Email your letters or comments to greatshelfordwebsite@gmail.com Great and Little Shelford Primary School With regard to the traffic situation outside Great and Little Shelford Primary School, I wonder if we are ignoring a potential elephant in the room? The real problem may be that the school is too small and located in an unsuitable place. What might have suited the villages perfectly well 150 years ago is clearly not necessarily going to be the case now, given that there has been huge expansion in the population, and employment, transport patterns and daily schedules have varied so much. It might be possible that the villages could now support a larger primary school with two-form entry, if the right site could be found. There might even be the possibility of developing on-site accommodation for some younger staff, to help the local teacher recruitment and retention problem. It would be interesting to know what other residents thought about this as a long-term strategy and ambition. Sandy Leaton Gray Church Street traffic I do not think it will make any difference to the poor driving skills plain to everyone, not least people driving cars who have no idea how wide they are and whether there is enough room to pass, and the impatience of people in general. The other problem is speed and the only way to slow it is to have parked cars obstructing half the road. They protect the children and the very occasional bad word or slanging match however unpleasant will hopefully educate the children how not to behave. The light pollution outside 29 Church Street is such that at night when the street lights are switched on, the whole front garden and house are illuminated all night. When the new street lights were erected an extra light was added outside The Old Thatch which is exactly opposite number 29 driveway and front door. Three street light are visible from the house. The school driveway has lights which switch on and off when anyone goes up the school drive. The church yard has a light on the tower which turns on and off especially when it’s windy and we are anxious as to the placement of the new signs and flashing lights. This is one of the prettiest parts of the village, a conservation area and next to green belt.. Are there no planning regulations on this subject? We have lived here for thirty four years. I do not think the problem of traffic is a twenty four hour problem. It ceases at about six to seven pm apart from odd cars. At weekends and holidays it is quiet and peaceful as during school holidays. The problem is being exaggerated. If anything it is better since the new Addenbrookes Road and because the parents are sensibly bringing their cars less and their children on scooters. Sometimes problem arise during deliveries to the school when parking at the bottom of the school drive during deliveries causes obstruction of sight lines. Large vehicles cannot pass at all either way if a large vehicle is passing through, without sensible giving way. Parking round the bend opposite The Lawns proposed as allowable in the new plan, obstructs the bus and following traffic, after it has passed the narrow obstruction outside the church, and often during during a busy time. Jenny Morris Congestion on the A1307. My idea to alter the amount of traffic build up from Park & ride to Addenbrooke's. Build a roundabout at the bottom of Granham's Road. Build a link roadd from the new roundabout that skirts around Knightly Ave to join on to Dame Mary Archers Way. Install traffic lights to allow traffic to flow one way only in peak traffic times. To Addenbrooke's in the morning and from Addenbrooke's in the evening. Just think of the congestion it will cut out on Babraham Road and Addenbrooke's roundabout. Its only an idea. Ian McLeod. This large development (some would say a blot on the landscape, the word 'Shelford Marque' has been suggested) has now been signed off by developers and residents are moving in. Towering to three story's the development has an 'underground' car park accessed through a 'tunnel' with two rising bollards (how long before a vehicle becomes impaled on them?) Also there appear to still be a few issues to complete, including a missing window sill above the tunnel access. One wonders what the traffic situation will be like once it becomes fully occupied, looks like accidents are waiting to happen as cars exit the tunnel onto a busy Station Road, particularly just after the rail barriers have gone up. I expect a lot of inpatient motorists & horn honking. John Wakefield Your item about an attack on the bike path (October 2017) prompts me to ask why it is that the beautiful DNA bike path has fallen into such bad repair that 80% of the lights are now completely covered by undergrowth. This makes the track a real hazard to navigate after dark. I wonder who it is that is responsible for the upkeep? If no one from Addenbrooke's or elsewhere is prepared to cut back edges I suggest a small group of Shelford vigilantes armed with strimmers could do the job in a morning. Robert Hyde Woodlands Road  Please please can we request double yellow lines are painted on this road before somebody is seriously hurt. David Gooch  An ugly out of character building that has already been branded 'The Shelford Marque' has recently had EIGHT television aerials installed, making it look look like some form of communications tower, are GCHQ moving to Shelford? Surely in this day of high technology the complex could have been served by ONE communal aerial with the signal then being fed to each apartment. There was no sign of these aerials on the computor generated pre publicity photos. Are the South Cambs. planners going to let this through? John Wakefield
