Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

I reprint my article from January 2013 – It does take a long time to get things done.
But when it happens it is very worthwhile and rewarding.

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Roy Gerstner
Article from Peterborough ET 1978…..

I have lost most of my hair! maybe caused by the stress of a great deal of inactivity from various council officialdom over the past 35 years….
Perhaps some of our ‘younger’ councillors and there are not many of them…. would have been in their ‘nappies’ or shorts, when campaigners like myself have always been passionate about our Town and Villages.
Yes there maybe some small success, but as a Fenland Town – Whittlesey has been left behind similar Towns through the lack of funding……
There maybe social networking, modern education and engagement…..but I ask – were ‘they’ listening to our issues of 35+ years ago, or are the same ‘they’ still a little hard of hearing what ‘we’ the Tax and Rate payers are trying to get across…..
There have been so many ‘lost’ opportunities for either a By-Pass or the elusive bridge over Kings Dyke….. lets be practical…. its not going to happen anytime soon….

I am very grateful to Mr Yorkie on SL© for expanding his ‘encounter’ with an unknown – ‘lurking’ around town.

My encounter was by the Bricklayers Arms, I had noticed this car pass me as I walked down Station Road and as I made to go across the end of the green triangle he emerged from Scaldgate.  He called me over waving an AA road atlas saying he was trying to get to Dover and had spent 3 days trying to get out of Whittlesey (which banana boat did he think I came off !!).  He said he had been working on an Italian Building site here and had been laid off and had been paid a lot of money but also made out he didn’t have a lot of English about him but he understood what I was saying just like when we speak.
All the while he was asking questions like are you retired, are you married and the final straw was what is your chest size !!  To which I said to him i’ve had people like you approach me in Whittlesey before but trying to sell me watches, with that he decided it was time to move on after I had told him which way to get out of Whittlesey and basically how to get to Dover.  If I get someone else approach me I won’t let them give me the spiel but will tell them that there are 5 ways to leave Whittlesey they being the 4 points on a compass and in the back of a police vehicle !!

So beware, and if you are approached use the ‘Yorkie’ method….and if possible get the registration/make/colour of vehicle it might help the Police.

Dear Customer,
Your account safety is our top priority.
We detect unusual activities related to your account, we are upgrading security to our terms and conditions regarding the protection of your account.
Please ………… to verify your account to avoid closure.
Virgin Media Account Team.

(I have done the survey it is pretty easy and straightforward -RG).

Practices to offer and promote online services to patients, including access to records, online appointment booking and online repeat prescriptions.
As most of our members are aware, N.A.P.P. has been supporting the Patient Online programme for almost two years.  We have been asked to distribute two surveys  – one for those who DO NOT use online services and the other for those who do..  These are intended to be complete by individuals, so we would be grateful if you would forward them to as many of your members as possible.
The closing date for the surveys is Thursday 18^th February 2016.

Patient Online have created 2 surveys, for those aged 18 years and older, to collect information so that NHS England can get a better view about how patients feels about booking and cancelling appointments, ordering repeat prescriptions and viewing their medical records online.  This is a follow up survey to the one that took place during Dec 2014-Jan 2015. The information will be used to shape and improve future online services.

The survey will take less than 5 minutes to complete and your responses are anonymous and will remain confidential.

Please complete Survey A if you DO NOT use any online services (access to records/appointment booking/online repeat prescriptions) currently at your GP Surgery.  

Survey A – https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/975b1718

Please complete Survey B if you DO use any online services (access to records/appointment booking/online repeat prescriptions) currently at your GP Surgery. 

Survey B – https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/7a02aa19

Thank you
Kind regards,

Edith.
Edith Todd
Trustee and Administrator, N.A.P.P.
19 Harvey Road,  Walton on Thames, Surrey, KT12 2PZ

Whilst I appreciate that 8,000 households receive Discovering Whittlesea©, there are many who do not, I am pleased with one of our correspondence sending me this latest.

