August 2020

5 Buckden Roundabout August 2020 District & County Councillors From your County Councillor Last month, I gave a stark warning about the financial implica- tions of the Covid crisis we are going through. I don ’ t need to labour the point any further as since then, we have had prom- ises of generous handouts from the Chancellor of the Excheq- uer and a clear indication from him that taxes will have to rise to pay for it all. This month I want to pay tribute to all the people who work in the local council circles in which I move. I have been very im- pressed by the determination they have shown to keep up mo- rale and to continue to provide the services we expect from them. The programmes of work have been maintained, the meetings have taken place (albeit on Zoom), people have been working flexibly but they have been assiduous at a time when they might have had an excuse to give up. Not surprisingly (given my background as a teacher), my area of activity at Cambridgeshire County Council is mainly in the work of schools and children ’ s services. Faced with considera- ble difficulties, Heads, teachers and support staff have been working very hard to look after the children of key workers, vulnerable children and those with special needs. In many cas- es, they have also been providing home learning via internet which is almost certainly something they were not prepared for in their teacher training courses many years ago. In September, they face an even bigger challenge. The govern- ment has decreed that all children will return to school. This is understandable – on the whole, youngsters are better off in school than not. If the current guidelines for social distancing are still in place, that is going to present almost insuperable logistical problems, especially in larger secondary schools. Ex- pecting pupils to stay in ‘ bubbles ’ of nearly 300 throughout the day, in playgrounds, and corridors is unrealistic. Even as I write, with seven weeks still to go before term starts, the pandemic trend seems to be moving in the right direction and we can only hope that this improvement will be maintained through to September, in which case the return to school may be manage- able. Chatting to a Buckden resident earlier today, we were agreeing that the last few months have been the most unsettling in our entire lives. Some people have been badly affected; for others it has been worrying and inconvenient but manageable. It will be interesting, in the months ahead, to see if we have learned any lessons from the experience and have adapted our practic- es and life style as a result. We shall see. Until then, I wish all Roundabout readers all the best as we continue to live through this traumatic period. I hope that you and your families are not too badly affected and we hope for a more settled period in the autumn and winter Peter Downes From your District Councillor I recently met with some NHS Trust Board Members at a recent conference, and like a lot of media commentators they were predicting a long period for Covid, but in their case it seemed to be taken as read that this would be 4 to 5 years. A bit longer than most of us were thinking, but it made me realise that much of the wonderful work that has been done to protect the vulnerable or help the elderly takes place on the private net- works like Facebook etc. So if there are issues or solutions that you know about, which could just get lost in the general busi- ness of life, we need to track them in some way, just in case they are needed again in the near future. Perhaps logging these with the Parish Council or Hunts Forum or a file in the Cloud is a start? All of these organisations will of course keep their own records, but so much of great value has been done by private individuals, and it ’ s that experience and knowledge that needs to be kept. For example the measurements for Pat King ’ s stylish facemasks, is a simple example, so thanks to Pat and all the other wonderful people helping out with these. Progress on the Buckden Roundabout Much closer to our hearts and there was a very successful A1 Safety Group meeting today. The various studies are slowly being finalised, and most of the issues are at least on the table and most of the decision makers in Highways England and the County Council Road Planning Teams are aware of our con- cerns and the possible flaws in the data analysis. Mainly due to the constant emails from Martin Hassall and his colleagues like Stan Studd in the BPC and also the very expert chairing by out - going BPC Chair Anne Howell - Jones who all deserve our thanks for their non - stop work and of course their many colleagues who support them. CIL Meaningful Proportion payments to the Buckden Parish Council HDC reports as follows: The position on Lucks Lane, 18/02485/ REM is as follows: HDC have received one payment to date on the Demand Notice which was paid in February 2020 and the CIL Meaningful Proportion payments was paid to Buckden Par- ish in April 2020. The further two payments are not due to be paid until October 2020 and July 2021 and if payments are made on time these would be paid to the Parish in April 2021 and October 2021 Third River Crossing The proposal for the bridge has been dropped as a result of lobbying by HDC. The position is very straightforward - the de- volution deal included a commitment to look at a third river crossing, that has now happened, and a better, more afforda- ble and realistic scheme has been found. The CPCA will now move forward with an outline business case for an A141 bypass and will also commission a full St Ives stra- tegic transport study. These two actions combined will deliver more benefits for the local area than the river crossing would. Community Chest Grant Scheme Expanded funding scheme to help financially support commu- nity organisations and projects that are working in response to the COVID - 19 pandemic. 22 Groups have submitted successful applications. Extension to HDC Grass Cutting Programme HDC is taking on grass cutting of the County Council owned grassed land (including cost). Hamish Masson