Combined Authority backs mayor to save bus route to Peterborough
On Wednesday the authority board approved funding for the at-risk section of the 33 service. Bristow said: "This is an essential service for communities that were at real risk of losing their only public transport link to Peterborough. "I'm pleased that all of our constituent councils supported the proposals and there was widespread agreement among the Combined Authority Board. "I hope this brings some relief to people in Eastrea and Coates that there will still be a bus service for them from September this year."Stagecoach East will continue to run the Whittlesey to Peterborough section of the route commercially. While the route has been saved, the bus company announced five others would be withdrawn from 31 August. These included: 9/X9 (Cambridge – Ely – Littleport)31 (Ramsey – Whittlesey – Peterborough)604 (Milton – Impington Village College)606 (Cambridge City Centre – Impington Village College)607 (Trumpington – Sawston Village College)Bristow said: "We can't replace every commercial route when an operator pulls out, but where the case is clear, like it is here, we must act. "I am making tough choices to deliver value for taxpayers while protecting our rural communities."
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14 minutes ago
- BBC News
The East Anglian artisans keeping their heritage crafts alive
Traditional skills - some of which have been around for millennia - are at risk of dying out because so few people practise them. Three artisans, whose heritage crafts are on a national Red List, have given their thoughts on what can be done to pass their skills to the next generation. 'We need to do manufacturing ourselves' Daniel Bangham is an endangered to national charity Heritage Crafts - which promotes and supports traditional UK crafts - there are "serious concerns" about the "ongoing viability" of his trade of 45 instrument making, which Mr Bangham does at his own workshop in Linton, Cambridgeshire, is among more than 90 crafts it classes as are just enough skilled craftspeople to keep the work going, and to educate others - for now - but more is needed to be done to safeguard its is clearly a demand for his work: top musicians still need bespoke instruments that are not mass-produced."Professional players depend on craftsmen to get the last five to 10% out of their instruments," said Mr Bangham."Without the instrument maker, you can't have musicians at the top of their game because a top musician will need constant contact with a maker and repairer to get the very best of their instruments." Manufacturing of woodwind instruments - as with many other things - has moved to East Asia, he says, but the reliance on imports needed to change. "As a nation we need to do primary manufacturing ourselves, everything from steel, through to making microscopes and musical instruments," he said."People will still want to hone their skills, but they have to be given the opportunity, the environment and the encouragement."Heritage Crafts has singled him out for praise for being one of the few people to take on years ago, he set up a workshop studio to teach skills to others."We have enabled 250 instruments to be made, and of those we have had four people who have become professional," he Mr Bangham believes the trade could die out because apprenticeships are "not easy or affordable"."Very often someone will go into a profession obliquely, they never thought they were going to go there," he said."They started making a small widget, found they would be good at it, then got more interested in the bigger picture and became a dedicated craftsman." 'You never stop learning' You may have seen examples of Ian Warren's craft, but perhaps not known what it is or moulded plasterwork - pargeting - is prominent in East Anglia and is used to create motifs of coats of arms, fruits, animals, or even entire scenes on has been a skilled craft in England since King Henry VIII brought in Italian plasterers to decorate one of his palaces. Mr Warren, who works out of Tillingham, near Southminster in Essex, is one of just 11 pargeters known to Heritage Craft. "You can see it around Lavenham and Clare [both near Sudbury in Suffolk], where they had men with more money," said Mr Warren."They had pargeting done to let everyone know that." Heritage Crafts believes the issues affecting pargeting include changing tastes in housing design and the strict restrictions imposed by conservation legislation. It can also be expensive and takes time, which does not correlate with competitive tendering Warren has seen all these problems, as well as commonly-used materials not being up to the task."Modern rendering is now resin, it's not sand, cement and lime anymore, it's prebagged and it doesn't lend itself to pargeting," he explained."Flat rendering is cheaper and some [building] designs are very boxy; it looks wrong on a modern house."Nevertheless, he is hopeful for the future. He has diversified by pargeting on to small panels which can be hung inside as works of art "that will last hundreds of years"."I've been doing it 35 years and I've never been out of work, but I have adapted by doing these smaller things," he said."I started doing panels to take to shows, and because I don't like going up scaffolding in the winter anymore."There are builders and developers, especially around here, that still want that look, it's sellable."Heritage Crafts points out that practitioners need "considerable artistic talent" and also want a labour-intensive is no training school, apprenticeships or courses beyond the occasional introductory day school."You never stop learning," said Mr Warren, who is self-taught. "I think you need to be like myself, you've got to be enthusiastic and work for yourself."You have to have a bit of artistic flair in the first place."I could teach someone to a standard, but they have to have that bit about them to take it on their own." 