From our Reporter at the Parish Council Meeting
YES -again at the April Meeting. On the off-chance that in my absence no-one
would report the May meeting, I prepared the second half of the April meeting
report. As I have said before, the PC meetings are now over-rich with copy. So,
what didn't I report?
Let's take the traffic calming exercise Mill Hill. It seems the reason why the extra white lines have not been painted is because "they may confuse cyclists" . How that got our PC going. Any cyclist attended would not have admitted it that night. Details of the speed survey had also been supplied and it claimed to be comparing it with an earlier survey "at the same time of day to get the fairer results." But the dates, time of day, length of survey, and number of cars is not given. If this was a survey for a school project the marks would probably have been 3 or 4 out of 10.
So what can we abstract from the survey which may be of use? The average speed going south has increased by 0.2mph while that going north has decreased by 3.4mph. When the scheme was first discussed the anticipated average speed reduction was between 0 to 5mph. So they are only a bit off target. But without the details listed above it is impossible to make any sensible comment or draw any useful or interesting conclusions. Karen King, who lives on Mill Hill, said that the crossing places are very welcome and successful and that drivers now take more notice of pedestrians trying to cross the road. Meantime I had carried out my own piece of research by, when travelling south, following a huge yellow and green breakdown lorry enter the 40mph zone at 50mph. In order to complete my research I had to keep up with him and it was only because of a car parked on half the pavement that we were both legal by the time we reached Cage hill. If this helps I shall continue to carry out similar research.
Our Chairman, John Covill, in the middle of a discussion had said that he didn't like the new ECDC telephone system. When you phone you are asked your name, who you want, and your concern. You are then put through only to find that the person is out. It seems this has been introduced to monitor the number and nature of complaints. The greatest number of complaints so far are concerned with the nondelivery of bin bags. Earlier in the evening I am sure I heard (it wasn't the most gripping topic and one is allowed to nod off) that ECDC is still worried about the cost of bags and also whether people read what is printed on the side of the bags. The reading of bin bags must surely be a low priority with most people as the poor old bin bag has to compete with television, newspapers, the radio etc. I don't think it stands a chance.
Mind you, coming off the A14 from the West at Quy you have something like a paragraph from a book to read, and when you turn onto the roundabout there is yet another paragraph. This just shows how adept the human brain is. If motorists can digest all the information on those road signs why can't cyclists handle a few extra lines on Mill Hill?
Yet another 25 year plan by the East of England Regional Assembly was mentioned and immediately there were cries of "who are these people?" , "who appoints then?" , "it's undemocratic" and there seemed to be general booing about them and the number of quangos. The only mention of Neighbourhood Panels (NP) came up when the Cambridgeshire Together "Weather the Storm" brochure was circulated. This is divided thematically and provides 38 phone numbers to contact should you have problems. Geoffrey said that most of the time at the last NP was spent discussing this brochure. One may well wonder why. Now that NPs have come up, reproduced below are the issues listed by Alan Williams to justify his organisation. Excluding speeding issues which are being reviewed nationally, the remainder of the various parishes concerns have been highlighted. Are NPs (overloaded with the attendance of the police) really necessary to deal with these, and did Prior and Bulbeck PCs really submit the issues against their names, or were they, dare I say, "lifted" ?