Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Ashton and Adey.

 

 

Name	Item	Interest
Councillor McPherson	18/18/SAC	Personal: Friend of Cherry Hinton Hall
Councillor Dryden	18/18/SAC	Personal: Friend of Cherry Hinton Hall
Councillor Dryden	18/18/SAC	Personal: Member of Cherry Hinton Festival Committee

 

The minutes of the meeting of the 15^th January 2018 were approved and signed as a correct record.

The Committee noted the completed actions from the Action Sheet.

 

The following comments were made:

 

18/05/SAC Q2

Enforcement Officers had visited the site and the contractor has agreed to reinstate the verges once the building work was completed.

 

18/05/SAC Q4

Update from Head of Streets and Open Spaces: Remedial work to the footpath near the play area would be completed in the next few weeks. A bid for funding to complete the remaining repairs to the footpaths had been submitted. It was anticipated that the work would be completed in spring 2019.

 

Addenbrooke’s Station

This item will be on the agenda for the June meeting.

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

 

1.   Chris Squire

Verge Parking in Mowbray Road is causing problems and existing by-laws are not working.

Councillors agreed that verge parking was an issue across Cambridge. A briefing note was being produced for this Committee and would detail the options available for further action. Residents had photographed offending vehicles but this needed to be backed up by a witness statement for any further action.

 

2.   Chris Rand

Traffic mitigation measures planned by the Greater Cambridgeshire Partnership (GCP) are some years away from completion. In the short term the Biomedical Campus would be generating a number of jobs and related traffic. Could this Committee write to the GCP and request that the many small scale projects in the area could be considered urgently?

Councillor O’Connell undertook to write the letter.

 

3.   James Woodburn

Has any progress been made regarding the Hobson’s Brook Bridge?

Councillor Avery confirmed that the Council had made all the decision within it’s remit. The remaining issues were legal and covenant related. The principal land owner needed to be satisfied on certain matters. Once agreed the work would be seasonally sensitive. Steps would be taken to minimise disturbance to wildlife.

 

4.   Letitia Marinas

Inconsiderate parking on Church End, Braybrooke Place and the surrounding roads. The parking problem was previously raised by the local residents and the situation has worsened over the past year. Members of staff from the nearby garages use the public roads as their own private car park, putting residents' safety at risk by parking on the pavement and/or in the close vicinity of the junctions. 

Councillor McPherson agreed that this was an increasing problem. Ticketing offending vehicles had not produced the desired results. Consultations were pending on the options available to resolve the problems in a way that would not further inconvenience local residents.

Councillor Crawford confirmed that the County Council were aware of the problem and were investigating solutions.

 

5.   Colin McGerty

When will the problems with bin rounds be resolved? Some residents had experienced repeated missed bin collections.

During the meeting Councillor McPherson made some calls and arranged for the matter to be resolved without delay.

Other members of the Committee reported similar problems with missed bins. Some problems were believed to be due to contamination on the bins from passers-by while they were on the pavement awaiting collection.

Councillor Dryden stated that there had been some issues with the assist service provided to less able residents. It was suggested that users might need to re-register for the service.

Oral update provided by:

 

Campbell Ross Bain is Park and Ride and Facilities Manager.

Danny Clark is Senior Technical Manager from Countryside Properties.

Sonia Hansen, Traffic Manager, Highways Service, Cambridgeshire County Council.

 

 

The Committee received an oral presentation from: Campbell Ross-Bain, Park and Ride and Facilities Manager, Cambridgeshire County Council; Danny Clark, Senior Technical Manager from Countryside Properties; and Sonia Hansen, Traffic Manager, Highways Service, Cambridgeshire County Council.

 

Sonia Hansen gave a verbal summary of some of the issues that had been raised as concerns by Trumpington Residents Association to Countryside Properties. These included:

a.   Signs – temporary and permanent

b.   Rising bollards

c.   Traffic marshals at peak time

d.   Communications

e.   Construction traffic

f.     Signals

g.   Bus way signs for cyclist.

