Author: Clerk

From the Parish Council

www.WillinghamParishCouncil.gov.uk

 Parish

I feel honoured to be accepted as the vice chair of the Parish Council and in particular to be given the opportunity to contribute to this great magazine.

Another role that I have on the Parish Council is that of police liaison.  There has recently been a number of cases of antisocial behaviour around the Pavilion area, in particular the setting fire of a tree stump, damage to cricket nets and vandalism to one of the pavilion doors.  As a result, we have met with the police and provided them with evidence of these acts; the outcome of the meeting has provided us with confidence that action will be taken to find the perpetrators.  I have also placed a request from the police for information in relation to these incidents on the Willingham Village Facebook page and for those who have information but do not have access to this website, please ring 101 or, if you wish to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

You can be assured that the Parish Council is determined to pursue perpetrators of antisocial behaviour and to recover costs wherever possible, including the recovery of costs from parents of any underaged offenders.

In addition to the antisocial behaviour, the co-operative store experienced a ram raid in July.  Consequently, the police were contacted to discuss the overall increase in crime in the village and they have agreed to arrange a community surgery at the Co-Op in Willingham (12 High Street, Willingham, CB24 5ES) on Wednesday the 15th of August 2018 between 17:00-18:30 to allay fears and to provide an increased presence.

There is no doubt that criminal behaviour can give cause for concern and therefore the use of Neighbourhood Watch will be pursued.  Clearly there will be work needed to bring this all together and I will work with the police to put in place the correct management processes to ensure we have an effective Neighbourhood Watch system.  Meetings will be arranged once I have enough information so please give this some thought in the meantime.

Roads  I think we all experienced the negative impact of pot holes on our roads throughout the village.  We would like to give you advanced information that the High Street is due for more-permanent repair during August and unfortunately this may cause some disruption during the day (09:30 – 15:30) between the 8th and 17th August. A Road Traffic Order is also being made by Cambridgeshire County Council to extend the existing 30mph speed limit on Station Road to a point 66 metres south of Westfield and should mean we will see this in place very soon. Other Matters South Cambridgeshire District Council is offering existing businesses and start-ups the opportunity to attend FREE drop-in advice sessions and practical workshops at their offices in Cambourne.  There are one-to-one sessions with advisors, workshops, advice and support and more detail can be found in the ‘Latest news’ section at https://www.scambs.gov.uk/nwessupport South Cambridgeshire District Council is also offering a number of summer sports camps in Athletics, Netball, Rounders and Kwik Cricket. www.scambs.gov.uk/sportscamps. The cost is £24 per day and camps are open to children aged 7-14.

Dave Carlton

Parish:

The comments in Willingham News from the Parish Council are written on a rota basis by six different councillors. This shares the load but more importantly ensures a variety of styles and opinions. It is my pleasure as council chairman to present the comments this month.

I know that not everyone will be pleased to hear that I am back as chair for the third time. Let me assure you that this is not due to an inflated ego but a lack of other candidates. Whilst it is a privilege to chair the council, having done it twice before for a total of six years, I can well understand that you may have preferred to see a new face.

I should have preferred to see one myself. I am a great believer in rotating chairmanships. That way you get new ideas. The good news is that the council does have some new and very able councillors who have put their hands up for future leading roles. David Carlton has agreed to be my vice chair and will, I hope, be able to take over next year as chairman.

As you will know, we had elections in May which resulted in thirteen councillors being returned unopposed. The remaining two posts have since been filled by co-option so I am pleased to say that for now we have a parish council at full strength. However, at least one councillor is likely to be moving out of the village shortly which will create a new vacancy. Please do consider putting your name forward. We are regarded as progressive and well run and can promise new members a very warm welcome.

District:

As reported last month, SCDC also had elections in May that saw the Liberal Democrats sweep the board and enabled them to form a strong majority at Cambourne. They promise that their priorities will be affordable housing, the environment and supporting business growth.

For Willingham and Over we have two new Liberal Democrat councillors, Dawn Percival who lives in Willingham and Bill Handley who lives in Over. Both of them came along to our parish council meetings in May and June. They have promised to hold quarterly surgeries in Willingham from the end of July. The surgeries will be held in the Ploughman Hall between 11 am and Midday on 28 July 2018, 27 October 2018 and 26 January 2019.

Some of you may remember Dawn’s grandmother. She taught at Willingham school for many years and had among her alumni councillors Cook and Manning. How hard is that!

Dawn and Bill can be contacted at cllr.percival@scambs.gov.uk and cllr.handley@scambs.gov.uk

County:

Your county councillor, Tim Wotherspoon came along to the Annual Parish Meeting and took on a series of questions about highways. Potholes and HGV traffic featured strongly and are high on Tim’s agenda. He mentioned a scheme of summer repair work to improve the road surfaces that will try to avoid so many problems next winter and also a potential new road link from the top of the M11 into the fens that could provide significant benefits to Willingham. However, that is some time away with the route still to be decided and funding to be agreed.

