County news – January 2014

Brian Abblitt at Morleys Farm, Warboys


John Reynolds' monthly reports covers a wide range of topics of interest to people in South Cambridgeshire.

Cultivate a future on our County Farms Estate
Prospective farmers are being given the chance to grow their career by becoming tenants on Cambridgeshire County Council’s Farm Estates.

Last year the Estate gave ten new tenants the opportunity to start their own rural businesses and now there’s the chance for others to follow in their footsteps with further opportunities available for 2014.

With 13,400 hectares and 216 tenants, the estate is the largest of its kind in the country – providing one of the few opportunities for new tenants to take their first step on the farming ladder.

Prospective tenants are invited to apply for five holdings available from October 2014:

  • Morleys Farm, Warboys comprises 133ha, two houses and buildings and could be let as two separate farms depending on demand.
  • Red House Farm, March has 67ha, bungalow and buildings.
  • Crowhall Farm, Burwell comprises 55ha, house and buildings.
  • New Farm, Rampton has 56ha with house and buildings.
  • Glebe Farm, Lode is a 33ha holding with land only and no house or buildings.


A View Day is being held on Tuesday 11th February and the deadline for applications is Friday 28th February.  A free training day, which applicants are encouraged to attend, will be held on Saturday, 15 February.

For full details, please visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/countyfarms or join the Cambridgeshire County Farms Facebook group.

Cambridgeshire County Councillor John Reynolds added “Creating jobs and promoting growth in the rural economy is important.

"The chance to develop a farming business is an increasingly rare opportunity and the competition for new tenancies on the Cambridgeshire Estate is always fierce, attracting very high quality applicants from around the country.”

There's a video – www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/CMSWebsite/Apps/News/Details.aspx?ref=1269.

Youngsters can put authors in the pictures
First time authors could be in with a chance of winning as the 9th Read it Again! Cambridgeshire Children's Picture Book Award launches this month.

Run by Cambridgeshire Libraries, the Read it Again! award is for a picture book where the words and pictures are the first published work of one individual.

Children will read, discuss and then vote for their favourite book from a shortlist of eight outstanding titles, all published during 2013. The book receiving the most votes will be declared the Read it Again! winner at a special ceremony to be held in early summer.

As well as enjoying the books, children will have the opportunity to correspond with the creators via letters and e-mail. Last year's award, won by Jenni Desmond for her amazing book, Red Cat, Blue Cat, involved over 7,500 children from 58 local schools.

Budget proposals set out tough times ahead
Cabinet members have agreed budget proposals which show public services are in for tough times ahead to meet nearly £149 million in savings over the next five years
 
Members of the County Council's Cabinet agreed the draft budget proposals on 14 January, after they were debated by Overview and Scrutiny Committees. The proposals have been put forward to meet the huge savings required for 2014 / 2015 and the following years.
 
The report warned that there are no easy solutions to meet the savings and that some services will need to be cut or reduced as the Council has already saved £74 million in the last two years.
 
Cabinet backed proposals that the Council sticks to its already agreed plan.  Like other authorities across the country, the County Council will increase Council Tax by 1.99 per cent to help protect frontline services.
 
Cambridgeshire is one of the hardest hit authorities in the country and has had a reduction in the Government’s Settlement Funding Assessment of 20.9 per cent (£29.9m) over the next two financial years. The County is also the lowest funded for education in the UK despite having the fastest growing population.

This means the Council is seeing more and more demands on its services – especially for those who are the most vulnerable – as more people need them or are living longer and require more expensive care services.

Increased population puts a £9 million strain on the Council’s budget every year while inflation also annually adds extra pressure on decreasing funds.

There's more on this in the County Council's press release.

Repairs to improve Madingley Road footpaths and repairing and repainting Jesus Green Footbridge
Work begins on January 20 to improve and resurface footpaths and sycleways on Madingley Road, Cambridge, between the junctions with Clerk Maxwell Road and Grange Road.

At the same time, a ten-week, £300,000 project will begin to repair the steel structure of Jesus Green Footbridge – all the metalwork will be grit blasted and repainted with a special protective paint.

During the work, the Grade II listed bridge will be closed to pedestrians and cyclists – the nearby alternative bridges are at Victoria Avenue and Magdalene Street.
 
The Madingley Road work is expected to take around six weeks to complete at a cost of £85,000.

Steps taken to explore future of Cromwell Museum
Plans have been agreed to help Cambridgeshire County Council identify options to try to keep open the Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon, with The Cromwell Museum Management Committee helping the local authority look at alternative options.

Grant funding from the Arts Council England's Renaissance programme will be used to carry out work to review and test the viability of finding an alternative operator for the Huntingdon based tourist attraction.

Local County Councillor John Reynolds said "Since the end of last year, we've been committed to looking to see if there are other options to enable us to keep the Museum open.

"The Council has to make £149m worth of savings over the next five years, so we've had to look hard at non statutory services – which includes the Museum.  We still hope it's possible to find someone else to run and manage it at no cost to the tax payer and we have until next year to explore this."

Great War commemoration
With many national and local events and activities planned to commemorate the Great War, the County Council and local Armed Forces and Cadet Forces are working together to ensure that their plans are joined up and they share our resources.

