Road Works in Barton 21st to 24th January

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There are plans for two sets of road works near the pond in Barton next week. Temporary traffic lights will be in place for both. BT will be working on Comberton Road near the pond 21st and 22nd January. CCC Highways will be improving drainage near the pond on New Road (assume near the bus stop) on 23rd and 24th January. We don’t think these are part of Greenways plans, but have informed the Greenways team in case of conflict with the scheme at the School Lane junction.

EWR Consultation

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EWR team was at Comberton village hall today.

Reminder for those that missed this event that all materials presented are available on the EWR website.

East West Rail | Consultation 2024

You can provide feedback on sections that you are interested in. Barton Parish Council has responded mainly on construction concerns with A603 a likely route for construction traffic from M11. Details on the construction process are not available at this consultation but will be at the formal statutory consultation due later 2025 or early 2026. Barton Parish Council is a representative on the Local Liaison Group and so will continue to highlight our concerns over noise, pollution, traffic disruption if construction goes ahead. Timelines are such that building will not start until 2030 if EWR is approved by the Government in 2026.

If you would like to discuss EWR with a member of Barton Parish Council, please contact the Clerk.

 

Can you help stop speeding drivers?

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Can you help? We’re seeking more volunteers to help keep roads safer across the county.

Community Speedwatch are looking for new members to help them to monitor vehicle speeds in the area and log the details of those caught speeding.

The scheme involves speed checks in local neighbourhoods, with motorists caught speeding given an advisory letter by us as a force explaining the dangers of their actions.

In 2024 the Constabulary’s Speedwatch volunteers identified more than 21,000 vehicles going too fast, and sent out 9,495 letters to speeding drivers asking them to consider their attitude to speeding through villages.

Julie Clark, Forcewide Watch Co-ordinator, said: “Being part of the Community Speedwatch national initiative is very rewarding, knowing that you will be helping us to make the roads safer.

“These schemes are a really important part of our road safety work and those involved make a genuine difference. If you are interested in volunteering, please do get in touch.”

Volunteers will receive full training, equipment and insurance, as well as flexibility – as checks can be carried out at their convenience. To find out more about volunteering or to enquire about setting up a scheme in your area, please email

Please do not reply to this eCops message with questions – instead email the address provided above.

 

Kind regards,

Have Your Say on Police Funding

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Apologies there have been technical difficulties in accessing the link.

The Commissioner’s survey is available on his website here:

https://forms.office.com/e/XkNDjXp4Ym?origin=lprLink

 

As your Police and Crime Commissioner, it is my job to set the budget for policing. I need to make sure the Chief Constable has the resources he needs to effectively police Cambridgeshire and Peterborough over the coming year.

I have today launched an online survey asking people to tell me their views when it comes to funding policing in our county.

Police funding is based on a woefully inadequate national funding formula set by government which results in our county remaining one of the lowest funded forces in the country. Since the funding formula was set, our population has grown by 11% and is forecast to grow much faster than the national average.

Roughly half of the funding for Cambridgeshire Constabulary comes from government with the remainder from the policing part of council tax (known as the precept). What this means is that taxpayers in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough must contribute almost half of our total police budget.

I recently wrote to the Home Secretary (as I have done with previous Home Secretaries since first being elected in 2021) to express my concerns about this issue and will continue to lobby for fairer funding.

Every community deserves a properly funded and well-equipped police force. In Cambridgeshire, we have made huge strides to adapt and expand our capabilities to improve the way we prevent, solve and investigate crime and this effort needs to be sustained.

For the financial year, 2025-2026, Police and Crime Commissioners are expected to increase the precept element of council tax by £14 (based on a Band D property).

I am therefore reluctantly proposing an increase of 4.89% for taxpayers in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough which equates to an increase of 27p per week for Band D properties and 18p per week for Band A properties.

Please do take a moment to tell me your views.

The survey will be open until midnight on Monday 20th January 2025.

If you need help to share your views or would prefer to give your views by telephone, please call 0300 333 3456 or email .

Many thanks

 

Darryl Preston

Police and Crime Commissioner

EWR Consultation Events in January 2025

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Our events will resume in January when we’ll be delivering a further six in-person events, and we look forward to seeing you there.

