From your District and County Councillors

As part of our ongoing focus on road safety, we are purchasing a second MVAS (Mobile Vehicle Activated Sign) unit. The two units will be moved to different locations around the village to gather data to support future road safety measures. May 2022 election The Parish Election took place on 5 May. There were 15 available seats for parish councillors and 11 nominations. In the circumstances, all nominees were elected uncontested. Remaining seats can be filled by co-option. If you would like to find out more about becoming a Parish Councillor, please contact the office for more information about this very rewarding role. Rosemary Gatward – In memory of a true conservationist Visitors to Stockbridge Meadow Nature Reserve will have noticed the beautiful bench that has been installed in memory of Rosemary Gatward. Rosemary, who sadly passed away in February 2020, was an active member of the village, a long serving Parish Councillor and a true conservationist. We hope that Rosemary’s bench will be enjoyed by many in an area of the village that meant a great deal to her. coordinating volunteer groups to support their efforts. Emma Windred and Nicola Dunklin – who are both so generous with their time collecting litter … and encouraging others to help to keep the village looking so tidy. John and Julie Woolley – in recognition of their efforts as they collect litter on their daily walks around the village. Don’t get locked in! A reminder that the gate to Littlehands car park will be locked at 20:00 during the summer months. Please note, our key holder will not be available to return to let you out if your car is parked in the car park when the gates are locked at night. Claire Littlewood, Parish Clerk

Recognising community spirit At the Annual Parish Meeting, we said ‘thank you’ to the worthy recipients of this year’s community awards – their efforts really are appreciated. Community awards were given to: Davina Biswell (Community Support for Dementia) – in recognition of her tireless work supporting people affected by dementia in the community … Davina is an inspiration! Maureen and Les Brierley (River Mel Restoration Group) – for their tireless conservation work on the River Mel and Stockbridge Meadows and for

We write in the last days of this District Council, ahead of elections that will have taken place by the time you read this. Whatever the outcome, Jose and Sally Ann would like to thank all residents for the privilege of serving you as your district councillors – and look forward to bumping into you in the shops, on the street, at the Hub, on the Rec or elsewhere in Melbourn! How lucky we are to be part of this community. A10 pedestrian underpass We have been working on plans to improve the environment in and around the A10 underpass – along the pedestrian connection across the field between the London platform at Meldreth Station and Station Road, Melbourn.

The project involves collaboration between Melbourn Village College students, the Community Rail Partnership, parish, district and county councils and local business.

In early April, Melbourn Science Park contractor SDC undertook two days’ work free of charge to clear up overgrown vegetation around the underpass area. We are pursuing opportunities for improving lighting, and our Community Rail Partnership Officer is working directly with MVC students on their ideas for updating artwork.

A call for thoughts and ideas is now being put to the community: on the image top of page 15, you’ll find a link to a questionnaire which we hope you’ll take a chance to consider and respond to. Pedestrian/cycle bridge to Royston In March, the Greater Cambridge Partnership heard a question from Iris Bostanci of Meldreth Primary School and soon to be a Melbourn Village College student.

Iris gets around everywhere by foot, bike or train, and asked when the bridge connecting Melbourn to Royston will be built. Detailed design work for the bridge and connecting path is now taking place and a public consultation is anticipated in the autumn. The recent A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign meeting has decided to hold its annual awareness ride event nearer the time, in order to encourage a strong consultation response. South Cambs Turtles swimming near you Home-Start and the amazing work it does supporting young families was the goal for the South Cambs Turtles relay swimming team on May 22nd. The team consisted of local parish, district and county councillors and friends, on its laps at Royston Leisure Centre. 100% of donations go to Home-Start, which provides important support to young families. You can still make a donation – the link is here: https://visufund.com/south-cambsturtles. Any questions please contact us! Oil Club comes to a close The Oil Club has been running for many years but sadly comes to a close now as our supplier, Agricole, has found it necessary to cease its brokerage service: ‘Over recent years there has been a significant consolidation of oil suppliers in the UK and in our area. Also, these bigger entities are increasingly unwilling to trade via ‘third parties’. Poor customer feedback regarding some suppliers further limits our choice. Realistically, and especially during the current war in Ukraine, there is no longer enough competition for us to leverage to get you a good price from a range of reliable suppliers. Consequently, I regret to inform you that with immediate effect, after trading in your area since 1996, we are withdrawing our service and retiring from the domestic heating oil market.’ Weekday half-hourly rail services to increase With the bi-annual timetable changes across the rail network in May, Meldreth Shepreth and Foxton will be seeing their half-hourly weekday services further augmented, as ridership gradually creeps up – now at 65-70%. Work patterns have changed fundamentally, with new home working becoming part of the weekly routine for many, and so rail services are needing to adapt accordingly. Again, the building up of the service will take time. A fundamental premise is that trains need to run as scheduled and the Train Operating Company is acutely aware that cancellations undermine passenger confidence.

Success! Melbourn Local Highways Initiative Scheme approved It’s so good to be able to report that Melbourn’s LHI grant has been approved by County Highways, and we hope now to see a gradual improvement for getting around in the village other than by car, starting with New Road/Mortlock Street. Our thanks to Parish Council Chair Graham Clark for leading the Melbourn Futures Group to get behind this important project. County Highways – Improved ways of doing things and additional spending on maintenance basics Once again we’d like to thank everyone who takes the trouble to report faults at https://highwaysreporting. cambridgeshire.gov.uk/ as this creates an essential public record. We understand that the wait can be frustrating but encourage people to continue doing so – it makes a difference even though the wait can be long.

Sadly a negligent underinvestment in roads, pavements and drains by previous County administrations over a period of many years, due to an unwillingness to raise funds and poor management, has left the highways network in a crisis state that will take time to turn around, particularly given the state of public finances across the board. That said, much needed new management systems are now being

implemented, as well new investment in a variety of cyclical maintenance work, with a back-to-basics approach including annual attention to drains, which incredibly had been abandoned under previous Cambridgeshire administrations.

A one-off investment in measures aimed at improving ways of working and tending to basic maintenance including pot hole hot spots, flooding investigations, refreshing line markings, developing new roles through apprenticeships programmes, improving skills of the local highways officer and inspectors roles, and improving the on-line reporting system cited above. All that said, the beleaguered state of the network is like a tanker and changing course will take time. Fitness and Wellbeing Grants South Cambridgeshire District Council is urging instructors to apply for up to £300 to lead fitness and wellbeing activities in their communities. Anyone who leads an existing group or who wants to set up a new initiative in the District, such as leading a walking group in their local park or running a weekly yoga class in a village hall, could be eligible for the small grant. Providers running multiple groups can also apply to fund multiple programmes. Activities could range from walking football/rugby/netball, to chair-based exercise classes, diabetes walking groups, yoga for the over 60s, baby yoga classes or more. The grant, which is funded by Cambridgeshire County Council, is to help deliver physical activity programmes provided by the District Council in partnership with Living Sport. It is designed to cover costs such as venue hire for up to six weeks, with new participants being entitled to four free sessions.

Once the free sessions are complete, participants would be expected to begin paying a small fee to continue participation, meaning that the initiative should become a sustainable source of income for the instructor. https://www.scambs.gov.uk/community-safetyand-health/health-and-wellbeing/healthy-lifestyl e-services/ County Biodiversity Initiative A scheme which will help increase the county’s biodiversity and support the development of new homes, businesses and infrastructure has been approved by the County Council.

Under the Environment Act 2021, the biodiversity of an area resulting from new developments must exceed the pre-development biodiversity value by at least 10 per cent – known as Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). This should be provided onsite, but if that

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