Drop in at Coton Village Hall to see how we’ve cut our energy use and find out how the Green Deal will help you do the same in your home

Sunday 13^th May 10am – 5pm with guided tours of the Village Hall at 10:30, 12:00, 14:00 and 15:30

Coton Village Hall  Wednesday 8 February 7.30pm All Welcome

If you hesitated before Christmas, this is your second chance to install solar panels and benefit financially. Following on from the success of the eCoton Bulk Purchase Scheme, Upbeat Energy is setting up a new Bulk Purchase Group.

ACT FAST TO BEAT THE DEADLINE!

Homeowners installing before 3 March 2012 will benefit from the highest Feed-in Tariff rate of 43.3p/kWh.
Systems installed between 3 and 31 March 2012 will earn a rate of 21p/kWh.

For more information on the new bulk purchase group come to the meeting in the Village Hall, or go to www.upbeat-energy.co.uk
Contact info@upbeat-energy.co.uk or phone 01223 581504 to receive the bulk purchase group price list or to request a free home survey.

Thursday 26 January at 6.30 pm

Seminar to be held at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA

2030 Vision is an ambitious two-year project to look at what we want Cambridge and its surrounding area to be like in 2030 and to ask what we need to put in place now to achieve that. The aim is to develop a vision that local authorities and others can take into account in their statutory processes. Over the next two years 10 topics will be considered – the next is on local agriculture and green spaces. Local green spaces are very valuable assets for people and wildlife, and their creation and management is something all communities can become involved in.

· What is the value of green spaces?

· How do providing green spaces and growing enough of our own food go together?

Come and give your views in a discussion led by Rob Hammond, with introductory talks by – Catherine Cairns, Cambridgeshire Green Infrastructure Forum Chair – Elizabeth Ranelagh, Farm Conservation Advisor – Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group

See http://cambridgeppf.org/vision/5/ for background.

Please urgently email planning@cambridgeppf.org to confirm that you are able to come and to book a place.

Alternatively telephone Nigel Bell 01223 243830 x 205.

Soft drinks and nibbles will be provided. A limited amount of parking is available on site; please let us know if you need a space or have any other special requirements. Access details are on http://www.cms.cam.ac.uk/visiting

CCC proposal:

“I wish to inform you of the proposed casualty reduction works on the A1303 at Madingley Rise.

In light of the injury accident record, we have been investigating the collisions between Coton crossroads and the American Cemetery, in order to develop appropriate engineering measures that will reduce the collision rate.

Between September 2006 and September 2011, 24 injury accidents occurred along this section of the A1303.  Of these, 3 resulted in fatalities, 5 in serious injury with the remainder sustaining slight injuries.

There is a high proportion of loss of control and shunt type accidents on the east bound, Cambridge, approach. Heading west, leaving Cambridge, the predominant accident trend is for overtaking and loss of control. The remaining accidents show no particular patterns.

We have developed a scheme to address as many of the accident types as possible. The work will be linked to other surfacing works in the area to try and reduce the effect on the travelling public and kept costs as low as possible by combining works.  These are shown on the attached plan.

It is anticipated that works will commence in February/early March 2012 as part of a scheme to be delivered by our colleagues in Whittlesford.  It is estimated that the works will continue for 30 days.”

Thefts from vehicles: There have been 5 thefts from vehicles reported; 2 vehicles were broken in to in Whitwell Way, Coton on the night of the 16th of November, 2 vehicles were broken in to in the car park of Madingley Hall between the 18th and 19th of November, and 1 was broken in to in Coton nature reserve car park on the 26th of November. All vehicles had belongings taken from them. Wherever possible, please ensure that your valuables are removed from your vehicle when it is left unattended, no matter how briefly.

Bicyle theft: A pedal cycle was stolen from the High Street, Coton between the 15th and 16th of November.

I would like to remind people to consider registering their valuables on Immobilise, the national property register. This is a free service which can be used to register mobile phones, cycles and business property to mention just a few, please have a look on www.immobilise.com

Recently there has been an increase in house burglaries. Could we please remind you to make sure all the doors and windows are locked when leaving your home? Think about what time it will be when you return; if it’s dark when you return it might be worth purchasing some timer switches so that your lights are on whilst you’re not there. In addition to making your home appear occupied when you are out, lock away or put items of value in unobvious places.

Police have increased patrols around the area, both visible and plain clothed, to target criminals involved in this type of crime. If you think you may have any information that may help us with our enquiries or if you see anything that is suspicious, please contact the control room on the new non-emergency number 101.

As always, if you see a crime in progress, please dial 999.

PCSO Karen Mahoney

The Public Library housed in the Village College is under review.

People from Comberton and surrounding villages attended a consultation meeting in Comberton Village Hall on 25^th May and heard that the County Council will be encouraging greater community participation in the management and running of library services through volunteering and acting on Friends’ Groups and Community Management Boards.

The Library opened in 1960, and the 2010/11 library profile shows that the number of active borrowers (836) increased by 22% over the last 4 years and that 49% of all issues were of children’s books. An enthusiastic group of users from Comberton and surrounding villages want to keep the library open in the face of budget cuts and have been meeting regularly in the Library. There is now a Friends Group, a poster and publicity campaign including a presence on Facebook, and a blog http://friendsofcombertonlibrary.wordpress.com/ with minutes of the meetings to date and information about joining the group. The next FOCAL (Friends of Comberton Area Library) meeting is 24^th October. All welcome

The County Council Cabinet will discuss the future of the Library on 27 September 2011 and the Friends have been meeting with Parish, District and County Councillors to express their desire to maintain library services in the area and have had support and advice from Council and Library managers. The FOCAL Group welcomes further support.

• If you do not have a library card, consider registering, there are three computer terminals in the Library available to library members
• Join the Friends : we hope to arrange a programme of talks and events in the Autumn and are gathering ideas for the programme (if you know of a local author willing to visit please contact the group)
• Volunteer to support the library service by supporting existing activities such as the Doorstep Delivery service to the housebound or providing expertise in fundraising
• Attend Parish Council meetings if the Library is on the agenda, contact your councillors
• If you know of grants or funds supporting community projects let the Friends know FriendsofCombertonLibrary@gmail.com

There will be funding cuts but if the community takes more responsibility for the running of the library we should be able to retain it and improve what it can provide for local families and visitors.

Suzan Griffiths

Chair of FOCAL

NB The Women’s Institute launched a Love Your Libraries campaign in June, and recently set up an epetition. To login and sign use this link:  I, the undersigned, believe that libraries are an essential local educational and information resource….  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1269

For more information on the Bulk Purchase scheme, download our PV Bulk Purchase Infomation Pack.

Contact eCoton to register your interest in either scheme by 30 September 2011.

email: ecoton@hotmail.co.uk or phone: Madingley 211033