Cllr Geoff Heathcock

Geoff as a member of Railfture and as a train traveller himself - has hit out at the new fares which come in this month - well above the rate of inflation and in the case of Cross Country who operate the service from Birmingham to Stansted Airport as absolutely appalling.

At a time when we want more people to make the environmentally green choice to shift from car to train - the Government and the Rail Regulator are content to sit on the fence and allow these appalling increases to be put in place - if it were done on the roads either with road tax or petrol there would be uproar.

The Government have sat on the side lines and let this happen rather than put the level of investment needed for the long-term development of the rail network from central funds as they would be with the proposal to spend nearly a billion pounds on the A14 improvements - not even started. They should hang their heads in shame.

Geoff in his role as the County Liberal Democrat Health Spokesman - has made a fresh call for the car parking charges at Addenbrookes’ Hospital and other sites across Cambridgeshire to be abolished on the day that virtually all Scottish and Welsh NHS sites will now cease charging patients, staff and visitors.

It cannot be justified that the NHS paid for by direct taxation - then levies further charges on those coming to Hospital for treatment or visiting the sick. A Car park should not be seen as another means of increasing revenue. These facilities are National assets and should be seen in that context.

The Secretary of State should be making an order once and for all to take this stealth tax away.

There can be no doubt as we look forward to a New Year - that many challenges face not only our Government, but hundreds of ordinary folk around the ward, the City and the County are reasonably worried about what 2009 will bring. Many of you I know will face unemployment for the first time, sickness and with a number of families - the uncertainty which comes with having suffered a loss of a loved one in 2008.

None of us can begin to appreciate what this means until we have faced it ourselves, to all those who have suffered loss in 2008 I send you my personal best wishes - and an offer an ear where it can be useful to talk about it.

To those who face uncertainty in your employment - make good use of all the help that can be available through a variety of agencies - and for a short while if it is possible work alongside voluntary bodies like Age Concern, Cancer UK, Arthur Rank and other’s who always need extra pairs of hands.

I wish for all of you peace of mind and peace of spirit as we face a New Year, talk to your neighbour, offer help where you can - even the little things can make a difference to someone’s very existence and you will feel better for it to.

In a letter to local Members of Parliament - Geoff has again sought to bring pressure on National Politicians to take firm action against an awful and miserable regime in what was once a very proud and prospering Commonwealth Country - but which now witnesses the human tragedy of its people not only suppressed by a tyrant but an administration that wishes to deny the very presence of not only abject poverty - but disease beyond measure.

To be entering another New Year - with Mugabe in power, living in wealth whilst his people disappear by the hundred every day through sickness is appalling - yet the West stand by and utter just warm words. What is clearly needed is regime change of the sort brought about in Iraq - and I would certainly echo the words of the Archbishop of York who says “direct action” is now required to remove this dictator once and for all. The unanswered question will be - WHO WILL ACT?

Geoff in his role as the County Liberal Democrat Health Spokesman - has made representations to the Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trust over the provision of out of hours services in and around Ely - following the case of a 75 year old gentleman who required a minor procedure to be carried out on a Saturday afternoon but a GP would not attend. His registered carer - contacted the Ambulance Service - and subsequently a paramedic team arrived, could not do the necessary procedure and took him to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge.

Later in the evening having waited, he was seen but then had to negotiate his return to Ely because the Ambulance could not transport him. He arrived home around 3am by taxi paid for by Addenbrookes.

Geoff added “This whole miserable story throws up a number of questions not least among them is the whole issue of access to services at the Princess of Wales Hospital after 5pm weekedays and weekends, the availability of community nursing staff - in an area of the County which is growing. We await the answers.

Given the number of times that lights in the shopping arcade have been out of action during 2008, Geoff has asked for an urgent review both of the standard of lighting and its reliability on behalf of shopkeepers from the City Council. For days on end - we have the shops in pitch darkness - and this is neither good from a security point of view or from the perspective of advertising the shops that are there. Various reasons have been given as to why lights are unreliable including - some motorists parking outside the chemist hitting the columns.

Following his representations to County Transport bosses - about getting real time travel information monitors installed at Fendon Road and Wulfstan way Bus stops - to inform waiting passengers when a bus will actually arrive, Geoff has been advised by the Passenger Transport Unit at Shire Hall there are no immediate plans to instal the electronic monitors but will add them to the waiting list for consideration in 2009-10

I am increasingly being given complaints from residents who wait in the morning for up to 40 minutes for a Northbound service towards the City - against an advertised service of every 10 minutes. When you tackle Stagecoach about this you usually get told - its caused by traffic congestion, Hills Road bridge works and so on, that may well be the case, but waiting for a bus in Fendon or Wulfstan to get to work or an appointment - you need to know if a Bus is going to turn up or not.

Geoff has expressed his anxiety about the way some local people are parking on Wulfstan Way near Queen edith’s Primary School at the two peak periods of the day - in order to collect children or drop them off. In recent weeks I have observed very poor and frankly selfish parking by a number of motorists, blocking exits, blocking buses trying to get up and down the road and sooner rather than later its going to lead to a tragedy.

I am in discussion with Highways and the Police as to what measures we could look at finding a permanent solution to this problem before we have a serious incident. Parents have been asked to think before they park - but sadly a small minority are simply not interested in anyone’s interests than their own, this we must tackle.

Geoff has come out very strongly against the County Council for their use of legislation intended to be used against possible terrorists - in their recent prosecution of a newsagent at Melbourn who got in a muddle over paperwork in order to employ young boys to deliver newspapers.

This is simply not good enough and some detailed explanations need to be given to even justify why a watch was kept on this small country store in order to  ascertain the facts behind allegations that young folk were being employed under age. Fine that the authority wants to check what is happening - but not go over the top in the sorts of measures they have taken to seek clarification.

There is also the concern over how much this whole exercise has cost taxpayers when a visit by trading standards officers would have been cheaper and more proportionate.

Geoff has received fresh complaints about the level of Policing in the City - both during the day and also in the evening. Information has been received by me - indicating staffing levels are again under some difficulty - and therefore the response that the Police is able to give us as the taxpayers of the City is to say the least not of the quality we reasonably should expect. I am making fresh representations to the Assistant Chief Constable for some explanation as to quite what is happening.

Residents continue to pay more and more each year to the Police Authority - but the level of satisfaction is certainly falling.