CONTENTS 20 mph zones Annual highways maintenance return Electric Vehicle Charging, Community Energy and Street trees, Orchard Park Adults & Health, Unpaid Carers and National Care strategy Local Government Reorganisation   20 mph zones 20 mph zones Histon & Impington A 1 year report into the effectiveness of 20mph zones has demonstrated they have reduced average speeds by around 4mph. Histon & Impington’s data ‘Following the speed limit reduction, average speeds in Histon (main routes only) reduced from 26.2mph to 22.4mph (-14%). Most vehicles (85%) were travelling below 31.4mph prior to the speed limit reduction and this reduced to 28.5mph afterwards ( 9%). Analysis of the B1049 (Cottenham Road) between The Green and the northern edge of the village suggests that average southbound speeds have reduced from 31mph to 28mph (-10%) and northbound speeds have reduced from 32.3mph to 29.3mph ( 10%). The speed below which most vehicles (85%) were travelling also dropped slightly (-8%). The reduction in vehicle speeds in Histon shows a strong statistical significance which suggests that the reduction is a result of a material change rather than fluctuation or chance. The scale of the reduction in Histon (9-14%) exceeds the scale of reduction across Cambridgeshire more generally (2-4%). Collisions Based on 7 years of data since 2017, prior to the speed limit change there were an average of 4.4 collisions per year, ranging between 2 and 9 collisions each year. In the ’after’ period following the speed limit change there was just one collision reported which suggests that collision numbers might have reduced (-77%). The scale of reduction in Histon exceeds the scale of reduction across Cambridgeshire (-12%). This provides fair confidence that there may have been a decrease in collisions, albeit a very early indication as collision numbers fluctuate year on year.   Impact of speeds A review of existing research shows that the relationship between vehicle speed and road safety outcomes is well established: research indicated that a 1% reduction in mean speed produces a 2–4% reduction in injury collisions, a 5% reduction in mean speeds would reduce fatalities by approximately 20%. Pedestrian fatality risk rises sharply with impact speed, from 10% at 24 mph to 50% at 41 mph. Even a 1 mph reduction in average speed is associated with up to a 6% increase in risk. Cost effectiveness The cost of the entire zone was around £24,000.  This is less than the cost of installing two pairs of speed cushions, making this a very cost effective way to reduce speed and increase safety at scale in Cambridgeshire.    Orchard Park I have been advised that the 20mph zone will be installed  before Christmas, it’s the 3rd time I’ve had similar promises, so I relay this information with a degree of scepticism.   Read the report on 20mph zones here Highways & transport committee, 1 September 2026   Table below Annual highways maintenance return A new innovation of this government was the requirement to submit an annual return detailing Highways Maintenance performance and value for money in order to retain the maximum level of government maintenance funding.  This is good and bad – it forces councils to demonstrate they are spending the money well but means government has centralised decisions about how best to manage local roads government has no information about.  Fen roads are collapsing due to climate change this is an issue which costs £100 millions to fix. Government is limiting spend on this causing significant problems for rural communities.  Highlights table below.

Annual highways maintenance return

Annual highways maintenance return

A new innovation of this government was the requirement to submit an annual return detailing Highways Maintenance performance and value for money in order to retain the maximum level of government maintenance funding. 

This is good and bad – it forces councils to demonstrate they are spending the money well but means government has centralised decisions about how best to manage local roads government has no information about.  Fen roads are collapsing due to climate change this is an issue which costs £100 millions to fix. Government is limiting spend on this causing significant problems for rural communities. 

Highlights table below.

Electric Vehicle Charging, Community Energy and Street trees, Orchard Park

I contacted the county council in regards to the above issues this is their response in full.

EV charging:

On-street EV charging is wrapped into a contract under the Local EV Infrastructure Fund that is currently being procured. This part of Orchard Park is not included within the LEVI bid as one of the required areas to provide on-street chargers, due to the restrictions of the funding. However, the team have made a note and will ask the provider, once appointed, to consider this area as part of their commercial offering which they are required to provide as part of the contract.  The Council is also developing a trial of allowing gullies – where a household has their private charger on their home and uses the gully to trail their cable safely across the footway – however this would require residents to be able to park directly outside their homes and to meet certain criteria listed on the linked webpage. 

Trees: – [ officer details redacted but I have several meetings scheduled in September to keep up momentum on this and get a full strategy. ]

Community energy opportunities:

The team have looked into all of these and considered some others in the vicinity. The table below summarises the position:

   

Adults & Health, Unpaid Carers and National Care strategy The county council is inviting unpaid carers to share their experiences in order to shape services. A series of workshops will take place between September 2026 and March 2027 the workshops will build on feedback received. If you’re interested please contact Commissioning.FPTeam@cambridgeshire.gov.uk   Meanwhile nationally The Big Conversation on Care was launched 29 July by government the commission is seeking views which will shape the National Care Service there are number of ways to share your views.  Baroness Casey’s commission website is here  

Local Government Reorganisation No decision, lots of bickering, Peterborough has submitted a new option, government decisions on other areas have not followed government’s advice. If we see 3 unitaries here they will all be cash strapped. Government claims elections will happen in May 2027.

UPDATE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION EVERYTHING PAUSED!!!