The County Council is proposing on-street parking control proposals for Trumpington Meadows, including visitor permit holder parking in signed parking bays every day from 8am to 6pm.

However, the proposals have been poorly publicised.  There has been no door-to-door delivery of the public notice, with the Council relying on residents spotting it online or in the Cambridge Evening News.  Please sign this petition for a proper consultation.

Concerns raised by residents include which roads would be included (with Renard Way wrongly labelled as Falcon Road on the Council’s parking plan); whether the visitor bays would be clearly marked; and how it would be clearly displayed that parking in other bays belonging to householders is prohibited.

Objections to the proposal, reference PR0393 – viewable at https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/travel-roads-and-parking/roads-and-pathways/roadworks-and-faults/traffic-regulation-orders/ – should be sent to policyandregulation@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Given the limited circulation of the proposals, the 15th December deadline for submissions is very tight.  Philip Allen, Ian Sollom, Zoë O’Connell, Dan Hilken and the local Lib Dem team will continue to press for a proper consultation of all Trumpington Meadows residents.  If you feel as strongly as us, please sign our petition.

There have been a number of litter hotspots in residential areas around the train station, possibly associated with rough sleepers, and in Barrow Road. Councillors made this a priority for the Environmental Team at South Area Committee last week, meaning increased patrols by council officers in the area. If you know of any particular spot that needs attention, please let us know and we can direct them to it.

Objections were received to the proposed location of a new litter bin on Shelford Road, outside the shop. Subject to local resident's views, we now have agreement from the city council to install a bin on the opposite side of the road.

Other ongoing consultations:

• Access improvements to Hodson's Folly (The walled off area by the bridge to Newnham/Lammas Land) Closing date 24th June.
• Minor move of the Footpath behind Foster Road - this is the North/South path, not the route to the Guided Busway. (Not online, please let us know if you would like copies of the consultation paperwork forwarded on) Closing date 1th July. 
• The Boundary Commission consultation is also still open until 20th June.

We have been alerted to the problem of some routes off Long Road being blocked by greenery now the (intermittently!) nicer weather is on us. The bushes are owned by adjacent houses and we have asked the council to remind house owners of their responsibility to keep public rights of way clear. If the problem is not resolved shortly, the council can cut back trees and bushes and pass the cost on to the private land owners.

The county council is consulting on improved cycling facilities on Trumpington Road, adjacent to New Bit and the Botanic Gardens/Hobson's Conduit.

This involves:

• Construction of a segregated footpath/cycle path by New Bit and improvements to the on-road cycle lane closer to the city center.
• New "floating" bus stops on both sides of the road, similar to the ones on Hills Road.
• Use of a half-meter wide strip of land from New Bit to enable construction of the new facilities.

We are particularly keen to hear feedback from residents about the use of land from New Bit to enable these changes, and on the proposed floating Bus Stop. The closing date is 25th July.

Developers have supplied insufficient bins for some shared refuse areas on new builds around the Addenbrooke's area, meaning not all rubbish is being collected and resulting in unhygienic conditions. We are working to ensure sufficient bins are available for all flats as soon as possible and that any backlog is cleared.

Two controversial and seemingly rival proposals have been made for further development of the Leisure Park (Where the Light Cinema is) on Hills Road. This is technically outside of Trumpington Ward, but will certainly affect many people living and working in the area.

The first proposal is by TGI Friday's, for construction of a new building in the centre of the currently open plaza. You can view and comment on the application via the council's planning portal.

The second plan is to expand the Cambridge Junction by replacing it with a new 8-storey building. No planning application has been submitted yet, but the Junction have published some details already.

The local boundary commission has reopened its consultation into boundary changes for Cambridgeshire, following widespread criticism of the decision to merge Trumpington and Queen Edith's into a single two-member division for the county council - a move that had been opposed almost universally by political parties and residents associations alike.

You can view the proposals and reply to the latest consultation via the LGBCE web site. The consultation closes on the 20th June.

A planning application had been submitted for the former county council hostel on the corner of Fitzwilliam and Clarendon Road, to demolish the existing building and replace it with 6 new houses.

Whilst proposals to bring the site back into use are welcome, we and many local residents felt that the proposed building was inappropriate in size and design for a conservation area and that the lack of tree cover was disappointing.

Following involvement of councillors Nick Avery and Zoe O'Connell, the officers recommended refusal and the city council's planning committee agreed and rejected the application.

The next South Area Committee, your chance to question councillors on issues affecting Trumpington, Queen Edith's and Cherry Hinton, will take place at 7pm on the 6th June, in the Cherry Hinton Village Leisure Centre. The agenda will be published on the council's website here a few days before the meeting.

Concern has been expressed about the removal of the bus shelter on Shelford Road after it sustained some damage. We have been investigating and discovered that the shelter was owned by ClearChannel, an advertising company, rather than either of the councils. They are currently considering replacement and if it goes ahead, hope to have the new shelter installed next month.

Installation of lighting on the guided busway spur to Addenbrooke's begins this week, and will take approximately four weeks. This work is possible as the original project we secured money for came in under budget.

The busway pathway will remain open during the works.

