We are hoping to organise a coach trip to Norwich on Saturday 15th September for Heritage Day (when the castle and other venues have free entry).

The subsidised cost will be approximately £10 (although additional donations are welcome!)

To express an interest please email birdwoodara@gmail.com or put a note through the door at 26A Ward Rd by Friday 6th July saying how many places.

If there is sufficient demand we’ll book the coach.

Have you ever thought that you would like to organise a small group with your very local neighbours?

How about a reading group, scrabble, knitting or just a regular coffee and chew the fat morning? If you would like to try, go for it!  And let us know if you think we can help.
 
Pavements

The contractors from the County Council filled in the really big holes, ignored the others and went away. I wrote to ask how we could do the rest ourselves and got no reply!

We have complained many times about the buses since the change in timetable. Please join in if you are having problems – the more people who complain, the better. We have a meeting with Nigel Tarrant and representatives of the City and County councils on 18th June. The trouble is, no-one seems to be able to take control and responsibility for this. We’ll let you know the outcome – if there is any!
 
If you want to give feedback or complain to Stagecoach, contact Nigel Tarrant
Telephone: 01223 433 250 between 08:30 and 17:30, Monday to Friday.
Fax: 01223 433 275
Email: Nigel.Tarrant@stagecoachbus.com
Address: Stagecoach, 100 Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0DN

Two years ago there was a boundary review for the County Council wards. We were not informed about it and Coleridge Ward disappeared for County elections. Our corner was put into Cherry Hinton Ward and our County Councillor is now the representative for Cherry Hinton. Had we been informed, we would have said that we have more in common with Romsey than Cherry Hinton (although our Cherry Hinton councillor has been very helpful with pavements and buses.)

There is now a review of City Council wards and we have been informed. The consultation runs until 6 August and it would be helpful if lots of people responded.

The consultation page for this review is https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/node/12865

You can respond on-line (or write) saying you are responding to the Cambridge City Council review consultation:
     Local Government Boundary Commission for England
     14th Floor, Millbank Tower
     London SW1P 4QP
     Telephone: 0330 500 1525
If you have any queries, please contact the Commission or Electoral Services at the City Council. 01223 457049 elections@cambridge.gov.uk

Copied from the technical advice on the Local Government Boundary Commission website:
 
"In broad terms, in making recommendations, we are required to have regard to:

• the need to secure equality of representation;
  
• the need to reflect the identities and interests of local communities; and
• the need to secure effective and convenient local government.

Included in the community identities and interests criterion is the desirability of fixing boundaries which are and will remain easily identifiable, and which will not break local ties. Our aim is to identify clear and long-lasting boundaries for ward division. We also take into account factors such as the location and boundaries of parishes and the physical features of the local area when drawing boundaries."

The Friends of Cherry Hinton Hall are joining forces with The Cambridge International School in Cherry Hinton Hall to hold a Family Fun Day on Friday 29th June from 2-5pm in Cherry Hinton Hall to raise £2000 for a for a defibrillator to be placed on the Hall, for public use.

Sandra Day is looking for stalls and arena demos from local sports groups. Stalls will be £25 for 12 x 12 outside, on grass. The day will be based around family fun like a school sports day and fete, with stalls and side shows but they need help. If you want to help run races or games in the arena she would love to hear from you.  You can contact her on 01223 247639.

This is a really important notice about the inaugural meeting of the Cambridge Bus Users Group next Saturday, June 2nd, 2.oo – 4.00pm Conference Room, Cambridge Central Library, 7 Lion Yard, CB2 3QD.

The event is open to the public. The Cambridge Bus Users Group will be discussing aims for the coming year and electing a first committee. If you want to make a change, and help improve bus services for the area please try and attend or if you can’t do so yourself encourage others to attend. Improving bus services for the area benefits everyone.

There is a café in the library directly adjacent to the meeting-room with refreshments available.

They need all types of members:

1. people who want to keep up-to-date with their representations to operators and authorities, and want to contact them with their local concerns;
   
2. people who want to join in some of their campaigns, when they have the time;
   
3. people who want to take an active rôle by joining their executive committee.
   

