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Dear neighbour,
Spring is in the air at last, and this edition of the HPERA newsletter includes the latest news on residents' parking, the major works on Milton Road which could begin within the year, and news of what we've been doing to address problems on Highworth Avenue and behind Arbury Court. We also bring you news of two projects designed to raise the spirits: a musical evening of performances by some of our very talented residents, and an invitation to take part in our very own Purple Plaque scheme, celebrating the history of the estate.
With best wishes from your HPERA Team:
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Hurst Park Concert Party
We are delighted to bring you the first Hurst Park concert party which will take place via Zoom next Friday, 19th March at 6pm. Our neighbourhood can count quite a few gifted musicians among its residents, and we've persuaded some of them to record themselves playing music to lift our collective spirits.
Performers include violin duo Birgit & Walter Federle, pianists Thomas Mattin and Robert Ziegler, flautist Catherine Morley, organist Chris Pountain, Cuban band Los Orejitos, folk duo Liz & Jim Huelin and the incredibly talented horn player Annemarie Federle, who is playing all the parts of a duet from Humperdinck's opera Hansel & Gretel arranged for 8 horns!
You are warmly invited to pour yourself a drink and click HERE to join us from 6pm on Zoom. You may wish to link your computer to external speakers for the best sound quality. We'll share all the recordings starting at about 6.15pm, and we hope most of the musicians will join us too for a chat afterwards. The event will last around an hour. Enjoy! |
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PURPLE PLAQUES?
We’re inviting residents to explore the the fascinating social history of the neighbourhood over the past 90 or 100 years by researching the history of your own house. Feel free to enlist the help of any children or young people of your acquaintance! Most - but not all - of the houses in our estate were built in the 1920s and 30s. To find out more about your own house's history you could:
- Look at the deeds, which will tell you about previous owners (though not necessarily the people who lived there).
- Check out Capturing Cambridge, which carries details of who was living in every house in the estate when a Register of the British population was taken in 1939.
- Use one of the many family history sites such as Ancestry or Find My Past to check electoral rolls or the names of people who lived in your house. Even if you're not a subscriber, both often have free trial periods.
- Look at newspaper reports, via the British Library's British Newspaper Archive, also available on Find My Past.
- Google your address or the names of people who lived in the house before you - you never know what you might find!
- Dig out old documents or photos that might be gathering dust!
We hope you'll share anything you find during the first Hurst Park history trail which will take place over the early May bank holiday weekend to complement some of the fascinating features of the area that have been unearthed by our neighbours Jim Smith and Rachel Aucott. Watch this space for more news, but in the meantime do see what you can discover! |
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Controlled Parking Zones
In March 2020 the County Highways Committee decided, against opposition from city councillors, to halt the roll-out of residents’ parking schemes. This was largely to satisfy the constituents of those representing communities outside the city who commute by car. There was a commitment to review this decision in 12 months' time.
That review took place last Tuesday, and once again the majority on the committee ignored the well-argued submissions made by city residents and councillors and instead voted to kick the can down the road for yet another review at an unspecified time in the future. County councillor Ian Manning lodged an amendment which would have offered residents in Cambridge an opportunity to be formally consulted on whether or not they want further parking zones, but was voted down.
We will keep you informed of any further developments.
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State of Roads and Pavements
Complaints about the state of road surfaces and pavements throughout the county were debated at length during last Tuesday’s County Highways Committee meeting. There is huge frustration about the quality and durability of repair work and the county have now allocated an additional £25M for the next financial year to highways maintenance. We were told that repair orders for the potholes on Milton Road are in place and work should be in process shortly.
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Highworth Avenue / Leys Road
There is an ongoing issue involving different users of the cut through between Highworth Avenue and Leys Road.
We have been in touch with the Police and with Deliveroo to ask them to remind motorbike delivery drivers that they should not be using the cycle path between Highworth Avenue and Leys Road, and this appears to have improved matters somewhat. We also plan to produce a banner and some additional signage asking drivers and cyclists to take extreme care at this location.
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GCP Milton Road Project
At last Monday’s Local Liaison Forum, there was unanimous support for a resolution calling on the GCP Executive Board not to allow the start of the Milton Road project to drift further back to April 2022 as indicated in recent budget plans. The works on Histon Rd are due to be completed by the summer and, even allowing for possible delays, the LLF could see no reason why a start on Milton Road could not be made by the end of the year or soon after. We and other local stakeholders have campaigned since December 2015 to make the plans fit for purpose and we don’t want to see the funds diverted elsewhere. They are now shovel-ready to go!
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Rear of Arbury Court
We have been in touch with Cllr Jocelynne Scutt to draw to her attention the unsightly area at the rear of Arbury Court. She has therefore arranged for fly tipping to be removed and we hope that some of the potholes will be filled in due course.
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Spring Windows
A big thank you to everyone who has decorated a window as part of our SPRING WINDOWS project. Look carefully and you will see flowers and birds, easter eggs and butterflies in windows all over the estate! There's still time to see them - the project continues until 20th March.
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Fish Van
The fish van will be opposite no. 81 Hurst Park Avenue next Monday, 15 March, at 12 noon. Please arrive at noon to avoid disappointment as the fishmonger doesn't hang around if there are no customers!
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They work for you!
The North Area Committee meets next Monday 15 March at 6.30pm and may be your last opportunity to see councillors in action before they ask for your vote in May’s elections! Local area committees bring together local city and county councillors with council officers, the police and others to report on, discuss and answer questions of local interest. You can watch the proceedings here and find the agenda here.
You can register to ask questions in person via Microsoft Teams by sending an email to Sarah Steed. Alternatively you can send written questions to the same address and they will be read out for you.
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