Hilton Parish Council know the power of the council is in its community. You are the voice of the people. That is why we are calling on you to stand for election in May 2022 to help #MakeAChange in your community to help improve the lives of residents. Find out more at www.nalc.gov.uk/elections or contact the Clerk – .
The next bout of local elections is coming up in May 2022.
Hilton Parish Council has joined with the National Association of Local Councils to call on all community heroes to stand for election to help #MakeAChange. Find out more at www.nalc.gov.uk/elections or contact the Clerk – .
Thousands more rural homes and businesses in Cambridgeshire have been earmarked to get UK-leading full-fibre broadband built in their communities after County Broadband announced its latest multi-million-pound rollout plans.
East of England provider County Broadband has added 21 villages to its expanding rollout of fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) infrastructure in rural Cambridgeshire. The villages are located within the St Neots and Huntingdon areas.
Full-fibre delivers fibre cables directly into premises to provide gigabit speeds (1,000 Mbps) that are around 11 times faster than the UK average and can be upgraded to 10,000+ Mbps in the future.
Full-fibre infrastructure provides access to gigabit speeds and superior network reliability. It is replacing existing part-copper ‘Superfast’ networks around the UK which have been declared unfit for purpose by the government. The old Victorian infrastructure is unable to keep pace with modern data demands accelerated by the pandemic such as hybrid working, business services and streaming.
County Broadband is using tens of millions of pounds of private investment from Aviva Investors to design, build and deliver full-fibre networks to thousands of premises across rural East of England.
Each village needs to give the green light to the rollout proposals before work on the estimated 18-month construction projects can begin.
In total, County Broadband is working within 56 villages in south Cambridgeshire. Of these, work has finished and the new full-fibre network has gone live in 14 villages. These communities are now benefitting from some of the fastest and most reliable speeds available in the UK.
James Salmon, Director of Sales and New Territories at County Broadband, said: “We are excited to announce our rollout plans to future-proof another 21 villages in Cambridgeshire with world-class full-fibre broadband infrastructure that will provide gigabit-speeds and bullet-proof reliability.
“As an East of England company, we are committed to helping Cambridgeshire become a flagbearer for future-ready digital connectivity. Crucially, we have secured millions of pounds of private funding to spearhead our ambitions, meaning we can start planning today to meet our growing future needs.
“Demand for home and business internet connectivity has reached a record high, partly due to the pandemic. More and more data-hungry devices require ever faster, more reliable broadband. Combined with our new online modern lifestyles, the reality is that our current part-fibre, part-copper networks simply cannot cope any longer or provide the service we all expect and require.
“Our new full-fibre infrastructure will allow residents and businesses to continue remote working, stream simultaneous 4k films, documentaries and live sport, or just simply enjoy online banking, shopping and other online services without any network disruption or frustration.
“It is also important to emphasise that building full-fibre infrastructure in rural locations at this scale is a complex task. Each project requires significant planning, resources and time. It involves the coordination of highways, landowners, civils works and advanced fibre optic engineering. That’s why the sooner we start, the sooner our future-ready full-fibre service will become available.”
The 21 villages earmarked in County Broadband’s latest rollout in Cambridgeshire are: Boxworth, Buckden, Diddington, Elsworth, Eltisley, Grafham, Graveley, Great Paxton, Great Staughton, Hail Weston, Hilton, Knapwell, Lolworth, Midloe, Offord Cluny, Offord D’Arcy, Papworth St Agnes, Perry, Southoe, Toseland, and Yelling. The total number of premises is just over 6,000.
Over the coming weeks, County Broadband’s community teams will be meeting with residents and businesses in each village to explain the rollout plans in more detail and help secure local support.
Councillor Peter Balicki, Chairman of Hilton Parish Council, said: “We welcome this fantastic news that Hilton has been earmarked to receive future-ready full-fibre broadband infrastructure and benefit from the UK’s fastest gigabit speeds and far superior network reliability.
“Our current fibre to the cabinet infrastructure, which is part-fibre and part-copper, limits our broadband speeds, whilst devices are becoming more data-hungry. Many processes now rely on faster broadband speeds, which renders our current infrastructure unsustainable.
“The lockdowns and restrictions that were put in place during the past two years have highlighted just how much we now rely on reliable and fast broadband to live, work and play – from simply staying in touch with loved ones to home entertainment and working from home.
“The construction of a new full-fibre broadband network in our village is the only way we can receive the internet speeds and reliability our residents need and we look forward to working with County Broadband’s teams and learning more about their plans to future-proof our village.”
Councillor Paul Goodyer, Vice-Chairman of Great Paxton Parish Council, said: “This is fantastic news that our village has been earmarked to get UK-leading full-fibre broadband infrastructure built, so that we can join the Premier League of broadband villages.
“Our residents and businesses need faster speeds and better network reliability today, let alone in the future, to support the new work from home culture, provide unlimited streaming entertainment, and support local business innovation.
