County Councillor Report for Parishes – December 2024 – Cllr Anna Bradnam
Children and Young People’s Committee
Councillors at the Children and Young People Committee meeting (26 November) noted a new strategy to adopt an ‘Inclusion for All’ approach for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
We are committed to ensuring all children and young people are able to thrive. However, like many other councils, Cambridgeshire is experiencing significant pressures in both the increased demand for and the costs of supporting children and young people with SEND.
Over the last five years we have experienced almost a 50% increase in demand for Education and Health Care Plans. We are doing all we can locally to manage the pressures on funding and have recently submitted a revised ‘Safety Valve’ proposal to the Department for Education to request help for the council to manage these dual pressures of rising demand and high costs. If agreed by Education Ministers, this proposal will support us to address our high needs block financial deficit and, at the same time, enable us to reform our approach to delivering special education needs and disability services, over the next 5 years.
Highways and Transport
Local Highway Improvement Grant funding
The indicative timeline for the 2025/2026 application window is as follows –
- Application window opens on Friday 1 November 2024
- Application window closes on Friday 10 January 2025 at 5pm
- Prioritisation and feasibility studies undertaken between February and May 2025
- Member panel meetings will occur between June and July 2025
- Report to Highways and Transport committee including prioritised lists for approval in October 2025
- For successful applicants – programming, design, and consultation between Nov and June 2026
- Pricing and construction between July and December 2026
Getting ready for winter
Preparations for winter are well underway, with the county council’s fleet of 37 gritters and two quad bikes already on stand-by to keep the county’s roads, paths and cycleways safe for residents in the colder months. The team’s annual ‘dry runs’ are now complete. These are how drivers re-familiarise themselves with the routes, as well as prepare for their role in keeping people in Cambridgeshire moving during the worst of the weather and make sure there are no problems with the fleet. The council’s salt barns are fully stocked with 10,000 tonnes of rock salt ready for the start of the cold season, and grit bins across Cambridgeshire have been refilled.
Crews will be on standby and ready across the council’s four winter service depots at Huntingdon, March, Whittlesford and Witchford, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, between now and April 2025. The council also has two quad bikes that treat over 50km of paths and cycleways in Cambridge City and a dedicated team of around 70 volunteers who go out and salt the pavements. This link shows which roads the Council will grit Find out which roads your council will grit – GOV.UK
Its winter campaign – Be Winter Wise – launched in early November, to update residents on activities being undertaken, as well as offering lots of practical advice on how to prepare yourself, your family and your home.
Last year our crews went out 57 times, with many of them working throughout the night and early hours of the morning gritting the main roads, paths and cycleways. We also have a fantastic network of volunteers who help keep our paths and pavements safe for those on foot.
The council maintains over 108,000 drains across the county, and we have been working hard to clear the drains and repair them where necessary before winter sets in.
Whether you walk, cycle, use public transport or drive, make sure you can be seen and wear some reflective clothing. Always check cycle lights and the brakes on your vehicle.
For live updates on our gritting operations, follow Cambs Traffic on X.
You can keep up to date with the winter campaign by searching for #BeWinterWise on social media
Report a pothole: Report a highways fault | Cambridgeshire County Council
Report flooding: Report a flood | Cambridgeshire County Council
Volunteer for the Community Gritting Scheme: Help with gritting and clearing snow | Cambridgeshire County Council
Highway repairs The A10 between Denny End Road and Car Dyke Road has been resurfaced overnight in the last few weeks, which is a massive improvement.
Residents’ Parking Schemes – a review – The County Council is reviewing the Resident Parking Scheme (RPS) policy. This Policy provides a framework for the introduction, amendment and extension of formalised Resident Parking Schemes across the county and sets out the principles for the administration of those schemes.
The purpose of the policy review is to ensure that the county council has a fair and transparent resident parking policy in place that supports the rollout of Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE). The last review was undertaken in 2017.
This review looks at the administration of permits. It proposes a small number of changes. Some of the changes have little effect on residents’ experiences day-to-day. Other proposed changes, such as extending the length of vehicles that may be eligible for resident permits or introducing parking enforcement on bank/public holidays, could have a greater operational impact.
