John Williams

As a result of my asking what affect Cambridgehire County County’s highway lighting private finance initiative will have on conservation areas, South Cambridgehire Distrct Council has contacted the county to express its concern over the lack of consultation with local planning authorities, on a plan which could see the removal of cast iron lamp posts from our streets (such as this one in Hinton Road).

The county council has entered into a contract with Balfour Beatty which sees 56,000 street lights in Cambridgshire transferred to the company, with the aim of cutting costs by replacing all older street lights within five years.

Contrary to shedding more light, the Lib Dem opposition on the county council has been kept in the dark over this 25 year multi million pound private finance initiative.

Congratulations to Fulbourn Parish Council for receiving Quality Status.  By becoming a Quality Council, the parish council has had to demonstrate that its representative, in touch with its community, competent, complies with best practice in the way it works and is capable of taking on the additional responsibilities being given to it by the Localism Act.

Its been a long time coming.  Back in August 2005 I called on the parish council to seek Quality Status (Fulbourn Focus 12) in order to better its chances at bidding for grants, do better at communicating with residents and encourage more people to become a parish councillor.

All credit to our clerk Trish Newman in getting the necessary qualifications and for her and councillor Drage for their work in getting the submission together.

At last the Tory county council has seen the light on the way to the park and ride and realised their potential for public transport hubs for local bus services and community transport links.

Liberal Democrats have long complained about the monopoly of Stagecoach at the park and ride sites, with the exception of the Trumpington Road Park and Ride which is also used by National Express coaches.

We have argued that opening up the Cambridge sites to competition and using them as hubs for local public transport links from surrounding villages would increase choice into the city and offer the opportunity of introducing community schemes such as taxibuses to serve some of the smaller villages, without the need for them to operate into the city.

If anyone wanted evidence to show how little interest the leader of Cambridgeshire County Council has in his own constituency he provided it with a press release today (January 6) -http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/CMSWebsite/Apps/News/Details.aspx?ref=411   – telling the world how pleased he is that Fulbourn will soon have a post office again.  Of course anyone in Fulbourn and readers of my website will know that the Post Office Local opened in the Co-op 6 weeks ago, thanks to the efforts of the leader of the parish council and myself!

This blatant political opportunism has backfired on the county councillor who hardly turns up for parish council meetings in his Fulbourn division, instead sending county council press statements in his place – such is the contempt he shows to those he is on the county council to represent.

I hear strong rumours that come the county council election next year he will be standing elsewhere in a safer seat.  Pity, people like him deserve to be truely beaten at the ballot box.

Kids Unlimited’s planning application for a brand new child day centre on the Capital Park business centre has been approved by South Cambridgeshire District Council.  This new facility will replace the existing one on the Ida Darwin NHS site and the relocation is the result of the proposed redevelopment of Ida Dawin for housing.

I objected to the planning application for highway safety concerns in Fulbourn Old Drift and Capital Park, in part due to the possibility of those setting down and picking up children parking around the bus only junction in Fulbourn Old Drift and blocking the bus only entrance to Capital Park – looking for parking restraints to be included.

When Kids Unlimited presented its plan to the Fulbourn Parish Council before submitting its application this issue was raised by parish councillors, but their views were ignored in the transport assessment for the application.  However, Cambridgeshire County Council the highways authority did not object, so we shall see what happens when it opens.

Nevertheless, the school is a valuable resource particularly to NHS staff and I praise the design of the new school, which takes account of the rural character of the new site with landscaping and trees around the building.

2011 has been a busy year for me.  Apart from individual casework there have been loads of serious issues to contend with as you will see below.  It’s finished on a high with two wins for local residents.  Firstly residents in Greater Foxes have kept their lime trees, whilst the county council has backed away from its attempt to impose even more parking restrictions in our very short high street – I was pleased to have helped with both campaigns.

For 2012 we have the prospect of having to deal with the new Localism Act and the subsequent planning mess which the district and parish councils will be faced with.  I await the outcome of the district council’s “call for sites” which has produced some 12 proposals for Fulbourn totalling over 8,000 new homes and you have to ask yourself how will they get the genie back in the bottle under the new planning rules? 

We also wait to see how the county council is going to go itself out of the mess it has created with public transport.   Are our local buses safe – will the Tories do a u-turn?  Will council taxpayers have to pick up a large bill for the guided bus way having been told that not a penny for it will come from local taxes?

