Fletton Quays proposals ‘bland and indifferent’

07:08 Tuesday 8th December 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: Plans for the Fletton Quays development in Peterborough lack vision and should be deferred until better plans are made. Those are the views of the Peterborough Civic Society, ahead of the decision on whether outline planning permission will be given to 280 homes, 14,000 square metres of office space and a hotel on the huge riverside plot. Peterborough City Council’s planning committee will assess the latest proposals this afternoon. This has been rumbling on for years, and the South Bank is still bare and still really a bit of an eye-sore. Back in July our reporter Will Fyfe went down to the site for a look round.
WILL FYFE: For sometime now Peterborough has been considered one of the fastest growing cities in the UK. But if you step just 500 yards outside of the busy city centre over onto the other side of the River Nene you’ll be confronted with something more like this, no cars, no people and certainly no shops. I’m stood on the South Bank of Peterborough. In theory it’s 20 acres of prime riverfront land, but in reality it’s nothing more than a derelict car park. Just over the water in front of me you can see the outline of the iconic Peterborough Cathedral. The site used to be home to a Matalan and a B&Q about ten years ago, but they decided to move across to the other side of town. And it’s very obvious standing here that in that time nature has risen up and taken back the site. There’s literally buddleia bushes about nine, ten feet high where cars should be parked in the car park. And alongside a lot of the vegetation here there’s also a darker side, graffiti, beer cans or drug paraphernalia. For all the shortcomings however, pretty soon we could see quite a big change on this side of the river. £120 million has been put on the table by investors who want to see this land become the site of more homes, offices and leisure facilities, even including a 160 bed hotel. So what would people think to such a drastic change? I caught up with June and her son, who have been walking their dog down by the site for the past decade.
JUNE: The only thing is it’s been left derelict, and it’s such a shame, because we just think, when we go to York or Lincoln and you’ve got that river and you’ve got some life on there, it’s pleasant, and it draws in the people. So there’s fors and againsts. Maybe if they did do something nice it would attract people to be on the river. It will just go to derelict rack and ruin, and I’m not being funny, and then you’ll get squatters maybe. Like I say it would be nice. It depends what was over there.
SON: They could do up maybe the trees as well and make it look a bit more better, the river front, because everything’s just overgrowing.
WILL FYFE: So describe it for us now. We’re literally stood on the opposite side.
JUNE: Just over-run with overhanging trees and bushes, innit.
WILL FYFE: If the idea makes it through planning then we could very soon see this stretch of waterfront turned from rubble in to riches.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Will Fyfe reporting there back in July. So in terms of who is responsible for these plans which have been put forward for this development, Peterborough City Council is in a joint partnership with a developer called Lucent. Together they form the Peterborough Investment Partnership. Lucent provides the funding. The City Council provides the land. They’re working together to come up with a vision for this area. However, David Turnock from the Peterborough Civic Society thinks there’s not really enough vision going on. Morning David.
DAVID TURNOCK: Good morning Dotty.
DOTTY MCLEOD: What’s the problem then with these plans?
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Secularists celebrate Butler-Sloss report

17:51 Monday 7th December 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

STEVE JACKSON: Almost half of us now say we’re not religious, overtaking the number who say they’re Christians. But do our public institutions, the Monarchy, Parliament, schools reflect Britain’s diverse and secular values? Do we need a change from all of this?
(CHORAL MUSIC) (SERMON)
JUSTIN WELBY: … the new Queen, goes alone, not to the Coronation Chair, but past it: to kneel at the altar in prayer. Before her on the High Altar the words ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and Christ’.
STEVE JACKSON: Well that was the Archbishop of Canterbury officiating at the 60th anniversary service of the Queen’s coronation. But a major new report says our major institutions should take account of the more diverse nature of society in Britain, which is also less religious in many ways. A two year Commission on Religion in Public Life has come up with a list of recommendations, including a call for the Government to scrap the legal requirement for religious assemblies in state schools. The Chair of the Commission Baroness Butler-Sloss said they’re not trying to do down Christianity. They simply want to recognise the role of other faiths.
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Controversial care contract folds without warning

17:09 Thursday 3rd December 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: It’s been revealed this afternoon that a consortium which was set up to look after community care in Cambridgeshire has ended, with all parties saying it’s no longer financially sustainable. The consortium was made up of Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust. The £800 million contract was the biggest outsourcing of the NHS care in its sixty year history, and yet eight months later it has apparently broken down. Only back in July, just three months into the contract, the Chief Executive of UnitingCare, Keith Spencer, told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire they’d made a promising start.
KEITH SPENCER: From 1st April we managed to transfer services safely, and 40 from the Community Services staff transferred to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust. But we’ve also introduced two new services. So on 6th May we introduced OneCall, which is a 24/7 single point of contact co-ordination and source of advice, in the first instance for GPs. But we will be extending that to patients later in the year.
CHRIS MANN: So that was Keith Spencer speaking in July, the Chief Executive of UnitingCare. Then today came that news. Well earlier I spoke to Jo Rust. She’s the Regional Organiser of Unison, and she began by giving me her reaction to the news.
JO RUST: Well I’m totally shocked, because we were actually at a management meeting with senior managers in CPFT the mental health trust that oversees UnitingCare, and there was no inkling of it whatsoever there.
CHRIS MANN: When was the meeting?
JO RUST: Yesterday.
CHRIS MANN: And they didn’t say anything?
JO RUST: No. Nothing at all. We know that the Finance Director wasn’t there. He was at a meeting with the CCG, so it could well have been that was the reason for his absence.
CHRIS MANN: I think ordinary people will be baffled. Patients will be baffled at what’s going on here. Give us your interpretation.
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Lifebuoys could be worse than useless