The public can give their views. The on-line survey will open on 31 October and close on 12 December 2024. The survey will ask for feedback on the five policy areas where more significant operational changes are being proposed.
https://consultcambs.uk.engagementhq.com/residents-parking-scheme-policy-review
The proposed revised policy is expected to be presented and considered by the Highway and Transport committees in March 2025. If you have any issues relating to the policy review or public engagement, please email: ParkingPolicy@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Planning and Waste
Next steps agreed for Milton Household Recycling Centre
A new, larger Household Recycling Centre (HRC) will be built at Butt Lane, Milton following approval by the council’s Environment and Green Investment committee on 28 November.
The modern, split-level facility will be built on the site of the existing centre and adjacent land. It will include a purpose-built ‘re-use’ area and more parking for cars and bikes. It will cover a larger footprint than the current facility and will make recycling easier and more accessible for residents.
Work on the new facility is scheduled to start in autumn 2025 and will take around nine months. This will include the demolition of the existing centre, so while work takes place the site will be temporarily closed and residents directed to the closest alternative sites at Thriplow, Witchford and Bluntisham. During the temporary closure a booking system will be set up for the three nearest sites. This will help ensure residents are able to access facilities to recycle and re-use when they need to. Meantime – residents might wish to make the most of the facility at Milton by having a good clear out before it closes for the re-vamp. The papers can be viewed on our website at Council and committee meetings – Cambridgeshire County Council > Meetings Calendar and the meeting was live streamed on our YouTube channel (Environment & Green Investment Committee – 28 November 2024).
Greater Cambridge Partnership Executive Board (7 Nov)
- Waterbeach Railway Station
The Executive Board resolved to:
(a) Agree the Outline Business Case for the new Waterbeach Station;
(b) Agree the increased budget of £43.35 million for the station to cover the delivery of the station, closure of the existing station and construction haul road, noting that the additional budget is not being met by GCP resources;
(c) Agree to delegate authority to the Director of the GCP (Interim) to appoint a contractor following a competitive procurement process subject to the final cost being within the budget of £43.35 million;
(d) Subject to agreement at Cambridgeshire County Council’s Strategy, Resources and Performance Committee, agree the funding from Homes England for a grant of up to £23.35m to forward fund the delivery of the station and haul road, and to be repaid by the developers of the Waterbeach New Town; and
(e) Agree the delivery of the construction haul road for the station.
I previously asked the Joint Assembly to ensure there would be a shuttle link between the old and new stations and that an appropriate station building be provided with a waiting room, toilets, ticket sales points and electronic signage.
Waterbeach to Cambridge Busway
- Better Public Transport – Waterbeach to Cambridge
The Executive Board resolved to:
(a) Note the outcome of the EIA consultation, and a non-technical summary of the Environmental Statement and its contents;
(b) Approve the recommended preferred route alignment and park and ride design, as outlined in Appendix C, which have both been refined to reflect:
- agreements with landowners/tenants • responses made by stakeholders through the EIA consultation work • further technical work;
(c) Approve a formal request to Cambridgeshire County Council to approve submission of a Transport and Works Order with the GCP working closely with Cambridgeshire County Council and
(d) Approve the finalisation of the necessary documentation for a Transport and Works Act Order application, if approved by Cambridgeshire County Council.
Subsequently my County colleague, Cllr Ros Hathorn (Histon and Impington) and District Councillor Paul Bearpark and I engaged with the GCP Lead Designer and Drainage Expert to consider the drainage design around the Busway, to ensure surface water from the Busway would not re-charge into local ditches at a faster rate than currently, or cause flooding in Impington or Milton
I had previously asked the GCP, at the Joint Assembly, to bear in mind the very shallow falls in drainage ditches and to provide adequate balancing ponds to accommodate surface water runoff during periods of heavy rain.
Trees and hedges will be planted at the earliest opportunity to screen the busway from the Tithe Barn at Landbeach and the houses at the southern end of Landbeach High Street.
Waterbeach Greenway – On 7 November the GCP Executive Board resolved to
(a) Agree the development of the northern section of the Waterbeach Greenway to a completed detailed design. This includes gaining all necessary approvals including, land acquisition and planning to construct the greenway on the northern link (sections 8, 7 and 6);
(b) Note that work continues with Milton Parish Council and key stakeholders to develop the detail of the Waterbeach Greenway scheme through Milton for delivery;
Cllr Anna Bradnam anna.bradnam@cambridgeshire.gov.uk 30/11/2024