Well - we didn’t use it so we are going to lose it!
I was very pleased to support Mike Hellowell of Horningsea Parish Council in his work with Stagecoach to get a new service between Waterbeach and Cambridge via Horningsea and Fen Ditton. Thanks also have to go to Andy Campbell of Stagecoach for putting on the service.
Unfortunately, far too few of us used it and so the service is to stop in early January. This is a shame in many ways, because while it is still running it does provide an excellent link to the shops on Newmarket Road. However, I have seen the figures and I have reluctantly to accept that it just wasn’t a commercial proposition.
Meanwhile, the County Council is to continue subsidising the 196 but the Saturday service will stop. We in Waterbeach are comparatively lucky, because we have a good bus link to Cambridge along the A10. However Horningsea would have had a real problem if they had lost the 196 and I was happy to support their Parish Council in their successful efforts to retain the service

Just as we all thought these ideas for new development had gone away, they reappear in a different guise. Both have appeared on a list produced by the East of England Regional Assembly as sites for new developments in the period to 2031. It is very important to note that these are proposals from developers and have not been approved and I am frankly surprised that Mereham, a site that has recently been so resoundingly rejected by a Planning Inspector after a lengthy public enquiry, should have got anywhere near the list.

However, proposals for Waterbeach (or Denny St. Francis as the developers insist on calling it) with 12,750 dwellings, have not yet been subjected to such a thorough review, and so those of us who are unhappy with the idea of so many houses being built on the barracks site still need to be extremely vigilant. I’ll keep you all in touch with what is going on.

We now have a spanking new Park and Ride just off Butt Lane. It isn’t big enough (I believe it filled up completely on its first Saturday) but my first impression is that it is working well and has eased some of the traffic problems around the A10-A14 junction.

I would welcome comments from residents, especially those of Milton who are probably affected most by the new car park.

Very many congratulations to Frances Amrani and Fiona Whelan on their victories in the District and County by-elections in Teversham and Hardwick respectively. Both of these were gains from the Conservatives.

The Teversham by-election was caused by the retirement due to ill-health of the previous Councillor, Caroline Hunt. Caroline was South Cambridgeshire District Council’s nominee on the Trustees of the Farmland Museum, and I know that the trustees appreciated her help in this role. We wish her well.

The Hardwick by-election was caused simply because the Conservative County Councillor just stopped turning up at meetings. After six months of inactivity he was thrown off the Council. This dereliction of duty is quite scandalous and I am really pleased that the residents of the Hardwick Division on the Council will have a local, hardworking councillor at last. They deserve it.

A motorcyclist was badly injured in a collision with a lorry on the morning of Thursday, October 1st (see the Cambridge Evening News article).

I have been campaigning since I was elected in 2005 for improvements to this junction, but although County Highways see the need for improvements, the scheme never seems to make the short list, mainly because of the lack of budget.

Jane Coston, my predecessor as County Councillor, managed to get traffic lights installed at the Denny End junction and these have undoubtedly been a great success. We need the same thing at the Slap Up if we are not to see further accidents.

At last some good news. Hot on the heels of Tesco withdrawing from the Hanley Grange eco-town proposal (see www.stophanleygrange.org.uk) there comes the news that the Secretary of State has rejected the scheme to build a new town on a site just up the A10 from here between Stretham and Wilburton.

I and Hazel Smith, two of your local Liberal Democrat Councillors, spoke at the public enquiry, and it is excellent that the inspector listened to our objections as well as those of many local Councils.

It was clear to many of us that the scheme was ill-conceived from the very beginning, and it is good to know that the minister has agreed with our case and rejected these plans which, among other things, would have caused yet more traffic chaos on the A10 in the morning and evening peaks as well as demolition of the Jane Coston bridge in Milton.

For more details of the inspector’s decision, click here.

At long last there may be some progress here. I called a meeting yesterday with representatives of First Capital Connect, Network Rail and the County Council among others, and it seems there is a real willingness to see progress in providing more car parking. We talked about two possible schemes, one using the old goods yard which has been unused for some time, and it seems possible that, provided the right business case can be made, we may get significant extra parking spaces in the not-too-distant future.

I shall try to keep you in touch with what is happening, so, watch this space.

The Liberal Democrats in Milton are campaigning for the Anglian Water sewage works to be modernised. Read the rest of this entry »

The County Council’s Tory cabinet have recently agreed a change in policy whereby 20 mph limits will only be installed if the traffic is already averaging 20 mph! Read the rest of this entry »

Michael was approached some time ago by Mike Hellowell of Horningsea Parish Council and asked if he would support a campaign to improve bus services between Waterbeach, Horningsea, Fen Ditton and Cambridge Read the rest of this entry »

Hot on the heels of proposed Post Office closures, now BT want to close our telephone boxes Read the rest of this entry »

This is my new web-site to give you information about what is happening at Cambridgeshire County Council that affects you, particularly if you live in one of the three parishes that I represent.

I hope that you find it interesting and useful, and will contact me if there are any issues you want to raise with me.