Willingham Primary School

On Friday evening the Chairman of the Council held his Christmas reception. As is usual, entertainment was provided by local young people and I am very proud that at the entrance to Shire Hall, the children of Willingham Primary School were on hand to give a musical welcome to the guests. They sounded magnificent and it was so good to hear them. Whenever I visit schools I am always impressed by the talent that is there and I was so pleased to that Willingham had the opportunity to demonstrate their musical abilities.

So well done - and thank you - to Willingham

Winter Gritting

I have just been given a leaflet (as I am every year at this time) about winter gritting. Priority is given the the roads that carry the most early morning traffic, roads linking centres of population and B rods adjacent to fen drains. It is the equivalent of the distance from Cambridge to Rome by road! The opening of the new bypass means that Station Road, High Street and Over Road will no longer be gritted, but the new bypass will be - and indeed was gritted on the morning of the opening because it was so frosty. If you need further information on winter gritting and which roads are gritted, then either phone 0845 045 5212 or go to cambridgeshire.gov.uk. All the gritting lorries in the county have been named, mostly by local schoolchildren. So over the next few months, look out for the gritting lorry for this area, which goes by the name of "The BFG" - the Big Friendly Gritter.

The A14, M11, A11 and A1(M) are the responsibility of the Highways Agency, not the County Council and they have their own gritting arrangements.

Over Pharmacy?

Great news! I had a letter today from the Primary Care Trust saying that they had rejected the application for a pharmacy in Over. This means that the current arrangements, which everyone thinks works so well will continue.

What is worrying is that the government have just completed a very badly advertised consultation on the future of rural dispensing practices. They are proposing that rural GP practices should be stripped of the right to dispense drugs. If this proposal is enacted, it will mean that we would have no choice but to have a separate pharmacy. I only found out about this proposal after the closing dates for comment. I hope others are more up to date that that this ludicrous suggestion by the government is rapidly rejected.

Longstanton Bypass

here is the photo to prove that the bypass is well and truly open. I've had a couple of e-mails expressing concern that some drivers are still not aware that it is fully open and I've asked officers to monitor the old road and if necessary put additional signage in place.

Longstanton Bypass

The bypass is finally open - hopefully fairly soon I will have a picture to prove it, but it will be a huge relief for so many people in Longstanton. Next target - a bypass for Willingham!

Willingham Parish Plan

I have mentioned in the Willingham newsletter the huge amount of work that went into the preparation of the Willingham Parish Plan. So last week I was really pleased to be at Shire Hall with members of the parish plan committee as they handed over a copy of the plan to the Deputy Leader of the Council - Mac McGuire. I have asked for the progress of parish plans and their implementation to be on the agenda of the next In Your Patch meeting on 10 December, to ensure that parish plans are not simply put to one side, but that views of parishioners are fully hear. In You Patch meetings are an opportunity for councillors to discuss district wide issues with officers. Willingham is the last of my three parishes to produce its plan and I want to know what the County Council is doing about the other plans.