Cllr James Hockney LLB (Hons)

Cambridgeshire is set to receive £1.9 million pounds as part of the Government’s £168 million pound dedicated pothole fund. Coupled with the winter repair fund equates to £3.5 million.

This is most welcome news. Road and path maintenance features as a regular key issue to local residents in Waterbeach Ward. Recently we have seen some success with the resurfacing work on Winfold Road that local campaigner Sarah Smart and I campaigned on during the local elections. Many additional roads like Old Cambridge Road in Waterbeach and School Lane in Chittering for example need to see action. Hopefully this money can support the much needed road improvements locally. Although I am a District Councillor I will continue to press on this County issue.

The latest announcement combined with existing plans will mean more than £24 billion spent on England’s strategic road network between 2010 and 2021 – the biggest investment in the road network for forty years.

I was delighted that our Police Commissioner, Sir Graham Bright visited the Waterbeach and Landbeach Action for Youth (WAY) project yesterday. Pictured also with Shelagh Robertson, Chairwomen of WAY Trustees.

The project is a great example of how youth projects can reduce crime. The local Police have on numerous occasions credited WAY with the work that they do. For example last winter some empty houses were broken into as a meeting point, the Lead Youth Worker identified those responsible and action was taken against those involved.

It was clear from the meeting, that our Police Commissioner is very active in supporting youth projects and recognises the important work that they do for the good of the local area.

Personally I have organised three charity events for WAY which raised, in total, over £2,000. I will continue to work hard to support this great local project.

On Saturday, my partner and I were delighted to open our home to help raise funds for the Shetland Pony Welfare Trust.

It is a fantastic local charity based in Landbeach on Waterbeach Road. They are doing great work to take in ponies that have either experienced mistreatment or that their owners can no longer afford to keep. The SPWT is a growing charity that has taken on more ponies in recent times. They now care for a total of thirty five ponies. This means that running costs have now increased to £40,000 per year.

As we are now coming into the winter, this means that the ponies switch from grass to feed. From the event we raised enough money to buy two weeks worth of feed.

If you would like to learn more about the charity please visit the website www.theshetlandponywelfaretrust.co.uk or on facebook www.facebook.com/shetlandpony.welfaretrust

I was delighted to have held a charity fundraising event for the East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice. They are a very worthy cause and now have three hospice’s, with Milton hospice just a few miles down the road from me.

I decided to organise the event after meeting some of the EACH team at their stall for the Ely Aquafest event in the summer. From this, I was invited to to the East Anglia Children’s Hospice in Milton which was a very moving experience.

They support families and care for young people with life limiting conditions and deliver a wide range of services including; short break care, specialist play activities, music therapy, hydrotherapy, parent groups, sibling groups, care at end of life and bereavement support.

But they are heavily reliant on voluntary donations to provide not only these services, but to be able to invest in their facilities. To learn more about the charity please go to their website; www.each.org.uk

Thank you to everyone who donated, attended and gave raffle prizes. We raised £315 for the charity from the event which all helps this great cause.

I was delighted to attend ther RECAP Waste Partnership (Recycle for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough) showcase ‘Choose Reuse’ performance at Amey Cespa (based in my home area, Waterbeach Ward).

So what is the ‘Choose Reuse’ performance? Well, it is a great drama based presentation to engage with youngsters on waste reduction, recycling and reuse.

This is now the second year that the project has been running. It was interesting to hear from the Enact Performers of how from last year, many youngsters have been using the website and signing up to ‘Choose Reuse’.

The performance was really well structured and the two performers gave a flawless performance. From South Cambridgeshire District Council, our Portfolio Holder and a senior officer were also present.

The Chairman of RECAP, Nigel Mccurdy said that the performance will go to twenty six secondary schools for year 8’s. This represents a significant proportion of Schools in the Cambridgeshire area.

The ‘Choose Reuse’ day will be October 22nd. To find out more visit www.enactsolutions.com/microsites/choosereuse/cambridgeshire/

Today the ‘A10 Safer Junctions’ was formally received at the Cambridgeshire County Council Cabinet meeting. This follows on from me handing over the A10 Safer Junctions petition signed by over 1,200 local residents to Cllr Mac Maguire (Highways Portfolio Holder) at Cambridgeshire County Council Shire Hall on August 29th.

I was pleased that the petition was well received today – being signed by over 1,200 residents shows the strength of feeling and a clear call for action. We have seen serious accidents at both these junctions over the years. Many local residents have said the layouts of both junctions are not fit for purpose as they are unclear and confusing.

Since the campaign was launched in February, we have seen recognition from the County Council that the Landbeach/Milton junction needs to be made safer for pedestrians and cyclists. A consultation event is happening later in the month in Landbeach. This is welcome, but the junction needs to be made safer for all – cyclists, drivers and pedestrians. Over the years there have been discussions and ideas over improving the Landbeach/Waterbeach junction, we do also need to see this turn into action.

I am optimistic that we can succeed in this campaign. Both our last two A10 campaigns resulted in action – the reduced 50mph A10 speed limit and street lights and traffic lights on the Denny End junction.

This petition sends a clear message to Highways in the call to action. Thank you to all the local residents who supported the campaign”.

The County Council will send a formal response to the petition within the next 10 days.

Firstly, congratulations to Cllr Lis Every on being elected to East Cambridgeshire District Council to represent Ely East Ward. I am sure that she will do a great job representing local residents on the Council.

The victory was a result of a great candidate, great campaign and great campaign issues.

During the by-election, I found on the doorstep that Lis and the Conservative team messages on vital projects to help the local economy like; the by-pass, new cinema, leisure centre/pool and a revitalised the town centre – really resonated with residents.

Meanwhile the Lib Dems are opposing the savings needed to fund these projects. Draw your own conclusions.

Labour finished a poor 4th.

Clearly the residents of Ely East have spoken, I was delighted to have played a part in the successful election campaign.

Results in full were as follows;

Yesterday’s figures have shown record levels of employment. This growth has been driven by a rise in permanent, private sector jobs – which suggests businesses are feeling better about the future. In addition, with 29,000 fewer people claiming Jobseekers Allowance compared to last month.

In the last three years;

1. We’ve cut the deficit by a third

2. 1.3million private sector jobs created

3. There are around 250,000 more small businesses

4. We’ve created more than a million apprenticeships

5. The UK is now top of the KPMG league table of best countries to do business in

What about Labour?

More of the same that left us such a mess 3 years ago; They want to increase borrowing by billions of pounds – Their plan is more spending, more borrowing, more debt.

Consistently speaking up on the issue

Now, you may say to yourself something like; ‘well with the improving picture, he would be saying this all now’. Just so you know, I spoke in the Economy session at the Conservative Party Conference in 2011; in my speech I firmly backed the course that the Conservative Party and George Osborne had set with Plan A. We were in a debt crisis – we had to have a credible plan to pay off our national credit-card that Labour left us with. This was key to ensuring mortgage rates were kept low and a basis from which to heal the economy.

Clearly there is a long way to go, but the economy is healing. Conservatives are determined to ensure that all hardworking people benefit from the recovery.