Illegal parking in Great Shelford I would like to place the state of illegal parking in Great Shelford on the agenda for at the next Parish Council meeting. Last Tuesday (13 June 2017), I attended an accident which had occurred on Robinson Close by Barclays bank at approximately 16:30, when a car turning left from Woollards Lane into the Barclays Bank car park knocked a 4-year old boy off his scooter. Whilst the boy was subsequently taken to Addenbrookes by ambulance, I understand that fortunately he is making a good recovery. At that time, there were vans and cars parked illegally on double yellow lines and the disabled parking bay stretching (almost bumper to bumper with few gaps other than those for access to the car park behind McColls) from 30 Woollards Lane to McColl’s Newsagents, and at least 1 parked on the pavement outside Barclays bank. Irrespective of who is to blame for the above accident, I am certain that a contributory factor was the distraction caused by the number of vehicles around, obstructing the driver’s view and forcing every driver onto the same side of the road, meaning that the driver in question was probably also thinking about the oncoming traffic in a frustrated state. Unlike the above incident I have not personally witnessed an accident on Church Street, but the same factors are still at play. These are both areas where little people go in large numbers. We want them to use the recreation ground; we want them to go to school, and whilst doing so we want them to be happy and feel safe. Unfortunately, though, I believe the current circumstances pose a serious child safety risk; and perhaps we want, as a village and a community, to consider whether that risk is worthwhile, and if the risk is not considered to be reasonable whether merely redrawing road markings on those 2 streets is sufficient; or whether a different course of action is required - we know that the current street markings are being ignored, and the Police have insufficient resources to deal with it. Are new street markings likely to be treated any differently? Richard Davies  After months of stop & start, the work on upgrading the traffic lights at 'Freestones Corner' (the junction at London Road, Woollards Lane, Tunwells Lane & Station Road) is now complete. The only real difference is that there is now only one set of traffic lights per road (previously two), and areas now marked out for cyclists to form up in front of motor vehicles on the London Road & Tunwells Lane approaches. The pedestrian crossings are largely the same as before except the one in Tunwells Lane has been moved a couple of metres to the North, and the displays have been duplicated on each pole, with one containing the activation button, & a second, display only box, above it. Can anyone explain the logic & added expense of that? John Wakefield The Parish Council would like to make the following points: · Traffic Lights are the CCC responsibility and are part of a technical upgrade roll out across many areas · Previous traffic lights were dumb (timed changes) with no traffic sensing · New lights fully traffic sensing and smart thus reducing unnecessary delays · Filter right from station road is to prevent build-up of traffic to railway crossing · Cycle boxes are for road safety at suitable junctions and have not been applied to unsuitable road space at Freestones corner · Pedestrian Crossing time is now longer · Pavement surfaces have been improved and slopes reduced for wheelchair users · The upgrade is at the full cost of CCC no Parish Council funding is provided. Mike Winter Parish Clerk  Is this to become the Great Shelford 'Marque'? The 'Barley Mews' development on the old Railway Tavern site is now well under way but is it likely to be Great Shelford's 'Marque', the building on the corner of Hills Road & Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge that has been branded one of the ugliest buildings in the UK. Barley Mews appears to be much taller than shown in the plans & computor generated pictures displayed on the hoardings, and looks as though it will become one of the tallest residential buildings in Great Shelford with an over powering effect on neighborhood properties. John Wakefield I own solution hairdressers and I do not agree with permits as people using it as a railway car park does not help shop owners . As 300 pound a year for comuters is a drop in ocean for them and employers staff need to park for work in village . Are you really trying to get all shops in Great Shelford closed Gary Footman Solutions To my shock the lady behind the cashier shouts to me "is that your child ?" To which I say " yes" she shouts back " supervise her please !" To which I replied " she's just having a look , she's fine" my daughter was carefully picking the cards up having a read and placing them back, I couldn't see the problem! She then came out from behind her desk and told my daughter to leave the cards!! I told the lady she was not doing anything wrong! She plainly ignored me . When I got to the service desk I kindly asked the man for a complaints form. To which he replied " No! This is a private premises and it's owned by myself and you can't complain, if you don't like it take your business elsewhere !!!" I was stunned!! This is the second time I've used this post office and the same lady shouted at another child , I remember the poor child's mother looking very perplexed! Who gives these people the right to treat our children this way?! My daughter was so upset she thought she was at fault! I would hate for this to happen to any other families and think the Great Shelford Post office owe my daughter and myself an apology. Kindest Regards Mrs A Mitchell This is a response from Mr Duthie Smith. It is a one-sided complaint from a young woman we have had problems with before (& things did not occur as she described). We feel it has nothing to do with the village website - if a customer doesn't like the way we operate our business they are free to shop elsewhere, and that should be the end of the matter. We typically serve around 2000 people a week and rarely have any problems - people who come onto our (private) premises treat the place, other customers, and ourselves with courtesy and respect. Unfortunately there are a tiny minority who don't share those values, and understandably, they are not welcome.  