Local Councillors

District and County Councillors’ Report

September came in with gusto: some of these items made it into our Parish Council report and others have been added subsequently.

Bus Services and Addenbrooke’s

No doubt those who use the Stagecoach service are aware of fundamental changes that came into force on 30th August, with the ‘Busway A’ service between Royston and Cambridge replaced by the 915. The new service runs between Royston and Drummer Street Station Cambridge, including stops at Melbourn High Street car park and Trumpington Park and Ride for a short wait for anyone wishing to change to the ‘Busway A’ service from there to Addenbrooke’s. This means that the journey from Melbourn to Addenbrooke’s is now broken into two. The reason for the change – which has been replicated throughout Cambridgeshire – is the effects of the COVID pandemic upon public transport, both in terms of reduced users and revenue and a reduced workforce. Stagecoach have told us they are looking at this as a temporary alteration and hope to build back. Meanwhile, for those bus passengers disembarking at Addenbrooke’s, the Outpatients bus stop has been moved in order to accommodate an enlarged ambulance access to the Emergency Department. The good news is that the bus stop will be restored imminently.

New Triage Pilot at Addenbrooke’s

There is now a new pilot triage system at Addenbrooke’s Hospital launched to help make sure patients get the right care in the right place. From 9.00am to 9.00pm, anybody who attends the Emergency Department without a referral from a medical professional, who hasn’t been brought in by an ambulance, or hasn’t called NHS 111 in advance will be reviewed by a senior clinician. They will assess the patient’s symptoms and decide whether the Emergency Department is the most appropriate place for their issue. If the patient does not require care from the Emergency Department, they will be directed to call NHS 111 or to visit their GP or a local pharmacy. This pilot supports the new national NHS “111 First” initiative that encourages people to contact NHS 111 before going to an Emergency Department in order to ensure they get the right help at the right time.

Public Health Intelligence Team, Cambridgeshire County Council: COVID-19 Updates

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Public Health Intelligence team produces frequent detailed updates on COVID cases and settings. These are published on their website: https:// cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk/coronavirus_cambridgeshire/ cambridgeshire-and-peterborough-public-health-covid-19-reports. You will arrive at the same place if you Google “Cambridgeshire Insight COVID-19 reports”, then click “Interactive Reports for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough”.

Planning

The Government has published a White Paper on Planning Reform that is causing some consternation amongst planning authorities. Although there are some serious issues with current legislation, and things could be made slicker and better from the customer point of view, generally Councils do a good job of protecting the places that need to be protected including Green Belts, Conservation Areas, Heritage Assets and rural areas. The Government blames local authorities for restricting the speed of housing delivery, but in fact this is caused by developers who will build houses only as fast as they can sell them. The new proposal is that areas will be designated for ‘growth’ and that very few application processes will need to be got through for building to commence. Councils such as South Cambridgeshire are gravely concerned that ensuring that housing is built to high standards and is located close to jobs and facilities will be stopped and the planning system reduced to a random race to the bottom. There is a wideranging consultation underway and we expect that the final legislation will look quite different from what is currently proposed - at least we hope it will.

Business Recovery

South Cambridgeshire District Council has distributed over £25 million of government grants to businesses. The flow of money has now stopped but the Council has appointed a team of four experts whose job it is to support local businesses in any way they wish - help with a planning application or a trading license or advice on business recovery and diversification and so on. The aim is to create a one-stop shop at the Council for all businesses regardless of size, and to give all business owners a single point of contact in terms of a real person with whom they can communicate. If you are a local business, please sign up for

the newsletter which contains updates on just about everything you could ever want to know as a business owner in South Cambridgeshire. Lots of information is available. See: https://www.scambs.gov.uk/ business/coronavirus-information-for-businesses.

County Broadband Update

We’ve reported previously on the detail of the County Broadband project to bring full fibre connections into individual homes and premises. County Broadband has been active, not just in Meldreth, but villages around us and there has been sufficient take-up of interest in Whaddon and Orwell to allow the project to go ahead there. Meldreth has not yet reached that critical next step, but County Broadband are still open for new ‘registrations of interest’ – in which there is no upfront payment, just an indication of general interest that helps form a village-wide picture. Importantly, ‘registering interest’ provides support to others in your street, who may want to connect their own property to the new infrastructure at some point in the future but will only have the option to do so if there’s sufficient concentration of interest in that street. Here’s the link: https://countybroadband.co.uk. Please fill in your postcode and then link to ‘register interest’.

