There was yet another accident at the Slap Up junction a week or so ago. Here is the information from the police:

Two vehicles involved - both cars. Driver 2 had slight injuries - whiplash.

Vehicle 1 turned right across the A10 into path of vehicle 2. Unknown if vehicle 1 was leaving or entering main road.

We need action and I have contacted the County Council Cabinet member for Highways to try to arrange a meeting. So far I have had no reply.

I’ll keep you informed of progress.

The County Council has recently confirmed that the resurfacing of the Back Stile footpath is to be included in the capital works programme for this year. This is after several years of campaigning by Michael and others who see the current state of this path as a disgrace.

Back Stile (more formally known as Footpath Number 1) runs from Waterbeach Green to the A10. It was surfaced many years ago, but the edges of the path have fallen away over the years and, although it can still be used by walkers, it cannot be used by any sort of wheeled transport, including buggies and wheelchairs.

The path also has a junction with Footpath Number 2 which runs from the end of Glebe Road and has recently been resurfaced.

‘Repair of Footpath Number 1 will provide a much needed new route within Waterbeach’, says Michael. ‘In particular, I believe that it will provided a much-needed link between the Mill Road - Glebe Road area and the Green as well as improving access from the Green to the A10. It took us a long time to get there, but persistence clearly pays off.’

By now, parents and carers have been informed that Helen Williams, Headteacher of Waterbeach School, has decided to move on after eight years, and will be leaving at the end of the Summer term.

Helen has been an extremely successful Head. Under her guidance the school achieved ‘outstanding’ in its OfStEd inspection in 2007. One of the comments of the inspectors was that “The key factor in this ongoing improvement is the outstanding quality of the headteacher’s leadership”. Thus Helen will be a hard act to follow. However, she will leave behind a strong team and, as a Governor, I am confident that the school will move on from strength to strength and will be in safe hands while the search goes on for a new head to start, hopefully, in September 2010.

The new interactive speed sign in Denny End Road flashes when you are travelling at well under 30 mph. It even gets set off by bicycles.

Speed signs like this can be useful to remind drivers of their speed. However, when they flash at drivers who are keeping to the speed limit, or are driving even slower, they are worse than useless. “The sign needs fixing or removing”, says Michael. “I have tried on many occasions to get it mended, but have as yet had no response from the relevant department in the County Council”

The latest submissions to the County Council’s Minerals and Waste consultation include a submission by Network Rail to close Chesterton Sidings and move the operations that include minerals handling and possible London waste transfer to a site north of Waterbeach

The proposals are simply from the developer at this stage, and have no formal status. However, if we are to stop this piece of open countryside being blighted by what is essentially induistrial development, then it is vital that as many people as possible make their views known.

I have talked to many of those most affected by this development and, not surprisingly, they are all against it. The development is in open, flat countryside, not far from Denny Abbey, and there is no doubt that this piece of landscape will be spoiled for ever by such a development.

You can see full details of the proposal at http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/environment/planning/mineralswasteplan/siteprofilesmap/railhead and this will take you to the page where you can add your comments. Alternatively, click here to see a map of the proposals.

Do make your views know - I can make comments on your behalf, but they have more impact if they come from individuals.

At today’s County Council meeting I raised the issue of the Slap-up junction. Using the County Council’s own statistics this has the worst accident rate of any junction in Cambridgeshire but the cost of an upgrade is so great (around £450,000) that the improvements never get approved.

A few months ago I made some suggestions to the County’s road safety team of some small changes that might help the situation. Amanda Mays of that team responded that my ideas had some merit, and that they were worth looking at.

Today I asked Councillor Matt Bradney, the portfolio holder to ask the road safety team to look further at my ideas and he agreed.

This junction urgently needs action and I very much hope that we might get some progress. If you are interested in my ideas, please contact me and I shall send them to you.

Do you cycle to work? Do you use any of the cycle ways or cycle bridges? Have you have problems with the ice recently?

The recent spell of cold weather has highlighted the County Council’s policy on gritting cycle routes as being totally unfit for purpose. There have been huge numbers of complaints both locally about the two cycle bridges in Milton, and about other cycle routes both into and within Cambridge, because the County Council’s policy is only to grit when the weather has been bad for five days!

By that time lots of people may have fallen off their bikes, and people could have been seriously injured.

The Liberal Democrat group on the County Council are calling for urgent consideration of revision to the policy and have asked one of the Council’s Scrutiny committees to look at the whole issue. If we want people to leave their cars at home and use green modes of thransport, then the routes they use must be kept safe.

In order to get maximum relevant input to the scrutiny process Cambridgeshire Lib Dems have launched a web-site http://cambridgeshiregrit.wordpress.com/ and have invited residents to post their experiences on-line.

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 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.

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 »