Fiona Whelan

Barton 

At last! Having walked the streets of Barton with the Highways Department they have agreed that the High Street is in a truly terrible state – and will put in a capital bid for the complete resurfacing of the pavements and sorting out the sorry state of dropped curbs. It has been neglected for many years now so Fiona is thrilled to see it finally getting the TLC it requires. “The work should have been flagged up some time ago” says Fiona. “It is impossible for anyone with a mobility issue to safely navigate the High Street in it’s current state of disrepair!”In addition to sorting out the pavements and gritting issues in Barton, Fiona has been working closely with Robin Page, the Parish Council and District Councillor Francis Burkitt to see if they can prevent the demolition of Barton Bridge – one of only 4 such bridges left in the County. “The area surrounding the bridge provides a habitat for lots of local wildlife”, says Fiona, “some of it only recently introduced. It would be a terrible shame to see this go, and along with it one of the few natural obstacles to the road between Barton and Haslingfield becoming a speed track.”

Coton 

Fiona is gritting her teeth and hanging on in there in relation to getting BT to improve their Broadband service to the residents of Coton. This issue seems to be taking some time to resolve but Rome wasn’t built in a day as they say and if the issue can be properly addressed the protracted wait will have been worth it. She is in talks with BT and currently waiting for a update of progress to date.  

Grantchester 

Fiona’s first dealings with Grantchester were in the form of an email to her, as the then prospective candidate, in relation to how she would help them get an interactive speed sign. Given that the Parish had carried out a speed survey and raised the money required to finance the speed sign themselves it did seem incredulous that they were refused a sign at the last minute because of a policy review. Well the answer to the question can be summed up in one word “persevere”. Fiona has raised the issue at every Council meeting since elected, and has been out on site with the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Transport and Highways Officers. She just wouldn’t take no for an answer. “I’m delighted that Grantchester will get an Interactive speed sign”, says Fiona, “and I’m hopeful that it will be installed by the end of the summer once some testing of current speed limits is carried out. Some residents have queried why I haven’t pushed for traffic calming measures such as speed thumps and the simple answer is money. This is something that we can achieve relatively quickly because the Parish are financing it themselves. I’m happy to campaign for other additional speed calming measures in the future if that is what local residents want.” 

Madingley

 Fiona is keeping a keen eye on proposals for Clay extraction “borrow pits” – required for the A14 improvements. She has been to several meetings about this both at a Parish Council and County level and will be following and reporting back on developments as they unfold.Barton, Coton, Grantchester and Madingley are represented at the District Council by Conservative Councillor Francis Burkitt.

Grantchester Post Office Closure

Thank you to residents who have written to Fiona with concerns and comments about the proposed closure of Grantchester Post Office.  Fiona says, “We have campaigned so often to keep our Post Offices.  But the 3000 closed by this Government added to the 2500 closed by the last Conservative one is a disaster for rural areas.  We must push for mobile post services to be extended to Grantchester.”

 Lib Dem leader at the County Council, David Jenkins, has urged the Council’s chief executive to revisit the subject of post office closures in light of the economic recession.