How will South Cambridgeshire District Council deal with this year’s council tax charge?  Will it take the Government’s below inflation offer of 2.5% to keep it the same as this year for council tax payers, when it has budgeted for a 3.5% increase to keep essential services going?

Nevertheless, I look forward to the challenges 2012 will bring!

Apthorpe Street & High Street I backed residents and traders in their opposition to further parking restrictions at the top of the High Street and got the Police to give greater attention to enforcing current restrictions.

Balsham Road & Wilbraham Road I’m giving my full backing to the parish council having the 30 mph speed limits extended in both Balsham Road and Wilbraham Road to improve road safety.

BT pay phone I complained to Ofcom about the lack of warning given before the pay phone in School Lane was disconnected.  BT could do this because the village’s other pay phone in Cambridge Road is within 400 metres.

Cambridge Airport All I wanted was for us not to have our sleep disturbed by night flights during the Olympics.  What I got was a ranting mob of Tory councillors.  Marshalls has since confirmed they will be handling VIP and Government flights for the Games 24/7 for about two months.

Cambridge Road I welcome the three 1930’s semis at Fulbourn Hospital being replaced with purpose built supported housing for existing residents.

Cambridge Road I continue to press for better markings and eventual lighting for the cycleway/footpath between Windmill Hill and Cherry Hinton.  The £6,000 wanted by the county council is surely a joke.

Chaplin Close This was a dangerous dead tree.  But as with the battle John Cleese had with the pet shop owner it took me a year to get South Cambs Council to recognise this obvious fact and have it felled.

Council backs local building societies South Cambs council agreed to my request that if possible it invests in our local building societies such as the Cambridge Building Society and Saffron Walden Building Society.

Council leaseholders At a full council meeting I raised the issue of council leaseholders in sheltered accommodation having to wait over two years for being reimbursed for overcharging.

Fulbourn Mill As a result of unacceptable night time noise last Christmas the mill was told to reduce its noise level at night.  As to the lorry movements, it’s clear that Cambridgeshire County Council (the highway authority) will not take action.  In the absence of planning restrictions, I wrote to the two man hauliers to ask them to be more considerate when operating through the village.

Fulbourn Primary School I was delighted that our local school benefited from the Government’s pupil premium money – a Lib Dem policy.

Greater Foxes I supported residents in saving the three lime trees at the entrance to Greater Foxes which were threatened with felling because of honeydew.

Housing developments A dozen proposals for large scale housing developments around Fulbourn have been received by South Cambs in response to its “call for sites” last summer for its new Local Plan.  I oppose these inappropriate large scale developments most of which are on Green Belt land and will do little to help our urgent need for truly affordable  rental accommodation.

Ida Darwin If there was ever an example of a council writing planning policy to suit itself this is it. At a full meeting of South Cambs Council I challenged its insistence that, despite there being no adopted policy, there be gypsy and traveller pitches included – which the mental health trust and travellers don’t want.  We now await the master plan for the site.

Kids Unlimited I had to object to the planning application to relocate the nursery school from the Ida Darwin to Capital Park because of highway safety concerns in Fulbourn Old Drift and Capital Park.  I hope the issues can be resolved as the nursery school is a valuable resource particularly to NHS staff.

No pay rise for District Councillors Councillors on South Cambs Council have decided overwhelmingly to keep their allowances the same for the fourth year running.  It is a pity that it wasn’t unanimous – my independent colleagues argued for increasing the allowances. This is in contrast to Cambridgeshire County Council councillors, the majority voting for a Tory proposal to put up their allowances by 25%. As you can see from this website I receive just over £300 a month after tax for being a district councillor (I don’t receive anything for being a parish councillor).  My council work takes up about 20 hours a week, so we’re paid well below the minimum wage! 

Post Office Local In the end Cooperative Foods agreed to a post office facility in its Fulbourn store.  I helped the parish council in its efforts to get a replacement following the closure of the former post office last summer.  It’s on trial so please use it!

Public Transport Survey The full report of the survey conducted earlier last year is now available.  The survey and report was undertaken by me on behalf of Fulbourn Parish Council and asks the council to consider the following proposals arising from the survey findings.

• Continued lobbying for a direct bus route to Cambridge city centre.
• Some form of community transport to Addenbrooke’s Hospital to better suit out patients and staff.
• Improvements to waiting facilities at the most well used bus stops (in the High Street, at the Bakers public house in Hinton Road and along Cambridge Road) such as real time bus information, shelters and seats.
• Priority in the use of Section 106 money for real time information displays.

