Tim Stone

On Thursday 20th November the Liberal Democrats upended a substantial Conservative majority to win the District Council by-election in Teversham, which lies just to the east of Cambridge airport. The results were: Frances Amrani (Liberal Democrat) 269; Colin Barker (Conservative) 237; David Kellaway (Independent) 191.

Frances Amrani lives locally, in the High Street in Teversham. A mother of three, she works at the Cambridge University Press as a commissioning editor. She is Chair of Governors at the Spinney Primary School in Cherry Hinton.

The County is proposing a reduction in the speed limit on the A505 between the Hunts Road roundabout and the BP roundabout to 50 mph.  At the moment it is unclear exactly what the limit is along that stretch because it is partly dual a carriageway, partly single carriageway and partly lit, which could mean 30 mph.

This seems an excellent moment to tidy up the stretch from the Imperial War Museum to Hunts Road and make that 50 mph as well.

I have already told County Highways of my view and should welcome support from local residents. 

Once again only Vince Cable seems to have judged the seriousness of our financial crisis right.

Tax breaks are good because they keep the worst affected out of bankruptcy and repossession.  But most people in financial difficulties will use the extra cash to reduce debt.  They won’t spend it.  So that doesn’t help businesses whose demand has collapsed.

First we need government at all levels to keep spending just to keep businesses going.  That’s something the Conservatives seem to have missed.  Certainly we need less and cheaper government but now is not the time to cut spending.  It’s just a pity that government has to borrow to keep it up.

Second we need to get savers spending.  With a cut in interest rates it will soon become far less attractive to keep saving.  In fact savings rates could fall to a level lower than inflation.  Once again, not a good idea in the long  term but we are in crisis.

Third, the tax loopholes enjoyed by the super-rich need plugging to try to improve tax income.  Government borrowing and falling  tax income means that we are storing up problems for the future.  So if we can increase the tax take from the super-rich, so much the better.

Finally there is no national answer to all this.  All countries are facing the same crisis, so all need to be joining in the solution.  While our financial problems are made more complex by the weakness of Sterling, only an international response will be enough.  No time for national pride.

It may help Thriplow, so let us give thanks that on Thursday 13th November, the Government performed a u-turn and announced the Post Office would continue to operate the Post Office Card Account from 2010. Up until then, the contract to pay pensions and benefits had been put out to tender and the Government had made no sign that it wanted POCA to continue. Had the tendering process continued and the Post Office had lost the contract, it is estimated that up to 6,000 branches could have closed.

Renault’s Formula One team would like to use Duxford airfield for up to five days of testing next year.

Representatives of the Imperial War Museum, the Chairman of Duxford Parish Council, two residents of Heathfield and  Tim Stone spent a very cold day at Kemble near Cirencester listening to the procedings.  A sound engineer took readings during the course of the day. All expected the noise to be much greater than it was in practice.  And there was a lot of standing around while the car was taken to bits and put together in a tent.

The Imperial War Museum will not go ahead without local support.  So a meeting will be fixed for 6.30 pm on Monday 15th December at the Imperial War Museum and people can come along and hear what Renault and others have to say.  Renault are very keen to open their testing days to local schools.  We need engineers and perhaps motor racing could be a way to encourage them. 

The East of England Plan review is going ahead fast.  This will prepare the whole of the East of England for yet more housing pressure.

Developers have submitted their preferred sites to the East of England Regional Assembly  (EERA).  The County is now asking EERA to release the Cambridgeshire list as soon as possible so we can all see what it contains.

We do know that Hanley Grange is back -with 14,100 houses.  There is also a proposal for 630 new houses on the north side of Duxford but planners have refused to contemplate that for the moment because they had called for proposals for a minimum of 2,000 houses, so that one is below the threshold.  All this will be the subject of extensive consultation.  But even before we start reviewing individual sites there needs to be a thorough examination of the part our villages should play in the inevitable growth of South Cambridgeshire.

