Good news on path

It appears the JGA's pleas for maintenance on the green have finally been listened to.

Plans to repair the plane tree avenue path have been adopted by the city council for possible section 106 cash. In terms of city-wide priorities, this path is second on the list behind the refurbishment of the Kelsey Kerridge climbing wall (surely something of a niche activity).

That means Jesus Green could be in line for some planning gain money for next year - a better scenario than the previous situation where Jesus Green was denied any money at all because of the distant promise of millions (for a scheme we didn't want)

Well done to Tim Bick for speaking at the West/Central committee in support of Jesus Green.

Interesting how well the Newnham ward does well under the West Central area priorities. Six out of the seven area spending commitments are for Lammas Land (including improved kiosk, benches, river access shelter, shelter and paddling pool). Saying that their tennis court doesn't get a look in and it's just as bad as ours.

Jesus Green AGM

The 2009 Jesus Green annual general meeting will take place in the Octagon Room of Wesley Church, in King Street, Cambridge, will take place on Thursday, December 3 at 7.30pm.

Please inform all JGA members and anyone else who is interested in the green or who wishes to become a JGA member.

An agenda for the meeting will be published on this site shortly

Shocking state of the grass tennis courts

I don't know if anyone has tried to play tennis recently on Jesus Green. If they have, good luck to them.

You will be lucky to get on one of the two hardcourts, which are constantly occupied by foreign language students tapping the ball to each other. This is fine but you will never get tired doing this, so such games can last hours and students have not compunction to get off after half an hour if people are waiting.

The lines on these courts have not been painted this year and are therefore hugely worn out and barely visible. There is also no winder on the net so it has inevitably lost tension and sagged below the required level. This leads to people making rather pathetic efforts to raise the net just so they can have a game (either attach winders or supervise the courts and have someone raise the nets when required, if that is the approach).

Then there is the terrible state of the grass courts. These are the worst they have ever been. I played a few decent matches on those courts two years ago, but the persistent neglect by the council means they are now unplayable. The ball bounces unevenly and jags off the surface at unpredictable and strange angles. This is part of grass court tennis (as McEnroe tells us at Wimbledon) but for every bounce. The nets are also badly damaged and the fences vandalised, encouraging footballers to play on it.

This is because there is virtually no maintenance of the courts. They are mowed to an acceptable level, but there is no pre-season care (rolling or spiking, which is essential) which means the court can never be flat. Street Scene say this is because there is no roller (an excuse put forward for the proposed scrapping of the Hobbs cricket pitch), but really there is no will to get the courts up to a playable level. Offers for volunteers to take over the maintenance were ebuffed due to health and safety reasons.

Sadly it's time to scrap the grass courts. These were great fun for many years but are just too awful to play on anymore. It is a shame to lose the city's last grass courts but, in truth, we have already lost them because they are so bad.

Bring on the proposed £80K pair of hard courts so at least tennis fans can get have a chance of getting a game. 

Midsummer Fair problems and police action

This was a letter sent by Inspector Ian Lyons regarding the latest Midsummer Fair

Dear residents,

I am Inspector Ian lyons from the Cambridge City reactive policing teams. I have the responsibility of looking after community reassurance during the forthcoming Midsummer Fair from Wednesday,24th June 2009 until Monday, 29th June 2009.

It is paramount for me to hear what your concerns are regarding this summer fair, in particular the way it affects you or your local community. Once aware of these problems I can address them with you and take positive action.

So far feedback from residents shows concerns around the following:

 

      General disorder in the neighbourhood

 

      Loud parties causing disruption to the community after the Fair has finished.

 

      High volumes of traffic and parking issues

 

      Shoplifting

 

A lot of work has already been done with organisers and other partner agencies to minimise these issues. These include joint high visible patrols throughout the periphery of the Common.

For the fair site itself, this is subject to a planned police operation which has been refined over many years to deal with incidents on the site.

The fair can also have a wider effect on the local community & because of this we will have additional staff on duty many of whom will be your local officers, & the Rural Community Action Team. Whose role is to deal with the issues that affect the wider community. Please be assured that new police powers relating to alcohol based disorder will be used to direct people to leave the area in fitting circumstances - failure to do so may result in their arrest.

 

During the week leading up the fair the city council event management will be on site. They will hold daily meetings on the site at 10:00hrs  to which community representatives are invited to attend, the local police officers & community support officers will also attend. There will be signs placed out when community support officers are patrolling the area & I would urge you to make contact with them if you see them, any information will be greatly appreciated by them.

 

If you have concerns relating to a parking , then 'Legion Parking' can be contacted on 01223458500. Having already spoken to the Contract Manager of Legion, I have been assured that there will be an increase of patrols from their officers throughout the week.

 

During the week please feel free to use e-cops to pass messages to the Neighbourhood Officers. When the fair has finished, I would appreciate it if you are able to give the Neighbourhood Teams some feedback as to your general concerns relating to the Fair. Through this I will then be able to look ahead for next year.

 

Many thanks,

 

Ian Lyons

T/ Inspector