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South Cambs District Council Joint Community Safety Event and Zero Carbon Communities Workshop – Sat 7 March

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Where: South Cambs District Council, South Cambs Hall,  Cambourne Business Park, Cambourne, CB23 6EA

When: Saturday 7th March

09.30am- 12.30pm – Community Safety Event

Do you want to explore ways in which community-led action can reduce vulnerability to crime and anti-social behaviour in your community?

Come along and hear from others, sharing what works for them. Develop ideas and find out about available support.

1.30pm-4.30pm – Zero Carbon Communities Workshop

Interested in finding out how your community can tackle climate change?

Speakers from:

  • Cambridge Carbon Footprint / Cambridge Sustainable Food / Cambridge Council for Voluntary Service

Learning from other Parish Councils:

  • Calculating your carbon footprint / Aiming for carbon neutrality through tree planting
  • Setting up an electric bike scheme / Grant funding up to £15k

Bins during stormy weather – advice from District Council

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According to the Met Office, Thursday and Friday will see spells of heavy rain, strong winds and further snow for parts of the UK with several severe weather warnings in force, before Storm Dennis brings further very wet and windy weather this weekend.

Here is some advice on helping to ensure your bins remain upright and do not get blown onto paths or roads during heavy winds.

  • Try and keep the time your wheelie bins are left out to a minimum. Put them out as late as you can on your collection day. Bins need to be put out by 6am on your collection day
  • Where possible, place bins next to hedges or walls to maximise shelter from strong winds
  • Place bins in ‘banks’ next to your neighbour’s bins as this can help prevent them from tipping over
  • Where possible, try to place bins so they are easily visible and accessible for our crews, but not right next to the road
  • Please be a vigilant, friendly neighbour and keep an eye out for any bins that have been tipped over by strong winds or are isolated
  • After your bin has been emptied, please retrieve it and store it securely (such as in a garage, shed or garden) as soon as possible

The Primary School are currently recruiting for a Midday Assistant

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The Primary School are currently recruiting for a Midday Assistant for 1 hour per day during term time to start the first week of March 2020. It is a great opportunity to assist their children at lunch time – whether it’s helping to serve food or assisting them at playtime. If you know of anyone who may be interested please let them know. Contact details are in the description below.

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Have your say on road safety – but respond before Thursday 6 February

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Cambridgeshire Road Safety Survey: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/33PW2/

The Cambridgeshire Road Safety Partnership are undertaking a review of local Road Safety governance, strategy and delivery.

They are issuing a survey to gain insight into the concerns, needs and desires of you – the people of the county. It takes about 5-7 minutes to complete.

Their survey is open for a relatively short period of time and they would like as many people as possible to complete it.

Don’t forget, you can:

  • Complete the survey yourself
  • Promote the survey as widely and as often as possible via your social media channels
  • Promote the survey widely within your own organisation
  • Share the survey with your end users as much as possible
  • Forward this email on to anyone who can spread the survey even further

Here’s the link to the survey, which closes on 6th February: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/33PW2/

Towards a Safer High Street

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Babraham residents express concerns about the speed, frequency and weight of traffic through the High Street at many of the Parish Council meetings and at the Annual Parish Meeting.

The Council has been working to address and resolve these pressing issues.

At the 2019 Annual Parish Meeting we told you about our proposal to introduce reduce speeds by traffic calming in the High Street.

The proposal has been developed into a formal project by Cambridgeshire County Council Highways Department and is now to be reviewed for funding.

The County Council proposal is to install four pairs of speed cushions along the High Street, from 40m eastwards after the bridge, for a distance of 220m, keeping consistent central gap of 1.20m. It will include hump warning signs mounted on black posts. The locations are for guidance and are subject to change, influenced by road widths, lighting, dwellings and other factors.

The total cost is £27,858.11, of which the Parish will contribute £12,858.11, or 46%, from our reserves.

The Parish Council believes this will bring benefits in a safer High Street because of reduced speeds.

If you’d like to express your view, or have any other comment, please email the Clerk, Don Powell.

We continue to pursue projects to address other concerns – reducing traffic numbers and curtailing transit of large goods vehicle through the village.

Parish Council Extraordinary Meeting – Thursday 19th December

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The Parish Council will hold an extraordinary meeting on 19 December 2019 at 19:30 in Babraham School Hall.

View The Agenda

We invite all residents to attend our discussion on a proposed agreement between Sawston and Babraham on our shared boundary and financial contributions to the Parishes that might be delivered by new developments under Section 106, the “mechanism [of the Town and Country Planning Act] which make a development proposal acceptable in planning terms, that would not otherwise be acceptable” (source: Local Government Association).

The meeting has been called by the Chair, Stuart Laurie, to consider a motion proposed by three Councillors:

“We propose that Babraham Parish Council reviews and resolves to take any action on the distribution of S.106 funding deriving from H/1:c development, proposed as an outcome of the joint parish meeting held on 21st November 2019 at Sawston PC offices.”

the essence is to review possible financial arrangements in respect of developments between the two parishes.

Over the past few months, the Parish Council has been discussing the Parish boundary with Sawston Parish Council and Cambridgeshire County Council. The discussions have been prompted by new development locations in our Parish included in the Local Plan: H/1:b, to the north of Sawston Road, currently under development; and H/1:c, to the south of Sawston Road.

With any new development, there is a “mechanism which make a development proposal acceptable in planning terms, that would not otherwise be acceptable” called Section 106 (its location in the Town and Country Planning Act). The financial contributions are used to mitigate the impact of that development on the local community and infrastructure.

In the Planning process for H/1:b, we reached agreement with the Cambridgeshire County Council that Babraham Parish would be receive S.106 funds of £71,000 towards the cost of building the Village Hub and £20,000 towards arts spaces and facilities within the Hub.

As a Council, we have taken the view that incoming residents of both developments might seek practical activities in Sawston. This view might suggest that the boundary might be moved, with a result that the new developments could be ceded to Sawston Parish.

However, we also recognised the counter argument that the precept (the funds disbursed by the District Council for Parish works) payable to Babraham would be greater if the developments remained in Babraham Parish.

Finally, we have in the past argued that the new residents of H/1:b and c might vote themselves on the boundary and Parish and are aware that Sawston residents have a voice to express.

However, we recognise the practical nature of aspects of the postposed change and have sought terms that might meet needs of Babraham’s parishioners,

Following our most recent joint meeting in November, we have developed a Memorandum of Understanding for the distribution of S.106 contributions for H/1:c.

In this Memorandum, our Parish is granted a defined share of S.106 contributions for H/1:c and acknowledges the change to the boundary to place H/1:c dwellings in Sawston Parish.

The Council will discuss and resolve on action to take in respect of this Memorandum.