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News from June 1995

[archive index] Proposed measure against Cambridge traffic pollution - (26/6/95)

Saturday's 'Cambridge Evening News' announced Cambridge city councillor Kevin Southernwood's plans to close parts of Cambridge to traffic on days when severe pollution is recorded. These plans have apparently found support amoung the other political parties represented in the council including the Liberal Democrats who say that the idea was originally theirs.

The Cambridge Evening News quoted Lindsay Travis of Cambridge Friends of the Earth who said 'Fundamentally, we agree with this, but we need a general behavioural change to lessen the number of people driving into the city in the first place.' She was also concerned about what guidelines would be followed when trying to determine a level of pollution which coild be described as critical.

[archive index] Concern for elderly in Coleridge - (26/6/95)

Labour councillor Raith Overhill has started a campaign to set up meeting places for hundreds of senior citizens from the Coleridge area in Cambridge. He has started talks with local vicars, church organisations and city council officials about starting the meeting places.

In the 'Cambridge Evening News' Cllr Overhill is reported as having said 'I hope to be able to arrange coach tours for them or theatre trips or just get them out of their homes to be with other people'.

Their loneliness was brought home to me forcibly when I took an old man in my car to the polling station to vote. I told him he could have had a postal vote to save him going out. But he said this was his first time out of his house for months.'

From the 'Cambridge Evening News' of 23/6/95.

[archive index] Fight to keep libraries open - (26/6/95)

Haddenham library, until recently on the council's list of condemned libraries, has had a reprieve - and as ECOLN has revealed - has plans to soon provide 'Internet' access to the public thanks to donations from a Cambridge company.

Little Downham and Mill rd., Cambridge libraries, however, are to be closed unless their closures fail to be ratified at a full county council meeting on July 11th.

The plan to close Lt. Downham, Mill rd. and two other Cambridgeshire libraries to save Ł100,000 was supported by Liberal Democrat and Labour divisions within the county council Environmental and Heritage Services Committee. Strong opposition to these plans has caused all of the divisions to agree to refer the matter back to the meeting in July.

Currently the four libraries are set to close in March 1996.

[archive index] Ely recycling group W.A.S.T.E. keep site for a while longer - (24/6/95)

W.A.S.T.E. have been given a temporary reprieve at their Lisle Lane site since the local council have not reclaimed it as quickly as was thought they would. W.A.S.T.E.'s John Marsh told ECOLN that the recycling drives would continue at Lisle Lane on the first weekend of each month for as long as possible, or until an alternative site was found

. see Ely recycling needs to be re-thought as W.A.S.T.E. pulls out of Lisle Lane site - (9/5/95)

[archive index] High Court concedes to Texas jury custody appeal ruling - (24/6/95)

A distraught Cambridgeshire mother has flown to Texas this weekend to hand her two daughters over to the custody of their American father. A High Court judge has claimed to be unable to overturn the decision made by a Texas jury at an appeal made by the father. Temporary custody had previously been awarded to the mother by a U.S. judge.
An expert in conflicts of law at Cambridge University told the Cambridge Evening News 'If the children are here living with the mother, then no English court is bound by the ruling of a foreign court.'

[archive index] Public health research threatened - (20/6/95)

The Director of the Institute of Public Health, based in Cambridge, has said that the NHS needs to become more involved in public health research if progress over recent years in disease prevention is to be maintained. He says that a seeming lack of commitment by the government to ensure a proper alliance between the NHS and public health science is jeopardising progress in public health research.

From a story in the Cambridge Evening News of June 17th.

[archive index] Millenium fund money - (20/6/95)

The Millennium Commission has turned down a bid for Ł20M that would pay for half of the proposed Quest science centre in Cambridge as well as Ł700,000 that would have been spent on the 'revamp' of the market square in Cambridge.

Other local bids that were unsuccessful were for Cottenham Guide and Scout Groups (Ł121,000) and Wisbech St Mary Village Hall (Ł115,000).

From the Cambridge Evening News of June 15th.

[archive index] Milton travellers - (20/6/95)

On June 3rd, Cambridge Evening News reported that district councillor Richard Summerfield pursuaded the council to use 'new legal powers' to move travellers off a small patch of ground enclosed by the A14 and the road leading from the Milton roundabout on the A14 to Tesco's and Milton.

see Ethnic Cleansing ... in the U.K.?

[archive index] Education cuts - (19/6/95)

On June 5th, the Cambridge Evening News relayed the information from the chief of personnel of the education authority that 12 teachers face compulsory redundancy at the end of this term. 95 other jobs would be lost by voluntary redundancy, non renewal of contracts and non replacement of people leaving for other reasons. One in five LEA schools and one in 10 opt-out schools in the county will be affected . Primary schools are to be affected by the cuts more than secondary schools. Nine of the first 12 job losses are women and three men.

[archive index] Village College wins on Lottery - (19/6/95)

On June 7th, CEN announced that Bottisham village college is to receive Ł140,000 from the National Lottery to go towards improving leisure facilities at the school.