“We now need to come together and ensure there is sufficient local demand. We therefore look forward to welcoming County Broadband’s teams into our community and learning more about their rollout plans for Great Paxton.”
The government is relying on privately funded, local full-fibre providers like County Broadband to help meet its flagship target of providing nationwide gigabit speeds by 2030 as part of its levelling up agenda.
Residents and businesses can register their interest at www.countybroadband.co.uk to help ensure the sign-up requirement to build the infrastructure is reached. People can also use the online postcode checker tool to see if they’re covered in any of the rollouts.
The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is calling on all community heroes to step up and become a local parish councillor at the 2022 elections.
What do councillors do?
Local councillors are the champions of their community who invest time in local projects and issues to the benefit of residents and the neighbourhood. Councillors attend to local needs of residents, local groups and businesses, make decisions on local services, collaborate with district and borough councils to adhere to local needs, and progress vital projects to invest in the future of the community.
What do councils do?
Councils lead on community services such as footpaths, public seating and litter bins, but also larger projects such as the running of local transport, leisure services, youth services and climate change initiatives. These activities are funded by a local tax, called a precept which is determined by the council.
How long does it take?
NALC’s Local Councillor Census Survey found that councillors put aside, on average, three hours a week for council work. Council work often includes attending meetings, engaging with residents and speaking to local groups and bodies on behalf of the council.
Can I stand for election?
You must be:
How can I get involved?
Contact your local council at or visit www.nalc.gov.uk/elections to find out more.
Hilton Parish Council is taking part in a national campaign to encourage residents in England to stand in the 2022 local elections.
The aim of the Make A Change campaign is to call on people – especially those undiscovered community heroes – who are passionate about our local area to put themselves forward to be elected to sit on a local parish council as a councillor.
Today, there are 10,000 local councils in England, with 100,000 councillors. They are the heroes of their communities and give residents a voice on the decisions the council makes. With this campaign, we want to let prospective councillors know that through the work of a councillor, they can make a real difference in our community.
The work our council does is both exciting and rewarding. An integral part of this work is the job councillors do: engaging with local people, groups and businesses to find out their needs; making decisions on the services and projects the council should take forward; and getting involved to ensure services are meeting the community’s needs.
We are now asking people who want to improve the quality of life for their fellow residents to see Hilton Parish Council as a tool to make that change and stand for election.
In March most years, the Parish Council organises an ivy-cutting party to try and keep on top of the growth that threatens to strangle our trees. Because of lockdown last year, rather than organise the normal working party, we encouraged volunteers to do some ivy cutting on their own. In the event this proved surprisingly successful, a lot got done and people appreciated the flexibility of carrying out the work to suit their busy lives. Let’s use the same format once again in 2022.
If you are willing to work unsupervised, I would like to invite you to contact me so that I can give you a few brief instructions and co-ordinate the effort across the village.
Although it is up to you just when you carry out the work, the plan is to make the period Saturday 12th to Sunday 20th March ivy-cutting days. If you can spare some time; 30 mins, an hour, or longer, please contact Ian Stott:
The decision meeting between the CCC Traffic Manager and our County Councillor was held as planned on Monday 14th February. At this meeting, the decision was taken to implement the proposal as published.
The full decision notice can be read here: B1040 Hilton Decision Record 220214
We have received communication from Cambridgeshire County Council to state that they received an objection in response to the published proposal, so this matter will need to be resolved via the Council’s Delegated Decisions process.
This means that all representations are to be determined by the Council’s Traffic Manager in consultation with the local County Councillor on Monday 14th February 2022. You can view the report that will be considered via this link – DDM 14-02-22.
We will be informed of the outcome of the meeting in due course. Alternatively, you will be able to access the decision via the above link a few days after the meeting.
Hilton Parish Council has been awarded a grant from the A14 Legacy Fund to improve the bank of the Ware in Graveley Way. The bank of the Ware along Graveley Way has eroded over the years and has previously exposed underground electrical cabling. If this erosion is allowed to continue there is a danger that the road will be compromised.
The scope of these works has now been agreed with the Parish Council, Highways England and the Highways Department of Cambridgeshire County Council. The plan is to install galvanised steel posts in the pond with a pile driver, 1.8m apart from each other and 1.2m away from the tarmac. This will run from the Tithe Close end of the pond all the way to the footpath at the Potton Road junction. Concrete gravel boards will then be inserted between these posts with a timber capping board running the entire length of the wall. The area between the tarmac and the gravel board wall will be backfilled with soil to match the existing verge height and then seeded upon completion.
These works will be carried out in short sections under stop/go boards traffic management. The materials have been ordered, and the start date is 1st February 2022.
If you would like to contact Hilton Parish Council please use the form or e-mail the Clerk at: clerk@hiltonparishcouncil.com. You can also telephone; 01480 830605
Agenda Draft Minutes