Orchard Park Summer FiestaSaturday 21 July 2012 from 2.00pm – 9.00pm at the Sports Ground

Plans for the annual Orchard Park summer eventare well on the way. Changes to the format andtiming of this year’s event to coincide with theQueen’s Jubilee celebrations are planned, withmusic and entertainment going on into theevening hosting fun for all ages.The new name ‘Orchard Park Summer Fiesta’ isthe first change you will have noticed.The Steering Group for this event meet on thesecond Wednesday of each month and is made up

of councillors, staff, residents and other organisa-tions such as the Community Church. We welcomeanyone who would like to join us in organising theevent and, we also welcome comments and sug-gestions from all.For further information regarding the SteeringGroup please contact Gini on Tel: 01223 420750and help us make the 2012 Summer Fiesta thebest one yet.

Orchard ParkCommunity Newsletter January 2012

Dear ResidentsThe Community Council wants your views on ourbudget proposals for next year

You will be aware of the difficult situation many coun-cils, large and small, are facing in the coming yearwith a grim economic climate and cuts to many ser-vices. Often it is the lowest level of government,parishes, that is left to mitigate the impact of cuts toservices. A good example of this at Orchard Park isthe funding we give to support our very successfulCounty run youth club or the project work the policeand youth team are working together on to tackle theissues of antisocial behaviour at the sports ground.

Next year the Community Council will continue tosupport and expand its activities, including runningthe Community Centre, sports ground, looking afterthe play areas and public open space, litter-picking,as well as supporting local groups, public art proj-ects and youth work. We hope to continue ourpartnership with the County Council Youth Team toinclude regular outreach work on open spaces aswell as starting an open access youth club for the 7– 11 year olds to accompany our current youth clubfor 11 – 16 year olds. We are continuing to expandour staff by taking on a part time AdministrationAssistant to help manage centre bookings, togetherwith increasing the hours for our Ranger/Caretakerpost. We also continue to negotiate with the devel-opers on Orchard Park and South CambridgeshireDistrict Council to get the best for residents fromnew planning applications, including looking for

S106 funding for our own community developmentpost, allotments and a large extension to the sportschanging rooms to create a more flexible space.

If you have ideas about further developments andinitiatives, do talk to us. We are keen, for example,to support young people’s groups such as Cubs andBrownies to be set up but are open to all ideas fromall ages and for all interests!

The District and County Councils along with fire andpolice authorities are considering whether to takethe ‘Pickles money’ a government grant for oneyear in return for freezing council tax. This is notavailable for parishes. The Community Council haslooked carefully at its budget for next year andconcluded that after two years of its own freeze onthe precept (the amount residents pay in theircouncil tax bill which comes to the parish), we doneed to increase it this year by £5, though this willbe less for most people as the average figure isworked out against a Band D property. This is anincrease of less than 10p per week per householdbut it will help the Community Council manage itsservices effectively for all residents. A fuller pictureof our proposed 2012/13 Budget is given as well inthis newsletter. The precept and 2012/13 Budgetwill be agreed at the next Full Council meeting on8th February at 7.00 pm.

May I also wish you all a Happy New Year.

Yemi Macaulay, Chairman (for budget details, please see next page) small

The Community Council precept forms a small part of your total Council Tax whichis collected by South Cambridgeshire District Council. Local Councils such as theCommunity Council (which is another name for a Parish Council) provide the first,grass roots level of Local Government. Councillors live locally and are elected everyfour years. They are all volunteers and don’t receive any financial reward for theirservices.The Council has looked carefully at its costs and proposes an increase of £5 per BandD property in the precept, which is the Community Council part of your Council Tax.Most people will pay less than that as 59% of the homes on Orchard Park are BandB or C. A summary of the proposed budget and priorities are listed below.The proposed precept is £74.81 per year, or around £1.44 per week for a Band Dhouse. Most homes in Orchard Park are in Band B or C so will actually pay less thanthis.To comment on the budget proposals, please do so before Wednesday 8th Februaryor come to the meeting that evening.

ExpenditureCommunity Centre running costs £26,650Play Areas and Sports Facility costs £39,755Community & Youth projects and grants £19,000Staff and administration costs £67,630Training and professional fees £3,000Contribution to reserves £2,500Contingency etc £2,500

Total projected expenditure £161,035

IncomeBalance brought forward £10,500Hire charges – Community Centre £35,500Hire charges – Sports Facilities £3,700Bank Interest £4,000Developer funds and other income £56,240Precept £51,095

Total projected income £161,035

Budget for 2012-2013

There are nine positions on thisCommunity Council, serving Orchard Parkexclusively. We are all volunteers. At themoment, there are only eight councillors,so we have one vacancy to fill as soon aspossible. In order for the council to co-optanother member, we need volunteers toregister their interest with Gini Wood, ourclerk.