A copy of the full report can be obtained by contacting me or the parish council. Or you can view the preliminary summarised report on my website.  The parish council has already used it to prioritise the stops for real time bus information displays.

Railway security Following a death at the Yarrow Road level crossing in 2010 I have been part of a group formed by the British Transport Police including the Samaritans, Network Rail and Fulbourn Hospital to improve safety and security.

Teasel Way I got the parish council to provide a new notice board for publicising community events and the district council to provide a litter bin and recycling bin to help solve the litter problem.

Tesco At the last minute it withdrew an application for a customer collection point for its Fulbourn store which would have taken up valuable customer parking. I went to Romford Tesco where there is a collection point to show that Tesco had not been straightforward in its application.  As someone said to me – it’s Tesco extending the retail capacity of the store by stealth.

Tesco I’m pressing Tesco to get its bus shelter repaired as quickly as possible.

Windmill Estate/The Swifts When I got elected to South Cambs in 2010 I had no idea that the redevelopment was at the point of collapse because South Cambs refused to use compulsory purchase powers as a last resort.  In the end I got an overwhelming majority of councillors to change their minds for the benefit of Fulbourn and the redevelopment is now progressing albeit behind schedule.

Windmill Lane Despite lobbying, the county council has only patched up the road.  Accent Nene declined to contribute saying to pay for resurfacing it would have cost a new home.

The three lime trees at the entrance to Greater Foxes which were threatened with felling have been reprieved thanks to action by local residents who presented a petition to Fulbourn Parish Council.

The decision to fell the trees was taken five years ago following a complaint about honeydew.  The parish council decided to plant hornbeams and fell the lime trees when the hornbeams reached a reasonable size.  However, when the parish council informed residents that they were about to remove the limes, residents said they wanted them to stay.

I knocked on every door in Greater Foxes and found an overwhelming majority in favour of keeping the limes recognising that the problem of honeydew was seasonal, only lasting four to six weeks in the summer.  The parish council reconsidered its plan and I’m pleased that it decided to retain the limes taking the advice of the South Cambs’ trees and landscape officer as to how to deal with the situation.

The opportunity was taken to review all the trees at the entrance to the Greater Foxes estate and it was agreed to replant some of the other varieties there, including beech and hornbeam, to avoid over planting – a local farmer has offered the use of a tree spade to relocate them elsewhere in the village.

At my first full council meeting I asked if South Cambridgeshire District Council could invest in our local building societies such as the Cambridge Building Society and Saffron Walden Building Society.  Clearly the council has to be sure that it will be investing public money wisely, but I considered it would give a positve signal to our local lenders.

I am pleased to report that officers are now giving consideration to one-off limits for local names like these, subject to due diligence.

I have no personal interest in this, neither being a saver or borrower with these organisations.

In response to overwhelming opposition Cambridgeshire County Council the highways authority for Fulbourn High Street has scrapped its plans to impose further parking restrictions, with the exception of new double yellow lines outside the Six Bells public house, which most respondents considered would be helpful to remove the bottleneck in the high street.

I thank all those who responded to the consultation which left the highways authority in no doubt as to the unpopularity of its proposed scheme which would have reduced further parking spaces in what some say is the shortest high street in the country.

At the local police liaison meeting this week I raised the issue of enforcement of the existing restrictions which many people including myself feel is the cause of the traffic congestion and the police agreed to give this higher attention using our excellent PCSOs to make more regular visits to the high street.

BT has disconnected the public telephone kiosk in the middle of Fulbourn village without notice.  It can do this because there is a second box within 400 metres in Cambridge Road.  But unlike the village kiosk the one in Cambridge Road has no parking space and is a fair old walk from most of the village!

The first anyone knew of this action by BT was when a notice was stick up inside the kiosk (note, inside not outside where it could be seen by everyone)  saying it was disconnected.  Of course people including the parish council though BT had to give notice when wished to remove a public telephone (as it had done in the past), but in 2005 under the previous government BT was allowed by Ofcom under the universal service provision to avoid this procedure if there’s another public telephone within 400 metres.

This gives the local community no opportunity to comment on its remowal and if a public telephone has to go which one it would prefer to keep.  BT is judge and jury in this and has no obligation to consult.  Having a public telephone sited in the centre of the village by the High Street and parking spaces would to most people be the obvious place for it, but we’ve been denied the opportunity to put our case by BT and Ofcom.