The Council successfully secured EU funding to finance The Great War – Between the lines.  This has a strong focus on the untold stories and the impact on Cambridgeshire (although we recognise that administrative boundaries were different 100 years ago) and will look at the role of women, hospitals and factories set up in the area, the impact on local traditions and customs and the Cambridgeshire Regiment.

Our libraries, archives and adult learning services are working together on this and material gathered will be featured on the Cambridgeshire Community Archive Network website – http://great-war.ccan.co.uk.

This project will culminate with an event on 3rd August (the day before the anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War) at Hinchingbrooke House.

The first event will take place on 8th March and will focus on greater Cambridge.

In collaboration with the University, Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Councils, it will focus on their war memorials and will include walking, running and cycling routes to view them and learn more about the stories that lie behind them.

New taxi rank system set to improve safety and reduce congestion
A new taxi rank system has being launched in St Andrew’s Street, Cambridge that will tackle travel issues in one of the busiest streets in the city.

The system was  piloted between 9.00 am and 9.00 pm for a month.  Council and taxi drivers will assess how it has worked and agree how it will operate permanently. 
 
The new system will see the taxi rank on nearby Drummer Street act as a feeder for the St Andrew’s Street rank.

Rather than taxis queuing illegally on the narrow and heavily used St Andrew’s Street, they will wait at Drummer Street and an electronic sign will let drivers know when there is a space free.

Taxis will also be available directly from the Drummer Street rank, which can be better value for those travelling south.

The scheme has been developed following calls to tackle safety and congestion issues on St Andrew’s Street.  It is costing £30,000, funded by the Department of Transport through the Better Bus Areas Fund awarded to Cambridgeshire.
 
Greater Cambridge deal
A billion pound deal for Greater Cambridge has taken a step closer. The Deal aims to unlock £1 billion of additional funding for investment in transport infrastructure and homes to support high quality economic and housing growth over the coming decades.

The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement committed the Government to deliver the gain share proposals for the Greater Cambridge City Deal.  A £6 million grant was part of the Deal for the new Cambridge Science Park Station (see below).
 
In addition to funding for transport and affordable housing, the Deal would see the three councils (County, Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Councils) pooling some of their funding and powers and working even more closely than now in a form of 'combined authority'.

This requires Government to change current legislation, but would allow for the creation of a single strategic vision for the future of the area covered by Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire.
 
The city deal has been negotiated by a partnership of Cambridge City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, The University of Cambridge and the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership.
 
Councillor Ray Manning, Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, said: "This will have benefits to the whole of Cambridge, South Cambridgeshire villages and beyond.

"Retaining taxes generated in the local area gives us the opportunity to invest in the infrastructure needed here which will boost the local economy, make sure businesses can continue to prosper and allow much-needed and affordable housing to be delivered."

Grants available to create a cycling legacy
To celebrate the third stage of Le Tour de France starting in Cambridge next year, £20,000 is being made available to local groups to make the visit, on 7th July, of the sporting spectacular even more memorable.

The Cycle Legacy Small Grant Fund has been created by Cambridgeshire County Council to support activities or events linked to and inspired by cycling or Le Tour.
 
To be eligible, groups or organisations should put forward activities within their community which will involve and motivate people to create a lasting and positive legacy to mark this historic visit of the race to Cambridgeshire.

Each grant will be up to a maximum of £500 and additional funding or support in kind will be expected.
 
The grants are being awarded in three rounds and the deadlines for applications for each round are: 17 January, 7 March and 11 April.

For more details on the guidance and how to apply please go to www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/around/cycling/cycle_legacy.

Large response for cash to support public transport    
Parish councils in South Cambridgeshire were invited in November to bid for funding to improve facilities for their bus users.

This funding has been provided by the Department for Transport and is being administered by Cambridgeshire County Council.

The criteria for use of this funding mean that it can only be used in South Cambridgeshire and that priority may be given to areas along the busiest transport routes to Cambridge.

Possible improvements could include new bus shelters, cycle parking and real time bus information displays.  Successful parish councils will be given the opportunity to develop their plans and establish project costs to enable work to be implemented by March 2014.

The Council received a large number of submissions – due to the demand, approval has been given to increase the total available funding from £40,000 to £115,000.  Work is now underway with Parish Council’s to implement the improvements. 
 
£6 million government funding just the ticket for station plans
A £6 million grant from Government to deliver the first stages of the new Cambridge Science Park Station.

The money will be spent on a range of measures, including cycle links – such as along Cowley Road and the those from Nuffield Road onto the Busway cycleway.

The money will also pay for the Busway route into the station from Milton Road.  The Council remains committed to the station being ready in 2015.
 
There's more on this in two County Council press releases – the one this note is taken from (dated 12 December 2013) and another issued on 18 December 2013.

Simple swaps for healthier family shops
Local support for a national campaign where just small swaps on a January shopping list can mean big healthy changes in fat and sugar intake.

The Smart Swaps campaign calls on families to sign up and make one easy change – like swapping sugary drinks to low sugar drinks, or swapping a biscuit for a piece of fruit.

Signing up to Smart Swaps means making simple changes to what you eat and drink to have a healthy impact on your diet.

There's more about this in the County Council's press release.

Contact John Reynolds

County Councillor John Reynolds
4 Holly Trees
Bar Hill
Cambridge
CB23 8SF

T 01954 200 571
F 01954 200 571
M 07720 379699
E john.reynolds@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

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