Poor Broadband Speeds on the Edge of the Village?

The Cambridgeshire County Council ‘Connecting Cambridgeshire’ team has launched a top-up scheme for rural gigabit vouchers – topping up the voucher value for those on the slowest speeds. Please, if you experience slow broadband speeds and live at the edge of the village, check this out by googling ‘Connecting Cambridgeshire gigabit broadband voucher’.

Cambridgeshire County Council’s Mobile Libraries Resume

The mobile library fleet is running again, with two new vehicles. The service has returned to its regular stops, but unfortunately access to the vehicle is limited to help keep staff safe, so customers will need to choose books in advance. To do so, please use the usual reservation service https://cambridgeshire.spydus.co.uk. You may also use the new Select and Collect service which allows you to request a collection of books based on your tastes. See https:// cambridgeshire-self.achieveservice.com/service/Select_and_Collect or telephone 0345 045 5225. Choose the mobile library as a pick up

point, and order as far in advance as possible to ensure a selection is ready and issued for you to pick up from your stop – ideally a week in advance, but the service will do its best with forms received after this. If you have any queries contact the Mobile Libraries team by emailing MobileLibraries@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

‘Solar Together’

This comes a bit late but there may still be time. Apologies as we lacked sufficient advance notice to submit this information in time for September’s Meldreth Matters. The County Council and District Councils have joined forces with Solar Together as part of the initiative to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. Households and small and medium-sized enterprises can register free of charge and without obligation for the group-buying scheme, by visiting www.solartogether.co.uk/ cambridgeshire. When they register online for their complete solar PV system, applicants will be asked questions about their house, roof and electricity usage. The County Council will then arrange an auction with pre-vetted installers on 6th October. The auction is a reverse auction, meaning the lowest bid wins. The winning bid sets the price for all solar systems and battery systems. All installers are pre-vetted and must comply with certain criteria to guarantee the quality of the offer. After the auction, applicants will receive a personal recommendation based on their registration details. They then have six weeks to decide if they want to take up the recommendation and proceed with an installation. Solar panels turn sunlight into electricity. In order to use this energy, the panels mounted on a roof need to be connected to an inverter using cables. The Solar Together offer is for a complete service, including all equipment, survey, installation, monitoring and warranties. Afterwards, households or businesses will automatically generate their own electricity from the panels on their roof. Households that already have solar panels installed can also register to have battery storage added to their existing solar panels to maximise the benefits of their system. For further information, please contact solartogether.co.uk/Cambridgeshire or email cambridgeshire@solartogether.co.uk or call 0800 048 8259.

Government Consultation on Pavement Parking

As part of its suite of measures to encourage active travel, the government is consulting on significant restrictions on pavement parking. Sorry about this long link – you can also just google

‘pavement parking government consultation’ and you’ll land in the right place. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/managingpavement-parking/pavement-parking-options-for-change.

Home-Start

Home-Start has been working very hard to support Meldreth children and families facing a particularly difficult stretch these past few months. They’ve had to adapt their services to virtual and telephone platforms but, taking stock, feel they’ve been able to make a fundamental difference – indeed their service is often described as a lifeline service. They rely on donations and grants to make their service possible. Thanks for all the support that has been directed their way. To find out more including how you can help, please visit https:// www.hsrsc.org.uk or telephone (01763) 262262. [Editor’s note: see also the Home-Start article on pages 47-48.]

Drainage

Once again, thank you to everyone who has so assiduously reported blocked drains on the Highways Reporting webpage, and especially Pat Gilmore for providing a gold standard oversight. Given that the County no longer provides annual drainage maintenance (it says it no longer has the money to do this), reporting takes on extra importance. Supported by the legwork done by residents and Pat, Highways has been made aware of the urgent need to clear drains around the Elin Way/High Street junction. And any questions, any time – we’re always here to help as best we can. Susan van de Ven, County Councillor Jose Hales, District Councillor

Green Homes Grant Scheme

The Government will provide a voucher worth up to £5,000 (or £10,000 if you are on a low income and receiving certain benefits) to help cover the cost of making energy efficient improvements to your home.