 

Danny Clark confirmed the following:

h.   Problems with the bollards were being addressed with the supplier and would soon be resolved.

i.     Rat running was currently an issue.

j.     A recent safety audit had highlighted issues that were now being addressed.

k.    The bus gate was currently now working as it should.

 

Campbell Ross-Bain confirmed the following:

l.     Signage improvements were in the pipeline.

 

The following questions were asked:

 

1.   Dave Jackson

The default setting of red traffic lights for the guided bus appears to be the wrong way round. Why not default to red for other road users?

Campbell Ross-Bain confirmed that this was seen as the safer option and bus driver were more likely to obey a traffic light than cyclists.

 

2.   David Plank (Trumpington RA)

The junction is regarded by many as an accident waiting to happen. When will the crossing be safe?

          Campbell Ross-Bain noted the concerns of local residents.

 

3.   Councillor Moore

Disabled groups were most at risk from unsafe junctions and needed a safe environment.

Campbell Ross-Bain stated that tactile pavements were in place.

 

4.   Philippa Slater

The current contractor car park will soon become a building site. Please can visibility for road and pavement users be considered when hoardings are installed around the site?

Danny Clark stated that the residential team completed regular walkabouts and would monitor the site.

 

5.   Janet Swadling

The busway design was fundamentally unsafe. What activity had been undertaken to ensure the safety of school children?

Danny Clark: No specific educational activities have taken place in schools but this suggestion will be passed on to Countryside Properties.

 

6.   Andrew Roberts

Is there any information regarding the opening of Hobson Square? Clay Farm Centre and the Pharmacy were now open and access to the square was needed.

Danny Clark: Agreed that this was a matter of urgency. A meeting was due to be held shortly with Cambridge City Council regarding the removal of the fences and minor remedial works.

 

7.   Local Resident

The junction and related safety issues were part of a larger problem. The area is growing and use of foot and cycle paths in the area will increase. A long term solution needs to be found soon.

Danny Clark: The Masterplan set the standards for what could be achieved. We have to work with what we have but the team are open to suggestions.

The Committee received a report regarding the policing and safer neighbourhoods trends from Maureen Tsentides, Lead Officer for the CB1 development in the Safer Communities Team, on behalf of Lynda Kilkelly, Safer Communities Manager, and Police representatives, Inspector Paul Rogerson and Sargeant Stevenson.  The report outlined actions taken since the Committee’s meeting on 5^th June 2017, identified on-going and emerging crime and disorder issues, and provided recommendations for future priorities and activity.  The report listed previous priorities and the actions taken in response:

 

·        Combatting ‘county lines’ drug dealing

·        Burglary patrols

·        Operation Mantis

 

The Committee noted the change to the process for agreeing priorities. In future, Police attendance would be discussion based and priorities would be agreed collaboratively at the Area Committee meetings.

 

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

 

1.   Colin McGerty

A resident of Almoners Avenue has suffered multiple house and car break-ins. What is being done to reduce crime in the South of the City?

A prolific gang had been working the area. Unfortunately, some properties are targeted repeatedly. Victims were offered advice to make properties safer.

 

2.   A. Taylor

Many in the area were not aware of the increased burglaries. E.Cops is no longer providing useful updates.

E.cops was very time intensive for officers and a better approach to circulating information, using social media, was being rolled out. The public would be invited to sign up for updates. The Police would be happy to assist community groups with home safety training.

 

3.   Kerry Galloway

There was a perception that the area was not as safe as is had been. Residents feel less safe cycling at night.

Violent incidents were at a very low rate. However, recent incidents on the guided busway had heightened public concerns. The area was receiving extra patrols.

 

4.   Kerry Galloway

What action was being taken to combat the rising problem of cycle theft?

Cycle theft was an issue across the City. Good locks, keeping good records of cycle details and marking cycles were suggested as the best deterrents.

Volunteer groups were being encouraged to get involved in cycle marking.

 

5.   Kerry Galloway

Children playing in Glebe Farm were being intimidated by other children.