The telephone box in Hinton Way has now been redundant for over a year, when is something useful going to be done with it? Other villages Little Shelford, Shepreth & more recently Great Wilbraham have converted their redundant call boxes into mini libraries/book exchanges which seems one of the better ideas for them. Why does Great Shelford not do the same? In fact we could have two, as the other one in Church Street now looks dowdy having outlived its current use with a mannequin dummy installed, and would benefit the wider community if also converted into a mini library or book exchange. John Wakefield Susan Hedges said: "The idea of a book exchange like Little Shelford is a good one but there is already a well used one in Shelford Station booking office. I was in Bristol recently and a telephone kiosk near the main housing areas had been used as a defibrillator store. handy as it doesn't close at night as Tesco does....."  John Wakefield Great Shelford I expect many of you have already heard about the massive delays being caused by the temporary 3-way lights at the junction of Granhams and High Green. At 8am this morning (Tuesday, April 26) the hold-up was back to the bridge into Stapleford from Sawston. At 4.45pm this afternoon the back-up from Trumpington was well before Scotsdales. Frustratingly, throughout the day, there was no sign of anyone working where the hole has been dug at the side of the road. Is there anything that can be done by one or more level of local government to press the contractors to alleviate the delays that are occurring especially during rush hour periods? The actual area that has been dug up is not large. Surely, when no work is taking place the amount of surrounding space that is at present barricaded off could be much reduced to allow more traffic to pass through? I hope something can be done. Thank you. Ian Kydd Praise for 'Lay Electrical'. Last Thursday morning our fridge freezer broke. After phoning John Lewis, they couldn't deliver a new one for a week, we visited Lay Electrical, in the village. In the shop stood a fridge freezer. For £260 it was delivered within half an hour! How's that for service. Cheers Diana Haines Post Office comments I am disappointed to see the community being asked to comment on the Great Shelford Post Office as our local businesses need all the support they can get to continue. I do not think websites should be used in this way and I am horrified by the comments, some of them slanderous, about the nice couple at the Post Office. Running a Post Office when services are gradually being withdrawn, and people buying their postage online and simply dropping off their parcels, must be a 'kick in the face'. I have witnessed them stuck behind the glass when 'little fingers' fiddle with and soil their goods, the parent totally ignoring, and it must be very frustrating. I am not surprised they say something. So many people will loose out if they give up and we no longer have this facility in Shelford. I was rather hoping Streetlife would take this comment stream off their website but now I fear more people will join the backbiting. VB I would just like to say how appalled I was to read the comments about the people who run the Great Shelford Post Office. Do any of those people remember the previous Postmaster? And how totally surly and unhelpful he and his wife were? They scarcely cracked a smile in the 20 or so years when I used the post office during their tenure. I have never, ever found the current Postmaster and his wife to be anything other than helpful or polite – but I have seen some customers who were anything but pleasant – mercifully, I did not recognise them, so assumed that they didn’t live in either Great of Little Shelford. Susie Fraser  Phone box The telephone box in Hinton Way opposite Chaston Way has now been decommissioned and equipment removed, but has recently been repainted in Royal Mail red! So what is to become of it now? Will it be removed by BT, or left in place for some other function such as a Mini Library like the one in Little Shelford? John Wakefield Dog waste in the cemetery Walking around the perimeter of the cemetery is an area of dog poo. Why can't dog walkers pick it up - they are so lazy. Can signs be put up. Mary Whiting Parking changes at Great and Little Shelford School I do not think just removing the parking spaces is a good idea at all – it will only increase speeds through there. And move the problem of school drop offs further into Gt Shelford. I previously suggested traffic lights to Catherine - which have worked well in temporary utilities work. However, that may not be allowed with parking in between as those wanting to move out will not know whether the lights allow them to do so! If the parking goes (which the residents will very reasonably reject) then some form of serious traffic calming would be essential. The ‘problem’ and resulting mini ‘road rage’ is caused by the fact that it’s difficult to see beyond the parked cars whether anything is coming. A more radical suggestion for that: a screen at each end of the parking with a web-cam view showing what if anything is coming from beyond the parking. Different – but must be possible! Richard Patterson New pedestrian bridge for Shelford station? With reference to the website report that Gt Shelford Parish Council are pressing Network Rail to install a footbridge at the station I make the following comments: Great Shelford is the only station on the Cambridge/Liverpool Street Line without a footbridge. The reason for this is that there is a controlled road crossing adjacent to Shelford station. Stations like Whittlesford, Gt Chesterford & Audley End do not have an adjacent crossing so require a footbridge