April 2020

5 Buckden Roundabout April 2020 District & County Councillors From your County Councillor Not a great deal new to report since last month. The County Council is trying to work out how to provide the services peo- ple expect with the limited funds available. But we have now heard the proposals for massively increased public expenditure from the Chancellor of the Exchequer and this may make quite a big difference. Whether it will compen- sate for the reductions of the last 10 years remains to be seen. I know many of you are very keen on Environmental issues and climate change and so you will be interested to see that the County Council has adopted a new Climate Change and Envi- ronment Strategy. This can be accessed on www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk . On a more immediate practical level I am continuing my efforts with the Buckden and Brampton parish councils to improve the cycle path from Buckden to Hinchingbrooke. l keep the parish council fully informed every month at their regular meetings and am pleased to respond to the concerns and issues they bring. Peter Downes From your District Councillor More Surveys I am sure we are all tired of Elections, Surveys and Question- naires, but some more have surfaced and all are very import and need your response, so please look out for them! Perhaps the most important is the Bedford to Cambridge link for the East/West Rail route. I went to the consultation last Friday in the Priory Centre in St Neots. It was well attended, and there were lots of attentive and well informed advisors to help visitors. But that said, it seemed very similar to the consul- tation in Sandy, a year ago and not a lot had changed, except the route had changed marginally and was now definitely going to link up to the East Coast Mainline. This is of course essential for commuters and the economy and the region and is a welcome development. In economic terms getting the new station complex as close as possible to St Ne- ots would bring great economic benefits. But in a land of zero joined up thinking there are all sorts of possible reasons to move the new rail complex closer to Tempsford and away from Buckden commuters, over 20 per cent of our residents if I re- member correctly? The other reason we all need the new junction for the East/ West line to be as near as possible to St Neots is because it needs to link with Mayor James Palmer ’ s planned Metro line. This plan also has a consultation and questionnaire which we need to respond to. Linking Cambridge to St Neots will again bring huge benefit to the area. In part these decisions revolve around the level of local resident ’ s responses, so it really is important for as many as possible to make their voice heard by the planners. Last but not least, look out for the Election of the new Cam- bridgeshire Police Commissioner. I went to the Conservative candidate election, where a very large audience, mainly from Peterborough and northern wards, voted in Darryl Preston, an ex local policeman as the Conservative candidate. With a strong field of excellent candidates, Darryl said that he would have had the XR protest in Cambridge closed down, which won him the vote! A Commissioner apparently has the power to do this kind of thing. Again, when the Election happens, please make up your own mind and be sure to vote. Lastly on the A1 Roundabout, the new work is to improve safe- ty. Hamish Masson Pantomime at Village Hall scoops award Aladdin Local Amateur Dramatics Group Melodramatics, who have been writing and producing pantomimes in the Huntingdon area for more than 30 years scooped the Best Pantomime Award for the District with their 2019 show ‘ Aladdin ’ in the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA) awards on Sunday 8 th March 2020. Melodramatics write, direct and produce a pantomime every year and currently perform in Buckden Village Hall. Their 2019’ s production of ‘ Aladdin ’, written by Rowan Alfred and Huw Nadin, was Melodramatics ’ take on the classic Aladdin fairytale. Melodramatics always add a special twist to their pantomimes and ‘ Aladdin ’ was no different. At the awards ceremony in Stevenage, Melodramatics Chair (David Alexander) and Treasurer (Julia Alexander) were hon- oured to represent and receive the award on behalf of Melo- dramatics. The award made a fitting end to a very special weekend as Melodramatics finished their 2020 Pantomime – ‘ Cinderella ’ on the same day. Hopefully they will be up for an award for this show too. Melodramatics ’ next pantomime is ‘ Rumpelstiltskin ’ and will be performed in Buckden Village Hall between the 5th and 7th March 2021 . Save the date! Cast of Aladdin