Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Dryden and McPherson (who would join after meeting started).

No interests were declared.

The notes of the meetings held on 4 September were noted.

The committee action sheet was noted. Councillors would send any updates to the Committee Manager outside of the meeting.

 

Minute reference: 23/17/SAC

·       Action: Councillor Young (supported by Queen Edith’s Ward Councillors) to follow up with Cambridge Biomedical Campus why no tickets issued for rat running on Addenbrooke’s Road.

·       Progress:

o   Councillor Young had met CBC representatives. They produced a report about who was responsible for enforcement actions and issues about this to date (processing information [now automated since September 2022] and the algorithm could not cope with roadworks). Issues had been resolved and the system had been audited. Prosecution figures were published by the Police.

o   CBC were keen to engage with local resident groups about the site and roundabout. CBC had sent out copies of their enforcement report to resident associations.

o   CBC were looking at a mechanism for gathering data on who used the Addenbrooke’s site to influence its design in the long term to reduce speeding and car numbers.

 

Minute reference: 23/17/SAC

·       Action: Councillor Beckett to invite County Council Officer to attend a future South Area Committee meeting to talk about speed limits across the city.

·       Progress:

o   Officers were keen to speak to SAC. They were finalising information before they felt ready to present it. Tonight was the last SAC at present as they were paused for six months so alternative forums would be considered such as Cambridge Joint Area Committee.

Members of the public asked a number of questions, as set out below.

 

1.    Mr Arnold raised the following issues via written statement:

                i.          Please advise what was being done to control the speed of cars/trucks/busses along the Addenbrookes Road from the Dame Mary Archer Way roundabout to the Hobson Avenue roundabout in both directions.

               ii.          The speed limit was 30mph yet drivers were routinely travelling at speeds well in excess of this. It was partly understandable because there was no road infrastructure consistent with a 30mph road. All cycle lane markings had disappeared. If these were still in place it would lead to the appearance of reduced road width. The problem was particularly stark with lone drivers - speeds in excess of 50mph were regular occurrences.

             iii.          Below survey results conducted in 2021 from which no action has been taken:

 

 

Response from Simon Burgin, Road Safety Manager, Cambridgeshire County Council (written statement):

 

Thank you for forwarding the public complaint of speeding vehicles from Dame Mary Archer Way to Hobson Avenue roundabout.

 

Speeding was an immotive issue for many residents, and whilst Cambridgeshire County Council has responsibility for the safety of the road network and its users, the police had responsibility for enforcement.

 

Working together to achieve safer roads and safer road use under the Vision Zero banner we work closely together with the police to act on roads where there was a clear need for intervention, be that engineering or enforcement.

 

Action was based on collision data and injury outcome to best direct the limited resources available. Since 2018 there had been 2 injury collisions on this section of road.

 

2021 – Taxi v Cyclist at a junction

 

2022 – Taxi v Cyclist at a junction

 

On both occasions this was an observation and junction restart error on the driver’s part, and neither collision report suggest speed was a contributing factor.

 

Based on the above evidence this section of road does not require further attention at this time.

 

Councillor Slatter said:

                          i.          Residents would appreciate any kind of road signage to improve the situation.

                         ii.          There was a lot of anti-social driving but few collisions at present.

                       iii.          Hoped that all of Addenbrooke’s Road could be made 30mph as some of it was 40 mph.

 

Councillor Beckett said:

                          i.          Speeding was an issue and concern across the county.

                         ii.          Various speed warning signs were being considered across the city. It may be possible to install a temporary sign on Addenbrooke’s Road.

                       iii.          The Police were not able to take as much enforcement action as Councillors would like due to resource constraints.

                       iv.          A Local Highways Improvement Bid may help resolve issues on Addenbrooke’s Road.

                        v.          Queried if some of the speeding traffic logged in Mr Arnold’s data was speeding ambulances on blue lights. Traffic data cannot distinguish between emergency and private vehicles.

 

2.    Red Cross Area Neighbourhood Watch Scheme and Cllr Immy Blackburn-Horgan raised the following issues:

                i.          Noisy and dangerous mopeds and motorbikes were blighting the lives of Queen Edith's residents especially the elderly, less mobile and families with children.

               ii.          How could we draw on lessons learnt from the success of Police and multi-agency work that reduced speeding mopeds and motorbikes on Greenlands and Red Cross Lane?.

