Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

Disclaimer: These observations are not the ‘official’ minutes of the meeting, these are supplied by Whittlesey Town Council, normally (1) month following the meeting and can be viewed on their website.

The agenda for this meeting is posted below on 04th November.
1. 11 members on the public attending, several in support of speaker Mr Julian Halford.

2. 13 councillors in attendance – apologies from Cllrs Jolly and Butcher, + Cllr Garratt.

3. A very long meeting well over 2½ hours and still going when I left.

4. Speaker Mr Julian Halford from the Pondersbridge area, gave a presentation on Community Road Watch/Speedwatch in their area.

More on this later.

4. There was (3) speakers at the public forum, I spoke on three subjects.
a) Thanking ALL the staff the Norwich & Peterborough Building Society for the many years of service that they have provided for the community – The N&P BS closes its doors tomorrow (Friday 10th). Supporting many community groups over the years.
b) I spoke about item on the agenda -CCTV and questioned whether ‘we’ are getting value for money, effectiveness, is it time to consider calling it a day. I asked for a ‘robust’ debate when the subject came up (That never happened?) I quoted instances of Hit & Run in the centre of town, (Camera pointing the wrong direction), a number of instances when the system was ‘fogged up’ and even when ‘issues are identified, whether the Police have the resources to attend.
c) That I attended the AGM of the Rural Cambridgeshire Citizens Advice Bureau and that there were no other representatives from Whittlesey – I hoped that WTC will continue to support the CAB in the future.

Mr Peter Baxter (See earlier posts) gave a very good presentation asking questions and giving factual information about ‘vehicle’ pollution, the traffic issues of the A605 and the implications of further growth and traffic. I have had many meetings with Peter on this subject and at long last he now has the support of several WTC councillors. FDC are responsible for the monitoring of air quality in/around Whittlesey and there are 4 such places, Peter questions the accuracy and results from these monitoring points.
He has been researching and has had many meetings with various people over the past 3 years – has been somewhat ‘fobbed off’ by FDC and others in his campaign.
Now at long last he has the momentum to get some more definitive answers with the ‘help’ – hopefully’ from WTC.

The final speaker was Mr Phil Quinn who runs both the Boat Inn & Quinns Bar. Phil made a short presentation of the issues of Church Street/Ramsey Road – again the topic being vehicles, speed and access. He is considering having a survey carried out on the state of the Bower Bridge.
Highlighting issues at the ‘Traffic Calming’ point (Letter ‘B’/St Andrews Church).
40+ ton trucks for ever having to negotiate this ‘dangerous’ blind corner.
I can support Phil on all his arguments about Church Street – having lived further along for over 40 years – believe me I know the issues.

5. The report on WTC finances gave the impression that all was looking good and that there were sufficient funds in reserve. It was noted that WTC will start paying the 20 year mortgage it has taken out on its recent purchase of the ‘Old Police Station’

6. Other items discussed.
a) Kings Dyke crossing, no great further news, other than there had been ‘Men’ in Yellow reflective jackets’ see around the site. Potential good news was that Peterborough City Council now plan to carry out work at the A605 Pondersbridge turning at the same time the Bridge work is done – just one lot of disruption.
b) Must Farm – on-going meetings.
c) Neighbourhood Plan – good feedback from the Public Workshops which took place.
d) Police Station purchase – architects had been asked to do costing and this will be brought back to the Council at the next meeting.
e) CCTV a shortish debate took place on the 2018-2021 Service Level Agreement – most councillors seemed in favour of keeping the system, stating that since we did not have a Police Station any more, there was a need for CCTV. Further next month.
f) Community Rail Partnership – I have reported all the latest in previous posts…
g) Manor Play equipment, The Lions had raise funds and had obtained a grant to buy equipment for the Play area – focusing on younger childrens equipment.

Some no so good news…. The ‘repairs’ to Ramsey Road (somewhat dangerous in places is an understatement) will now NOT be carried out in January (Not a good time) as previously planned and is now scheduled for March 2018

So besides a lot of catch up after our fantastic holiday in Canada & USA with phenomenal autumn colours …went to pick up a ‘newish’ car on Wednesday and had quiet a shock, when the credit card machine pumped out the final balance….now having worked for and with the Americans a lot of my life – I am hyper sensitive about my ‘credit rating’ – nothing less than 100% – but I think this one would have caused some problems….it is genuine and has not been doctored other than my personal details removed.
 

I do plan to attend and will report on the meeting.