Most people will only be able to commit to category one – and the organisers say that’s just fine, especially if that means you are able to keep fellow residents’ association or community members in touch about such a key issue for the city and villages.

All are welcome to attend. People can just turn up next Saturday but the organisers say it would be great if you could let them know in advance:

• by emailing Richard Wood wood.in.mill.road@gmail.com
  
• by direct message on Twitter https://twitter.com/CBGbusUsers
• by responding to the post on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/cambridgebususers/

 
Cambridge Area Bus Users, a member group of Bus Users UK:

• exists to to foster discussion and understanding between bus passengers, the companies, authorities and others with responsibility for bus services in Cambridge and its environs;
• to make representations on behalf of bus users at whatever level may be appropriate;
• is independent of any political party.

The day with the skips and the rubbish collecting
Put the date in your diary! 28th April 2018.

Download more information as a pdf.

We will again be collaborating with the City Council and Cambridge Community Church to help everyone clear out their unwanted items. There will be a roaming ‘bin lorry’, skips will be in Ancaster Way and refreshments, swap shops and other activities in St Thomas’s Hall from 9am.

If you need something heavy moving you need to contact us by 19 April. 
We are working with Cambridge City Council and Cambridge Community Church. There will be volunteers from the Community Church helping with the collection throughout the morning. But they would like your help. If you want to volunteer to help on the day please either email birdwoodara@gmail.com or put a note into 52 Birdwood Rd with the magic word ‘volunteer’ in there somewhere.

Warning! If you do not make a booking and leave items outside your home after the clear-up has finished, the City Council may deem this to be fly-tipping! So please do ensure that all your items on the pavement have gone by 1pm.

At St Thomas's Hall:
Throughout the morning
Free refreshments and a sit down after all your hard work!
Swap shop – plants, seeds, books, CDs plus any items you want to bring – or take – that are surplus to your requirements but too good to throw away. Do come and look – everything is free – so every one is a bargain.
Raffle in aid of Romsey Mill
Our New Website
11.15  Local poetry
12.00  BARA AGM

• Chair’s and Treasurer’s reports
• Adoption of committee
• General update on progress including Website
• Your views on what we could / should / might do next year.

 
And finally, there’s a community BBQ at the Community Church (opposite Sainsbury’s) from 3pm to 5pm. Everyone welcome.

Our local lakes (entrance at the end of Budleigh Close) will be open to the public one Sunday a month. The City Council is looking for volunteer wardens to help on these days. If you think you would like to spend some time in the fresh air beside these lovely lakes and feel that you are being useful at the same time contact Caterina.Dunning@cambridge.gov.uk

There are new data protection regulations coming into effect on 25th May. In order to clarify our use of your data we have produced the following:
 
Purpose: Birdwood Area Residents Association maintains a list of email addresses and the associated street addresses of those residents who have elected to receive information by email. The purpose of this is to allow us to send out our periodic newsletters by email, and occasionally to share pieces of information relevant to the local area if they are time-sensitive and fall between newsletters. The link between email and street addresses allows us to avoid delivering paper newsletters to those residents who have elected to receive them by email.
 
Implementation: Currently these emails and addresses are held in the contacts list of our gmail account, birdwoodara@gmail.com The data we hold will not be divulged to any third party without prior permission.

In October they came, they saw and they said most of our pavement potholes are not deep enough to merit any remedial work. They must be 2.5 cm deep before any action is taken! Works are scheduled for March on those holes that ‘meet the intervention levels’.

If you trip and hurt yourself in Birdwood Rd, (or elsewhere in our area) please contact Sandra Crawford, our County Councillor (details here).

You can also claim under the County Insurance Scheme. Or write to:
LGSS Insurance Department
Northamptonshire County Council
One Angel Square
Angel Street
Northampton
NN1 1ED
Telephone 01604 368666 or 01604 367591

If you need to alert the County Council to any highway problems in your road (including pavements), call 0345 045 5212 (charged at local rate) or go online.