Improvements could include insulating your home to reduce your energy use or installing low-carbon heating to lower the amount of carbon dioxide your home produces. You must redeem the voucher and ensure improvements are completed by 31 March 2021. See www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-the-green-homes-grant-scheme or www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/pages/green-homes-grant for full details.

Kathryn Betts Editor

Open Eco Homes – Autumn Season

Has spending more time at home got you thinking about home improvement? The upcoming government Green Homes Grant (see above) offers homeowners and landlords grants covering two-thirds of the cost of many home energy improvements.

Local charity Cambridge Carbon Footprint is offering free advice on how to renovate your home to make it more comfortable and energy efficient with their Open Eco Homes Autumn Season. After ten years of running live events, this year we are offering our home tours and talks online.

There are three online talks and nine online tours to choose from. For further details or to register, visit openecohmes.org/autumnseason. Alana Sinclair Manager

Getting Ready for Winter

As the colder months arrive and we begin using our fires, burners and chimneys once again to warm our homes, chimney fires can become a common occurrence in our homes.

To ensure you keep your home safe from fire, follow our top tips below:

 Whatever fire you have or fuel you burn it is vitally important to have your chimney swept to avoid a build-up of ash and soot  Avoid burning resinous woods (that quickly build up soot)  Only burn fuels suitable for your burner. For example, never burn anything other than wood in a wood burner  Do not overload the grate/appliance  Do not bank fires too high and remember to let them burn out well before you go to bed  Check the hearth, floor and furnishings near the fire for hot sparks/ embers  Do not place objects on or over the mantelpiece which cause you to stand too close to the fire in order to reach them  Use a fire/spark guard to prevent accidental fires and make sure it has the kitemark or conforms to British/European standards  Inspect your chimney breast, particularly the roof space. Make sure it is sound and sparks/fumes cannot escape through cracks or broken bricks.  Most importantly, always fit a smoke alarm and test it weekly.

Ensure a carbon monoxide alarm is installed in the room where the burner is.

For more information, visit www.cambsfire.gov.uk, follow us on social media or call 01480 444500.

Test Your Smoke Alarm

Did you know that you should test your smoke alarms at least once a month? Or that you should have smoke alarms on every floor of your home? Or that Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service carry out free home visits to make sure your home is fire safe? Visit this website for helpful tips and advice: https://firekills.campaign.gov.uk. It only takes one accident to start a fire. Fire kills. Let’s prevent it.

Sign Up to Our Mailing List

Would you like to have all of the latest news, safety advice or vacancies delivered straight to your inbox? Choose what you want to hear about and update your subscriber preferences at any time. Sign up to our mailing list at bit.ly/CambsFireBulletins.

Get the Call: Become an On-call Firefighter

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) is recruiting more oncall firefighters to help serve local communities across the county. CFRS is looking for men and women from all backgrounds to become on-call firefighters and provide emergency cover from either their home or their workplace. On-call firefighters are a vital part of our Service and Community. They respond to a wide range of incidents, from fighting fires, attending road traffic collisions and animal rescues, to supporting other emergency services. In addition to responding to emergency incidents, our on-call firefighters support their communities by providing information and advice on a range of community safety topics. They receive an annual wage to reflect the time they commit to being available plus additional payments for attending incidents and drill nights (one evening a week for two hours). It’s a hugely rewarding role, and we hope to encourage members of the community from all backgrounds to get in touch and find out more about becoming an on-call firefighter. Visit www.cambsfire.gov.uk/oncall for further information.

Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue Service

To advertise in this space, telephone Beverley Cottrell on (01763) 262176 or email meldrethmatters@hotmail.com

See our rates on page 52

Little Hands Nursery School The Moor, Melbourn Little Hands is a Private Nursery School specialising in quality education for the under fives and offers:

Flexible hourly booking - open 08.30 to 16.30 Term time bookings with optional holiday club Bumble Bee room for children 12 – 24 months Ladybird room for 2 year olds Butterfly room for children 3-5 years With optional “ready for school sessions” All sessions have a high staff to child ratio and are available for eligible funded 2 year olds and all funded 3/4 year olds with no extra charges Categorised as “Outstanding” by Ofsted For further information contact Anne McCrossen: 01763 260964 lh-melbourn@btconnect.com

Little Hands is also at Bourn, Linton and Newton visit the website at www.littlehands.co.uk