 

Sarah Steggles, Community Safety Team liaised with Police Sergeant Sutcliffe:

 

Greenlands and Red Cross Lane residents were specific about when and where this was happening which then allowed for directed patrols and they kept reporting the incidents which highlighted the issues. It was therefore important that dangerous driving of any vehicle was reported to the Police on 101  online, with licence plate details if possible, so the Police could identify when and where this was happening and target resources appropriately. If there were identified offenders in Queen Edith’s then the Police could target them, pay them a visit, and increase patrols.

 

Councillor Slatter said she would follow up issues in questions 1 and 2 with David Allatt (Acting Director Highways and Transport, Cambridgeshire County Council).

 

Councillor Beckett said noisy mopeds and anti-social riding of them was an issue across the city. He asked if there was a ‘noise camera’ allocation in the City Council budget. Councillor Hauk said a previous request had been refused but there was an on-going request in the current budget process.

 

3.    Mr Carpen raised the following issues via written statement:

                i.          Please could you ask councillors/officers to provide details on when the Nightingale Pavilion would be open, and how people could book the venue?

 

Action Point: Councillor Young to seek Officer response to public question from Mr Carpen requesting details on when the Nightingale Pavilion would be open, and how people could book the venue?

 

4.    Ms Leonard Executive Committee Member (NW Area Lead Coordinator for Cambridge City area) Cambridgeshire Neighbourhood Watch raised the following issues via written statement:

                i.          Looked at the minutes of the meeting held on 4 September and noticed that there was a mention of the Neighbourhood Watch scheme that had been invited to cover Nightingale Recreation Area.

               ii.          Had looked at the area concerned, as she was the area Coordinator who supported schemes and created new ones. There were also some schemes in the area which she thought could be involved as well and all work together if need be. There may also be an opportunity for Nightingale Avenue to have a scheme as well, which she could look into and try to promote across the city.

             iii.          Asked for her contact details and feedback on her suggestions to be circulated to SAC.

 

Action Point: Committee Manager to circulate to SAC contact details for Carol Leonard Executive Committee Member (NW Area Lead Coordinator for Cambridge City area) Cambridgeshire Neighbourhood Watch.

The Committee received a report from the Community Engagement and Enforcement Manager.

 

The report outlined an overview of the council’s Streets and Open Spaces, Environmental Health and Shared Waste service activity in the Area Committee area over the past six months.

 

The Committee discussed the following issues:

      i.          Waitrose at Trumpington used to have cardboard recycling facilities. People now fly tipped cardboard despite a sign being in place saying a skip was no longer available.

 

Action Point: Community Engagement and Enforcement Manager to liaise with Shared Waste Team and ask them to liaise with Cllr Levien about cardboard recycling facilities at Waitrose in Trumpington.

 

     ii.          Supermarkets were natural recycling points but few were willing to provide facilities if people did not use them correctly ie dump stuff and cause a mess. Sainsbury’s on Coldham’s Lane was affected by anti-social behaviour at recycling facility ie fly tipping.

   iii.          Maintenance and possible moving of Hazel Eagle memorial bench.

 

Action Point: Community Engagement and Enforcement Manager to liaise with Cllr Slatter and relevant Officers about maintenance and possible moving of Hazel Eagle memorial bench.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Community Engagement and Enforcement Manager said the following:

      i.          The cardboard recycling skip formerly at Waitrose in Trumpington belonged to the Shared Waste Service. It was understood that they had removed it for operational reasons. Signs stating the skip was no longer available were torn down on a daily basis and were regularly replaced by Shared Waste. Fly tipping cardboard was unacceptable, and it led to general waste was being dumped too.

     ii.          Civic Affairs Committee 18/10/2023 agreed to pause area committee meetings for two cycles (approximately half a year) after November/December 2023. Councillors could contact the Community Engagement and Enforcement Manager for updates on issues in the Environmental Report whilst Area Committees were paused.

   iii.          There were various factors affecting why reported fly tipping figures (agenda page 42) varied in Trumpington 2022-2023. For example changes to Enforcement Officer areas, data methodology and triaging of all flytip cases by enforcement team.

The Committee received a report from the Project Officer.

 

The report provided information on eligibility, funding criteria and funding budgets for the Environmental Improvement Programme.

 

The Committee made the following comments in response to the report:

      i.          Supported projects in the Officer’s report, in particular:

a.    Community Development Opportunities at Clay Farm Community Garden.

b.    Citywide Happy Bee Street Biodiversity and Habitat Creation Projects.

     ii.          Queried if Councillors could be given a funding allocation eg £5,000 to issue to projects in their ward who met the criteria. Issuing funding from a central pot was a time consuming process.

 

The Public Realm Engineering & Project Delivery Team Leader said funding allocations were discussed with the Executive Councillor in 2018 and a central pot was deemed to be the way forward as per the current process.