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Category Archives: news

Weekend Weather Warning

We have recieived the following advice from South Cambs District Council:

Bearing in mind the severe weather warning that is in place for heavy rain across much of southern England (including South Cambridgeshire) on Saturday and Sunday, we wanted to remind you of how the Council can help some residents whose properties are at imminent risk of flooding. Depending on the amount of rain, it is however worth bearing in mind that it may be the case that drains simply cannot get water away from an area fast enough.

As mentioned on our website, we have a supply of sandbags / Floodsax that can be delivered to domestic properties that are about to flood. As you’d expect, this is primarily aimed at our most vulnerable residents. Residents requesting these sandbags / Floodsax during normal office hours should call us on 03450 450 063 or email streets@scambs.gov.uk –  If it is outside of normal office hours and an emergency then please contact our out of hours number for Environmental Health Emergency on 01253 501 055. However, please bear in mind that we have a limited supply of sandbags / Floodsax and, depending on resources, it will likely take officers some time to deliver them. This is why it is so important to make preparations before a flood risk becomes imminent.

There are more useful tips for preparing for floods in the attached recent South Cambs Magazine articles below.

South Cambs Magazine Spring 2021 Article

South Cambs Magazine Winter 2020 Article

 

 

Active Travel – Specific Village Project consultation

Active travel is about helping people who want to walk or cycle as their first choice for short journeys. Last year it became clear that Station Road (particularly from the War Memorial to High Street) could be so much safer for cyclists if through traffic was reduced.

A proposal on how this might happen has now been published for consultation, and involves making major changes near the Baptist Church. Details can be found via consultcambs.uk.engagementhq.com/cats and there’s a map of the proposals at tinyurl.com/hwtt9cu8

The County Council are clear that this consultation aims to share the proposals for identified schemes with the wider public and to gauge their support and feedback for each option.

The plan is a real opportunity to reduce the amount of through traffic down Station Road which will make it both safer for cyclists and also a nicer place to live. Access will, of course, be maintained – just requiring a little more thinking until we get used to it.

However the plan, as is, would cause the loss of the bus stops by and opposite the Baptist Church. That’s not good.

But, we can support the idea, and ask for how it is to be made to happen to be changed. Access only (except for buses, cyclists, of course) from both ends (from Chequers Road to the War Memorial) would work, and could be enforced by cameras. Or perhaps a similar control could be implemented at the War Memorial end only permitting buses into and out of that portion of Station Road.

There’s a survey here – tinyurl.com/vtjvsbfy – do have your say!

Any projects which go ahead will be subject to further stakeholder engagement and public consultation either prior to installation as part of a Traffic Regulation Order or during any trial scheme, if implemented under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order.

 

The Histon & Impington Wetspot

Just as you have accident blackspots, we have wetspots – areas where flooding is likely to happen – and Histon & Impington are on the list of Cambridgeshire wetspots. A formal study suggests that up to 262 village properties could be at risk of flooding.

Why, and what we can do about it, was the subject of an excellent talk by Parish Councillors Jean Venables and Geoff Moore as part of the Feast Week. The talk ‘Flooding in Histon and Impington’ on Thursday 8th July is now available on YouTube at youtu.be/5lx7sLRf95M

The talk covered the village Flood Risk Management Plan developed by Geoff and Jean, and encouraged residents to join our Flood Co-ordination Group, so that we would be prepared for when the next floods come.

Also covered by the talk were the areas of the village most at risk of flooding, the responsibilities of householders and landowners, and how people can protect homes from flooding.

Do watch it now on youtu.be/5lx7sLRf95M, and contact Jean or Geoff to get involved with our Flood Co-ordination Group

 

HICovid19 digest (16 Jul 21)

Monday (19 Jul 21) is talked of as being ‘Covid Freedom Day’ but that doesn’t mean that we’ll be free of Covid. It just means is that we’ll be free of the rules which have governed our lives over the last 16 months or so and enabled us to fight off two surges in infection rates. Now we have a third surge but the strategy is to fight it in another way: no rules but rely on common sense.

