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Swavesey Parish Council
News
Traffic calming measures
Thank you to everyone for their suggestions for
traffic calming in the village. We met with the County
Council who threw out some of the suggestions, costed
others and asked us to choose what we want (within the
budget). We have done this and the County Council will
now consult with YOU to see which ones you are happy
with. The end result should be traffic calming some time
next year. These measures will be done in conjunction
with any Safer Routes to Schools changes and the
Boxworth End speed limit reduction from 40 to 30mph. If
you're wondering why the 30mph indicators haven't been
switched on yet, it's because the police objected,
saying new limit is unenforceable without further
traffic calming measures in place.
Drainage
Letters continue to fly back and forth between
Environment Agency, South Cambs District Council,
various parish councils and Swavesey Internal Drainage
Board, with no further action despite winter's approach.
SCambs and SIDB want the riverbanks in Fen Drayton
lowered so that floodwater can escape back to river,
rather than impinge on Covills Drain (designed to take
run-off rain water from Elsworth, Boxworth, A14, not
floodwater from Ouse). EA are refusing to sanction this.
Fly-tipping furniture
Just because we now have wheelie-bins doesn't mean the
dustmen won't take away large furniture anymore. They
still do and it's FREE. Just phone South Cambs District
Council on 01223 443484. So please, there's no need to
dump your unwanted furniture around or outside of the
village.
Safer Routes to School scheme
The County Council/Swavesey Village College initiative
is progressing, cycle sheds have been erected on the
college site. Discussions are ongoing to improve the
main entrance and to make Gibraltar Lane safer for
pedestrians and cyclists.
Rapid Transit Scheme
The County Council gave a presentation on their RTS for
the disused railway line between St Ives and Cambridge
at the October parish council meeting. At the time of
writing, it seems they will be submitting their plan to
the government under the Transport and Works Act in
spring 2004.
Community Transport
Do you know the County Council offer a Dial-A-Ride,
Voluntary Car and Community Bus Scheme for those who
have no car of their own and cannot access public
transport? For details of what's on offer to Swavesey
parishioners who need transport, phone Gavin Moulton,
Community Transport Officer, on 01223 717755.
Finally, the Parish Councillors would like to thank
Parishioners for their support this year and to wish
them a Happy Christmas and all the best for 2004.
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Jottings From Your County Councillor
Cambridgeshire Social Services has been in the news
again in recent weeks - and for the wrong reasons. The
projected £5million overspend within the department is
clearly very worrying, as is the fact that the problems
have been building up over recent years. There are two
factors which I think are significant and worth
highlighting.
First is that this is a problem not confined to
Cambridgeshire. At the end of the last financial year,
when the budget problems first began to surface,
Cambridgeshire was certainly not unique; in fact
overspending was a problem shared by virtually every
social services department in the country. It stems from
the fact that too many people require help from their
local authority and that changes in funding mean that
social service departments (like many other areas of
local authority funding) have to do more for less. In
Cambridgeshire over the past seven years we have spent
more than £70million more than the government has given
us. If we spent what the government estimates we need,
then roughly speaking a third comes from the government,
a third from the uniform business rate and a third from
the council tax payer. But every penny over that amount
is paid for entirely by the council tax payer - ie. £70m
in the last seven years has been paid for by the council
tax payer; I suspect that I am not alone in believing
that this is not sustainable, especially given all the
other pressures on our resources.
The second factor is the work that we do within the
county to forecast our future levels of expenditure.
Forecasting seems to have developed into a fine art. For
example, we can forecast when roads will need repairing,
our schools know exactly how many pupils to expect in a
given year from the registrations of birth in the county
and we know how many older people there are - and the
number of over 80's is growing at three times the
national average. But our forecasting cannot tell us how
many of those children will need the support of social
services, or how many older people will require
residential care. And so, while we may be able to have a
good guesstimate at what the budget should be, simply
having a year when twice the average number of children
need care, or more elderly people than usual require a
place in a residential home can knock all our carefully
laid plans off course.
