the Melbourn Co-op and witnessed an elderly man falling out of his wheelchair when it hit a pavement pot hole. I reported this to the Highways team, who promptly put Melbourn High Street pavements forward in a bid for the capital repair works. The bid failed as it didn’t score high enough against the criteria applied. What I have learned since is that if someone trips or falls due to a road or pavement defect, this should be reported for emergency repair work – that is the only guarantee that something will be done. The job may not be done at gold standard but the offending pot hole should be smoothed out and tripping hazard removed. To report a pothole – and please do report any trip, fall or cycle mishap – the most effective way is via www. cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/roads/ reportingafault.htm. If you don’t have access to the internet, please ring 0345 045 5212. If you would like to let the parish council and me know that you have reported something you are concerned about, that will help us to keep track of things. I’m very sorry to give such a dismal report but I hope at least it clarifies things.
Meanwhile, the next Cycling Campaign meeting will take place on September 24th, 7pm for 7:30pm, at Foxton Village Hall. If you’d like to know more about what’s happening with this fast moving campaign, please check out www.a10corridorcycle.com.
Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group As readers of the Magazine will know, the Rail User Group has been working up a campaign to improve accessibility at Meldreth Station. Ultimately, we hope that it will become much easier to get up to the London-bound platform, and much easier to get from one platform to the other. There are many pieces of the puzzle to put in place and it will take time, but our campaigning team is determined. It is great that we are able to work together with Burlton Farms in this quest, and are hopeful that First Capital Connect and Network Rail will help us to make the needed improvements. Meanwhile, as part of the quest to forge more cooperation with the rail industry, we’re delighted that a Community Rail Partnership will be signed at Meldreth Station on October 25th at 11am. Please come along to show your support for our local rail service. The idea is that the Rail User Group, parish, district and county councils, the train operating company, Network Rail, local schools, community groups, businesses and residents will continue in different ways to help to improve and protect our rail station and the public transport service it provides. There are, of course, many examples of this already in place, and the partnership is something of a formality – but it all helps to keep Meldreth Station on the radar of the powers that be. To find out more about what the Rail User Group is up to, please come along to the Group’s next meeting on September 18th, 7pm for 7:30pm, at Shepreth Village Hall. We rotate round the villages for our meetings and most of the people who come along are not daily commuters, but people who use the train occasionally, and value it. Susan van de Ven, County Councillor, susanvandeven.com or 261833.
Melbourn Community Hub
Questions for your councillor?
First an update on the new building
We hold a drop-in advice surgery on the first Monday of the month, 2:303:30PM, at Melbourn Library Access Point. There’s no need to sign up in advance – just come along. If this is not convenient and you’d like to meet at another time or closer to home, just let us know. Susan van de Ven, County Councillor, susanvandeven.com or Tel 261833. Jose Hales, District Councillor, jose@josehales.me.uk, 221058.
Work on the new Community Hub development on the High Street has made amazing progress since the last issue of this magazine. By the time the autumn edition of the Melbourn Magazine arrives through your letterbox the shell of the new Hub building will be completed. The build schedule is currently on plan, with handover to the Melbourn community around year-end. The new facility will provide a variety of services and these were described comprehensively in last issue of this magazine. Briefly these will be: A Community Café Space to house the Village Library A permanent administration centre for the Parish Clerk Two meeting rooms A village Information Point Exhibition Space for special interest groups Free Wi-Fi and public Internet services Public access toilets, during opening hours
A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign Help from Melbourn Village College students At a recent visit to Melbourn Village College, several students who love cycling offered to help the A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign by filming sections of the A10 route over the summer, in order to highlight what’s good and what needs improving. Hopefully these will be posted on the campaign’s website.
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The Management Group responsible for bringing these services into being is making good progress on all fronts. For example, in close conjunction with the present Library volunteer staff, selection of new Library shelving and related facilities is now nearing completion. However, there are two really important aspects to the success of the Melbourn Community Hub and these have everything to do with People! New Employment Opportunities on the Way The Community Hub will only operate with some new paid jobs. It is likely that these will all be part time positions and fall into two main categories:
