As many residents know, the lighting trial on Parker’s Piece came about as a result of pressure from residents, including many students. We are therefore pleased that students appear supportive of the light trial on Parker’s Piece. A recent story in the Varsity quoted CUSU Women’s Officer and Coordinator of the CUSU Women’s Campaign on the subject:

Susy Langsdale has described the lights as “a big win” for the CUSU women’s Campaign that ran the “Right to Light” campaign after a woman was raped on Parker’s Piece in May 2011. Several students have since raised concerns about assaults and of incidents of indecent exposure at a council meeting last year. She added, however, that “there are still many areas that are poorly lit such as St. Edmunds Passage, Christ’s Piece (sic) and West Road to name a few.”

Read the whole story in the Varsity here.

Do you agree? Tell us what you think by visiting the City Council website. Consultation closes 4 March.

Cambridge City Council is publicising its Area Committee Grants Guidelines 2013-14:

Area Committee grants fund community, sports and arts activities that benefit people living in areas including Market Ward

Priority will be given to projects that are aimed at those people whose opportunities are restricted by disability, low income or discrimination. (See below for details of priorities.)

Eligibility Criteria

Applications are invited from:
• community groups and voluntary organisations
• groupings of local residents able to meet basic accountability requirements.
• partnerships of constituted group(s) and local residents.

Community groups and voluntary organisations need to be actively working towards meeting these conditions:
• be independently set up for charitable or philanthropic purposes
• have a constitution or set of rules defining aims and procedures and decide policy and overall management practice through a committee of elected, unpaid volunteers
• meet the needs of Cambridge residents and are open to all eligible users
• have structures in place to manage affairs efficiently, hold regular meetings to plan and monitor activities, keep minutes and circulate information to group members
• involve members and users in policy-making and in management and recruit and support volunteers, where appropriate
• meet the legal responsibilities of an employer and adopt appropriate health and safety policies and practices including child and vulnerable adult protection measures, if appropriate
• adopt good environmental and equal opportunities practices
• keep proper financial records and show that financial help is needed.

(Organisations are not eligible if they are set up and/or managed wholly or partly by a statutory organisation; seek a grant for religious instruction or worship; operate for private gain or are connected with any political party or are involved in party politics.)

Application and Assessment

All applicants must complete the Area Committee application form and submit it to the Community Development Grants Team.

The main grants round will be launched in January 2013 with closing dates specific to the individual area committees: the closing date for Market ward applicants is 8 April 2013, for consideration at the Area Committee meeting on 25 April 2013.

Reports will be taken to these committees for consideration of awards. Applicants will be notified of the outcome within five working days. Successful applicants will be required to sign funding agreements and satisfy any outstanding information before the funding is released.

Year round applications: applications may be made after the main grants round as long as there is funding available. Applications will be considered on an individual basis and awards will be decided by officers who make decisions on awards up to £2,000 or Committee Chairs who decide on awards between £2,000 and £5,000.

Please note:
• There is a £5,000 limit on application and grant award levels for any organisation
• Grants cannot be made retrospectively
• Groups receiving a grant will need to provide feedback on how they spent the money and the impact it has made.

Funding Available

There is a total of £84,000 Area Committee funding available in 2013-14. (Subject to the confirmation of the Council’s budget in February 2013)

• £55,000 is from the Community Development Grants budget.
• £29,000 is from the Arts & Recreation Grants budget.

These budgets have been merged and divided between the area committees in accordance with population and poverty calculations. The amount available for each area is as follows:

Committee % £
North 37.8 31,752
South 20 16,800
East 32.2 27,048
West Central 10 8,400
Total 84,000

At the end of December 2013 the area committee funds are merged with the main grants budget to enable flexibility to spend the budget on appropriate grants to voluntary organisations.

Application form and help and support

For further information and advice about Area Committee Grants, or to request an application form, please contact:
Elaine Shortt, Senior Grants Officer. Tel: 01223 457968 elaine.shortt@cambridge.gov.uk

If you need help with running your group, please contact:

Cambridge Council for Voluntary Service for help with setting up, developing appropriate policies, finances etc. Tel: 01223 464696 enquiries@cambridgecvs.org.uk
Llandaff Chambers, 2 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 1AX http://www.cambridgecvs.org.uk/

Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum for advice and support to local black and minority ethnic voluntary and community organisations. Tel: 01223 655241 cecfenquiries@cecf.co.uk
The Courtyard, 21 B Sturton Street, Cambridge, CB1 2SN. http://www.cecf.co.uk/

Appendix 1
Community Development and Arts & Recreation Development Area Committee Priorities
Community Development

Community Activities

1. Activities which support children and young people and families experiencing disadvantage:
• to provide children and young people with opportunities to participate in positive activities, engage in democratic processes, and improve the quality of life in neighbourhoods
• to meet the needs of children and young people in the areas of growth or demographic change

2. Activities which support
• BME groups
• people with disabilities
• LGBT groups
• women lacking opportunities to live safe and fulfilling lives
• community cohesion – activities helping people from different backgrounds to integrate into the Cambridge community and to get on well together

3. Activities which support older people to live socially and physically active lives.

Consideration will be given to specific activities and services that enable those groups and individuals to participate in their communities and improve their own well-being. Activities must include one or more of the following:
• supporting those who are disadvantaged by low income/ disability/ discrimination
• proposals that enable people to participate in decisions and influence the services that affect their lives
• bringing people together to identify common issues and to bring about change
• investigating local needs and developing responsive projects
• increasing the awareness of and celebrating the city’s cultural diversity

It is not for personal care services, proselytising or worship or services which are the responsibility of other statutory agencies

4. Social and Economic Deprivation – projects, services or activities which promote Economic Inclusion. Supporting organisations that help individuals to overcome barriers to participation in the City’s economy. Support, advice and guidance for workless people and those at the risk of worklessness to gain the confidence, motivation, skills and qualifications to engage in rewarding employment or entrepreneurial activities.

Arts & Recreation

1. Improve access to leisure activities

A targeted approach to improving access to arts and sports for city residents who currently have restricted access, particularly including:
• Minority ethnic groups
• People with disabilities
• People on low incomes
• Children, young people and older people at risk of exclusion from leisure opportunities

2. Enhance the city’s cultural offer

Arts and sports activities that enhance Cambridge’s cultural offer by doing some or all of the following:
• Celebrating Cambridge’s cultural identity or local traditions
• Benefiting the local economy
• Reflecting the city’s creative reputation through being new, innovative, and ambitious
• Promoting environmental sustainability

3. Encourage and support local neighbourhood arts and sports activities that enhance current provision and are for the benefit of local residents

Cambridge City Council is launching a lighting trial on Parker’s Piece, in a bid to improve safety for people crossing the open space after dark.

The move comes in response to incidents in Parker’s Piece, especially during hours of darkness, and follows discussions with the police about how to improve people’s safety when using the footpaths after dark.

The trial will involve lighting the path from Parkside into the centre of the open space, known as “Reality Checkpoint”, and will last for four weeks.

Cllr Tim Bick, who is responsible for Community Safety on the City Council, said: “Parkers Piece is a major thoroughfare in the heart of the city and we would like people to feel safer using it after dark. There have been a number incidents reported to the police in the hours of darkness and many people, including student groups, have asked for us to do something to make it less of a place of concealment.”

The trial aims to explore both effectiveness and appearance and see what issues arise with this kind of scheme. After the trial, the equipment will be used elsewhere in the city.

The trial starts during the week of 28th of January and you can give your feedback on the idea by completing the short questionnaire on the Council’s website at www.cambridge.gov.uk/consultations. – just follow the link to Parker’s Piece.

The Council will assess the results of the trial before deciding whether to progress the scheme further.

New rules giving councils greater powers to tackle disruptive road works have been welcomed by Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats who have been campaigning for change.

County Councillor Sarah Whitebread has been calling for new laws to allow local authorities to charge companies by the day for road closures as an incentive to speed up work.

Now Liberal Democrat Transport Minister, Norman Baker has announced a new road permits scheme for companies wishing to carry out work. It will give councils the power to set conditions on the length of time it will take utility companies to complete the work and the amount of road space to be left available for road users.

Where similar schemes have been put in place in other parts of the country they have been found to be effective in reducing time taken to complete work.

Cllr Whitebread said: “This is extremely good news. We have seen major disruption in Cambridge as utility works take much longer than planned causing misery for traders who have struggled as a result and problems for those trying to travel through the city.

“Until now, we have been at the mercy of these companies and forced to put up with disruption until the jobs get done; these new permits will give local authorities power to take action.”

Currently councils wanting to introduce a permit scheme need approval from the Department for Transport. Following consultation, this requirement will be removed to give councils more freedom in reducing congestion and making it easier to put new permit schemes in place.

Last summer Cambridge faced weeks of disruption while work was carried out on gas mains in East Road. And this week sewer replacement work, expected to take three months in Jesus Lane, was suspended due to the ice and snow.

City Councillor Colin Rosenstiel said: “I hope a permit scheme locally can impress on utilities and their contractors the need to make the best use of the time. When they dig up roads they need to get the jobs completed as fast as possible”.

Cambridge MP Julian Huppert said: “This change in the rules gives local people the power to take control in their towns and cities rather than waiting for approval from central government.

“This move towards localism is at the heart of everything the Lib Dems stand for and I am pleased to see that this message is getting through to government.”