We are running a petition to secure a railway station for Addenbrooke's, an idea that has been brought up again recently and should help reduce the number of cars causing congestion on Trumpington's roads. If you would like to sign the petition, you can find it here.

Newnham Councillor Lucy Nethsingha has secured £5k or money to fund solar studs for lights on the Coe Fen paths, which should make the route safer for cyclists at night without generating light pollution. There is also another £15k available for lighting on the Driftway, the road that runs alongside Lammas Land from the car park.

The deadline to register to vote in the upcoming city council and Police & Crime Commissioner elections is 18th April, and the last day to request a postal vote is 19th April. There is now a central web site you can use to register to vote, no matter where you live.

A sign has appeared in Coronation Street, appearing to be from the county council, that would suggest that cycling the wrong way up the road is permitted. Nick Avery is investigating where this sign has come from, as there seems to have been no local consultation about this.

Want to question councillors on issues affecting South Cambridge? (Trumpington, Queen Edith's and Cherry Hinton) The next South Area Committee will be held on Monday 18th April at 7pm, in the Wilkinson Room at St John the Evangelist Church on Hills Road.

The agenda will be published on the council's web site a few days before the meeting, but we expect to be discussing Community Facilities, Policing, Community Grants and Environmental Improvement Projects.

The city council is also undertaking a review & audit of community centre provision and a drop-in session will run just before the main meeting.

You may have seen the Speedwatch team out and about in Trumpington recently, noting down the registration numbers of speeding cars. If you have some spare time and would like a Speedwatch session, these are coordinated by Cambridgeshire Police but volunteer-staffed - contact CambridgeSpeedWatch@cambs.pnn.police.uk. Zoe O'Connell went out with the Speedwatch team and undertook some training (As well as catching a few speeding drivers!) on Trumpington Road last month - it is not difficult.

Updates from previous newsletters:

• Following a number of complaints about the process, the Boundary Commission have decided to consult again on the proposed boundary changes that would see Trumpington and Queen Edith's Divisions merged. The review will start after the local elections in May - we will pass on details when we have them.
• The City Council agreed with us that residents to the west of the Guided Busway should have the chance to have their say on the planning applications for the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, and have extended the consultation. All houses and flats in the area should have now had a letter with details in.

Following a meeting between all local councillors and local residents, a public consultation on possible conservation area status for Barrow Road is now underway, with a deadline of 31st March. The consultation itself can be found on the council's web site.

From the consultation: "Barrow Road has general significance for the city because it remains one of the most complete examples of Cambridge’s rapid suburban expansion during the inter-war years. Developed by Trinity College in the 1930s with most houses designed by the same architectural practice, its layout and architecture are said to exemplify the combination of Arts and Crafts architecture and town design inspired by the Garden City Movement that was typical of the time.

This appraisal forms the basis of a proposal to designate the older phases of Barrow Road as a Conservation Area under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. Public consultation responses will be taken into account in the decision on such designation and on changes to the appraisal’s content"

As a result of growing numbers of people moving in to the area, the area covered by Trumpington Ward is changing as of May 2017 - Newtown and the areas off Brookland's Avenue will be part of Petersfield Ward. At least for County Council purposes, Trumpington will be merging with Queen Edith's ward - a proposal that was opposed by almost all local parties and residents associations. A full interactive map of the new county-wide boundaries is on the Boundary Commission's Web Site.

A planning application has been submitted for additional buildings as part of the Addenbrooke's site, just East of the guided busway. Unfortunately, residents in Trumpington were not notified and we have asked the planning officers to restart consultations to include local residents. In the interim, neighbours may wish to reply via the council's online planning system - references and descriptions are below, and the deadline for the current consultation is 15th March.

16/0165/FUL: Erection of a building for Biotech and Biomedical research and development and production together with associated supporting Headquarters and Logistics function along with associated infrastructure to include; access, services, drainage, electric and gas infrastructure, external ancillary structures, car and cycle parking and hard and soft landscaping.

16/0176/OUT: Development of up to 75,000 sqm floorspace (excluding plant areas) of Research and Development (B1b) and Clinical (C2 and/or D1), sui generis and higher education uses, including related support activities within use class B1; ancillary uses in addition (A1, A3, A4, A5, D1 and/or D2); up to two multi storey car parks; open space and landscaping and all other associated supporting infrastructure.

The Greater Cambridge City Deal is consulting on a possible Western Orbital Bus Route, which would run along or near the M11. This would terminating at the Park and Ride and with possible additional Park and Ride or Park and Cycle sites. Details are available on theCity Deal web site, with a deadline of 21st March for initial.

An exhibition is also being held at Trumpington Village hall on the 10th March between 5pm and 8pm - Councillors are involved via a separate Local Liaison Forum that is being established, and we would be pleased to hear your views.

The developers working on the area behind Foster Road have now told us that they do not need to shut the entire pathway from Foster Road to the busway for the full five years originally planned - however, they still believe that a closure of up to two and a half years of the section between the new Spine Road and the busway will be necessary for safety reasons. Final plans have not yet been submitted, but feedback on the proposed closure is welcome.

The pathway will be resurfaced as part of development works, and additional lighting added - short-term closures will be unavoidable during resurfacing!