Extra pairs of hands to help litter pick along the A10 path would be hugely appreciated – a few of us from Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton will be meeting on April 22, 2PM, armed with litter picking devices and SCDC coming to collect the bags the next day.
Meet at the A10 layby just south of Foxton Bottom – so between Shepreth Rd Foxton turn and Fowlmere Rd Shepreth turn.
The A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign has managed to get some extra support from AstraZeneca to help cut the grass, and volunteers to start driving the South Cambs street cleaning vehicle along this path – so pulling out all the stops to keep things looking good. Litter picking now will prevent litter from being sliced up into thousands of pieces.
For more information please write to us at contacta10cycle@gmail.com – or just come along on the day. Many thanks.
· As you will have seen, the Harston path is now complete. The April meeting will offer a chance to hear any feedback.
· Efforts continue for funding for the Royston-Melbourn link. While much progress has been made in terms of securing financial pledges from various parties on both sides of the border, the critical and much anticipated support from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership has been set back due to the recent migration of the LEP to the new mayoralty layer of local government.
· An approach has been made for support from the Herts LEP.
· The Greater Cambridge Partnership is currently undertaking a business case review of the Melbourn-Royston link, and a report will be considered by the GCP Board this summer. Meanwhile, the GCP ‘Greenways’ project identifies the Melbourn-Royston link as an integral component.
· Councillors are working together cross-border, all-party, and together with our MPs, on the Melbourn-Royston link.
· Thanks to those who’ve supported the Community Sweeper pilot by volunteering to drive the South Cambs street sweeping vehicle along the completed sections of the A10 cycle path. Following extensive training, a first test run is due to take place this Friday, heading out from Wyevale Garden Centre who’ve kindly offered to host the vehicle.
· A couple of admin jobs could use some extra input – if you are available or would like to know more, we’d love to hear from you. These mainly involve small pieces of writing for Royston bridge grant applications.
Situations Vacant for A Communication with Outside Media Person. Minimal hours, Salary £0.00 but there could be an enormous level job satisfaction if and when we ever get this bridge over the A505 and path from Royston-Melbourn…!
Imagine a school leaver or 6th form student from Melbourn or Royston going for his first job interview and the interviewer says: “Is there anything else you could tell me about yourself Bloggs”?
Bloggs replies…”Well, Mr Potential Employer, I’m pleased you asked me that because actually yes there is. A local pressure group that is campaigning for a bridge and cycle path was needing a A Communication with Outside Media Person, so I volunteered my services.
I have regular contact with various campaigners, these include local County Councillors and Council Officers as well as local campaigners that come from all walks of life. I also have contact with reporters from the Cambridge News and Royston Crow local newspapers.
It can be very frustrating but overall I like the challenge that this all brings. I haven’t earned any money but I have learned a lot whilst doing this work and it has been a very worthwhile experience.’
People like Bloggs can get offered jobs – people like us can help provide Bloggs with these opportunities
Details of our AGM on Jan 31st can now be found on the Events & Memoranda page.
Meanwhile, some pictures of the path progress at Harston. Large sections at the north and south ends have now been greatly improved. The middle straight section is now under construction.
The Greater Cambridge Partnership are running a set of public engagement events around creating cycle, walking and equestrian routes along the A10 – for a Melbourn Greenway. The work behind this Greenway ties in very closely with the A10 campaign and we are looking to draw as much interest around these events to steer an effective design for these future Greenways.
The closest event to us is a Melbourn Community Hub on January 25th.
The leaflet is provided here or the full resolution version can be downloaded below.
Melbourn Village College student and Royston resident Sambor Czarnawski-Iliev attended a meeting of the Greater Cambridge Partnership Board, to help make the case for a walk/cycle link between Melbourn and Royston. He had conducted a survey of Year 9 classmates, which indicated support for the link, and handed out copies of the results to the Board.
Also speaking in favour of the link were Mike Prior-Jones, who works at Melbourn Science Park, and A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign Chair Susan van de Ven.
All three of us would like to thank the Board for truly listening to what we had to say, and for agreeing to ask officers to produce a business case for the scheme, so that it can be properly considered. We look forward to listening to that consideration at the Board’s next meeting on February 8.
Here are Sambor’s reflections about the value of taking part in the meeting – and playing a small part in the Board’s decision-making process.
True progress- an amazing achievement
Having myself and Mike was truly helpful, I remind the board that this is all about the people, and the future of the people, I also show how this is so important to the people, as I myself have gotten involved.
Susan also, during the miserable time in which we waited, noted down whatever there was of importance, which could be mentioned to the board. And, as it turned out, there were quite a lot of subjects of importance. It turned out that we were basically addressing multiple problems of the South Cambridgeshire City Council. And we’re asking for much less money than other projects as well; while we’re asking for 1 million, another project was asking for between 75 to 146 million.
