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Category Archives: County Council

A14 & 20mph: October’s Highways Committee Meeting

Histon & Impington Parish Council’s Highways Committee met last week.

Pleasingly a number of residents came along to discuss and raise a number of different issues, including:

  • The A14, including proposals to reduce noise
  • The 20mph for Histon & Impington project

There was also discussion on the ‘Local Highways Improvements’ (LHI ) (1) program run by the County Council.

The A14

The Parish Council have been part of the Planning Inspectorate’s examination formal consultation over the summer. One issue, and about the closest to our heart, is the problem of noise in the Lone Tree Avenue and Cambridge Road area of the villages.

In our submissions we have strongly argued for a noise-reducing surface and extensive sound barriers to reduce these problems. Highways England’s (formerly Highways Agency) have now proposed to use a ‘Very Low Noise Surface’ (VLNS) on the upgraded A14 between Girton and Milton; however, this appears to be at the expense of more extensive Sound Barriers.

There was a in depth discussion, involving some of the residents most affected and the committee, on how to respond to the proposal.

20mph for Histon & Impington

Two residents attended having read in the last newsletter about the proposal, still being developed, for 20mph speed limits in the villages. Having listened to their concerns, they were reassured that were the scheme to be taken further a full consultation would happen across the villages before a decision was made.

The Parish Council has been publicising the idea and asking for comments for sometime, and had a Keynote speaker at its Annual Parish Meeting on the subject. Further newsletter articles and a set of FAQs will be published during the meantime.

It was clarified that a straw-poll of about 200 residents conducted at the Feast Market was useful to gauge opinion and support (or not) but informative only, and was seen in the context of being unscientific.

Comments, for or against, can be sent to 20mph@hisimp.net

Local Highways Improvement

This is almost the only way for the Parish Council to get changes to the road network done by the County Council. This is currently an annual opportunity to submit ideas for improvements in the villages. The St Andrews Centre scheme is an example from previous years. Successful bids win a small amount of funding and must be complete by the end of the following financial year.

It was decided that a scheme to improve the Baptist Church/War Memorial junction should be our submission for this year. It is a complex, poorly laid out set of junctions with little provision for pedestrians, heavily used by children and is the source of many complaints by residents.

 

(1) http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/lhi

 

Budget Planning Consultation – Cambridgeshire County Council

We have received the following information from Cambridgeshire County Council:

Cambridgeshire residents are being asked to tell us their views on what they feel our priorities should be for the coming year. The consultation process consists of the following:
– Online survey
– Community engagement, attending local events across the county
– Business engagement, attending local events and meetings
– Service user dialogue, communicating with established support groups across the county.

We have developed a video outlining the challenges we face and the steps you might take to assist us in managing the budget cuts we are facing whilst maintaining essential services.

The information you provide us will feed into our annual business planning process.

 

Streetlighting Energy Saving Consultation – will you be in the dark?

Cambridgeshire County Council are consulting on a part night lighting system for County Council owned streetlights in order to make further savings due to reduction in Central Government funding.  The scheme would increase the current period of streetlight dimming (8pm or 10pm until 6am) to all times, and would mean turning off  lighting not on main traffic routes between midnight and 6am.  Most of the columns identified for Impington are located in the King’s Meadow area of Impington

Click here to view the lights selected for dimming

Click here to view the lights selected for turning off at midnight

If you feel you would like to send us your comments on the proposal, Councillors reviewing the consultation can feed these into our response

 

Formal consultation for parking restrictions on New Road has begun

The County Council has begun formal consultation on proposed additional restrictions (“Prohibition of Waiting At Any Time”) along New Road.

The proposals aim to improve traffic flow, ensure buses and emergency vehicles can pass along during popular events, and prevent parking on the grass verges.

It is proposed to restrict parking where there is less day-to-day parking anyway.

“If you wish to make any comments on these proposals we would appreciate them in writing, no later than 25th September 2015 quoting reference PR0224”

A map is available here: New Road, Impington Layout

Contact details are: Karen Lunn

Telephone: 0345 045 5212

Email: Policyandregulation@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

 

 

 

Weather Warning

The Met Office have issued a Yellow Alert of Rain and Wind valid from 12:00 on Friday 24th July 2015 until 09:00 Saturday 25th July 2015

QUICK SUMMARY:

‘An area of rain and strong to gale force winds is expected to cross much of southern England before clearing to the east on Saturday morning.

There is a low likelihood that the system could be intense enough to bring disruptive wind and rain to some parts. The public should be aware of the potential for disruption particularly for those engaged in outdoor activities.’

Please be mindful of how this may potentially affect your services and put into place any preparatory measures necessary.

