Grantchester Road, Newnham will be closed for one day on 31st August 2024. See PDF for details

Road-Closure-24-1088-Grantchester-Road-Newnham-Order

Children in Grantchester are set to get an upgraded playground thanks to a £72,000 Landfill Communities Fund grant from FCC Communities Foundation. 

The money will be used to replace tired and outdated play equipment at the Recreation Ground on Stulpfield Road in Grantchester, adding to the play and exercise value for all youngsters and making the playground a more sociable and inviting place.

Lesley Sherratt, Chair of Grantchester Parish Council, believes the upgrade of equipment and seating on the Recreation Ground will make a huge difference to the lives of families living in the area. 

She says “This refurbished playground will provide a real boost to young families and other residents in Grantchester.  It’s fantastic that FCC Communities Foundation has awarded us this money and we’re really looking forward to Phase 2 of this refurbishment, focussing on younger children and parents/grandparents, taking shape over the next few months”.

FCC Communities Foundation is a not-for-profit business that awards grants for community projects through the Landfill Communities Fund.

Penny Horne, FCC Communities Foundation grant manager, says: “We’re delighted to be supporting the Grantchester Recreation Ground – Upgrade of Children’s Playground project and pleased our funding will provide such a fantastic facility for children and young families within Grantchester. FCC Communities Foundation is always happy to consider grant applications for projects that make a difference to local communities and we’re really looking forward to seeing this one take shape soon.”

Lesley hopes the new play equipment will be ready to use by late June

The existing playground for children in the village was installed 20 years ago when the land was acquired in 2003. At the time it was funded with the financial support from WREN – the predecessor to FCC.  Most of the equipment is now beyond its recognised life. The Parish Council therefore wants to upgrade the Recreation Ground to provide a safe, accessible and inviting play area, for children, parents, grandparents and carers.

Phase 1 of the refurbishment, paid from the Parish Council’s own reserves, was undertaken in October 2023, and replaced two major climbing structures for school age children.  Phase 2 addresses the needs of pre-school children as well as adding to the play and exercise value for all youngsters and making the playground a more sociable and inviting place for all within the village.

Additional seating and tables will provide areas for visitors to enjoy this less well-known area of Grantchester.

News just in from Whippet:
“We’re aware that the journey from St Neots to Cambridge at 0720, via Cambourne and Comberton, is often delayed by traffic on the A428. From 1 April, this bus will depart St Neots earlier at 0705 (0725 in school holidays). We’re using the additional time on this journey to also serve the villages of Abbotsley, Great Gransden and Caxton and avoid traffic congestion on the A428. This journey will continue to call at Wintringham.

We will also be extending the 1632 journey from St Neots, that currently finishes at Barton, through to Central Cambridge.

Buses on route 18 will leave from bay 3 in Drummer Street bus station, instead of bay 5.

Click here to download the new route 18 timetable”

The Combined Authority has launched a survey asking the public to share their views on electric vehicles (EVs) and how best to meet the need for more charging points across the region.  With the transition away from petrol and diesel vehicles affecting everyone – whether you drive an EV or not – they are encouraging as many people as possible to have a say. The Combined Authority wants to make sure they are planned for in the right way, informed by people’s views.  The Combined Authority’s vision for charging points is:  “For everyone in the region to have the necessary electric vehicle charging infrastructure available in the right place at the time they need. This charging infrastructure will be high quality, safe , affordable, environmentally sustainable and accessible. “ The survey only takes five minutes and can be found here, along with further information: https://cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk/ev-charging/.   Fill in the survey here People have until March 26, 2024, to take the survey before it closes.  For those who prefer to email feedback, use: transport@cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk  For responding by post, request a hard copy of the survey by emailing  transport@cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk or call 01480 277180.

South Cambridgeshire Community Meetings

These meetings are quarterly and held online from 7pm-8pm. They allow members of the public to virtually meet their neighbourhood officers and hear about recent activity. Attendees will also get the opportunity to raise any concerns they have and help shape future priorities.

Dates for the forthcoming community engagement meetings:

• 28 February
• 22 May
• 28 August
• 27 November

If you would like to attend, please visit the neighbourhood page and click the link on the date. You will be sent to Event Brite to register for free and will be sent a meeting link –https://www.cambs.police.uk/police-forces/cambridgeshire-constabulary/areas/campaigns/nhp/neighbourhood-policing/South-Cambridgeshire/

The Community Gritting Scheme is a scheme where local volunteers can help to keep their community moving in freezing weather. Under this scheme, the parish council decides on specific routes in the area which are important to the local community and agrees them with the county council.  The scheme is operated by the County Council Highways Department.

When do I grit? 

Just like the gritters that clear the roads, the community gritting schedule is determined by the weather. Highways do not notify registered community gritting volunteers when to grit, they rely on the volunteers to grit the footpaths as and when it is required. 

Where do I grit? 

This scheme only applies to footways and footpaths. You are not insured or trained to grit the roads and should never place yourself in conflict with live traffic. You should not put yourself at any further risk from motor vehicles than you would as an untrained pedestrian. 

Each parish decides which footways and paths should be gritted by volunteers and submits them to the County Council for approval. The routes are then discussed and an agreed route map is recorded. You are only covered by the County Council’s insurance for these agreed routes. 

If you feel that a route should be changed or added to the agreed route map then please contact your parish council who can discuss the change and submit it to the County Council if appropriate. 

Only volunteers that have completed the basic training and returned the registration form you will be covered by the County Council’s insurance.  Highways will provide a spreader to enable the grit to be evenly spread on the footpath.

How do I volunteer?

If you would like to volunteer for this winter, please send an email with your details to John, the Parish Clerk at clerk@grantchester.org.uk.  We will only participate if a sufficient number of volunteers register.

For more details of what is involved go to this website

Recreation Ground Temporary Closure for 3 weeks

As you may already be aware, the Parish Council is refurbishing the Recreation Ground, and replacing two pieces of the older wooden play equipment, which are showing signs of age.

This work had been planned to commence in December, but an opportunity has arisen for the work to be done before the potential bad weather later in the year, so the work will start on Monday 9 October.

The contractors will be working on site for approximately 3 weeks, daily from 8.00am through to 4.30pm.  During this time the Recreation Ground will be closed to the public for safety reasons.  Whilst we appreciate that closing the playground during half-term is not ideal, we hope that you will understand the reasons for doing this work at this time.