Longstanton Bypass

Good news! The Longstanton bypass will be opening on Wednesday 3 December. A great Christmas present for everyone in Longstanton, particularly the residents of Over Road, Station Road and High Street

Local government and the credit crunch

I don't often comment on "political" issues, but this week's pre-budget report has left me feeling a bit bemused. I'm a pretty simple person when it comes to finance, so I find the current policy very hard to follow. Most commentators are agreed on the fact that the current economic crisis has been caused by the fact that people have borrowed too much and there is too much debt. So can someone please explain to me why borrowing even more by the government is going to sort the crisis out. I can't see that the temporary cut in VAT is going to kick start the economy, particularly given that people know it is only temporary and taxes will go up just in time for the general election. I agree that the economy needs a kick start, but helping small business to keep people in work and therefore money in their pockets would seem to be a more productive way of doing things.
Last week I was in London at a "Credit Crunch Summit" organised by the Local Government Association. There were a number of ideas floated as to what local government could do, particularly around housing advice for those in difficulty with mortgage repayments, but the main tranche of advice seemed to be to spend more money on infrastructure projects - and cut taxes at the same time. No one explained how we could do both at once, but as I said, I am a very simple person, so I'm obviously missing the obvious!

Swavesey Neighbourhood Panel

On Tuesday 18 November the Swavesey Police Neighbourhood Panel will be holding a meeting in Bar Hill Village Hall at 7-00pm for a 7-30 start. The Swavesey Panel covers Over, Willingham and Longstanton as well as a number of other villages and is your opportunity to raise police issues that are worrying you. Representatives from both the County and District Council also attend, so if there is something "bugging" you - this is your chance. I will be asking the police about their response to the recent spate of vandalism in Over and asking them to have a more visible presence in the area. If you can't attend but would like a problem raised, then please let me know, either by phone (please leave a message if I am not in) or via e-mail.

Longstanton Bypass

More changes to the Longstanton bypass before it finally opens at the beginning of December.

As from Monday 17 November the newly opened part will be closed again for final works to take place. Instead traffic from Over will use the main bypass - in other words, from Over turn left at Ramper Road and then right onto the bypass. This means access to Longstanton will be difficult again for a couple of weeks - either going via Willingham or backtracking from the bypass. I am promised that we will all have a good Christmas present and the bypass will finally be completed, nearly three months early. At least we will see an end to all the traffic disruption that we have had to endure for the past twelve months.