Could you help by joining the council? Youwould be required to give just a few hoursof your time each month, mainly in theevenings, and the rewards are fantastic!Make a difference to life in Orchard Park,meet new people, develop new skills, oruse the skills you already have to help thiscommunity thrive... There are lots ofdecisions to make in the near future, andthe more of us are involved in the council,the better we can work together to makethe right decisions.

As a community councillor, I attendregular (monthly) meetings locally, as wellas committees when possible. Themeetings are quite formal, but veryinteresting, and the issues discussed arevaried. They all relate to life on OrchardPark, and are a good way of keepinginformed about current and futureissues.  Councillors are also invited toattend some neighbourhood meetingswith other neighbouring councils, thepolice and other organisations. You can beinvolved in making decisions regardinglocal planning, art, human resources,finance (such as the yearly budget! seepage 2), etc... Our team of community-centred volunteers, with varied skills andexperience, is working towards a common

goal: making Orchard Park a better placeto live for local residents.

Amongst the many highlights of my timeas a councillor so far, I particularly enjoyedhelping choose the artist to deliver thepiece of public art in front of the newTravelodge on Chieftain Way (not far frommy house!). Have you noticed the deersculpture standing there in the grass? Weall hope it will become one of OrchardPark's landmarks. I also enjoyed being asteward at the last two summer events inOrchard Park, and it was certainly a teameffort. We are all very proud of what wasachieved, and are looking forward to the2012 event (see details on Page 1). Also,being involved in the recruitment processof new staff last year was something I hadnever done before, so it was great to getan opportunity to be on the other side ofthe recruitment interview!

Watch out for our council meetingagendas, published on the display board tothe side of the Community Centre (alongCentral Avenue) prior to each meeting.And if there is an issue you are interestedin, please attend the meeting if possible,or contact the clerk with any comments orquestions.

This burgeoning community needs all thehelp it can get in order to develop anidentity of its own. Being part of thismakes me feel more valued and it's a greatway to feel like you belong in yourcommunity.

Séverine Leclair

Community Councillor

Being an Orchard Park Community Councillor

Help Design OrchardPark

Cambridge City Council istaking an innovativeapproach to developingtheir site in Orchard Park,known as K1, through a co-housinginitiative. Co-housing involves individuals orgroups of people coming together for a site,appointing their own architect andprofessional team, raising finance togetherand finally building their new homes with abuilder. This enables them to create theirown high standards in sustainable livingand unique indoor and outdoor communityspaces.

On K1 a group of around 40 householderscould be supported through thecommissioning and design process ofbuilding their own homes. On Monday 13February 2012 the City Council will beholding an event at Orchard Park PrimarySchool from 3 pm – 7 pm to bring togetherthose interested in this project with existingOrchard Park residents, architects, urbandesigners, planners and members fromCity, South Cambridgeshire and OrchardPark Community Councils to look atpossible design options for the land andhomes.

You can find out more about this project atwww.cambridge-K1.co.uk but if you wouldlike to come along as a resident and helpshape how K1 might look, or even be part ofthe whole project, get in touch with GiniWood, Clerk to the Community Council ongini@orchardpark.gov.uk or emailadam@instinctivelygreen.co.uk

Pear Tree Preschool and Out ofSchool Club

Pear Tree Preschool and Out of School clubopened at Orchard Park primary school inSeptember 2011 and was inspected by Ofsted inDecember 2011 who found the provision to begood.Ofsted said that the children were ‘happy,confident and eager to learn at this brightand welcoming setting’, and  partnershipswith parents and the leadership andmanagement were also found to beexcellent.

Pear Tree is almost full in the morningsessions and the afternoon sessions arefilling up as well but details of what isavailable at both the pre-school and out ofschool club can be found at:

www.peartreeonline.co.uk

or by calling on 01223 395685

Other news

Would you like to receiveOrchard Park CommunityCouncil newsletter on-line or in large format?

If so please contact:the Centre Manager(see inside back page forcontact details)

Dog Fouling

There are increasing complaints about dog fouling on open spaces around Orchard Park. It is thelegal responsibility of dog owners to clear up after their dogs. As well as being an unpleasanteye-sore it also presents health hazards, including toxicariasis, a roundworm which can causestomach upsets and blindness. Children in play areas are especially vulnerable.Please help us protect our children by keeping dogs off play areas and grassed sporting areas andplease use poop bags to clean up and dispose of your dog's waste in the dog bins provided.If you witness dog fouling you can report details to South Cambridgeshire District Council on 03450450 063.Dog fouling can lead to a fixed penalty of £75 or a fine of up to £1,000. Be considerate and do notlet your dog foul streets and open spaces in Orchard Park.

