Following the news that the Citi 4 has been saved until March 2024, the Community Transport Initiative wants to find out what villagers think about the Citi 4 and what their experiences are.
This information will be represented to the Mayor to help him and the Greater Cambridge Partnership understand what could be done better and why a good regular bus service is still critical for Hardwick.
Below is a link to complete the survey. Please do so, it’s our village that it will help.
Overgrown hedges next to footpaths and roads pose a real hazard to people who are disabled or who are visually impaired and young children or other pedestrians who risk injury or damage to their faces or clothing from thorns and branches. If the pavement (footway) is narrow or the obstruction is excessive, they may be forced into the road. This is particularly dangerous for wheelchair users or for people pushing a pram or buggy. On junctions and bends overgrown hedges may obstruct sight lines and the clear view of motorists. They may also obscure traffic signs or streetlights, increasing the risk of accidents.
What Should I Do?
Check your own trees and hedges. Are they overhanging the footpath or boundary of your property? Are they affecting visibility of pedestrians? If so, cut them back or arrange for someone to do it for you.
If You Are The Tenant of The Property
So far as the law is concerned the occupier is usually responsible for this sort of maintenance and, in addition, tenancy agreements often nclude routine maintenance. Even if your tenancy agreement states that the landlord is responsible, you would be required to contact him/her and ensure that pruning is carried out as soon as possible.
What Will Happen If I Don’t Cut Back My Hedge
It is an offence under the Highways Act 1980 to allow trees, hedges, shrubs and so on to obstruct the highway. The Council The Highways Act 1980 aims to protect the publicfrom unnecessary hazards and is not subject torestrictions imposed by TPOs. In ConservationArea’s however, it is advisable to seek advice abouttree surgery from the Council’s Tree Officer.will, after an initial informal request, serve a 21 Day Notice on you, the occupier, to cut back the offending vegetation. If you do not comply with the Notice, the Council may carry out the work itself and recover it’s costs in doing so from you, through the courts if necessary.
What Happens if the Tree is Subject to a Tree Preservation Order (TPO)
The Highways Act 1980 aims to protect the public from unnecessary hazards and is not subject to restrictions imposed by TPOs. In Conservation Area’s however, it is advisable to seek advice about tree surgery from the Council’s Tree Officer.
Finally, yes finally work is about to commence on Millers Way. Work is scheduleed to start on the 4 Jan 23 with an anticipated completion date of the 27 Jan. The contractors will be writting to the residents affected by this work advising them on access etc.
The engineers for the contractors will also be carrying out inspections on two dates to be notified.
How this will affect those wishing to use the local bus stops near Millers Way is unknown at present.
GCP have a agreed a second meeting scheduled for the 11th Jan 23 to be held in the Primary School Hall starting a 6.30pm. All residents are welcome to attend and raise any questions regarding the planned changes.
This is going to affect our village future! Please try and attend.
We are in week six of the Making Connections consultation which is open until midday on Friday 23 December and in this email we would like to highlight the events we have lined up and some of the ways we are looking to explain the proposals.
The consultation is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change how we travel in Greater Cambridge and the wider area, relieving pressure on the network and responding to air quality, cost of living and climate crises for a better, cleaner and safer future. The survey, plus information about the proposals, frequently asked questions, dates of public meetings and ways you can share your thoughts can be found here: http://www.greatercambridge.org.uk/mc-2022.
Events
Next week we are out and about talking to people at the following places:
To help explain the potential changes, we have created an interactive tool so people can see how their daily journeys would be transformed by more frequent and direct bus services in, out and around the city centre, to villages, workplaces and healthcare sites.
We want to hear your thoughts on the three parts of the proposal:
Transforming the bus network From mid-2023, we are proposing to transform the bus network through new routes, additional services, cheaper fares and longer operating hours.
Investing in other sustainable travel schemes Alongside the bus network, we are proposing to invest in new sustainable travel schemes, such as better walking and cycling links.
Creating a Sustainable Travel Zone We are proposing the introduction of a Sustainable Travel Zone which includes a road user charge. Vehicles would be charged for driving within the zone between 7am and 7pm on weekdays, and money raised would fund improvements to the bus network and other sustainable travel schemes. The Zone would be fully operational in 2027/28 but only once the first bus improvements are introduced.
Anthony Browne MPis asking everyone to complete the Survey on the future of our transport services. It deals with congestion charging and future bus services. At the end of this article giving information on their proposals/suggestions is a link to the survey. Please, fill it in now!
This consultation is seeking feedback on a proposed package of measures to improve how people travel in Greater Cambridge. Full details of the proposals can be found in the consultation brochure. The proposals involve:
A transformed bus network, offering cheaper fares, new routes, and faster, more frequent and reliable services between 5am and 1am
Lower traffic levels enabling improvements to cycling and walking infrastructure and supporting public realm enhancements
Funding these improvements through a Sustainable Travel Zone. Vehicles would pay to drive in the Zone at certain times. This would also reduce traffic, tackle pollution, emissions and climate change and support improved access to opportunity and health in our communities.
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All fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.
Bus Improvements
We are proposing to transform the bus network to offer cheaper fares, new routes, and faster, more frequent and more reliable services with longer operating hours.
In developing these proposals we have taken into account your feedback from our last consultation in autumn 2021. We want your further input to shape the improvements and make sure buses offer you an attractive choice for more of your journeys, whether the whole journey or part of it.