Michael Prior-Jones’s list of companies, businesses and people who have funded our project also showed how much support there is for the campaign, furthering how worthwhile it is to support our project. The fact that within the survey results I kept the unfavorable singular result, which I concluded within my summary to be a troll, proved to the board that this was definitely a genuine piece pf work, completed by the normal public. It also further made our case stuck in their heads, as it truly stood out.
Due to all this we truly made an impact on the board, and they began having a discussion not seen before. They agreed to fully actually do something, and this whole shenanigan will definitely stick within their minds, and not be forgotten or replaced by another project.
Thanks to all in Royston who are working very hard on key sources of bridge funding.
2. A Melbourn Village College student living in Royston has conducted a cycling survey of fellow students, which he will present to the Greater Cambridge Partnership Board meeting Nov 22. Two employees of Melbourn Science Park will also be attending to ask the Board to support funding of a path from Melbourn-Royston. The survey will be published on our website shortly.
3. The existing A10 path north of Melbourn has had a hedge and verge cut, and will be sided out and swept once the leaves have dropped – thanks to the grant from AstraZeneca. There should have been a hedge and verge cut in August, which is why things got so badly overgrown – we are on the case to make sure things are done properly in future.
4. Would you like to drive a mechanical sweeper on the A10 path? South Cambs District Council has asked local councillors if we would help initiate and oversee a ‘community volunteer sweeping scheme’. This is not an ideal situation, but it’s where we are. Training would take place next month. If you are interested, please could you let me know.
5. Our Campaign Committee meets Nov 22, 8PM, at the Shepreth Plough, Spitfire Table. Anyone who’d like to come along would be very welcome. We’ll be catching up on funding progress and planning the AGM.
The Greater Cambridge Partnership Assembly considered this question from Melbourn County Councillor Susan van de Ven on November 2nd.
Greater Cambridge Partnership Assembly 2 November 2017
With a relatively modest investment, the Cambridge-Royston cycle scheme could be quickly completed, within the Greater Cambridge Partnership Tranche 1 timeframe.
I am not here to set out the detailed case for the scheme – that has already been done many times over, and the fact that it is near completion, thanks to GCP support, speaks for itself.
The question now is how to tackle the remaining Melbourn-Royston two-mile stretch, given that this geography straddles a county border. The route consists of a pedestrian/cycle path in Cambridgeshire and a pedestrian/cycle bridge beginning in Cambridgeshire and landing in Hertfordshire.
This is a shovel ready project that would deliver significant economic benefits, and make a substantial contribution to reducing reliance on the private car for travel to key areas of employment in Cambridge and along the A10 corridor. It will maximise the benefits of the investments in this route already made by GCP and others – indeed the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts. Because it has the potential to be delivered within the existing GCP funding period, it can demonstrate real progress on innovative, economically led schemes to Government.
Ideally the Melbourn-Royston link should be delivered in one go. However, the overall Cambridge-Royston scheme has been delivered in segments as funding has become available, and this pragmatic approach has produced results. Nevertheless, any cross-border scheme demands a collaborative approach, as the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough LEP indicated last December when it pledged financial support for the project. Royston sits within the LEP’s remit, unsurprisingly given Royston’s Cambridge-facing business orientation.
That collaborative approach is now taking shape: four global companies that jointly employ thousands of workers in Royton and Melbourn have pledged financial support or made indicative pledges, totalling £120K. Hertfordshire County Council funded and completed the bridge feasibility study and have formally committed lifetime maintenance costs for the bridge, estimated at £580K. Last month, Royston Town Council voted unanimously to commit £30K toward bridge costs, matching the commitment made by AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca has also provided a £10K grant for vegetation maintenance along the whole of the Cambridge-Royston cycle route. The A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign, with many of its members cycling to work, has raised £1.5K in small donations toward bridge costs.
As the owner of Melbourn Science Park said to the City Deal Board last year, the A10 Cambridge-Royston cycle scheme will not only alleviate pressures on Science Park parking, which is at capacity, but it will allow the Science Park to create more jobs. This is precisely down to a significantly greater take-up of cycling, not driving, to work.
Job creation and sustainable transport links are the key drivers for GCP investment, and partnership is the defining approach. Therefore, I would like to ask for the Assembly’s support in proposing that the GPC commit necessary funds to complete the Cambridgeshire portion of this scheme, which amounts to approximately £2 million, and works with the LEP to ensure release of their pledged funds to deliver the whole scheme within the timescales I have noted here.
This would be great win:win for residents, businesses, the GCP and the LEP.
The Assembly is an advisory, not decision-making body, but indicated that funding for the Melbourn-Royston path could be considered in Tranche 2 GPC funding (from 2020). Meanwhile, the GPC Board meets on November 21 and a representation will be made. Councillors from both sides of the county border continue to work together on a variety of funding prospects for the A505 bridge.