to enable passengers to cross from one platform to the other. In 2014 Network Rail constructed a footbridge at the Webster’s Crossing, about half a mile from Shelford Station, where only a handful of walkers previously used an uncontrolled crossing point. The reason for this is that there is a public footpath crossing the line at that point, so Network Rail were legally obliged to put in the bridge on closure of the crossing to maintain footpath access. "If you are prepared to spend several hundred thousand Pounds for such a few walkers, how can you ignore the situation at Shelford Station where the track splits the village, where gates are often closed six to ten minutes at a time for two and sometimes three trains, where passengers are prevented from reaching a platform to catch a train that is about to arrive/depart, and where youngsters regularly cross the tracks between the platforms when the crossing gates are down," said a letter to Network Rail from the Parish Council. "The chances of a fatality will increase considerably with additional train services (potentially, from 6 to 12 per hour) being introduced. The road crossing is a safe full barrier crossing controlled by the signal box with CCTV cameras. The signalmen can visually see any obstruction and therefore not give the train a green signal if the line is not clear. Passengers need to arrive at the station in good time to avoid being held up should crossing barriers come down. With the many steps required to negotiate the bridge, this will not be suitable for the elderly or disabled. A footbridge will not stop youngsters 'jumping the barriers' this needs to be controlled with CCTV cameras & fines for offenders. "It should be possible to “land” a footbridge using the platforms. Alternatively, a footbridge might be located on the non-platform side of the level crossing, but the opportunity for this could be lost as a planning application is imminent which will envisage using the land for housing. It is unlikely that there would be sufficient room on the non platform side of the station as the barrier mechanism blocks this on the West side. As stated the adjacent land (the old Railway Tavern car park) is ear marked for housing development, so a bridge on the platform would seem the only option. Do we want another monstrosity like the Websters crossing bridge so near to the village centre? John Wakefield Woollards Lane parking problems I have always thought that after the Tesco shop opened that traffic has got worse and worse. It seems logical to me to make Woolards lane one way, from any direction will do just make it one way. This should alleviate the problem straight away (hopefully) Ian Mcleod More traffic problems at Shelford school I've lived in Shelford my whole life and the traffic situation outside the primary school before and after school is getting worse every year. Earlier today I saw two buses mount the pavement as this was the only way they could get through - something which is definitely not safe whilst schoolchildren are walking around! Someone suggested elsewhere on this page that traffic lights are put in place to control the traffic during peak periods - why can this not be done? Or alternatively is it possible to put lines all along that road so that nobody can park, and therefore two lines of traffic can move at once. Tasha Hill Great Shelford Great Shelford jogging group? My girlfriend and I recently moved to Great Shelford from Histon and are hoping that you might be able to post a message or let us know of someone we can get in touch with to go jogging with, as currently she jogs on her own. She is basically looking for a few people who would be interested in meeting up a couple times a week and going for a short run with. Back in histon she was part of the Histon Hobblers Ladies Running Group and loved it so ideally would like to find something similar down here, or even start her own group, but just needs the help to get the word out to get it started. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, and please feel free to pass my details on to anyone who might be interested. Kind Regards, Adrian Granger- Brown How to speed up your broadband A quick note on broadband in the village. We live at the end of a 100 yard long laneway behind the post office. We have been using ADSL provided by Zen Internet which travelling by copper wire from the exchange to Great Shelford gave a poor result of around 1.5 MB/second. Streaming Iplayer was ever stilted more often than not. I asked Virgin to survey which they did – and to quote which they did ‘big time’. To connect to the green box opposite the post office they quoted £8,800 and then wanted to bill us for the survey! We offered to dig & refill the trench down the laneway ourselves to their specifications but they refused. When we complained they dropped the approx £30 fee they’d tried to levy. I was advised by Mike Nettleton of Eagle Analysis that there is a compromise which works well. This is a fibre to copper variant provided for a bit more each month by Zen. Essentially it involves switching from copper to fibre between the Trumpington Exchange and the nearest green box and copper from there. I have just switched and wished I’d done so eons ago. My speed is now between 60 & 80 MB/Second. It requires a BT engineer switching the green box and fitting an additional modem/router. This may be of interest to others in the village suffering a naff download speed. And yes, the level of traffic in the village has massively risen. I’ve been here 33 years and it must have grown more than tern-fold. I hope this is of help to some other villagers. Charles Malcolm-Brown FRSA
