Community matters Bin Changes for Melbourn From the 28th February Melbourn’s bin collection day will be Tuesday. Bins will continue to be collected on alternative weeks, black bin emptied one week, blue and green the following week. Bins must be put out for collection by 6 am to avoid missing the collection. See page 38 for details on collections Why the changes? In order to save £700,000 over three years, waste collection services for South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City are to be shared. New bin collection rounds will work across the City and South Cambs boundary, travelling approximately 20,000 fewer miles per year, saving money and reducing traffic and emissions. The savings will help meet some of the Council’s overall targets as the funding received from Government has been cut considerably. The new rounds mean that changes to collection days will affect most properties. See South Cambs website for more details www.scambs.gov.uk/bin-changes Telephone 03450 450 063
Melbourn Parish Council The Parish Council has been planning very carefully what it wants to achieve over the coming year until elections are due in May 2018. Councillors want to make Melbourn Parish Council into a body respected and trusted by residents of Melbourn and also by local communities. How are we going to achieve that? We are focussing on five areas: making sure that the Council is run according to the best principles of governance; financial management; keeping everyone informed about what the Council is doing and why; welcoming public participation and debate in shaping Melbourn’s future; and being a good employer to Council staff.
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One of the lessons from the turmoil within the Council last year was that the Council was not conducting its business properly. It had not been following the correct procedures in many areas of responsibility. We are looking in depth at how we do things and comparing what we do currently with what is recommended and what is done by other Councils. At the end of this, the way the Council does business should be transformed and Councillors intend to apply for the National Association of Local Councils Quality Award so that we have independent proof that the Council has changed. Very tight financial management will be needed over several years to ensure that the Council builds up money held in reserve. This is an obligation so that the Council can continue to pay staff and provide services if, for example, there is a delay in receiving its income from South Cambridgeshire District Council. Councillors will be looking at all aspects of the Council’s spending to see where savings can be made, looking at ways of increasing the Council’s income and making sure everything spend provides good value for money. It is lovely to see so many people still attending Council meetings and taking part in the debates. Being open to scrutiny in this way is such an important means of ensuring that a Council is accountable. Telling people what the Council is doing, showing what we do as Councillors and encouraging participation are the only ways we are going to achieve our aim of having a contested election in May 2018. The Annual Parish Meeting will be held in May and this year Councillors want it to be an event that you will want to come to. We will be presenting the Melbourn Awards for people who have contributed to the community over the last year. So, keep an eye out for a poster asking for nominations. Having this 2-way conversation with Melbourn provides the Council with a very good idea of what is important to the community, and how you think the Parish Council should be spending money or campaigning on the community’s behalf. At the time of writing, the outcome of the boundary review for Parliamentary constituencies has not been published. However, the Council decided to encourage everyone to make their views known because people came to a meeting and said how unhappy they were with the proposals. Finally, Councillors and residents depend on our Council employees to keep the Parish running. In return, they deserve to be supported, trained and provided with good working conditions. Tim Stebbing, our litter picker, was featured in the Winter 2016 magazine. But do you know what the other employees do? We will tell you in our Summer 2017 letter. Sarah Adam, Melbourn Parish Clerk Cllr Julie Norman Chair – Melbourn Parish Council melbournmagazine@gmail.com
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