Some Future Events:

• Wine tasting on 26th March.
• From April, weather permitting, the second Saturday of the month from 10 till 12, a pop-up tabletop sale on the green in St Thomas’s Square – bring stuff to sell!
• Neighbourhood social and AGM  8th June
• Coach Trip in September – we have applied for a grant to cover half the cost so we can offer some free places. More details later.
• Halloween on St Thomas’s Square

 
Some successes!
 
Pavements. £160,000 additional funding has been granted by the County Council and Birdwood Rd is one of the roads that has been included for work. Yippee!  If you need to alert the County Council to any other highway problems in your road, call 0345 045 5212 (charged at local rate). Or on-line at https://highwaysreporting.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/

Review of City Council Ward Boundaries by the Boundary Commission. We put in a submission that the whole area covered by BARA should remain in Coleridge Ward. It will. We will continue to have three City Councillors and be in Coleridge Ward for City Council elections. As they were not looking again at County ward boundaries, we remain in Cherry Hinton Ward for County Council elections.  
 
The Community Library in the phone box in Birdwood Rd (just near the Gray Rd junction) has been a great success. We have had books in several languages and non-fiction and fiction books for both adults and children. It provides a fascinating snapshot of the varied population here and its eclectic tastes. Please continue to bring and take.

And failures!
 
Citi2

In November Jane (Chair BARA) had a third meeting with Stagecoach and it was another waste of time. No more meetings are planned. They say they now have a full complement of drivers and all problems of reliability are outside their control e.g. through congestion. They will not revert to a 10 minute service.
 
If you want to give feedback to Stagecoach, contact Nigel Tarrant
Telephone: 01223 433 250 between 08:30 and 17:30, Monday to Friday.
Email: Nigel.Tarrant@stagecoachbus.com
Address: Stagecoach, 100 Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0DN
 
An alternative for some could be Cambridge Dial-a-Ride. If you think you might qualify due to age, infirmity or disability, do contact Cambridge Dial-a-Ride. It is a non-profit organisation which provides local transport services that are safe, affordable and accessible to individuals who have difficulty in accessing public transport. 
Call: 01223 506335
Email: memberssupport@cambridgedialaride.org.uk

Other news

The Cambridgeshire Bobby Scheme is a local charity which provides a service to older or vulnerable people by improving home security to reduce crime or fear of crime. If you are over 60 and have been a victim of crime the visit is free. If you are over 65 and have been fortunate enough not to have been a victim but want to upgrade your security, there is a small fee. Phone 01480 413311 for more details.
 
And on the subject of crime – we have had reports of cars being broken into on people’s front drives with thieves being on the lookout for valuables.
 
Cycling and students
 
Following some difficulties with teenagers on bikes on Birdwood Rd pavements, and some near-accidents, Sandra Crawford and Noel Kavanagh (County Councillors), Lewis Herbert (City Councillor) and the Head of St Bede’s are trying to find ways to reduce danger to cyclists and pedestrians both on the road and on the pavements. It is agreed that Birdwood Rd is a dangerous road for cyclists and there seems to be no simple solution. Work is ongoing to try to find solutions to this problem.

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."