Tuesday 7 January –  St Neots Football Club, St Neots
Friday 10 January – Comberton Village Hall, Comberton
Wednesday 15 January – Bletchley Masonic Centre, Bletchley
Friday 17 January – Summerlin Centre, Woburn Sands
Saturday 18 January – The Clayton Hotel, Cambridge
Tuesday 21 January – St Andrews Church, Cherry Hinton

Our next online consultation event will take place on
Thursday 9 January – 10am – 12pm Join here

Further details about all our events are available on our Community Hub.

E-Scooter Purchase This Christmas?

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Are you planning on purchasing a e-scooter this Christmas?

 

Here’s a quick reminder that they still remain illegal in the UK:

 

It’s not currently possible to get insurance for privately owned e-scooters which means it’s illegal to use them on the road or in public spaces, such as parks, street pavements, and shopping centres.

 

If you own an e-scooter, you can only use them on private land, such as in a garden. But you must have the permission of the landowner to do so.

 

Breaching the rules when riding one could land you with a fixed penalty notice and points on your licence.

 

Find out more on our website here.

Improving the green area on Cambridge Road/ Roman Hill

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As those of you who follow the parish council’s minutes will remember, a speculative application was made in August for a grant from the Shared Prosperity Fund for monies to improve the green area at the Roman Hill end of Cambridge Road, with a view to improving the sound and pollution barrier whilst creating an attractive area for residents (and wildlife) to enjoy. We make many such applications a year and are sadly rarely successful but this time, our application worked.

A representative from South Cambridgeshire District Council visited the site last week with two landscape professionals to review the existing plants and trees and to see what improvements could be made. It is their intention to preserve and tidy all healthy trees and to add to the existing planting to enhance its screening properties, with the hope of a creating a community area benefitting the houses nearby and indeed the wider village.

The team are busily drawing up proposals as we speak and will kindly present these plans to the residents at 6.30pm on 7 January 2025 at the village hall (prior to the parish council public meeting at 7.30pm) – you are all most welcome to attend and to share your thoughts.

Thank you from the Barton residents and Parish Council

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Five years ago, during the first frightening and lonely Christmas of the Covid 19 pandemic, four kind and community-spirited volunteers planned a safe and law-abiding Christmas celebration, outside of course, to bring Barton together and to bring light and Christmas magic into those dark days.

Organised entirely independently of any organisation, these people donated a huge tree, lights, decorations, many batteries and the refreshments for the eventual tree-lighting ceremony. They also put the tree up and decorated it- no mean feat given its size  –  and bought, prepared and served the refreshments on the night. And so a village tradition was born – whilst the parish council now donates the money for the tree, all remaining costs in time and money are met by volunteers and their families. Residents’ voluntary contributions during the tree lighting ceremony have all been donated to the playground equipment fund, Barton Primary School, and East Anglian Children’s Hospices (EACH), raising over £400 in the past two years.

A true mark of success is others following suit, something which this Christmas has spread to Comberton. Whilst their professionally installed and decorated tree might shine brighter (for a rumoured 4 figure sum), we believe ours, donated, decorated and celebrated by the people of our village, means considerably more.

So thank you, on behalf of Barton Parish Council, for the selfless efforts of those few to bring Christmas joy to us all. It is sincerely and deeply appreciated.

The Hoops – an asset of community value

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We are delighted to inform you that our application to register the Hoops as an asset of community value has been approved. Too few traditional pubs have survived these past few years and we are very proud to have positively taken steps to protect not one but both of the pubs in Barton.

Landlord, Neil Kirkland, has put our community at the heart of his plans since taking over the pub and its successful registration is thanks to him and his enthusiastic and imaginative endeavours.

Our thanks go also to all who signed petitions, shared posts and wrote testimonials in support of the application: it has been a privilege to read the stories of the role that the Hoops has played in our residents’ lives. The engagement of the village in protecting the pub was specifically mentioned in the decision.

Police and Crime Plan for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

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Following a period of extensive consultation, Police and Crime Commissioner, Darryl Preston has launched a new Police and Crime Plan for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

The Plan sets strategic policing objectives for the next three years and focuses on four key areas of priority under an overarching banner of safe communities.

A copy of the Plan is available on the Commissioner’s website: opcc-police-and-crime-plan—2025-2028—final.pdf and anyone requesting a printed copy can do so by contacting the Commissioner’s office: or telephone 0300 333 3456.

I would be grateful if you could share the Plan with your local residents.