(Click on picture to enlarge)
(Click a 2nd time to enlarge again)

Planned Tour of Cambridgeshire Cycle Race Survey….Are you in favour or not..

http://www.whittleseytc.com/have-your-say/tour-of-cambridgeshire-cycle-race/

 
Market Street                       All of Whittlesey, Coates & Eastrea

Eastrea Road @ Larkfleet Roundabout!                     Bellmans Road !

© Pictures ‘The Poke & Daily Mirror.

As always click on picture to enlarge…..

Simple – If you know some of the pitfalls – these ‘scammers’ believe me – they dupe hundreds of people with this type of e-mail….everyday…

Fraudsters are sending out virus infected emails that claim a package has been seized by HM Revenue & Customs upon arrival into the United Kingdom. The official looking scam emails claiming to be from Royal Mail contain a link to a document which will install malicious software on your computer designed to steal credentials like account names, email addresses and passwords.

An example email reads:

Title: Your parcel has been seized
Royal Mail is sorry to inform you that a package addressed to you was seized by HM Revenue & Customs upon arrival into the United Kingdom.
A close inspection deemed your items as counterfeit and the manufacturers have been notified. If your items are declared genuine then they will be returned back to you with the appropriate custom charges.
You may have been a victim of counterfeit merchandise and the RM Group UK will notify you on how to get your money back. Please review the attached PDF document for more information.
Document (RM7002137GB).Zip
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.

To help the spread of the virus, the email also says: “you will need to have access to a computer to download and open the Zip file”. If you receive one of these emails, do not click on any links or download any attachments and report it to Action Fraud.

Protect Yourself

• Royal Mail will never send an email asking for credit card numbers or other personal or confidential information.
• Royal Mail will never ask customers to enter information on a page that isn’t part of the Royal Mail website.
• Royal Mail will never include attachments unless the email was solicited by a customer e.g. customer has contacted Royal Mail with an enquiry or has signed up for updates from Royal Mail.
• Royal Mail have also stressed that they do not receive a person’s email address as part of any home shopping experience.

If you believe that you have been a victim of fraud you can report it online http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud or by telephone: 0300 123 2040

The ‘newbies’ on SL© have not read the multitude of previous posts, along with my own several articles….so lets revisit briefly.
Here are some ‘Dashcam’ photos from my own car. In the past I’ve left the registration plate untouched, but this could cause issues.

It is not for an individual/members of the public to take the ‘law’ into their own hands.
If someone is ‘caught’ speeding either by official camera’s or the police themselves, the ‘evidence’ has to stand up in a court of law if needed. Most speeding offences are ‘fixed penalty notices’, some drivers who wish to fight the case, then have to deal with the CPS, the crown prosecution service. Have their day in court and have to provide evidence.

(Click on picture to enlarge)
Most of us now who have installed ‘Dashcams’ do so in case of accidents, insurance companies now will in most cases accept this as ‘evidence’….it has of course its pro’s and con’s….what do you do with the ‘evidence’ if you were at fault?
I was contacted by a South Wales police force, who had my registration from their own cameras, asked me whether I had seen or had ‘evidence’ of a serious traffic accident which happened on the opposite carriageway a few seconds earlier. Yes I fortunately had the recording and passed onto them.
‘Dashcams’ come in various forms and software. Most have a micro SD card to store the video/and or audio. It has limited capacity, therefor after say 4 to 6 hours, will overwrite the previous ‘files’, I keep several SD cards.
There are a lot of outlets now selling Dashcams, including Halfords who will sell and make a very good installation job for around £200:00 – well worth it if you ‘think’ there are too many ‘idiots/boy racers’ on the road.
If you have ‘issues’ with speeding, our NHW will have our local police team ‘prioritize’ the area – remember the ‘limited’ resource our policing team have, they can not be there 24/7.

Yes very occasionally, there will be the ‘camera van’ along North Bank.
As previously published, but due to ‘cut backs’  there is now only (1) operational camera van, shared between 3 counties, and those who speed know this…..

Having been an original member of the group, we are kept very informed as to what is happening at our surgery. It is NOT a forum for complaints (There is a set procedure for this). However the group are very engaged and have made some excellent suggestions which the practice has taken up.
Here are the minutes of the last meeting.

PPG Minutes 110116

Excellent Notice Board – Maintained
by Peter Davies Member.