8:55 Tuesday 2nd December 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: But we’re going to talk first about these missing lfe-rings from alongside the River Cam in Cambridge. They were replaced only last week. They’ve now gone missing again. It’s been all over social media among the local Twitterati. So what happens next? Let’s speak to the River Manager Jed Ramsey from the Cam Conservators. What do you make of this then Jed?
JED RAMSEY: Going missing? It happens all the time. I think it’s a good reason to not have them there at all. That would be my view on that one.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Do you not need them there though for safety reasons?
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County schools languish post academisation

10:43 Tuesday 1st December 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: The education watchdog Ofsted has just announced its annual review of school in the country, and it doesn’t make great reading for Cambridgeshire. The chance of a child attending a ‘good’ secondary school less than half, and it’s amongst the lowest ten authorities in the country. A damning assessment really of our county’s education record and surely pours doubts over the academy system, doesn’t it? Let’s go and get the latest on that from Andrew Cook, who is from Ofsted. Morning Andrew.
ANDREW COOK: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: Not great news for Cambridgeshire is it?
ANDREW COOK: No it’s not good news for Cambridgeshire, and you know I’ve been on your show before to highlight our concerns around Cambridgeshire, particularly secondary schools, where like you say, there’s less than a 50% chance of a student in Cambridgeshire going to a ‘good’ or better secondary school.
PAUL STAINTON: What’s going on?
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Daniel Zeichner on the Syrian issue

17:10 Monday 30th November 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Jeremy Corbyn will grant Labour MPs a free vote on extending UK air strikes against so-called Islamic State into Syria. The Labour Leader, who opposes military intervention, has requested a two day debate in the House of Commons. The news comes after he spent the afternoon meeting his Shadow Cabinet team, many of who are likely to support air strikes. The Labour backbencher John Woodcock supports action in Syria. He says MPs should be free to vote according to their consciences.
JOHN WOODCOCK: The only way through this if we’re going to maintain Labour Party harmony at all is to allow people to vote according to their own judgement on this, given the very strongly held and expressed views, which would mean a free vote, rather than a whipped vote.
CHRIS MANN: Labour said three quarters of rank and file members polled by the Party are against air strikes in Syria, but some frontbenchers had warned of possible resignations if the Party leadership had forced a collective opposition. Earlier today, one of Mr Corbyn’s closest allies, the MP Diane Abbott, said she believed the Leader should force MPs to follow his lead.
DIANE ABBOTT: We’re a party of government, and a party of government have to have a position on matters of peace and war. And the problem about a free vote is it hands victory to Cameron over these air strikes. It hands victory to him on a plate. I don’t think that’s what Party members want to see.
CHRIS MANN: The Prime Minister says dropping British bombs on Islamic State targets in Syria will help make our streets safer. Let’s get reaction now from the Labour MP for Cambridge Daniel Zeichner, who is the Shadow Housing Minister, sorry Shadow Transport Minister sorry. Daniel, afternoon to you.
DANIEL ZEICHNER: Good afternoon Chris.
CHRIS MANN: So where do you stand, first of all on the free vote? Good idea, or not?
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Loneliness and ill health go hand in hand

08:27 Monday 31st November 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: We mentioned earlier on the issue of loneliness, and a new study has found that being alone is just the tip of the iceberg for some older people. This is a report from academics at Anglia Ruskin University. It found that many older people who are suffering from loneliness are more likely to suffer also from a long term illness or disability and have an overall low enjoyment of life. Dr Claire Preston is a Research Fellow at Anglia Ruskin University and is based in Cambridge. Morning Claire.
CLAIRE PRESTON: Good morning.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Do you know which causes which here? Is it more likely that being lonely makes you ill, or does an illness make you more likely to be lonely?
CLAIRE PRESTON: It’s actually both, and it works at its worst in a vicious circle, where the two things feed into each other. There are particular aspects of health where there’s a weight of evidence persuading that actually loneliness causes that health condition.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So what kind of things?
CLAIRE PRESTON: That’s actually cardiac problems.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Seriously?
CLAIRE PRESTON: Yes. And I think the mechanism is to do with stress. So cardiac and vascular problems, there is evidence out there. A researcher in America called Cacioppo , and you might have heard earlier this year there was a lot of research about obesity, and he was saying it’s worse than obesity. Loneliness is worse for your health than obesity. And because of that work there’s now a recognition that it is a public health issue.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And this study that you’ve carried out, it was looking at a phone line, wasn’t it? This is quite an interesting way of going about it.
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Cottenham the venue for Victoria Pendleton’s first competitive ride

08:19 Friday 27th November 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Let’s talk about an event that’s happening this weekend. The double Olympic gold medal winning cyclist Victoria Pendleton is preparing to make her competitive horse racing debut, just nine months after first climbing into the saddle. She’s set to take part in the Cambridge University United Hunts Club point-to-point at Cottenham, which is just outside of Cambridge on Sunday. Point-to-point is a form of amateur horse racing over fences. Victoria is taking part in the Switching Saddles Challenge, with the aim of transforming from a complete novice to riding at the world’s most prestigious jumps racing fixture, the Cheltenham Festival in March of next year. Well earlier I spoke to James Crispe, who is a racing commentator with the International Racing Bureau based in Newmarket, about her competitive point-to-point debut, and the differences between riding a bike and a horse.
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