This is a City Council press release

Cambridge Markets are Participating in the Prestigious National Love Your Local Market Campaign

Cambridge Markets are participating in the high-profile, national Love Your Local Market 2013 campaign led by the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) & backed by Central Government & the wider market industry.

The national campaign aims to attract new market traders and highlight the importance that markets play at the heart of the local community, not only for retail but also as a valuable community asset that provides a real focal point for our town and city centres.

LYLM 2013 will run from 15th May to 29th May and hopes that 500 markets will get involved in this year’s events, in addition to 3,000 new traders.

Cambridge City Council and our Markets will play a full part in this campaign:

1) ‘How do you see Cambridge Market?’
A competition for local people to paint, sketch, or photograph the Market and its Traders, or write a story, poem or song. We will have 3 categories for this competition & will award a prize to the winner in each category. The competition is open to adults & children. The public will be invited to view & vote for their favourites. The collection will be displayed in the Guildhall, Market Square, Cambridge on Tuesday 21st & Wednesday 22nd May, between 10am – 3pm. Everyone who votes will be entered into a prize draw & the winner of the draw will receive a prize also.

To enter the competition to display your piece of artwork, photograph or story, poem or song, either complete the entry form, which you can find online at www.cambridge.gov.uk/love-your-local-market or call 01223 457465 or email heather.bevanhunt@cambridge.gov.uk

2) ‘A Taste of Cambridge Markets’
On Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th May Cambridge Markets will be running a “Taste of Cambridge Markets” event which will see food producers on the markets showcasing their products with free food tasting and live demonstrations. The programme for this event is currently under development, so more to follow on this nearer the time!

This is a reminder that the 2013 Cam Cleanup will be taking place on Saturday 13 April from 10 am – 1 pm. We are once again calling for volunteers to give our much loved river a helping hand.

Last year more than 100 volunteers turned out for the event, filling many bags of rubbish, and we hope to exceed those numbers this year.

The cleanup will have much the same format as last year, with City Council staff placed on each of Sheep’s Green (near Mill Pond), Midsummer Common (near the Fort St George) and Stourbridge Common, to get volunteers started. City Council staff will hand out work gloves, litter pickers and litter bags.

We propose that volunteers meet up at the Fort St George after the cleanup to swap stories of the most outrageous items found.

If you are able to come, please confirm by emailing Andrea Reiner at andreareiner23@gmail.com, so that we have an idea of numbers. And please spread the word to other would-be volunteers! We hope to see many of you there.

The event is being organised by Mal Schofield, Becky Allen and Andrea Reiner.

East Road will be closed to all traffic from 8pm on Friday 12th April to 6 am Monday 15th April for long needed resurfacing.

Footpaths will remain open for pedestrians and cyclists. Traffic will be diverted via Newmarket Road, Barnwell Road, Perne Road and Cherry Hinton Road but access will be possible through Short Street and Emmanuel Road.

The County Council says: “Residents who are unable to access their property by car would be offered the opportunity to park elsewhere, with the council offering to pay “any reasonable car parking charges.”

Anyone needing more details should contact Jon Clarke via the County Council call centre on 03450 4550212.

The North West Cambridge development, between Madingley Road and Huntingdon Road, is a step closer to being realised.

Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council recently granted outline permission for 3000 new dwellings (with 50% of them affordable units for university key workers) at the scheme, which also includes student accommodation, business space and community facilities.

The development aims to be one of the leading examples of sustainable development nationally, including the country’s first underground waste system on this scale.

For more on the North West Cambridge development visit http://www.nwcambridge.co.uk/.