Dear Members & Friends of Whittlesey Street Pride.

Six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world.   It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy in 1929 and popularized by a 1990 play written by John Guare.
  
Well this morning it was 6 degrees outside and all 16 of us felt that we were only 6 steps away (or fewer) from at least 6 pieces of litter.

Together we collected 31 bags ,a tyre, a stereo, a suitcase (with luggage tag attached!), a window frame and a large door.
I special thank you to Rob Boddington and Chris Nicholas who used their vehicles to collect roadside material.

Future Events.
Saturday 13^th February   10am  (PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF VENUE FROM THE PREVIOUS EMAIL)
Whittlesey Cemetery.
Meet at the entrance on Cemetery Road
We have been asked by the Cemetery Committee if it would be possible that we could help them to clean up again, as we did two years ago from around the graves and surrounding areas. This is the only date that is convenient for both groups.
Wednesday 10^th February  7pm
Whittlesey Street Pride Management Committee meeting.
The Meeting Room at The Manor Leisure Centre (next to the main hall).
We still have spaces for 2 new committee members. If you could give up an hour every couple of months to shape the future of Whittlesey Street Pride then you would be very welcome.
Wednesday 17^th February  7:30pm
Bi-Monthly meeting in Whittlesey Town Hall.
All members and friends welcome to attend.
Thank you to all who attended today.

Without your support there would be no Pride.

I look forward to seeing you at the next event.
Rob Kent.
Treasurer

OFFICERS
Chairman – Fred Mills                     Vice Chairman – Bernard Gray-Esson
pongofred1@sky.com                        mail@bandsge.plus.com
Secretary – Peter Davies                 Treasurer – Rob Kent                                              peterdaviesgb@aol.com                     robkent@usa.net

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Alan Hobbs    David Palmer    Margaret Palmer     Min Mean

Whittlesey Street Pride are a volunteer group established in 2008 as an environmental impact group. Since their inception, the group have removed in excess of 40,000+ Kgs of litter & rubbish from the town and surrounding villages. We have 9 Gateway projects, ranging from floral boats to plough gardens and adopted laybys. We are a community based group under the umbrella of Fenland District Council.

We are self-financing and are grateful to the many local businesses for their generous support and sponsorship.

Just to update you – the latest on the Whittlesey works is that they have slipped by a week. There was a problem with the temporary lighting gantries not being taken down in time for the roofers to start last Monday (18^th), however they were removed this weekend and the roofers should finish by the 7^th February.
The 4 weeks internal works will start from 8^th February. Therefore fingers crossed we are looking to be reopening the library either the 1^st or 2^nd week of March depending on when we can gain access to the main area and the internal contractors painting and carpeting the area we are using now.
I will of course update you with any changes.
Kind regards.

The Library is partially open at present.

Pauline
Cambs Country Council

Whilst I am fully sympathetic to Julian H, he is ‘missing’ ‘years’ worth of information regarding speeding issues at Pondersbridge. His best source to get ALL the information is from Cllr Ralph Butcher (His FDC & CCC councillor) Ralph was ‘engaged’ with a person called ‘Phil’ who had moved to Pondersbridge and caused absolute ‘mayhem’ with his ‘ideas’ to sort ‘everything out’ in Pondersbridge. One thing that did succeed was the implementation of a 30 mph speed limit.
Phils next quest was to build a cycle route from Pondersbridge to Whittlesey, claiming he had the finances in place to do it. Phil had ‘many’ other fantastic idea’s and lobbied our MP, councillors and myself. Phil wanted everyone to ‘fix’ the issues but somehow could not  get
(Picture RWT Photography)     directly involved himself (Bad back).

Cutting the story – Phil disappeared from Pondersbridge after causing ‘mayhem’ back to Manchester, where I am informed he is trying to do the same there.
So Mr Julian H on Streetlife© you are more than welcome to contact me, or meet up with me.
Speed Limits are primarily the Polices responsibility.
A few months ago, I tried for the umpteenth time to get the community involved in ‘Speedwatch’ – very successful in other parts of Cambs….
Shall I tell you how many people contacted me – NONE.