For more details please go to:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings

 

Flooding: be prepared

Remember the floods of last year? They were very localised and short lasting but they still gave us some problems. They may recur.

What should we be doing in the meantime?

Firstly the County Council has been asked and has agreed to double check the drains along Glebe Road/B1049 that gave us such problems last year.

And secondly there’s lots that residents can do:

  • check the gullies. These should have blue dots painted next to them to indicate that they were jetted earlier this year. Residents can now help by checking this and having a look down them. There should water a foot or so down. If it’s all the way to the top then the gully’s blocked so report it!
  • if your in a vulnerable house take precautions. You’ll know if you’re vulnerable because you’ve had a problem before. Think about what you can do to adapt to a recurrence. There’s useful advice at the National Flood Forum.
  • stay alert. If there’s bad weather forecast check whether or not it’s expected to give us a problem locally. There’s a link to Weather Underground in the right-hand bar of this web-site. Alternatively check out XCWeather, NetWeather or the Met Office.
  • be sensible. If there are floods take care. Drive slowly through any flooding on the road. Don’t cause unnecessary waves which simply push more water into peoples’ properties.

Finally: if there are warnings or actual floods please look out for your neighbours especially those less able to take care of themselves.

 

 

 

Histon Infants School: public meeting

The County Council has agreed to the holding of an open meeting to address primary school capacity issues in Histon & Impington. It will enable residents and especially parents of current and prospective pupils to understand current and expected increases in demand for school places, the options for responding to them and the decision taken regarding the provision of sufficient places at the Infants School for the coming year.

The meeting will take place at the Junior School at 1830 on Tuesday, 2 Jun 15. An agenda will be issued later this week.

 

Annual Parish Meeting for Histon and Impington Parishes

The Chairman of the Parish Council, David Jenkins, has called the APMs for the 2 parishes. They are to run concurrently on Monday 18th May from 7 p.m. at the Recreation Centre, Histon & Impington Recreation Ground, New Road, Impington. This is an opportunity to ask questions that concern you about life in our villages. Please come – all electors welcome!
So what is a Parish Meeting?
• Every English parish must have a parish meeting

• The meeting consists of local government electors registered for the area. If the Chairman of the Parish Council for the area is present he/she MUST preside

• The meeting must assemble between 1 March and 1 June and may be convened by the Parish Council Chairman or by 6 electors for the area for which it is held

• A minimum of 7 days notice of agenda must be given

• The quorum of a Parish meeting is 2

• Decisions are taken in the first instance by a majority of those present and voting. The Chairman, if an elector, has an original and casting vote, if not an elector, only a casting vote – voting does not need to be counted but can be based on overwhelming majority

• In all but a very few cases, any decision reached as a resolution is “persuasive” only and may not subsequently be passed by the Council

• The right of the parish meeting to discuss parish affairs extends to any public matter of a parochial nature and is NOT confined to the exercise of the statutory functions of the Parish Council

• The press and public have the same rights of admission to parish meetings as they have to a meeting of the Parish Council. It is therefore advisable to set aside clearly marked places for electors and non-residents to avoid confusion when a vote is taken
The agenda for the meeting can be found here. There will be a Speaker from Cambridge City Council on the City’s experience of implementing 20 mph controls in Cambridge. There will be a chance to consider whether the approach would be appropriate in a village setting.

 

A14 Girton to Huntingdon Pinch-Point Programme – Update

We have received the following Works Information Notice from the Highways Agency:

There will be need for further carriageway closures in the forthcoming week:

Between Monday 4th May 2015 and Friday 8th May 2015 the eastbound carriageway will be closed between junctions 31 (Girton) and 32 (Histon & Impington). In addition there will be no westbound access to the A14 at either junction 32 (Histon & Impington) or 36 (Nine Mile Hill).

These closures will both be effective between 20:00 hrs – 06:00 hrs

Three lanes with a 50mph speed limit will be maintained in each direction during the day to support peak time traffic flows

The closures and diversions will be well sign posted and details of the diversions can be seen on the Highways Agency website: www.highways.gov.uk/roads/road-projects/A14-Junction-31-to-32-Eastbound-and-Westbound-Improvements

Regular updates on progress throughout the construction can found on the website detailed above and you can keep up to date with live traffic announcements by following the Highways Agency on Twitter: @highwaysagency

We very much regret any inconvenience caused by the closure and if you have any questions regarding the project you can contact Brian Greaves our Community Relations Manager on the 24 hour help line 0845 600 2664

 

New website

INCREASING BIODIVERSITY IN THE VILLAGES

Tree across footpath behind Manor Park

Storm Eunice

Christmas Tree Chipping event Saturday 8th January 2021