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.
2nd Defibrillator
The second village defibrillator has been installed at the library and on the 12th 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.