) a half marathon walk (13 miles) or a mini-marathon walk (4 miles). All walks encounter the delights of rural countryside, are well marshalled and have checkpoints en-route with refreshments available. Having walked the walk myself I can vouch for the unique atmosphere of all the walks, being happy and friendly. To add to this exciting event there will be live music, children's entertainment and further sales of refreshment at Wimpole Hall. There will be a free shuttle bus service from Cambridge and free car parking at Wimpole Hall. The first 1,000 walkers receive a complimentary bottle of water and bar of Fair Trade chocolate courtesy of the Co-operative Group. Pay in your sponsorship money by 31 July 2005 and you will receive a complimentary two-day pass from Greens Health & Fitness For an entry form (available in March), please phone 01223 502798 or email oxfamwaIk@btopenworld. co m or visit our website www.oxtairi.org.uk/walk If you would like to volunteer to marshal or steward please contact Carrie on 01223 891921 or email carolinetravers(5)amherst3hl.fsnet.co.uk Marshals and stewards also receive a free Greens Health & Fitness two day pass. |
The Cambridgeshire Master Composter Programme is looking for new recruits! The Programme is run by HDRA Consultants in conjunction with Cambridgeshire County Council and all the District Councils. Now in its fourth year, the Programme aims to promote home and community composting by training volunteers to work as Master Composters, who provide local, friendly advice and support to people whom already compost and those who want to start. We currently have 150 volunteers who have contributed over 3000 hours in promoting composting across the county, and are looking for more. If you have an interest in environmental issues, enjoy encouraging other people and have a little time to spare, why not join our friendly network of volunteers in promoting home composting? Becoming a Master Composter is a great way to meet new people, learn valuable skills and benefit from being part of a team that makes a difference. Anyone over the age of 18 can become a Master Composter; you don't need to be an expert composter (or be composting at all) or have any volunteer or community group experience. As a volunteer you will receive training in home composting and related environmental issues (provided by HDRA-the organic organisation), a Master Composter resource pack and several training trips; including visits to a composting site and one of HDRA's organic gardens. All training expenses will be paid for; you only need to provide your time. Once the training has been completed, you will be expected to spend 30 hours over the following year promoting home composting. These activities will be tailored to your individual skills and could be anything from giving a demonstration to your next-door neighbours to giving a presentation to a class of school children or helping promote further compost bin sales. Upon completion of the training and 30 volunteer hours you will be awarded the title Master Composter and be invited to receive your certificate at an award ceremony. If you are interested in becoming a Master Composter please contact: email: pholmes@hdra.org.uk |
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DELIVERING EFFECTIVE HEALTHCARE IN SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE
Do you care about local health issues? Are you concerned about the performance of the NHS in your area? Or do you feel that there is little that can be achieved by members of the general public to improve health services and that your views go unheard? The largest users of our Health services are the very young or the very old, and those in between are only themselves users on an infrequent basis unless they are very unlucky. The consequence of this is that many people are apathetic when it comes to taking an interest in NHS performance, unless something goes wrong which impacts on the individual or somebody close to them. However it is worth remembering that we all have an interest in improving standards throughout the NHS and can play our part in achieving it. PPI Forums Each Forum is independent and works with, but is not governed by, one of your local NHS Trusts. This means that whichever service you or your family may be using, there will be an independent Forum keen to hear your views. Forum Responsibilities and Powers Public Involvement They are currently looking at a range of issues including care in the community, mental health services, GP inspections, and older people's services. Members meet together every month to share ideas and to plan how best to address some of these issues. Speakers are often invited to these meetings to help Forum members learn more about the issues from perspectives of both patients and staff. There are sister Forums for Addenbrooke's and Papworth Hospitals. The Addenbrooke's PPI Forum has recently completed a series of hospital inspections and is publishing a report on their findings along with recommendations to reduce the spread of hospital acquired infections such as MRSA. The PPI Forum for Papworth Hospital will be working with patients and the public about the proposed relocation to the Addenbrooke's site. Having your say Alternatively if you have any concerns or issues you would like to raise with the Forum directly please contact PPI Forum South Cambridgeshire, c/o Cambridge CVS Forum Support Organisation, 91 Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge CB1 7BS. Tel 01223 713011 Better still, if you feel that you have a little spare time and would like to make an ongoing contribution, why not apply to join the Forum? Currently there are one or two vacancies, and the work can be very rewarding. Simply contact the Forum Support Organisation at the above address/telephone number and they will be happy to explain what is involved. For more information about their work, go to www.cppih.org, and click on 'Find my local Forum'. |