It still remains fairly obvious that any large-scale building south of Cambridge would only encourage commuters to London.  On those grounds alone it is hardly attractive.  Though we do need more affordable housing in pretty well all our villages. 

The fight to save Thriplow Post Office is well and truly on.  We have until 10th November to respond to:

National Consultation Team

Post Office Limited

FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM        (no stamp needed)

or by e-mail to consultation@postoffice.co.uk

The main lines of defence are that the Branch Access Report, published by the Post Office, is wrong. 

• There are not three buses to Fowlmere - the alternative Post Office proposed - as a group of us proved and well reported in the Cambridge Evening News. The only possible bus to Fowlmere doesn’t give time for a return journey the same day!
• The footpath to Fowlmere is overgrown and impassable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
• The percentage of retired people in Thriplow village is much greater than the Branch Access Report claims.

The Thriplow team stressed to representatives on f the Post Office in a meeting on 23rd October just how important the Post Office is as a social centre and as a source of supplies for people without redily available transport.  Also the Post Ofice income is key to the financial viability of the shop.

If you haven’t done so already, please respond to the consultation before the deadline.  We need to keep Thriplow Post Office open.

Local residents have reacted with dismay to Post Office Limited’s shock announcement that it intends to close Thriplow’s Post Office.  The Post Office had not been scheduled for closure but has been substituted for another which has been saved.

There is to be a six-week  public consultation ending on 10th November.  The Branch Access Report is key to the campaign to save Thriplow Post Office.  It gives details of other Post Offices in the area and explains how residents of Thriplow can get there and back.  The proposed main alternative is the Fowlmere Post Office.

The Branch Access Report can be found on the Post Office website by accessing Network Change Programme, scrolling down to Cambs, Herts and Beds and then going to Additional consultations. Instructions are given as to how to respond. The Branch Access Report is wrong in a number of details:

1. The only 31 bus to Fowlmere (the 14.49) which even gives the slightest possibility of a return on the same day allows only about ten minutes to get from the bus stop in Fowlmere to Fowlmere Post Office, conduct business and return to the bus stop.  You’d need to be a pretty good sprinter to do that.  And there certainly aren’t the three bus services which the Branch Access Report suggests.

2.  The bus stop in Fowlmere arriving from Thriplow is more than 300 metres from the Post Office.

3.  It’s fine to say that it is “mainly level terrain” between Thriplow and Fowlmere but it’s a fast road and you’d need to be pretty agile to get out of the way of passing vehicles.

In addition, calculations of the viability of Thriplow Post Office must have been made under the old management.  Things have changed since the Post Office was re-opened in June and it is only fair to wait for things to settle down before deciding whether or not it is a going concern.  After all the money and effort put into the shop and Post Office by residents it seems unfair  to cripple this important social centre by shutting the Post Office part.

For further details and how to respond please go to the shop. 

Tesco’s decision to scrap the Hanley Grange project brings a sense of great relief to campaigners and local residents who have been working since April to defeat the scheme.

Everyone owes a debt of thanks to all who have taken on the challenge: our MPs and Councillors, parish councils,  Cambridgeshire Horizons, the County and District Councils and all those countless people who have signed petitions, given money, written letters, put up posters and helped in every kind of way.

We have proved that people power really is effective.  It is worth getting involved in local affairs because individuals can make a big difference when they work together.  We shouldn’t give up on consultations because “they never listen.”  Sometimes they do.

Another most rewarding feature of the campaign has been the way that so many people came forward who had never before got involved with any kind of council or local campaign.  There is a huge amount of highly skilled talent in our villages not confined to “the usual suspects.”  We have seen this before in campaigns against a number of unsuitable developments.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have positive campaigns for something as well as campaigns against things?

With all the pressures for growth in our part of the world we can be sure that there will be other threats to our way of life.  But for the  moment we have won one very important battle.  Thanks.