The Mayor of London sent this to me….see below…
Nice for people who live, work and play, but what about the rest of us….only recently pollution levels in March (measured by Friends of the Earth) revealed astonishing level of pollutants.
Our expert local on these matters Peter Baxter has been campaigning and lobbying for some considerable time now to get a better understanding of how we stand in Whittlesey.
Yes I know there are some ‘basic’ monitoring carried out, but Peter and ‘some’ of his friends would like more in-depth and definitive testing carried out.

Well I’ll start with some very positive news about Whittlesey Railway Station, at long last – there maybe some ‘small’ but significant improvement on the horizon – having bumped into Cllr Simon King yesterday, he informs me that ‘Funding’ for small improvements at Whittlesey and Chatteris Railway Stations has been obtained.
In Whittlesey’s case the main priority is to install better lighting, there is of cause ‘always’ a sting – The money allocated has to be ‘spent’ in this financial year – Network Rail need to approve the works and this is where the problem lays – notoriously slow in any decision making.
Plus – no one wants the work to be carried out – only to find NR comes along and digs the lot up for some reason – watch this space.

On attending yesterdays AGM of Rural Cambs Citizens Advice in Buckden, there were NO councillors from Whittlesey represented, and only Wisbech Councillor Simon King representing Fenland attending.
There was however about 5 Councillors from St Neots who made representations.
Citizens Advice is a very important facility for everyone to access, you never know when you may need their help, assistance or advice. Here in Whittlesey the CAB attend ‘most’ Fridays at The Library – you need to make an appointment as there are limited ‘slots’
I’ll not dwell too long on all the facilities available but point in the direction of the ‘new’
Rural Cambs CAB Website which has everything you need to find out and a pathway to advice….. https://www.citizensadviceruralcambs.org.uk/

The Road Victims Trust is a charity dedicated to supporting people who have been affected by the grief and trauma of a death or life changing injury resulting from a road traffic collision.  Jason Ablewhite, the Police and Crime Commissioner, supports the charity to provide services in Cambridgeshire.  These services are available to family, friends and colleagues of the person who has been killed or injured as well as those that have witnessed the collision.  You can find out more about the organisation on their webpage – www.rvtrust.co.uk

Special Service of Remembrance

On Sunday 19th November 2017, the Road Victims Trust is holding a service of remembrance to celebrate the lives of people lost on the roads of Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.  This service is held as part of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Victims at Great St Mary’s Church, Senate Hill, Cambridge from 11.15am.

The service will be led by the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, the Bishop of Ely and emergency services personnel will be in attendance with the Police and Crime Commissioner.  The Road Victims Trust would like to extend the invitation to the public.  For further information or to confirm attendance, please contact the Road Victims Trust directly – lindak@rvtrust.co.uk

The original application to carry out recycling work at the old Saxon Brickworks was in 2012 – since then there has been a change of ownership.
I must state that I live about 1 km away and on occasions there is some almighty banging and clattering happening there – probably wind direction has some play in it.
It would appear there is a letter from Cambs CC going around, which is causing some confusion – residents thinking this is a new application – which it is not. There is still some remedial work ongoing to shore up and stabilize the pit itself.

I hope you are all keeping well and safe now that the nights are beginning to draw in. People’s minds seem to have turned to Christmas already – my daughter has finished her shopping which I find disconcerting! If you are thinking of buying a device for someone who isn’t very familiar with the world of all things cyber, please help them to keep safe online. The police have sent me a handy Christmas checklist just for this which I have attached. J As you probably already know from my previous email, next week I will be out and about with the police in libraries to chat about this.

Of course, before that we have Halloween, the police have kindly also provided a poster to print out if you or one of your neighbours does not want to be ‘trick-or-treated’! The link can be found here :-  https://www.cambs.police.uk/A-Z/Halloween.aspx
(Scroll to the bottom and click on ‘Halloween Poster for no trick-or-treating’).

A few weeks ago it was confirmed that CCleaner a popular anti-virus programme had been the subject of a malware infection which compromises the security of the machines it is installed on. The tool is used by millions to keep their Windows PCs running smoothly. CCleaner users are advised to immediately install the latest version of the software and perform a system scan using the anti-virus software.
We have had a spike in complaints about a fake People’s Postcode Lottery letter attached, please watch out for it. We have been in contact with the genuine Postcode Lottery and they have confirmed that this is a scam.

