January 2021

5 Buckden Roundabout January 2021 From your councillors From your County Councillor The Covid crisis continues to dominate our lives and by the time you read this, we will have emerged from the national lockdown and moved into Tier 2 lockdown. It is very difficult for us to plan our family lives ahead because of the rapidly changing situation. Anyway, I send you my best wishes for the Christmas period and hope that you manage to have some happy time with your family. The County Council will have met again on December 15 th but it is unlikely that any major decisions will have been made, given the many imponderables that surround us. The budget planning cycle has started but it too is surrounded by more uncertainty than ever before in my 20 years as a councillor. As I explained last month, costs have risen unexpectedly, de- mand for services is increasing and council income has dropped. What we do know is that the County will be allowed, without a referendum, to make an increase in its council tax level. It is allowed 3% increase for Adult Social Care (which is one of the areas under greatest pressure) and a further 2% for all other services. Of course, nobody wants to pay more tax but we all know that the services we have come to expect and need have to be paid for. If the full 5% were to be implemented, the increased cash cost to the majority of taxpayers would be not more than £1.16 a week. People in higher bands would pay more, up to a maxi- mum increase of £2.61 per week. The number of schools experiencing Covid cases increased in November and in 53 schools across Cambridgeshire (out of over 250), children had to be excluded for the quarantine peri- od. This has, of course, been massively disruptive to their learning and there is pressure mounting from within the teach- ing profession for national tests to be suspended for this year. For Heads and teachers, the over - riding responsibility is for the health of their pupils and the SAT score for Year 6 pales into insignificance. A year without external exams could be more disruptive to secondary pupils but even then, health comes first. The recent requirements in terms of social distancing have made it impossible for me to call and see you. I have been do- ing my best to keep in touch by leaflets, e - mail or telephone. If I can be of any help, please contact me on 01480 509471 or write to peter.downes@cambridgeshire.gov.uk. The conventional seasonal greeting ‘ Happy New Year ’ has rarely been so relevant as this year. We can only hope that the combination of sensible precautions, improved tracing and vaccines will enable us to make 2021 more normal and allow us to carry out our work, leisure and social activities more safe- ly and happily. So that is my sincere wish for you all. Peter Downes; 01480 509471 or 07765 833 486 peter.downes@cambridgeshire.gov.uk From Your District Councillor Luton Airport Flightpath Many of you have expressed your concerns about this issue. There is a consultation promoted by London Luton Airport which closes on Friday 5 February to change flight patterns to include the Buckden area. BPC have responded and sent a letter to Jonathan Djanogly setting out their concerns and ask- ing him to intervene. This is a complex issue but there is an excellent Executive Summary on the NATS LLA consultation website. It will be helpful to us all to have the widest possible number of views so do please send in your opinion as it will affect travel from Stansted and Luton for all in this area. A for- mal application to the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, will be made in June 2021, so the consultation deadline is criti- cal. The basic issue is that the exit and entry points for the Luton and Stansted holding boxes can overload at peak times, caus- ing delays for passengers at both airports, moving the Luton arrivals box north will hopefully solve this problem. Google NATS LLA to get the consultation. Silver Street Development The Developers have recently submitted new technical plans to HDC Planners for evaluation. Results will probably be in the New Year. Highways England and Buckden Roundabout As a result of the above development, Highways England have now released key technical reports to BPC and a joint meeting between BPC and HE has been set up for 17 th December, to review Safety on the Buckden Roundabout, where turning left to the High Street has become very dangerous with the in- creased speeds and traffic density on the A1. The results of this meeting should be available by the time you receive your copy of Roundabout. Every effort will be made to keep you informed. Have your say on Thursday 6 th May The Government has postponed all elections for Covid but is now allowing these to go forward. The most important for us in Buckden, is the the local Referen- dum that will give the Buckden Neighbourhood Plan full legal status and hopefully an increased CIL rating! Also key to our future here in Buckden is the election for Combined Authority Mayor, currently James Palmer who has backed plans for de- veloping the St Neots area and provided significant agreed funding to get this done, all of which helps our residents direct- ly or indirectly. Lastly, but not least are the County Council and Police and Crime Commissioner elections. Getting our Pubs working again There are some new groups emerging in Parliament, among them the Common - sense group. I have emailed the Chair and as many members as I can to urge them to get the tiers re- viewed. Hope it helps! Lastly, I hope you all have a super Christmas, New Year and my very best wishes for the days ahead. Do get in touch if you want help on anything. Do get in touch if you want any help at Hamish.masson@huntingdonshire.gov.uk. Hamish Masson—District Councillor