We won’t be free as long as we live in the shadow of Covid so it is essential, whether or not we understand and agree with the Government’s strategy, that we do exercise common sense.

In Histon & Impington we continue to be blessed with a low infection rate. Although it’s sometime since we’ve been in the white zone (less than 3 infections over a seven day period) it’s hovering at 11 at present. That’s an incidence of 91 per 100,000 inhabitants compared to a national (England) average of about 350. It would be good if we could find a way to keep it that way.

Our local businesses have a dilemma. They have supported us so well during the periods of lock down and constrained activity and are naturally hoping that they can open up. However they also know that many people in the community are concerned. Many residents have reported their intention to continue to wear a face covering, especially indoors, and their worry about social distancing norms being abandoned.

Both the Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough (https://bit.ly/3wJO6O9) and the Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council (https://youtu.be/OSThyt2HVu8) have expressed support for the continuing wearing of masks in public places

Different businesses will respond in different ways and that’s their right. They will do so sensitive to what their customers want and it’s up to them to balance this with their need to trade profitably.

None of this is right or wrong. We all, businesses and customers, just need to exercise common sense and recognise that our collective behaviour over the next weeks will determine whether or not we can keep our local infection rate down.

This probably means that we should:

  • Continue to observe ‘hands, face and space’ especially in crowded indoor spaces;
  • Be tolerant of those who choose not to relax their behaviour. And of those who do;
  • Recognize that vulnerable people may now feel less safe in our community; and
  • Support our businesses and whatever rules they put in place

Our community has looked after itself in exemplary fashion. However the changes will probably bring more stress. If that happens and you or anyone you know does need any help for any reason please contact the street co-ordinator or call the HICOVID19 helpline on 01223 320420.

Click here for a pdf of this digest.

 

A very different Parish Council Full Council meeting

When COVID-19 struck, the government changed legislation so that councils of all sizes could meet virtually. This change ran out on May 7th this year, meaning that in theory all meetings should now be held face to face. As you can imagine, this caused many concerns for councils, which were made known to the Government, but the ruling was not changed and so we have had to find ways to work around it. Primarily, our committees have continued to meet virtually in workshops, planning the year ahead for ratification at meetings when they take place.

The June 21st 2021 Full Council meeting was therefore our first attempt at meeting face to face, and although we had planned to meet outside, the weather was against us, meaning we had to meet in the Community Room at the Recreation Ground. We had undertaken Risk Assessments well in advance of the meeting, the Councillors were given instructions on what precautions they would need to follow which included:  prior testing; using a one way system; washing hands before entering the building; wearing face masks at all times unless talking. Chairs were positioned as far apart as was practical and numbers were to be limited to 22 as a maximum – luckily we were quite well under that number and could spread out more. Doors were open, as were all the windows, with only one table for the Clerk. It all looked very different, with an agenda kept as short as possible, but the main purpose of the meeting which was to approve the paperwork for the annual report was completed, so we are keeping to our normal routines. Our next meeting in July will fall on the same day as the next set of restrictions are to be lifted, so it will be interesting to see how this meeting will be run.

Below are some highlights from the meeting.

– The Council considered and approved the Annual Governance and Accounting return for the financial year 2020-2021. This report is produced annually and submitted to external auditors for review. It looks not only at the financial side of the Parish Council but also the general running and practices of the Council, ensuring we are following all the necessary rules and regulations.  The unaudited version of the report is now available on the website under Transparency.

– At the meeting, the Council agreed for the Chair and Vice Chair to sign indemnities to allow us to receive some Section 106 monies from the development of Hunter’s Close of Impington Lane. This money is allocated to areas such as development of community facilities and public art, and has to be spent within the next 10 years.

