Thanks to Big Lottery funding, the Cambridge’s play boat was launched this week.  According to the city council, the boat is the first of its kind in the country and offers a unique experience for children and young people, schools, community groups and families to play on the River Cam.

“The play boat is a custom-designed, 60-feet-long, 10-feet-wide narrowboat.  A group of children – the Vikings – have been heavily involved in the development of the project, meeting regularly and working hard to help with design and activity ideas and develop their confidence in and around water.

“The play boat’s internal space is open plan to enable lots of space for play. Sessions running from the boat will include open access drop in sessions and closed group work, involving activities such as environmental art, river dipping, cooking and fishing projects,” the city council website said.

The boat will also be available for trips and overnight residentials, where there will be an opportunity to work the locks and steer the boat.

Mayor Sheila Stuart officially opened the community play boat on the afternoon of Tuesday 22 March 2011. There will be a boat party on 9 April that will be open to all children, young people and families across Cambridge.

For more information about the Chypps community play boat, please email Karl Wilks at karl.wilks@cambridge.gov.uk or telephone 01223 457873.

Local elections will take place on Thursday 5 May.  There will also be an Alternative Vote referendum the same day, which could change how we vote at parliamentary elections.

You must be registered to vote by 14 April if you wish to vote at the local elections and the referendum.  You are not automatically registered even if you pay council tax.

If you are planning to be away on 5 May, given the extra Bank Holiday for the royal wedding, you should still register to vote before 14 April and then you can either apply to vote by post before 14 April or apply to vote by proxy before 21 April.

If you have moved recently or know that you are not registered to vote you can download a voter registration form from www.cambridge.gov.uk/elections or request one by phoning 01223 457048.

For further information about voting and eligibility you can also visit
www.aboutmyvote.co.uk

The agenda for the 24 February West Central Area Committee Meeting included a report on Alcohol Related ASB Associated with the Night Economy.  During this agenda item the police reported on the formation of a new city centre patrol team which will aim, amongst other things, to deal with the trouble associated with alcohol-fueled antisocial behaviour in the city centre.  The new police unit will have a remit to:

1) deal with alcohol-related crime and disorder in the city centre;

2) deal with the problem of cycle crime in the city;

3) respond to seasonal crime demands such as winter retail theft and summer street robbery; and

4) take on the duties carried out by the Neighbourhood Policing Team in Market Ward.

The team will have dual aims: during the day it will focus on cycle crimes; at night the team will conduct city centre patrols targeting alcohol-related crime and disorder hotspots.

This development has come about in part in response to residents’ increasing concern about the prevalence of alcohol-fueled antisocial behaviour.  Market Ward resident Andrea Reiner welcomed the move: “I am pleased to see the police respond to our concerns in this way.  We also need to address the roots of these problems, but this is a step in the right direction.”