Author: Clerk

Station Road Speed Limit Change

There has been positive progress by Cambridgeshire County Council to extend the existing 30mph speed limit on Station Road to south of Westfield (towards the Park-and-Ride), including the placement of adequate signage.  This work is currently expected to commence on 8^th April and should be in place by the time you read this.

Loss of the Set-Aside Field

The loss of the set-aside field behind the recreation ground has been a loss to the village, in particular the dog walking fraternity who are keen for the identification of an alternative solution.  At the time of writing options are still being investigated and remain a challenge, but at least this issue is eased with access to footpaths in the countryside, including the footpath towards Over that is approached through, what was, the set-aside field.

Willingham Youth Trust Pop-up Café

The Parish Council has supported a grant application for the Willingham Youth Trust to provide a pop-up café at the Youth Centre, which is intended to be a benefit to all of our community.  The opening times are expected to initially be over a number of weekends, with the possibility of extending this if the café became viable.  It is understood that, apart from the normal tea, coffee and soft drinks, there would be a tuck shop serving healthy snacks and sweet treats to start with (which may include locally baked cakes).

The Youth Trust are advertising for volunteers to assist with the café on the Willingham Facebook page.  This sounds like an exciting venture and hopefully parishioners will support this novel idea.

Parish Clock Refurbishment

The Council undertook the identification of a suitable company who had the capability of repairing and refurbishing the Parish clock at St Mary and All Saints Church.  Work started in April and hopefully by now you are hearing its chimes once again.

Annual Parish Meeting

The Annual Parish meeting is scheduled to be held at the Octagon, St Mary’s and All Saints Church, at 7:30pm on Wednesday 15^th May.

This meeting is open to all Willingham parishioners and is an opportunity to speak on matters that are pertinent to the Parish.  At the meeting reports will also be received from our District and County Councillors, along with those from our village bodies (such as clubs, charities and services).  The details of previous Minutes of Annual Parish meetings can be found on the Willingham Parish Council web site https://willinghamparishcouncil.gov.uk

Traffic! Whether stationary or moving, it is one of the most discussed issues affecting Willingham.

Stationary – Following issues regarding parking around the Primary School in Thodays Close, new yellow lines have been marked out restricting parking to improve safety for both pedestrians and drivers. This has caused problems further afield where people are now parking, especially at the junction of Long Lane, Silver Street and the doctor’s surgery. This is also making it difficult for residents to enter & leave their properties. Of course this doesn’t affect those who see the bright yellow lines as their personal parking spaces and use them instead of walking too far. They do this elsewhere in the village, so why not here?

Speeding – We have 2 interactive speed signs (SID) supplied by Mick George Ltd. These have been on Earith Road and now one relocated to Over Road. This is very effective in alerting those who inadvertently find themselves over the limit. In conjunction with this, Community Roadwatch are conducting speed and vehicle checks, counting lorries in particular and informing companies if their marked vehicles are travelling over the limits. Unfortunately this doesn’t help with speeding in Church Street, Long Lane, etc., but those doing it will ignore conventional limits anyway.

30mph limit on Station Road – after a very protracted period of discussion and lobbying with County Council Highways we have been notified that the works order has finally been placed with the contractor and we are now awaiting a start date for the work to commence. This will extend the 30mph limit almost to Stanton Mereway. The SIDs will help to reinforce this as well.

HCVs – The issue of Heavy Commercial Vehicles coming through the village has caused distress to many. HCVs travelling to Northstowe and the A14 upgrade are not supposed to come through the village but use other routes. The council have lobbied strongly to get this checked and the operators prosecuted. A further issue is the proposed gravel extraction at Willow Hall Farm in Haddenham by Dennis (Haddenham) Ltd which anticipated 90-150 HCV movements per day for 8 years. Originally this was planned to only travel through Earith, but following their objections, they have suggested the B1050 through Willingham was a perfectly viable alternative, especially if the destination was Cambridge! We have protested strongly to Cambridgeshire CC (the planning authority) about this.

Affordable housing on Station Road – parishioners may be aware that of the development being constructed on Station Road.  This is of 22 homes entirely of affordable housing (rented and shared ownership) with priority being given to Willingham residents and applicants with a connection, whether through work, residence or family, to Willingham.  Contact details for Cross Keys Homes –

Phone: 01733 396406

Website: www.crosskeyshomes.co.uk/sharedownership

Email: sales@crosskeyshomes.co.uk

Parish Clock – The Clock stopped working before Christmas and upon investigation to came it to light that a full overhaul was needed.  Work has been scheduled to start at the beginning of April.

Cemetery Gates on Church Lane – Following ongoing issues with the gates and feedback from parishioners experiencing difficulties opening them, the Council are looking into the feasibility of replacing them with hard wood gates