– The Council also gave permission for a new storage shed to be built on the Recreation Ground to enable the Cricket Club to store a mobile scoreboard and other equipment.

 

Guided walks on the Abbey Fields during Feast Week

Guided walks on the Croft Close Set Aside and Long Meadow – come along to learn more about the wildlife and natural habitats found in these special green spaces.

Booking is essential.

Croft Close Set Aside:  6pm on 5th July

Long Meadow: 12 noon  on 7th July

Croft Close Set Aside: 6pm on 8th July

Croft Close Set Aside: 12 noon on 9th July

Suggested donation of £5 per adult, children free. Please book the walks (essential) here https://abbeyfields.online/

Places are being booked fast so please book as soon as possible.

 

HICovid19 digest (18 Jun 21)

Since the last digest we’ve enjoyed a long spell in the infection white zone (less than 3 new infections over a seven day period) before suddenly seeing a leap at the end of last week. It’s been up to 12 and now it’s at 9. That of course is in the context of the national surge driven by the delta variant and the consequential postponement of ‘Covid freedom day’ which had been set for 21 Jun 21.

This is a matter of concern of course but at the moment we should think of it as pressing the ‘pause’ button and not of hitting rewind. With sensible behaviour and the continuing rollout of the vaccination program it appears that we can be confident about seeing an improvement again as we get into July.

In the meantime we should:

  • Continue to be deliberately cautious. ‘Hands, face and space’ should continue to underline our behaviour around our community and elsewhere;
  • Get a test when we display symptoms of the delta variant. These can be similar to those of a summer cold or hay fever so please err on the side of caution. Get tested!
  • Be vaccinated as soon as we are called. Vaccination protects the individual and reduces transmission. The more people who get vaccinated the better it will be for all of us.

We have been looking forward to events through the summer as we have expected to emerge from  the final stages of lockdown but sadly some of these have been cancelled or can only go ahead under strict control. Several Feast related events have been cancelled although it is still intended that the Feast Market will proceed (10 Jul 21) albeit in a limited fashion and in a Covid compliant manner. A final announcement will be made at the end of the month.

However please note that the Flaming June Half Marathon is going ahead next Saturday, 20 Jun 21, because it was always planned to run this race under the current Covid rules.

Despite the current ‘pause’ increasing thought is being given to ‘life after Covid’ and the developing conclusion is that there isn’t one. There will be life of course but Covid will continue to be with us in the same way that the flu and other respiratory illnesses are. We will simply learn to live with it: getting booster vaccinations, avoiding infection hotspots and isolating (staying at home/in bed) when we’re ill.

Our community continues to look after itself in exemplary fashion. However if anyone does need any help for any reason they should contact their street co-ordinator or call the HICOVID19 helpline on 01223 320420.

Click here for a pdf of this digest.

 

Big Rec survey

The Parish Council has initiated a survey in order to find out what the community does by way of recreation, how COVID has impacted this and what it anticipates doing in the future. The results will enable it to plan its response and the extent that this will involve other stakeholders. And specifically it will give it an evidence base to underpin its investment plans for the community at large and specifically the Rec.

The survey is particularly timely because of the opportunities presented by the proposed science park development east of the community and by the constructive joint work currently being done with IVC and Histon Football Club. Conversations with other landowners are also anticipated.

The survey is live now and will run to 18 Jul 21. You can complete the survey online at https://tinyurl.com/HandIRec or by scanning the QR code below.

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Alternatively if you’d prefer to complete a paper copy of the survey you can pick one up at the St Andrew’s Centre, PrintOut, the Station Stores and the Parish Office from next week.

If you have any questions or need help in accessing and completing the survey please email rec_survey@hisimp.net or call the Parish Office on 01223 235906

 

 

 

New website

INCREASING BIODIVERSITY IN THE VILLAGES

Tree across footpath behind Manor Park

Storm Eunice

Christmas Tree Chipping event Saturday 8th January 2021