Cambridgeshire County Council – Cambridgeshire Matters newsletter

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Welcome to Cambridgeshire Matters – July 2024 Cambridgeshire Matters is our monthly newsletter which aims to share good news, highlights and updates from across Cambridgeshire to help our network of district, city and community members stay informed.   Find out about the great work that is taking place to support everyone in the county. Share this newsletter with your communities and feel welcome to use any of the features in your own newsletter or on social media.

Cambridgeshire welcomes new and returning Members of Parliament (MPs)

As a result of the General Election, Cambridgeshire now has five new MPs representing constituencies across Cambridgeshire. There are also two returning MPs.   MPs can help with issues that are the responsibility of the UK Parliament. But often the right person to contact will be a local councillor (either county, district, town or parish), Citizens Advice, or an Ombudsman.    Information and guidance on who you should contact with your issue is available on the UK Parliament website.

County’s kerbside war on weeds now underway

The county’s chemical weed treatment programme is in full swing as more than 440km of kerbside weeds have been treated already in just a few weeks – the equivalent distance of just under 5,000 football pitches – and will cover 243 parish areas in total.   The programme began in June and is expected to finish in August. A second treatment will take place in October.

Chemical weed treatment is applied directly to weeds in the kerb line of our roads and footways. It will typically take about three to five weeks for the treatment to take effect – after this, road sweepers will come along to remove dead weeds.    For more information on our weed treatment programme, visit our website

Families can ‘Get Activated’ this summer

Families across Cambridgeshire are in for a treat this summer with the launch of Get Activated, the countywide summer activity campaign.   There are hundreds of free and low-cost activities for families with children under the age of 13, run by the county and district councils and their partners, including many options for play, cycling, walking, sports and activities to keep families busy, entertained and having fun.

These include: the Cambridgeshire Libraries Summer Reading Challenge, the Cambridgeshire Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, and a range of activities hosted at the council’s Child and Family Centres, with sessions focusing on the ‘50 Things to Do Before You’re Five‘ app. As part of the campaign, this year will also feature ‘Get Activated on Tour’, where the council will spotlight activities in each district – so be sure to follow our social media to keep up to date.   By championing affordable outdoor family activities that encourage active travel, physical activity and wellbeing in various local settings and communities, the campaign significantly contributes to Cambridgeshire County Council’s vision of creating a greener, fairer and more caring county for our children and young people.

Have your say on active travel in Cambridgeshire

We look after a highways network comprising of 4,500km of roads, 2,936km of footways, more than 550km of designated cycleways, and more than 3,000km of public rights of way.   One of Cambridgeshire County Council’s key ambitions is making “travel across the county safer and more environmentally sustainable”. As part of this, we’re committed to supporting and encouraging more active travel.

Active travel means making a journey in a physical or active way, such as walking and wheeling – which includes cycling, scootering, roller skating, or using a wheelchair or mobility aid. It could also mean riding a horse.   We’re looking at how our footpaths, highways and public rights of way (PROW) networks could be prioritised for management and maintenance going forward. We have therefore launched an eight-week consultation (closing on Monday 16 September 2024), asking the public how they would prioritise the maintenance of our roads and pathways.    By using the interactive maps, you will be able to give location-specific feedback which we can then analyse and consider for integration into the Active Travel Hierarchy report.

Celebrating 60 years of Mobile Libraries in Cambridgeshire

This month, Cambridgeshire’s mobile libraries celebrated 60 years of service, delivering books and much more to both rural and urban communities across the county.    The first ever recorded mobile library stop in Cambridgeshire was Longstanton. The nearest postcode and current stop in Northstowe is now one of the service’s most popular stops and was a fitting place to hold the celebration, which was attended by local residents, councillors, and members of the library service both past and present.

60 years on, our mobile libraries visit more than 400 locations in the county each month with each library carrying more than 3,000 items of stock – from books and magazines, to stamps, reading glasses, and even hearing aid batteries.