Is our traffic getting worse? Can we look into the sudden traffic problems? The early morning traffic is regularly queuing from Cambridge right back to the Great Shelford Post Office now, for no apparent reason, and I think we're all keen to know if this is going to be a permanent problem. it really started happening a fortnight ago with no warning at all. Traffic won't have suddenly doubled or trebled overnight so is this something to do with the new development, or roadworks, or dodgy traffic light sequencing? Sandra Leaton-Gray
A small bus shelter that will seat a max of 6 people has been erected on the forecourt of the Babraham Rd. P&R site. My question is, how much money been spent on this & why is it required when there is an inside waiting room that will seat 16 people in the warm & dry? There is already outside seating for about 8 people outside under the awning of the building. According to passed statements by the council the new car parking charges were put in place to fund a full time attendant at the sites thus allowing the waiting room & toilets to be open during bus running hours. So why is this additional shelter needed? Is this more tax payers money wasted? John Wakefield A follow up to your item about the planned parking restrictions in Church Street near the school. We have only just heard about these restrictions as new subscribers to the newsletter. Although we own a property there, nobody has consulted with us about this. We recently rang one of the councillors to find out what was going on, and left a message, but nobody has responded. Consequently we are not exactly sure where the new restrictions will be, and we have serious concerns about the ability of residents to park, which is important if people need to unload a supermarket shop, or have young children or elderly relatives, for example. We are also worried about speeding up the flow of traffic there, as it can be surprisingly dangerous at certain times of the day for residents, something other Shelford residents may not be aware of, with cars and lorries travelling much too fast and not being aware that it is a residential area with houses very close to the kerb. The parked cars may look like a nuisance to those only visiting the area during the school run, but they act as an important mechanism in slowing down cars racing through the village. The Local Authority provided bollards on the residents' side to help further with the speeding/safety problem, a few years ago, but it is still an issue for people living there.
In 1999, with the full support of the Local Authority, we asked the Parish Council to review this with a view to arranging residents' parking directly outside numbers 15-21 to improve safety further, particularly for residents in those house with young children or elderly relatives, but this was blocked by the Parish Council on the grounds that a) a library bus apparently needed access to Shelford School from time to time, and b) elderly people needed to be on the opposite side of the road to be able to get into the church easily on Sundays. The needs of occasional, or even very occasional, visitors therefore effectively trumped those of local residents. Once again, it seems we now have local councillors who are equally happy to disregard the day to day needs of residents in favour of occasional visitors, councillors who consider it quite acceptable to press forward with the idea of removing all parking, including residents' parking, without proper consultation, or considering the impact on residents other than in the most superficial manner. They have no mandate for this. Sandy Leaton Gray Posted Jan 16 The Parish Council has told the website that the number of places for local residents will not be affected by the changes.
Dear Great Shelford Community Website, I am surely not alone in looking forward to the opening of the new pavilion on Great Shelford rec, and look forward even more to the opportunity to use the new facility. Once we have got used to its size and location, the modern design and wooden exterior can only impress. But can the Parish Council let us villagers know exactly how much it has cost compared with the original estimate, and whether they have managed to raise all the money. Will they be adding something to the Shelford Council Tax bills? Also, how much will it cost to run and who pays for that? I ask in the spirit of openness and honesty. If the new building is to be a genuine community facility, it is of the utmost importance that the community is kept fully aware of all the financial considerations. Yours faithfully, Stephen Chittenden Station Rd. Great Shelford Posted January 7 2014
I was disappointed to read Cllr Dr Gail Kenneys offensive comments made at the Cambridgeshire County Council Cabinet Meeting about the proposed move by Arthur Rank to Shelford Bottom. Arthur Rank approach me about a year ago, I gave this my full support, I can't see a better use for a redundant Farm yard which is surrounded by other commercial business's (ie the Park and ride) I have also obtained the support of South Cambs Chief Executive that we as a Council will advise on planning. Had this opportunity for Arthur Rank been missed it would have been a sad day for Cambridge. We should grateful for all Arthur Rank do and have done for so many this is something we should support in the hope we never need it.
Cllr Charles Nightingale Chairman Gt Shelford Parish Council District Councillor for Shelfords
For years I have watched frustrated drivers try and get past Great and Little Shelford primary school, normally from my bike, and each year it seems to get worse. I suspect 2014 may hit an all time low as new housing will be built on the farm next door. Why not install traffic lights a hundred yards either side of the school, to alternate the flow of traffic and peak times e.g. 8 till 9.30 and 3 till 5 school hours and maybe longer when construction is in progress. I can’t imagine it would make things worse, where parking is allowed will need to be considered, but it might just reduce the blood pressure of some motorist.
Brie Lury
High Street
Little Shelford.
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