February 2019

Buckden Roundabout

February 2019

From Your Councillors

FROM YOUR DISTRICT COUNCILLOR

Events have moved on since January, and the government has

finally issued guidance and budget proposals for County and

District Councils. As expected, the Government is proposing

to cut the District Council’s allocation by £600,000, which

would present your District Council with some difficult deci-

sions on funding allocations. The Government’s proposed

allocation is still under review, however, and final decisions on

District Council funding allocations will be made early in the

year.

All these issues were debated and explained at the last HDC

meeting on 19 December, which was followed by a presenta-

tion by the Chief Constable, Nick Dean. An additional 50 po-

lice officers were recruited last year, and, subject to funding,

there are plans to add an additional 55 officers. The Police

Commissioner, Jason Ablewhite, sought residents’ views in a

survey which was due to close on 28

January. There may still

be time to give your views on police funding via the survey

link:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RHJL6KW

This proposed increase will make a big difference to Cam-

bridgeshire policing and give more resilience to Buckden and

our neighbouring wards. As well as increasing the number of

police on the beat, there are plans to work more closely with

District and Parish Councils as well as with the local popula-

tion by integrating police facilities more closely with local

Neighbourhood Watch, Facebook and mental health support

groups.

Technology will have a large role to play, with CCTV being

used in conjunction with facial recognition software, as well as

improved links to regional and national databases. Eventually,

it is possible that local parishes could band together to hire

their own security personnel to help police local issues like

rogue

parking

fly-tipping.

I welcome your views on police, security issues and anything

else you want to discuss, so please do contact me.

Hamish Masson

District Councillor, Buckden Ward

Hamish.masson@huntingdonshire.gov.uk

FROM YOUR COUNTY COUNCILLOR

The current uncertainty surrounding national politics extends

down to the local level as well. The next few weeks are chal-

lenging times for County Councillors as we grapple with the

task of drafting the budget for the coming year. The removal

of the central government grant to Cambridgeshire and the

cap on the amount by which councils can increase their tax

level are two factors which make our decisions even more

difficult.

Writing to the chancellor, James Brokenshire, Minister of

Housing, Communities and Local Government, said his Minis-

try does not have enough money to prepare for Brexit and

warned that the failure to provide more funding would lead

to a “significant risk of disruption”. He wrote: “If councils are

not given the funding they need now to prepare, we are at

increased risk of disruption in the medium to longer term. As

you know, government needs local authorities to remain resil-

ient in the face of their other challenges, including pressures

in adult social care and children’s services.”

Mr. Brokenshire also said that a no-deal Brexit could put in-

creased pressure on local councils as they face a an ‘influx’ of

elderly ex-pats. “We require confirmation that this process

would cover any costs associated with a large influx of vulner-

able UK nationals returning from Europe,” he added. “

And in case you think I am being ‘party political’, I should

point out that Mr. Brokenshire is a Conservative!

On more local matters, I have been working with District

Councillor Hamish Masson to try to meet the Highways Eng-

land officers responsible for safety and traffic management. It

has not yet been possible to get them to come to a meeting,

let alone find a solution.

Housing proposals are uppermost in the minds of Buckden

residents at the moment and I share your concerns. Our di-

lemma is that we know that there is an urgent need for more

housing as the national (and local) homelessness problem is

just one of the many crises we face. At the same time, we

want to protect landscape and heritage. Several residents

have been asking me what I can ‘do about it’. Decisions on

planning are made by Huntingdonshire District Council. The

County Council, like the Parish Council, is a consultee. The

CCC input is mainly on traffic and safety implications and I

have to agree with those who claim that CCC have not been

sufficiently forthright in pointing out the traffic dangers and

pressures.

We are simultaneously fighting several battles in relation to

the roads. We have been hoping to get a safer crossing in-

stalled on Buckden Road at the edge of Brampton so that

Buckden cyclists and pedestrians can get safely across a busy

road where vehicles can travel up to 60 mph. Further along

towards Huntingdon, I am putting pressure on the A14 de-

signers to come up with a local road layout that will not make

the traffic jams worse than they already are.

If you wish to raise any local matters with me personally and

would welcome a face-to-face conversation, I come to the

Aragon Room in the Village Hall at 7 pm on the evening of the

parish council meeting, the 2

Tuesday in the month. At oth-

er times, please ring me on 07765 833 486 or write to me at

peter.downes@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

Peter Downes