'People have done this for centuries' Mark Clifton's trade of flintknapping - the shaping of flint by "percussive force" - has been around since the Stone Age but could die out because of a skills shortage. Heritage Crafts says the work is "extremely challenging" - it requires technique, accuracy and good hand-eye Clifton, who works out of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, type of flintwork is for the building sector, with Mr Clifton breaking the stones to specific sizes and shapes to create a flush finish on walls. It is time consuming, back-breaking work, with few skilled people still doing it in the UK."I spend half my time on my knees, and as you get older it gets painful," he said."It's a very manual job."You break the flint in half and then you trim it to fit them around each other, and then fit into the wall." Churches and other heritage buildings need the real deal like Mr the shortage of craftsman - and lack of training opportunities - means that, elsewhere, cheaper walls are often created by pressing the stones into concrete as a "short cut", Heritage Crafts says. "Not enough people are getting into it," added Mr Clifton."There are just a handful of good ones, across the country."I fell into it... I'd never knapped in my life but had done whole stone, had slightly the wrong tools to begin with, and went from there. "It's quite a skill."He said he hoped its growing popularity as a feature of modern buildings could be its saviour, but colleges needed to offer courses. "It makes me sad that it could die out," he added. "People have been flintknappers for centuries. "When you think people would quarry flints and knap them at Grimes Graves [a prehistoric flint mine in Lynford, Norfolk]."I still might train someone; I've had apprentices in the past, they've stuck to the course, some have now done it for 28 years." Published annually by Heritage Crafts, the Red List categorises five skills as extinct, 70 as critically endangered and more than 90 as endangered."The Red List underscores the urgent need for greater investment and support to safeguard these skills for the next generation," said Daniel Carpenter, executive director of Heritage Crafts."Reversing this decline would represent not just the continuation of skilled trades, but also a significant boost to the UK's cultural heritage and countless opportunities for future innovation." Follow East of England news on X, Instagram and Facebook: BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks, BBC Cambridgeshire, BBC Essex, BBC Norfolk, BBC Northamptonshire or BBC Suffolk.
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Row over 'cheeky' Deepings homes plan
A row has broken out over new housing in City Council (PCC) has been accused of being "cheeky" for wanting to put new homes close to its border with The Deepings in Lincolnshire.A council spokesperson said "the area's young people need new housing".However, Councillor Phil Dilks, of neighbouring South Kesteven District Council (SKDC), said it would "put more strain on infrastructure". The Deepings, which includes Deeping St James and Market Deeping, currently has 6,276 homes, according to the 2021 has allocated a further 1,800 homes in the area under its local plan, which is currently out for public has also earmarked some nearby land, just into its border, to take 1,050 houses, in its local plan, which is also being consulted on. If both plans get signed-off by the government, the total number of homes in the area would increase by 45%. Judy Stevens of Deeping St James Parish Council said residents were worried about the prospect of more housing without extra facilities such as shops and schools."People already feel let down because they have been promised increased infrastructure as a result of already existing new developments and that hasn't translated into reality," she said."They're not saying not in my backyard, but they are saying no to this many." Dilks, who represents Deeping St James on SKDC, said: "Market Deeping and Deeping St James are entirely in South Kesteven District Council. What Peterborough are looking at is a piece of land south of Market Deeping."We have made our views known to Peterborough and I think it's a bit of a cheek when clearly those people would be using the infrastructure that is already strained in The Deepings".Councillor Nick Thulbourn, cabinet member for growth and regeneration at PCC, agreed anyone buying the new houses in its area would use the public amenities over the border in he said any strain on infrastructure would be factored into the local plan when it was adopted."Peterborough is a young growing city so we need housing and we need for young people to get on with their lives," he said. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Singer asks Cambridgeshire councils to stop sending waste
A singer has uploaded a song to YouTube that called for two councils to stop sending waste 400 miles away and recycle it closer to home. Dry recycling from Cambridgeshire has been transported to Newry, Northern Ireland, since March by waste management firm Re-Gen, after it won a contract with the Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council in singer Colum Sands, from Northern Ireland, produced Time for Talking Rubbish, as a "song-letter" to the councils in which he asks if they would "store leaking rubbish all along the River Cam?". In the song, which has had more than 1,000 views, Mr Sands says "throwing rubbish somewhere else does not achieve the end". Cambridge City Council in February said Re-Gen had plans to open a materials recovery facility on the UK mainland "within the first half of this year". At city council meeting on 24 July, however, Green Party councillor Jean Glasberg said there were "still no signs that a new UK mainland [material recycling facility] has been acquired by Re-Gen, or that such an acquisition is due to take place". As reported by the Local Democracy Service, Glasberg went on to ask what steps the authority had taken to "investigate this apparent failure".Labour councillor Rosy Moore, cabinet member for climate action and environment, said there had been no "failure" as the contract had been awarded based on the Newry facility, and that the plans to acquire a mainland facility had only been made known went on to state that Re-Gen was still continuing to pursue acquiring a UK mainland material recovery facility, but said she did not currently have an update on this facility yet. Mr Sands, who is also part of the campaign group Rostrevor Action Respecting the Environment, said he believed that Re-Gen were "struggling with the amount of waste it was processing". People living near Warrenpoint Port, near Newry, have complained about the smell of compacted rubbish from a Re-Gen facility at the harbour. However, Re-Gen said that the waste from Cambridgeshire was mixed dry recyclables "which is recycled at our state-of-the-art facility and is not stored at Warrenpoint Harbour". Re-Gen added its "strategic goal" was "to acquire a [material recycling facility] in Great Britain". Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
