There is a misprint in the local magazines.

The signing of the contract for the preferred bidder has been put back by ‘a couple of weeks’ to ‘August’ (2017). I am informed that this latest delay will have no adverse effect on delivering the project next year (2018).
I also understand that although an official contract for the required land has not yet been signed, agreement with the landowner as to the terms is in place.

Further to my previous posts and updates, I spoke with County Councillor David Connor that represents Whittlesey South (County Council), David is also of the opinion, that the application falls short in several respects in how it has been put together.
Having now read the whole application I do note that Whittlesey Town Council have placed an objection (Page 19 of the application) logged on the 14th April 2017.
Fenland District Council have also placed an objection.

At last some sensible news, on researching the PCC Planning meeting for the 4th July, the application is recommended for refusal by council officers, there will still be a robust debate I would imagine. A lot depends on the argument and support given by councillors to the officers recommendation.

The document is below and is interesting reading…

Here we go folks, yes you have guessed it – The Closed Toilet is still closed – we’re getting near 4 months being out of action. My informant tells me….The latest is not of FDC’s making….really…. This week I am told that ‘The Technical Person’ turned up to make the repair….but wait for it, came with the wrong parts and went away.
How nice to come back after a few days away, thought I would catch up with my ‘missed’ hours of Litter Picking – I had a good 3 hours around town and found 3 full bags of rubbish – it must have missed me and some of my friends being here.
Today some Low-Life managed to drag a pretty manky mattress to the Bower Tow-Path.
I have reported it and hopefully it will be gone in a day or two, I can not understand the ‘effort’ involved must have been much more than taking it to the Recycling Centre….but then it may have been closed and they couldn’t wait….

How refreshing to see the frequently updated Hampton Parish Council noticeboard, full of information, what councillors have been up too and future events, of course we have our own Noticeboards – mine showing the one in Eastrea (taken some time ago I might add) that was little used, we now have of course our WTC website, but I don’t see many updates from our Councillors in respect of what campaigns they might carrying out for us.
Hampton councillors ‘appear’ to be addressing Parking and Littering issues – how nice?

The planning application for the Anaerobic Waste Plant at Horsey Toll is taking place at Peterborough City Council on the 4th July.
At ALL recent public meetings at WTC I have not heard once this topic/item mentioned – I am aware that County Councillor David Connor was on the case but I’ve had no updates as yet.
The update from the Ward Councillor in Peterborough Cllr Chris Harper can be found by
Clicking Here

I am unaware as to whether any Whittlesey Town Councillors are attending this meeting.
If the plant is allowed to go ahead – it will have significant adverse effects to the A605 in both directions.

There is a WTC Planning meeting Wednesday 5th July

The Great Fen

Rain, rain, rain, sorry we are elsewhere this week -Oulton Hall near Leeds, nice hotel with spa and pool, with fantastic food.
Yesterday met up with some of my Seafaring friends Captain Roger Bancroft and wife Lindsay, Roger and myself sailed on a fantastic voyage in 1974 to the Pacific Islands including Tahiti before a commercial airport opened –                                                                                                                       
Also pictured Chief Engineer Ray Appleyard who I also sailed with during the 1970’s and 80′ more than a few ‘Salty Stories’ exchanged over a few beers.

Today an excellent day out at the Royal Armouries.

Good Neighbours Coordinators,
I am pleased to say that a large percentage of Cambridgeshire’s No Cold Calling Zones are now led by a local resident which is fantastic news and our Good Neighbours Scheme is also proving popular with over 30 schemes now in place across Cambridgeshire. Welcome to our new coordinators and thank you all for your help. I hope these updates are proving useful to you all.
Be wary of people calling you claiming to be from The Telephone (or Mailing) Preference Service asking for payment to complete your registration. TPS/MPS is a FREE service. TPS have also been made aware of an overseas company claiming to be BT, asking for your credit card details to stop unwanted calls. This is a scam. BT advise on their website to never give out your credit card details over the phone.

Another one to watch out for… We have been made aware of a resident who had a phone call recently from a man advising that he was from the police. He claimed that following the latest terror attacks, the resident’s email had been flagged as having been involved in the attacks. The caller was very aggressive and was demanding a £350 payment to ‘stop’ the problem by logging on to her PC. He called the resident up to 10 times the following day threatening that they would go to jail if they did not make payment. The resident is elderly and lives alone and was struggling to cope with all these calls so our team have become involved to help stop these phone calls. If you hear of anything like this, please try to reassure the victim and do let us know if you think we can help.
We have also had a message from the Action Fraud team warning of a text message scam. This is known as ‘smishing’ (SMS phishing!). It enables criminals to steal a victim’s money or identity, or both, as a result of a response to a text message. Fraudsters are targeting victims via text message, purporting to be from their credit card provider, stating a transaction has been approved on their credit card. The text message further states to confirm if the transaction is genuine by replying ‘Y’ for Yes or ‘N’ for No. Do not respond to these messages (or to text ‘stop’ to a strange number to stop text messages). Through this method the fraudster would receive confirmation of the victim’s active telephone number and would be able to engage further by asking for the victim’s credit card details, CVV number (the three digits on the back of your bank card) and/or other personal information.   Protect yourself:

