Issue - meetings

Children have come together to voice their views on how to make Cambridge a better place to live.  They will be feeding back their thoughts.

The Chair invited Steph Burwitz, City Council Engagement Officer, and four local young people from Trumpington Youth Forum to voice their views on how to make Cambridge a better place to live.  The following points were raised:

Child A: Liked the many clubs and activities for young people in the Trumpington area run by the Children and Young People’s Worker.  Speeding cars round the Trumpington Meadow estate were a problem; especially around Huntsman Road.  There was a lack of clear signs and pavements were narrow; this was quite scary and made it feel unsafe.

Child B: Loved that there were so many nature reserves round the area, and so many things to do.  It felt as if there were inadequate special needs services in school, and not enough environmental awareness, for example of the effects of plastic packaging and littering on the ecosystem.  A festival in Trumpington would be very good, similar to that in Chesterton, but particularly for children and young people.

Child C: Loved all the clubs and activities in the Trumpington area. There was an open alleyway, from near Fawcett School to near Trumpington Community College, which many people went down by bike and on foot after dark, but there were no lights and the path was uneven, so it would be helpful to improve this area.  Trampolines should be added to part of the Byron Square gardens; these would be unique, and encourage people to meet each other.

Child D: Liked that there were lots of things to do and lots of outside spaces, but disliked when young people got themselves in trouble.  There weren’t enough lights at night-time and in the evenings.  It would be great fun to have a trampoline at the park.

Child D thanked the Committee for listening to them, and for taking the time to hear their views.

A group of Scouts was also present, and were invited to put any questions.

Scout A: Asked what was going to be done about people putting rubbish into the pools at Cherry Hinton Hall this summer.

The Chair and members of the Committee thanked the young people for their contributions.  The Committee responded as follows:

Councillor O’Connell undertook to look into Child C’s point about alleyways.

Action: Cllr O’Connell

Councillor Avery explained that new developments were designed to have roads that naturally restricted speed to 20mph, with twists and turns and narrow pavements, and uncertainty in places as to whether car or pedestrian had priority, but this way of reducing speed was not always successful.  Because many roads on new estates had not then been adopted, they had not been included in the city consultation on the 20mph scheme, and did not have the appropriate street furniture or signs; Councillors had some catching up to do to get the signs up soon.  He thanked Child A for the good observation.

Councillor Ashton said that the problem at Cherry Hinton Hall had been that rubbish bins had not been fastened down securely, and it had been easy to get the bags out of them to throw into the pool.  The bins had now been secured, and it had been made harder to remove the bags.  Safety concerns and the risk of vandalism meant that it could be difficult to install trampolines on recreation grounds – trampolines were usually placed on a special bouncy surface, and were supervised when in use.  He welcomed the idea, and thought it might be possible to look into using vandal-proof materials.

Councillor Avery explained that the open spaces in Trumpington had been included as part of the large-scale development the area had accepted.  However, some of the older play areas such as Byron Square were in need of updating; Local Members should look into updating the play equipment in Byron Square, with or without a trampoline.

Action: Cllrs Adey, Avery & O’Connell

Councillor Avery invited Child B to send him an email about the idea of a festival in Trumpington.  Councillor Moore explained how to report things to the Council or a Councillor to get them fixed, by finding Councillors’ names and contact details at www.cambridge.gov.uk.