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Buckden Roundabout
November 2017
FROM YOUR COUNTY COUNCILLOR
As copy for the monthly Roundabout has to be submitted over a fortnight before the month of publication, I am not able to tell
you in this article the outcome of the important County Council meeting on October 17
th
but I expect you will have read some-
thing about it in the local press.
The council has to find a further £35 million of savings from the expenditure budget. This is on top of the £215 million saved
since 2011. To give you a perspective on that, the County Council’s annual expenditure is about £580 million. By 2022 the Coun-
ty Council will have had to save £305 million.
This is happening because government grant to local councils has been systematically reduced over the last few years as part of
the current government’s austerity programme and the demand for the services provided by the County Council is increasing
each year.
I cannot disguise the fact that there is a political divide on the best way forward. The ruling Conservative group do not wish to
raise council tax by more than 2% and are therefore having to propose swingeing cuts to services. The Labour and Liberal Dem-
ocrat groups recognise that services will have to be reduced and provided in a different way but would prefer to minimise the
damage by increasing the council tax by the further permitted amount of 2%.
The most controversial issue is the proposed closure of half the County’s Children’s Centres. The Conservatives claim that they
will be able to re-provide these services more cost effectively in fewer locations. My concern is that, if there are fewer loca-
tions, parents and young children will have to travel further and many of them will not have the time, the means of transport or
a bus service. If we fail to help those youngest children most in need of support, we are not only making life less bearable for
them and their parents, we are building up future costs for society. Research shows conclusively that every pound invested in
vulnerable children in the first three years of their life repays society many times over by the time they become adults. In my
opinion, cutting services now is a false economy.
If you wish to raise any local matters with me personally and would welcome a face-to-face conversation, I come to the Aragon
Room in the Village Hall at 7 p.m. on the evening of the parish council meeting, the 2
nd
Tuesday in the month. At other times,
please ring me on 07765 833 486 or write to me at peter.downes@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Peter Downes, County Councillor for the Brampton and Buckden division
FROM YOUR DISTRICT COUNCILLOR
A1 LATEST
At a recent meeting of the A1 Safety Advisory Group a Highways England representative reported that the pro-
posed plans for the future of the A1 will be explained in a report which is due to be published for public comment at the end of
the year. Our MP, the Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, CCC and HDC have all written to
the Secretary of State supporting Buckden and Southoe Parish Councils’ plea for an early solution to the problems experienced
on the A1 and emphasising the need for a bypass. In the short term representatives of the Safety Group are meeting with a
Highways England Representative and their contractor in an attempt to improve the hedge, tree and grass cutting along the
road and to improve the quality and number of signs currently on display.
PAXTON PITS
Residents may have noticed that work has restarted on gravel extraction in Paxton Pits. This is likely to continue
for the next 3 years. I do not believe that this will adversely affect Buckden but residents of Diddington may notice more noise
and activity. In the long term, when it is finished, the footpaths between Buckden, Diddington and the Paxton Pits nature re-
serve should be greatly improved.
REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER
Guy Fawkes night will soon be upon us and I remind all of those who are
intending to use fireworks in their garden to consider their neighbours, especially the older generation and those with dogs,
cats and other animals.
SPEEDING IN THE VILLAGE
In spite of the new 20mph limit traffic is still travelling far too fast around the village. The other
side of the A1 also suffers with cars and motorbikes seemingly using it to beat some sort of speed record! Please drive carefully
and within the limits in the village. I applaud the Parish Council’s Highways and Road Safety Group for its efforts to try to im-
prove the situation. The Speed Watch Team has been increased in size and I hope that it does not have to report local drivers.
Previous checks have indicated that often the worst offenders are those living in the village.
Please do not hesitate to contact me about these issues or any others that you would like to discuss. I am available on 01480
810974 and terry.hayward@huntingdonshire.gov.uk
With best wishes, Terry Hayward, District Councillor for Buckden, Stirtloe, Diddington, Southoe and Midloe
From Your Councillors