New Buses

Yesterday I travelled on one of the new buses that Stagecoach has bought to run on the guided busway. The busway itself is making slow progress, which is unfortunate, but in the meantime Stagecoach are running their new fleet on a number of routes around Cambridge, including the 15. It was a great improvement on the old buses that we are used to. It has air conditioning and free wi-fi (not that I had my laptop with me), but I did see someone making use of it. The seats are also This goes towards making Cambridge one the the greenest public transport cities in the country.

Over Pharmacy

One of the first letters waiting for me when I came home after a recent spell in hospital was a letter from the Primary Care Trust advising that an appeal against their decision to refuse permission for a pharmacy had been allowed by the NHS Litigation Authority. I have been in touch with Over Surgery to offer any support that I can. In the meantime I wrote to the said Litigation Authority asking a number of questions. Specifically I wanted to know why nobody apart from the surgery appeared to have been advised of the appeal and therefore given no opportunity to comment. I also wanted to know whether anyone had visited Over before making a decision. I received a reply this morning. Apparently once the Litigation Authority has made a decision, it refuses to enter into any further correspondence and they therefore merely enclosed a copy of the decision, which is less than helpful. It appears that profit carries more weight than people when it comes to deciding whether we need a pharmacy or not. The cynic in me says that this is hardly the caring Labour government that we are continually promised.
I fear that there is very little that we, as local residents, or I, as an elected representative can do, but I will raise the prinicple of the way this decision was reached with Jim Paice, our MP, and ask that he speaks to the Department of Health.

Longstanton Bypass

It sometimes seems that in sorting one problem another is created. the Longstanton bypass has brought a welcome relief from the many thousands of cars that used to travel through the village, but it has created a problem for cyclists, who have lost a direct route from Over to Longstanton. As part of the Home Farm Development a cycleway will be created through the estate, but that now seems a long way off.

So as a temporary solution a new footpath has been created adjacent to the bypass and which links in to the Over Road in Longstanton. It is very much a temporary measure and has only been created from road planings, but it is much better than nothing and will enable cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders to have a safer and more pleasant journey between the two villages.

Swingers Club Mark 2

Just as we thought that we had heard the last of the Swingers Club, I heard otherwise at the end of last week. Having lost their planning application and subsequent appeal, I am told that the site is now advertising that a pole/lap dancing club will shortly be opening.

I have been in touch with the Planning Department at South Cambs District Council and they have reassured me that they are investigating.

My position remains as before; I make no comment on what people wish to do in private, but I do not believe that an Industrial Estate with little access to good public transport late at night is a suitable location.

Cycling to Longsstanton

Since the new Longstanton bypass opened at the beginning of December complaints about the diversion of National Cycle Route 51 from Ramper Road along the new bypass into Station Road and then through the village to the existing route.
It will be obvious to most that because of the recession, housebuilders in the area, including Longstanton, have shut up shop and the provision of the permanent link through the proposed housing development (which would have been funded by the developers) has been delayed. The County Council is not able to provide an alternative cycle route. However, we will be constructing a temporary footpath with planings along the eastern verge from roundabout 2 (the central roundabout) south to and over the new bridge to join the old Over Road. This will enable cyclists to walk this route as an alternative until the developers provide the permanent link.
Once the guided busway opens later this year the cycleway being constructed alongside will become the new NCN51 route and provide a more direct and safer route for cyclists.

Winter Gritting

Now that the weather has returned to a more familiar pattern and salt supplies have been restored, I have been told that the normal gritting routes have been resumed. There are also gangs of workers travelling the county repairing the many potholes that have sprung up in the bad weather.Some of these will be temporary repairs until the weather has improved sufficiently to carry out a permanent repair. If you spot a pothole, please call 0345 045 5212 or click onto www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/roads/potholes/ to report it.

Winter Gritting

I have just received the following from the Director of Highways and thought it best to share it with you as soon as possible. I know that there have been complaints about gritting - no-one is ever happy, but I would like to put on record my thanks to Billy Gipp, who grits the roads in Longstanton, Over and Willingham. He can be seen driving a lorry called the BFG - Big Friendly Gritter.


You may be aware of the national shortage of rocksalt in the country. To address this the LGA and the Highways Agency have now set up a new system where deliveries are prioritised to those authorities in the most need. This has meant Cambridgeshire is no longer getting the deliveries it had been as authorities which are in the most need get first priority. I have discussed the challenges that this sets us with the Leader, Portfolio Holder and Chief Executive who have been kept appraised of the situation throughout last week.
In order to make sure we can grit as much as possible with the rocksalt we have the Council has, this evening, revised our main gritting routes. This means we will be gritting A roads and a priority network of B roads as well as waterside roads and access to hospitals.
More information on the roads we are gritting is available at:
http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/roads/winter/Temporary+Winter+Maintenance+Regime+%28Feb+2009%29.htm
This will be updated tomorrow with the roads we usually grit but are no longer doing so. We are emphasising to residents that they must take extra care as routes they are used to be gritted will not be. As soon as we can secure more supplies then we will reassess this suspension of gritting.
This is a difficult decision that we did not want to take and road safety is our paramount consideration. However, if we were to continue gritting the normal main routes our supplies would last for about three days, This measure, together with careful management of the amount of salt we spread per square meter will secure a couple of additional days of gritting. We will continue to advise GoEast of our stock situation so that they can supply us later in the week if needed.