You can view our detailed proposals for bus improvements in our consultation brochure, and they can be summarised as follows:
Cheaper fares – a £1 flat single fare for the city and immediate surrounding area (broadly equivalent to the current Stagecoach Cambridge zone) and a £2 flat single fare for the wider travel to work area. Fare caps would mean lower daily and weekly charges, and special tickets for families, children and others would be introduced.
More routes – with direct routes between residential areas, towns and villages and growing employment areas, education, key services including health services and leisure opportunities.
Fast, high frequency services –up to 8 buses/hour on key routes in the city, up to 6 buses/hour from larger villages and market towns, and hourly rural services. Waiting times would be much shorter, buses would run faster and more reliably with lower traffic levels, and new express services would offer even faster journeys on key routes.
Longer operating hours – from 5am-1am Monday-Saturday, and 5am-midnight on Sundays, supporting our evening and night-time economy and shift workers. Additional buses may run outside of these times to support shift workers.
A huge increase in rural services – providing frequent connections to market towns, train stations and the core bus network. This will include scheduled services as well as Demand Responsive Transport (bookable buses), meaning every village would have access to a bus service.
Simpler ticketing – a tap-on tap-off system like in London would mean fares and caps were automatically calculated.
Zero emission buses – cleaner buses, meeting local ambitions for the whole fleet to be zero emission by 2030.
These improvements would start immediately following a decision to go ahead with the overall package, and ramp up over the next 4-5 years.
The improvements would be funded initially by GCP, and then by the proposed Sustainable Travel Zone charge – so bus services and cheaper fares would be in place well before any charge for driving.
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Are there any additional improvements to bus services that would be needed for you to use bus services for more of your journeys? If so, what are they? Or if you are a non-bus user, what would encourage you to use the bus?
A London-style bus network
The London bus network is the most comprehensive in the UK. It is publicly managed or “franchised”, accountable to the Mayor, with bus services, routes, timetables and fares specified by Transport for London. To the passenger this has led to a simple, integrated approach with an easy to use, comprehensive network of bus services. Lower fares and simple multi-operator ticketing have supported growing patronage of the network and a fleet of electric vehicles have improved air quality and the local environment. Other areas such as Greater Manchester are looking to adopt this approach.
The Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority is exploring the potential to franchise the bus network across our region, to deliver a similar low-fare, high quality bus network.
Below is page takien from the Cambridgeshire County Council website on the Highway Events affecting our area in the coming 12 months. Useful if you anticipating planning any event.
Whether the event takes place on or off of the public highway, event organisers must plan to mitigate the impact of their event on the local community and the highway network.
By engaging with us in the event planning stages, we can work with you to highlight potential issues, prevent problems and take action to keep traffic moving.
If your event takes place off the public highway, you must still notify us using our Highway Events application form. Events that require a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) should read the guidance notes and submit an application form appropriate to the type of event they are organising.
Future events
View all known future highway events and their traffic restrictions on the one.network roadworks map.
To view further details of the traffic restriction associated with any events select the event date from the calendar (top right) and click the layers tab (top left) and click Road closures and diversion and Traffic restrictions. The symbols next to the options will be highlighted in colour when they are showing on the map.
If you wish to make a comment on any future event, please send you comment by e-mail quoting the event name (EVENTS/2022/?? – “Event name”) and location to Highway.events@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Right click on the shortcut below to bring up the map for the area, with the ability to select date ranges.
Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders (TTROs) for special events
Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders (TTROs) are legal documents that enable us as the local highway authority to temporarily prohibit, restrict or reduce road traffic. The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 enables us to put in place restrictions to:
Facilitate the holding of a relevant event
Enable members of the public to watch a relevant event
Reduce the disruption to traffic likely caused by a relevant event
Bulk TTROs
We produce bulk TTROs for events of national significance, such as Remembrance Day events, and for events permitted to occur more than once in a calendar year. A bulk TTRO covers multiple events in multiple locations.
Size: 416KBFile format: pdfRequest an accessible format.
Notifying us of your event
You must notify us if you are planning an event that has the potential to cause disruption to any part of the public highway. This includes any event which may:
Require you to apply for a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO)
Affect the safety of pedestrians and other highway users
Wish to apply for permission to place temporary event signage
Increase on-street parking
Cause an increase in traffic flow in an area
For events that require a TTRO, at least 12 weeks’ notice is required, except for Street Parties and Playing Out Events, which require at least 8 weeks’ notice.
To notify us of any event, please use the appropriate process below:
Street Parties
Street parties are small events that require a TTRO to close the road. They take place on quiet residential streets and do not impact on the wider road network. They are non-commercial and organised by residents for residents.
Playing Out Events are organised for the purpose of children’s play. They require a TTRO to close the road. They take place in quiet residential streets with no impact on the wider road network. One application can cover multiple events within a 12 month period.
Event organisers wishing to apply for authorisation of a motor vehicle trial under section 33 Road Traffic Act 1988 should complete the Highways Events Application form. Add that a section 33 order is required in the description of the event and state they require a special events TTRO when prompted.
Small crewed productions (ie one camera filming a presenter) where minimal disruption to the public highway is expected should read our filming on the highway guidance page and then email the Highway Events team with a description of their activity, risk assessment and map of location(s) where they wish to film.