The incidents had not been reported. The Police cannot act if they are not aware of the incidents. If people were uncomfortable or intimidated, they could make reports without giving their names.

 

6.   Sifa Sabeter

New properties are at risk of burglary and little action was taken. Can any action be taken to ensure that new properties are more robust against forced entry?

Planning and building regulations do not fall within the remit of the Police. Determined burglars could gain access to most properties.

 

The Committee discussed potential priorities as follows:

 

Councillor Dryden

Cherry Hinton Lakes attract nuisance behaviour during hot weather. It was unsafe and anti-social.

This was an issue of trespass. It could be a priority.

 

Councillor Avery

Previous priorities included traffic issues. These were still an issue for local people.

The new approach was not intended to squeeze out local concerns. However, parking and traffic issues were officer time expensive and Police action alone did not resolve the problems. Other approaches to parking problems offered better long term solutions to the problems.

 

The Committee resolved to nominate the following priorities for focus over the coming months:

 

     i.        ASB on Guided Bus Way

    ii.        Street begging – Hill Road

   iii.        Mill Park – Open Space

   iv.            Cherry Hinton Lakes – Trespass and dangerous behaviour in hot weather

The Committee received a report from the Community Funding & Development Manager which detailed applications received for 2018-19 funding for projects in the South Area. 

 

The Community Funding & Development Manager answered questions from members of the public as follows:

 

1.   Sam Davies

The grants pot is underspent. What does this indicate about the capacity of the voluntary sector in the South of the City?

The criteria were now more targeted and this sometimes results in underspends. However, it is likely that the remaining funds would be allocated later in the year.

 

2.   Sam Davies

The Officer notes that that the Trumpington Meadows Community on the outskirts of Cambridge and has limited facilities. Will planners learn from this in future and ensure that facilities are in place before new communities are established?

Lessons are learnt and teams do try to make links with existing communities when new developments are rolled out.

 

In reply to a Member’s question, the Community Funding & Development Manager said the following:

 

     i.        Where grants would benefit both City and South Cambridgeshire District Council residents, only partial funding would be awarded.

    ii.        Some applications have to be rejected as they fall outside the remit of the Area Committee Grants.

 

The Committee resolved to:

 

I.                To note the grant applications received, officer comments and proposed awards, detailed in Appendix 1of the Officer’s report, in line with the Area Committee Community Grants criteria.

 

II.                Agreed the proposed awards detailed in Appendix 1 of the Officer’s report and summarised in the table below:

 

Ref	Organisation	Purpose	Award
S1	Cambridge Royal Albert Benevolent Society	Day trip for elderly residents	£700
S2	Cambridgeshire Older People's Enterprise - Evelyn Charnley Memorial Lunch Club	Monthly older people’s club.  Towards cost of hall hire and speakers only	£700
S3	Centre at St Paul’s	Equipment for camping expedition for young mothers	£1,000
S4	Centre at St Paul’s Thursday Lunch Club	2 day trips	£500
S5	Cherry Hinton Festival Society	Cherry Hinton Festival	£663
S6	Denis Wilson Court Social Club	Transport costs for 2 trips	£500
S7	Friends of Cherry Hinton Hall	Three community action days	£202
S8	Hanover and Princess Court Resident’s Association	Summer outing, September barbeque, Christmas event and monthly craft sessions	£945
S9	Harvey Road Group	Day trip to wildlife park	£340
S10	Huxley Group	Day trip to wildlife park	£365
S11	Oblique Arts	8 creative writing workshops	£0
S12	Romsey Mill	30 targeted youth sessions at Clay Farm Centre	£4,718
S13	Trumpington Community Drama Group	40 week after school drama club  and trip to pantomime	£925
S14	Trumpington Meadows Community	Four community meetings at Trumpington Meadows School	£700
S15	Trumpington Trips (sheltered by Age UK)	Four coach trips to the seaside – towards coach hire onyl	£1,234
S16	Young People's Puppet Theatre	Puppet making project for a class at Bewick Bridge School	£0