The Community Council’s Transport Survey

Thank you to the many who filled in our transport survey in November. The results were discussedat the January meeting of the Community Council and a fuller report on them will be given in thenext newsletter. It is clear though that there are concerns about the guided busway (speed of thebuses, overcrowding and destinations were all mentioned), very strong support for speed reduc-tion and traffic management measures on Orchard Park (with Circus Drive and neighbouringstreets coming out as the main area for concerns), and also for improvements for pedestrians andcyclists to the Histon roundabout.We are in discussion with South Cambridgeshire District Council, the developers and the CountyCouncil on how to take forward some of the issues raised.

Orchard Park Primary School’s Ofsted Report

Congratulations to the school on its excellent Ofsted report in December 2011. The school wasfound to be a good school with outstanding capacity to improve.Many aspects of the school were found to be outstanding, including leadership and managementand the Foundation Stage. The school’ partnership with parents and its links with the communitywere also found to be outstanding.

Great news for the development, especially as the school is expanding by 90 places to a one FormEntry school (210 pupils) with further classrooms built in time for September 2013.

Current information

Public Consultation Event on Gallaghers new planning application for the Local Retail Centre and140 homes.

Gallagher's recently submitted a planning application (S/2559/11) for two sites - the Local Centreand the land in front of the school - , to provide approximately 840sqm of shops (6-7 small shopsand 1 larger convenience store) , Public Open Space  and a total of 140 new homes.

In order to get your views South Cambridgeshire District Council is holding a public consultationevent on Saturday, 28th January in the Orchard Park Community Centre between 9:45 - 12:45.Everyone is welcome, so please come along - planning and community officers will be available toanswer questions and the current plans will be on display.

Dear Residents,

With all the festivities of Christmas behind us let me start by wishing you all a happy New Year andthanks to all who supported our Christmas tree light switch on event at the beginning of December afestive event enjoyed by all.The community council has already started planning a host of events for 2012, look out for a calendarof those events on our website and in future newsletters.

Streetlights:Unfortunately there seems to be several of streetlights not working at the moment, putting some areasof Orchard Park in unnecessary darkness! I surveyed street lights across the development beforeChristmas and reported the faults to the respective developers, sadly it is down to individual developersand some are faster responding than others. Please be assured that I am continuing to chase whereresponse is slow and I will do so until all of them are resolved.

Budget 2012/13 and Precept:This newsletter contains details of our proposed budget and precept for 2012/13. These will be agreedat the Full Council meeting on 8th February so please do let us have any comments before then.

Gini WoodCommunity Clerk/Responsible Finance Officer.

01223 420750

Forthcoming Council Meeting Dates:08/02/1214/03/1211/04/12

Please check the website for updated information

Letter from the Clerk

Community Café Volunteer

The Orchard Centre is very keento open a small café on somedays of the week. If you are inter-ested in talking about this oppor-tunity please contact the CentreManager.

Community GrantsDo you have an idea for a new groupon Orchard Park but need a little helpto get it started? If so, the CommunityCouncil may be able to help you makeit a reality. We can help in variousways – from a small grant to helpyou with the basics to advice andguidanceon how to take your idea forward.So if you have a good idea and wantto make it a reality, get in touch withthe Centre Manager.

Your Community Councillors

Yemi Macaulay, Chair07872 97076Yemi@OrchardPark.gov.uk

Clare Blair, Vice-chair01223 423332Clare@OrchardPark.gov.uk

Severine LeclairSeverine@OrchardPark.gov.uk

Terry Cook07900 366355Terry@OrchardPark.gov.uk

Fred ObolojeFred@OrchardPark.gov.uk

Dave Warren07807 968301Dave@OrchardPark.gov.uk

Yolanda WegrowskiYola@OrchardPark.gov.uk

Laura HorsnellLaura@OrchardPark.gov.uk

The full Council meets on the second Wednesdayof each month at 7:00 pm at the CommunityCentre. Everyone is very welcome to attend anymeeting with the opportunity to ask questions atthe start of each meeting.

Council Office

The Orchard Community CentreCentral Avenue

Orchard ParkCambridge

CB4 2EZ

Office@OrchardPark.gov.uk

www.OrchardPark.gov.uk01223 420750

(07825 132059 for parish emergencies)

Clerk: Gini WoodGini@OrchardPark.gov.uk

Centre Manager:office@OrchardPark.Gov.uk

(07825 132069 for Centre & Sports facilitiesemergencies)

The office is usually open to the public on Mondayto Thursday 10 am to 1 pm. All other times byprior appointment.

The council is responsible for running TheOrchard Community Centre and Orchard ParkSports ground, as well as the maintenance of thepublic open spaces.

Orchard Community Centre is available for functions parties and other events. ContactThe Centre Manager to arrange it. Remember local residents get a discount.