[archive index] Haddenham library goes on-line - (19/6/95)

ECOLN has heard that Haddenham library is to be presented with a computer, modem and dial-up 'Internet' account by a Cambridge Internet Provider company. This means that the library, which until recently was faced with closure in order to meet cut-backs is about to have the most advanced facilities available in any library in the region.

[archive index] Public opinion sought over NHS 'rationing' - (15/6/95)

In last night's Cambridge Evening News, Fulton Gillespie reported that improving efforts to involve the public in debate about rationing NHS services had been the dominant issue at a meeting of Cambridge and Huntingdon Health Commission and the Cambridge Community Health Council.

see Dying Girl - Treatment Dilemma - (13/3/95)

[archive index] Permanent license for Barrington toxic waste incineration could be imminent - (15/6/95)

Last night's Cambridge Evening News said that the government want to make a decision as to whether or not to grant Blue Circle Cement a permanent license to burn toxic waste at their cement kilns in Barrington within a month.

The resident's organisation, Camair 95, who are concerned about the possible environmental impact of the toxic waste being burnt at Barrington want the government to make a more informed decision before granting the license to the cement company - even if it means that the trial waste incineration being undertaken at Barrington at the moment is carried on after the date currently set for the government's decision.

Apparently, environment minister Robert Atkins said the burning of the SLFs (toxic waste) would stop if any adverse environmental effects were discovered.

see Barrington Cement Works Dangerous Waste - (10/4/95)

[archive index] Over 70 organisations to be represented at summit on roads crisis - (14/6/95)

According to yesterday's 'Cambridge Evening News', the county council will be holding a meeting in Cambridge today as part of a consultation exercise to try and find a solution to traffic problems in three key areas of the city centre. Those areas are Silver Street and Trumpington Street, Magdalane Street, Bridge Street and Jesus Lane and Emmanuel Road, Parker Street and Parkside.

The Cambridge Evening News says that the summit coincides with news of a Ł24m+ countywide traffic initiative of which Ł5.4m is earmarked for Cambridge.

[archive index] Huge Sainsbury's complex to be built close to Tesco's - (12/6/95)

On 6th. June the Cambridge Evening News announced that 'thousands of jobs and a fleet of 25 new buses are at the centre of a scheme for a massive shopping complex in Cambridge...'
The proposed development is to be built at the junction of Histon Road and the A14 - one junction along the A14 from the existing Tesco's superstore on a stretch of road that is already dangerously over used. Sainsbury's claim that the development will provide 2,250 jobs and ease traffic congestion in the city centre.
This scheme is in competition with plans to build a '180 acre entertainment and shopping village' in Chesterton which would be built on top of an existing 'Park and Ride' facility.

[archive index] Libraries to close - (12/6/95)

Four libraries have been named for closure as part of a costs cutting exercise by the county council. Mill rd. Library in Cambridge and libraries in Buckden, Fulbourn and Haddenham will close in order that a fraction of the Ł7 million annual budget of the Libraries and Heritage Service can be saved.

[archive index] Discussions of the Future for the Region's Rail Network - (1/6/95)

Map showing current rail improvement proposals...(Originally published in Liberal Democrats East Cambridgeshire FOCUS - October, 1994)

The Cambridge Evening News of 1/6/95 has the news that the pro-rail pressure group the 'Railway Development Society' has selected a preferred route for the proposed Ł93m rail link. It has come out in favour of a route through Newmarket, Cambridge, Huntingdon and St. Neots.

On 9/5/95 ECOLN wrote:
The latest announcement of proposed plans for improvements to the regions rail network came in the Cambridge Evening News of 2/5/95 head lined - "SUPER-LINK RAIL HOPE - A NEW 170-mile super-route rail network could provide a major transport boost for East Anglia."

The Cambridge Evening News says that the new network would connect East Coast ports of Harwich and Felixstowe with Oxford and Swindon, providing connections with four main lines out of London.

The decision to go ahead with a feasibility study for the project has been taken by group of 25 local authority members from the region called 'East-West Rail Link Consortium'.

Ely and Cambridge are both on potential routes.

From The Ely Weekly News 2/3/95 -

'Coun Donald Adey has been appointed to represent East Cambridgeshire District Council on the Norfolk Rail Policy Group which looks at local rail services.'

'The group meets regularly with British Rail and is campaigning to have the Ely to King's Lynn line included within the European Union's proposed Trans-European rail network.'

'Trading links to Scandinavia and eastern parts of Europe via King's Lynn may increase pressure on roads in this district and so the group thinks rail links are a significant issue.'

'Rail is also seen as an important part of the strategy to develop economic activity in the Fens, including Littleport.'

The East Cambridgeshire On-Line News has heard that local councilors are lobbying for stations to be opened in Soham, Fulbourn, Cherry Hinton & St. Ives. People who want to see these stations opened are urged to write to The Secretary of State for Transport, Dr. Brian Mawhinney to urge him to back these proposals with the necessary cash.

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