Unfortunately, Tim was not at our June meeting when further issues were raised regarding the volume and speed of traffic through the village. The clerk will be in contact with him on these matters. Tim usually attends parish council meetings when you can ask him questions or you can contact him at: Timothy.Wotherspoon@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

  Other Matters: 

I mentioned above the landslide victory of the Liberal Democrats in the district council elections. I should also mention that it resulted in Ray Manning narrowly missing election as an Independent. Ray has done a huge amount for this village over many years as a parish and district councillor. Our thanks go to him and his long-suffering family for the thousands of hours he has contributed.

I also mentioned the fact that this page of Willingham News gets compiled by different councillors on a rota. My next contribution will be for the January 2019 edition so in the meantime may I wish you all a wonderful summer.

District Council Elections

There were new arrangements for the District Council this year. The total number of councillors has been reduced to 45 (from 57), and the new ward of Over & Willingham (pretty much the same as the old ward of Willingham & Over) now has 2 councillors instead of 3. Also, instead of electing one third of councillors each year (with one year off), all councillors are now elected together.

In a result which was repeated over almost all of South Cambridgeshire, both our District Councillors are now Liberal Democrats – Bill Handley and Dawn Percival. Congratulations to them both and we look forward to their participation in future Parish Council meetings. Our longstanding District Councillor (and previously County Councillor) Ray Manning will no longer be representing the village at District but remains on the Parish Council. We would like to thank him for his service over many years, particularly in the recent Over Border negotiations.

Parish Council

Parish Council elections are now aligned with District Council elections and will take place on the same day every four years. Willingham Parish Council was already due this year, so there was no change here. The election was uncontested (there are 2 vacancies, see below) so the council will retain all its existing members with the exception of Andrew Cook who is stepping down.

Andrew has been a Parish Councillor for many years, including a spell as Chairman, and his contributions both in practical terms and through his extensive knowledge of local history will be sorely missed. We thank him sincerely for his efforts, and would like to hope that this is only a temporary absence.

2^nd Defibrillator

The second village defibrillator has been installed at the library and on the 12^th April there was a training session given by Tom Miller, a First Responder in the village. Thanks to the library for hosting, Tom for the training, and all those who attended.

Traffic Monitoring

Observant users of Earith Road will have seen a temporary interactive traffic sign when entering the village. This was part of a traffic survey, monitoring speeds both with and without the new sign. The data gathered show that, except for some (extreme) outliers, average traffic speeds did not markedly exceed the speed limit for most of the day and the interactive sign had only a minor impact on reductions in average traffic speeds.

Council Vacancies

There are currently 2 vacant seats on the Council. If you are interested or would like to know more about what is involved, please contact either the parish office or any of the councillors for a chat: contact details are below.

District and Parish Council Elections

 Nominations have now closed for the District and Parish Council elections. These will be held on Thursday 3^rd May 2018. District wide reorganisation and reduction in the overall Councillor numbers means that you will have the opportunity of voting for only two incoming District Councillors rather than the three of recent years. At the time of writing it does not seem that there will be Parish Council elections this year, with all the nominated candidates being returned unopposed.

Willingham’s Annual Parish Meeting will be held on the 23^rd May 2018 and is an open to all residents.  It will offer residents the chance to meet the members of its new Parish Council and the opportunity to discover what the Parish Council has been working on over the last year. Future challenges that the Council might address will be discussed.  Reports will also be available from the many community groups that the Council has supported over the last 12 months.

South Cambridgeshire Planning Open Days

Members of South Cambridgeshire’s Planning Team will be visiting communities to help residents develop a better understanding of the planning process and to respond to concerns about local development activity. Included in the programme will be talks on the planning process, how to submit a planning application, the challenges of developing listed buildings and sites in conservation areas, and works to trees. A successful first Open Day was held in Northstowe in March – the next will be held at Whittlesford Memorial Hall on Saturday 9^th Jane between 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. Further dates will be published on the SCDC website ( www.scambs.gov.uk ).

Street Lighting Upgrade

The County Council, working with Balfour Beatty as its lighting service provider, will be implementing a lantern replacement programme. Apart from replacing existing street lighting lanterns with more energy efficient LED lanterns no disruption such as road or footpath excavation is promised. The streets in Willingham that will benefit are Covent Garden and Bourneys Manor Close. Residents in the affected streets will be advised before work commences. Any questions about this work should be directed to: Street.Lighting@cambridgeshgire.gov.uk.

The A14 Time Truck

The archeological finds unearthed during the A14 excavation work have made national news recently. Opportunities to visit individual sites will become available. A Time Truck family archaeology day will be held on Thursday 31st May 2018, (10.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.) at the Bar Hill Tesco Extra car park. The opportunity to discover the archaeological remains uncovered along the route of the A14 project, with displays and activities for all the family, will be available.

News for local walkers

Firstly, the Parish Council understands that Flat Bridge has been demolished. Although a privately owned bridge it has long offered access to social and recreational activities on the north bank of the Great Ouse. The closest crossings to the north bank are now on the Causeway or at Earith. Secondly, a formal notice has also been distributed advising of the stopping up and re-routing of Public Bridleway (262/12). This runs from the northern end of West Fen Road towards Earith. A new length of this Public Bridleway will be built as a replacement.