Meadow Road Site
It has been suggested that the Meadow Road site could be used for electric generation with windmills and/or solar panels. This has been explored in the past but appeared not to be viable. Meanwhile, work on the site is continuing to make it a better amenity for the village. Plans are in place to plant some 50 oak trees to commemorate those from the village who lost their lives in the World Wars, together with wild flowers, especially poppies, which would be prolific around VJ day anniversary. As mentioned previously users should be mindful that this is a work in progress and the ground is uneven in places.
Dog Walking
Further to previous articles in the News, the dog walking working party set up to look at site options presented their recommendations at the October meeting. Two sites were identified with a total estimated cost of £10,000 for the works.
Option 1: The Community Orchard on Earith Road which is an area about 5 acres planted with trees. This has a boundary along the B1050 which has hedges and a timber rail fence. The fence could be made secure along that boundary at an approximate cost of £2000. There is limited parking in the area but an extension of the footpath along Earith Road is planned. There is also the right of way alongside the orchard leading to Milking Hills Drove which allows extra dog walking space.
Option 2: An area between the QEII recreation ground, the Ploughman Hall and Willingham Lode could be fenced and gated at a cost of £7000. This amounts to around ½ an acre being about 200 metres x 10 metres.
It was agreed to start work on option 1 immediately.
Traffic & HCVs
The condition of the B1050 should see some improvement soon, as Cambridgeshire Highways plan to close it on November 3rd from 7am to 5pm for remedial work. We wait and see how effective this is and for how long it will last. Although the meeting with the Northstowe developers and SCDC councillors (see report elsewhere) does seem to have reduced the HCV traffic to some extent, there are still many of these vehicles travelling through the village.
The Community Roadwatch group has sessions at various locations recording speeds and reporting to companies their speeding vehicles. One 30 minute period in the new 30mph limit on Station Road showed nearly 60 vehicles exceeding the limit, 33% averaging over 40mph including a bus and the maximum at 54mph. The orange flashing speed signs (supplied by Mick George) give real time speeds, but the red/green flashing sign (borrowed from Haddenham recently) seem to give better results as they act as reminders of the actual speed limits. The PC may look at purchasing our own as a better deterrent to excessive speeds.
Northstowe
The October PC meeting saw a presentation from SCDC about a Community Governance Review. Northstowe means there will be a population increase over coming years with additional assets and facilities to be maintained and managed. This will have an impact on existing community governance arrangements. The review will start in autumn 2019 and aims to secure an arrangement which reflects the identities and interests of the community in the area. Willingham is involved as changes could affect the village boundaries.
Drones
There have been instances of drones being flown on the recreation ground. They should not be used on public open spaces, or where there are people around. New laws will come into force on 30 November 2019 which will also require owners of drones weighing over 250 grams to register with the Civil Aviation Authority, and for drone pilots to take a safety test to ensure the UK’s skies are safe from irresponsible flyers.