Social Services have drawn up a recovery plan, which
enables them to get back on track. But what it cannot do
is to place a limit on the number of vulnerable young
people and adults requiring care and that is why even a
robust recovery plan is only as healthy as the people it
seeks to care for.
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
Highfield
5 Lowburyholme Road
Over
CB4 5NP
Tel: 01954 230565
e-mail: shona.johnstone@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
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DO YOU ENJOY WORKING WITH
CHILDREN?
Interested in doing some voluntary work?
'Good Night' is a voluntary organisation offering a
sitting service for children with a disability.
Parents in most families enjoy an occasional evening out
on their own and obtaining a sitter to enable them to do
so poses no great problem. However, when a child has
special needs, making arrangements is not always quite
so straight-forward. Parents of a disabled child might
be worried about asking someone to take responsibility
and feel that sitters might not be able to cope with
their child's particular requirements
It is our wish to make this service available to any
parents of a child with a learning and/or physical
disability aged 0 to 19 years in the city and the rural
areas around Cambridge and Ely - parents who would like
a night out and be able to relax in the knowledge that
their child is being well cared for at home.
Anyone over sixteen can apply to become a sitter. Their
suitability will be assessed and references taken up.
After appropriate preparation they are carefully matched
with a family in their own vicinity. On-going support
and training is available to volunteers and expanses are
reimbursed.
If you feel that you can offer at least one evening a
month and commit to building up a trusting relationship
we would be delighted to hear from you. Please telephone
the office on 01223 519220 or email
office@goodnight.org.uk Registered Charity No.
1056263
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ARE YOU A
ROTTER?
The Cambridgeshire Master Composter Programme is looking
for new recruits!
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?
Did you know that approximately one third of the average
household bin can be composted?
Home composting is great for the environment because it:
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Reduces the need to transport waste
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Reduces methane and leachate emissions from landfill
sites
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Provides a useful product for your garden
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Reduces the need for chemical fertilisers - saving you
money at the garden centre!
The Master Composter Programme is run by HDRA
Consultants in conjunction with Cambridgeshire County
Council and all the District Councils.
Volunteers are required to provide local, friendly
advice and support to people whom already compost and
those who want to start.
The Cambridgeshire programme began in 2001 and is the
largest of its kind in the UK, now supporting 150
volunteers. Over 2000 hours of voluntary
activities have been completed so far.
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 day 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 Penny Holmes, HDRA Consultants, Ryton
Organic Gardens, Coventry, CV8 3LG, email:
pholmes@hdra.org.uk , telephone 024 7630 8202 or fax 024
7630 8225.
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AND THE WINNER
IS.....NORTHSTOW
The new town of 6,000 homes planned for a site in the
Oakington/Longstanton area has officially been named
Northstowe.
As part of the process of giving the new town its own
identity, South Cambridgeshire District Council was
anxious to establish a name early in the process. South
Cambs suggested the name "Northstowe" and consulted
widely on this and suggestions for alternative names.
Polls in the Cambridge Evening News and on BBC Radio
Cambridgeshire also showed this to be the most popular
choice amongst readers and listeners.
Councillors agreed to the new name at a Cabinet meeting
earlier this month.
Councillor Daphne Spink, leader of South Cambridgeshire
District Council said, "The historic name is an ancient
title for the surrounding land and came out on top in
the consultation.
"This relatively self-contained new town will eventually
become the biggest settlement in South Cambridgeshire.
It should have 6,000 homes by 2016 and will
eventually grow to around 8,000 to 10,000 homes.It could
potentially hold a population of up to 23,000 - greater
than either St Ives or Huntingdon!"
Northstowe will provide local jobs within the town
itself and, with the rapid transit system in place, will
be convenient for travel to jobs in Cambridge and at the
Science Park.
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