• Always check the validity of the text message by contacting your credit card provider through the number provided at the back of the card or on the credit card/bank statement.
• Beware of cold calls purporting to be from banks and/or credit card providers.
• If the phone call from the bank seems suspicious, hang up the phone and wait for 10 minutes before calling the bank back. Again, refer to the number at the back of the card or on the bank statement in order to contact your bank.
• If you have been a victim of fraud or cyber-crime, please report it to Action Fraud at http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/ or alternatively by calling 0300 123 2040

Please take care of yourselves and (as always) if you would rather not receive these little updates please let me know.

Kind Regards,
Elaine Mountfort
Community Protection Officer
Corporate and Customer Services Directorate

Telephone: 01954 286006 or 07810153604

Email: elaine.mountfort@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

The information in this email is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you receive this email by mistake please notify the sender and delete it immediately. Opinions expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Cambridgeshire County Council. All sent and received email from Cambridgeshire County Council is automatically scanned for the presence of computer viruses and security issues. Visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Well, it wouldn’t be Sunday if I repeated for the past 12 weeks that The now for-ever ‘Closed Toilet’ is still……wait for it!!!! …. still closed – well blow me down am I surprised.
I am beginning to think this is a bit of a challenge between myself FDC & WTC councillors, to see who gives in first….Well if ‘they’ are thinking that way…they’ve picked the wrong man. I will continue to HIGHLIGHT this now travesty for as long as it takes.
It is an embarrassment to our council (Who are not actually responsible for the toilets) but would seem to be inept into getting this issue sorted for once, and the FDC councillors who tell me they are on the case – 12+ weeks on the case….Now I was told in good faith that The Toilet had been fixed – although something went wrong shortly afterwards!!!!
So let Me apologise for having to bore you with this for never ending saga…I am sorry to bore you (R.G.)

How about a bit of what is known as ‘Inconsiderate Parking’ thanks to my correspondent who sent me these pictures of said Range Rover at West End, who parks not for minutes but for several hours – frequently ….The police have been informed….Park with more consideration….Chelsea Tractor Person….

We were all blown away by the fantastic performance of one of the UK’s premier entertainment ‘organist’ – Mr Chris Powell who performed a vast array of music.
His performance on the ‘Roland Atelier’ organ was bliss to ones ears – The small but very happy audience at St Andrews Church last night were there to support of Christian Aid,
Both Connie & I enjoyed the one and a half hour performance – all for £8pp
Might not be everyone taste in music – but it was very well worth it and for a good cause.

   
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Visit Chris Powell on his website Click Here

Success comes in small amounts and we should be proud of ‘our’ small achievements. For those of you who could not attend Thursdays meeting, one of the items of concern raised was a cold caller – who was Young, Good looking and Charismatic in his approach. ‘I am calling to apologise for the noise and inconvenience which we may cause, we are working a few houses down.’ He blabs on for a while until he reaches the ‘REAL’ reason he is there – Selling Windows and Doors etc. No I.D. visible, a few of our team had already been visited – although no law as such is being broken, it is against cold calling rules which all companies who do this type of selling must sign up too.

The very next day (Friday) our member Averil C – herself just arrived home to find a knock-knock on her door. She was given the same blab as above, but when she asked to see where ‘they’ were working, the story changed to‘ Well we haven’t quite started yet.’ After the Young, Good Looking and Charismatic man left, Averil called 101 and got through fairly quickly, she relayed her story to them.

The Police contacted our (2) PCSO’s (who were present at Thursdays meeting) – they were in Chatteris at the time. They came over to Whittlesey, tracked down the guy along with two others and their Boss Man. Words of advice was given and a dressing down on Trading Laws/Selling etc, plus the No show ID was raised. Although not illegal as such, but with lots of scammers around knocking on doors, it is rather refreshing that this incident turned out well – and thanks to our small team in blue – it was not an emergency but they have done very well in this occasion. Please be very aware – and please tell your neighbours – Do Not Open Doors to Strangers…..If necessary speak through the letterbox, Always ask to see I.D. – do not always believe a telephone number on the I.D. – call a number either from your Bill, Bank, or check on the Internet, the genuine caller will wait 5 minutes if necessary. Better still place a No Cold Calling Sticker in Your Windows and Doors, it may not do much, but may send a message to the would be person at the door.

Thanks to Averil….