Are you interested in the benefits of community energy?

Cambridgeshire County Council is keen to hear your views on community energy and what we need to do to support local people to contribute to our county wide aims for a Net Zero Cambridgeshire by 2045.   Community energy in the UK comprises of 206 MW of solar, 113 MW of wind, 12 MW of hydroelectric and 4.7 MW of heat generation capacity with most projects being rooftop solar technology.    The project build costs can be funded from grants, community share offers, bonds and/or loans. To secure investment, projects need to be able to generate a return, typically around 5%. Projects generate the revenue to cover operating costs and sell electricity to the grid through Power Purchase Agreements. Surplus income is often invested in other projects to benefit the community.    Is this something your local community is interested in? If so, please review our ideas and let us know how we can help you and your ambitions by sharing your feedback as we develop our offer to communities.    The deadline for completing the survey is Monday 16 September 2024.

Inspire ‘Marvellous Makers’ with the Summer Reading Challenge

This summer children across Cambridgeshire can get crafty by signing up to the Summer Reading challenge.    The theme of ‘Marvellous Makers’ aims to fire up children’s imaginations and unleash storytelling and creativity through the power of reading. The challenge is free to take part in and is open to pre-school and primary school aged children of all reading abilities.

Children can sign up now at their local (or mobile) library and have until Saturday 14 September to complete the challenge.    To celebrate this year’s challenge, creative and craft-based activities and events will be taking place across Cambridgeshire’s libraries throughout the summer – find out what’s happening at your nearest library here.

Dementia-friendly resources and monthly social groups at Cambridgeshire libraries

Cambridgeshire Libraries have resources to support people living with dementia, their families, friends, and carers.   If you are a library member, you can borrow these resources on your library card. It is easy to join the library online or at any one of our libraries.

Resources include memory boxes to facilitate reminiscence activities, dementia-friendly jigsaw puzzles and games, as well as picture books and the ‘Reading Well for Dementia’ book list.   Some of our libraries also host monthly Dementia Social Groups where attendees can take part in activities – search our online directory to find our more.

Further updates from around Cambridgeshire

Find below an additional range of news, highlights and updates from around the county this month: Shire Hall in Cambridge set for a luxury future Help for families continues throughout the summer holidays New £3.9m March recycling centre agreed

Updates from the Communities Service

Welcome to the Traveller Health team This month the Communities Service welcomed the Traveller Health team, who have moved to the service from Public Health.   The small, well-established and highly respected Traveller Health team work with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities across Cambridgeshire to support with all areas of health and wellbeing.   The team hold weekly drop-in sessions in the following venues: Monday – Oasis Centre, Wisbech (booked by appointment) Wednesday – All Saints Church Hall, Cottenham For more information about the team and their work, please email traveller.healthteam@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

Cricket club aims for Net Zero With the aim of becoming the region’s first Net Zero sports club/community centre, Eaton Scoon Cricket Club have made great strides to achieve this, after being awarded £35,335 from the Cambridgeshire Capital Priorities Fund.   The cricket club is the first of the 26 funded projects to complete, having completed the installation of their solar panel system last month. They anticipate that 66% of the club’s electricity will be supplied by the solar panels.

Updates from Care Together

We have been busy enhancing the landscape of care by developing over 40 Care Micro Enterprises (CMEs) across Cambridgeshire.   CMEs are local people we are helping to set up their own small businesses. They provide their neighbours with personalised care and support, as well as other services that maintain independence at home.    Click the link below to learn more about our CME development across the county, including increasing the offer of personalised care and support, with more choice and control for clients.    For more information on CMEs, visit our website or contact one of our CME Development Officers by emailing cmedevelopment@cambridgeshire.gov.uk or calling 01223 706100.    You can see a list of CMEs in our Care Micro Enterprise Directory.

Let us know your thoughts after reading Cambridgeshire Matters so we can ensure our newsletter works for you. Please email internal.comms@cambridgeshire.gov.uk with your views.