Although it was a while ago now, a PCSO recently informed me of an incident in Duxford where a workman stopped by a house and pointed out a missing tile. They claimed that as it happened they had been working on a house round the corner and had all the required ladders and gear. The cost was considered a little expensive for one tile
(£75 I believe) but for convenience the resident agreed to the work being carried out.
All seemed fine (it even matched!) until it rained and the previously sound roof leaked very badly. The workman had removed a tile from a hidden part of the roof near the chimney to use in the repair thus causing several hundred pounds of damage when the rain cascaded inside, down the side of the chimney. Please be wary of any uninvited caller offering to do maintenance. Some of you may also remember quite some time ago I warned about a doorstep caller who offered to clean patios at an inflated price (leaving an awful mess).
He’s back in the area so please beware. He has been visiting South Cambs but I’m sure he is out and about all over Cambridgeshire so if you are approached I’d advise being very wary. Reliable tradesmen can be found through the Trading Standards initiative ‘Buy with confidence’. https://www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk/

I have been informed of several scams where payment is requested by iTune cards or vouchers. ITunes have a warning on their page as follows:

‘A string of scams are taking place asking people to make payments over the phone for things such as taxes, hospital bills, bail money, debt collection, and utility bills. The scams are committed using many methods, including gift cards. As the fraudsters are sometimes using iTunes Gift Cards, we want to make sure our customers are aware of these scams.

Regardless of the reason for payment, the scam follows a certain formula: The victim receives a call instilling panic and urgency to make a payment by purchasing iTunes Gift Cards from the nearest retailer (convenience store, electronics retailer, etc.). After the cards have been purchased, the victim is asked to pay by sharing the 16-digit code on the back of the card with the caller over the phone.

It’s important to know that iTunes Gift Cards can be used ONLY to purchase goods and services on the iTunes Store, App Store, iBooks Store, or for an Apple Music membership. If you’re approached to use the cards for payment outside of the iTunes Store, App Store, iBooks Store, or Apple Music, you could very likely be the target of a scam and should immediately report it to Action Fraud.’

Along similar lines, Amazon have put out this warning:

Amazon UK customers have again been targeted by a new email scam that attempts to access their personal accounts through the promise of a £50 gift card.

A fresh batch of fake emails offering a voucher for amazon.co.uk have been circling the inboxes of their UK customer base.

This is the second time in under a month that British users of the world’s leading e-commerce company have been the recipient of phishing emails.

Last month Amazon users were subjected to an attempted trick that claimed there was a problem with a recent order from the shopping site.

This time around customers are thanked for their loyalty before being invited to click a link that reveals the remainder of a code which will entitle them to £50 of online store

Elaine Mountfort
Community Protection Officer
People and Communities Directorate

Next week I will be visiting libraries with some of our local police officers to help remind people to keep safe online. Please come along if you would like any advice or help regarding protecting your personal information or avoiding scams. Everyone is welcome so please let anybody who might be interested know. We are going to be at the following locations:

 1^st November – March Library (10:00-12:00)
                          Peterborough Serpentine Gallery (12:30-14:30)                         

2^nd November – Histon Library (10:00-12:00)

                          Ely Library (13:00-15:00)

3^rd November – Huntingdon Library (10:00-12:00)

                            Cambridge Central Library (14.00 – 16.00) 

On Thursday 23^rd November, 10.00 to 12.00, we are holding a Friends Against Scams session in Moreton Avenue Community Room (lounge) in March. This will be followed by sessions across the county in the New Year and it would be wonderful if any of you would like to come along. Friends Against Scams is a National Trading Standards Scams Team initiative which aims to protect and prevent people from becoming victims of scams by empowering communities. Friends Against Scams is designed to inspire action, highlight the scale of the problem, change the perceptions of why people fall for scams and make scams a community, regional and national topic. By attending a Friends Against Scams awareness session (or completing the online learning), anyone can learn about the different types of scams and how to spot and support a victim. With increased knowledge and awareness, people can make scams part of everyday conversation with their family, friends and neighbours, which will enable them to protect themselves and others. The sessions are roughly two hours long (with a break of course) and you get a pin badge and certificate to recognise your completion of this valuable session. Of course, many people will not be able to attend, particularly those with busy lives or caring responsibilities so The Trading Standards Institute provide this training as an online option (you still get the badge and certificate), which you can access at www.friendsagainstscams.org.uk.

This only takes 30 to 45 minutes so might be a good alternative? I’d be interested to hear any feedback if you take a look. Please let me know if you would like to attend a session or have contact with a group who might welcome this. It’s all free! 

Kind Regards
Elaine Mountfort
Community Protection Officer
People and Communities Directorate

Telephone: 01954 286006 or 07810153604
Email: elaine.mountfort@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Michael Froment (Police, PCSO, Fens)

There has been a burglary in the location of Sudbury Court (Off Stonald Road) on the 26th October.
Please contact in if anything was seen or heard. Large items have been taken. Investigations are ongoing.
Thanks (Call 101 if any information)