And what have we to show for it?
The Joint Project Group seems to have been trying hard, but the lack of enthusiasm from the authorities, particularly Huntingdonshire District Council, is exceptionally disappointing.

You'd have thought the authority would be keen to attract some new businesses so that it could charge them business rates, but no, it appears that they want to drag their feet, put up as many bureaucratic barriers as possible and isn't interested in setting up a meeting with a cinema operator itself.

The majority of the town wants a cinema, a dedicated group are doing their best to get one, but the penpushers seem determined to stand in their way. So until I see it, I'm not going to believe it.

As a footnote, I was also amused that the leader of the town's Lib Dems seemed to be out of sync with the town mayor, also a Lib Dem.
Mrs Franks
St Neots

>> Four months ago the St Neots Cinema Joint Project Group said it would try to find an operator and location for a St Neots cinema by the end of 2007.

Last week Dr Johnson, chairman of the JPG, announced a national cinema operator had been found for the site first identified by the JPG on Huntingdon Street. This was very good news and should have been welcomed by all town councillors.

Months of work have been carried out by JPG members, letters written, statistics prepared, emails, telephone calls, project plans, meetings with operators, developers, surveyors, councillors, council officers and more. When Dr Johnson kept her promise to report back at a given date she first sent her report to Cllrs Giles and Eaton.

The JPG had achieved something which Cllrs Giles and Eaton have failed to do in four years. Without referring the proposal to St Neots Town Council, both lashed out against a member of the public not involved in local politics and who has worked relentlessly for the residents of St Neots.

The result of their onslaught has led to an exasperated district council going into denial and loss of the cinema proposal. Cllr Giles claims he has his own cinema project; to-date this has consisted of a summer trip to Cleethorpes and a proposal to spend £10,000 next year on yet another consultant.

It's a sad day when two individual councillors have the power to block our chance of a cinema.
Shame on them!
Barry Chapman
Conservative councillor
St Neots Town Council


Council should take the Low Road
>> Who at Cambridgeshire County Council is responsible for the timetable for the Low Road between St Ives and Fenstanton and when are they going to leave to spend more time with their families?

Here is a what's been happening and will probably happen in the future.
>> 2006/2007: Close the Low Road for four to five months for work on flood defences.
>> January 2008: Close the Low Road due to flooding.
>> 2008: Close the Low Road from the beginning of February to early June for bridge work. Why was this work not done when the road was closed last year? We were warned early last year that this work needed doing.
>> 2009: Close the Low Road due to flooding.
>> 2009: Close the Low Road from January to who knows for the repair of drainage drains which should have been maintained annually.
>> 2010: Close the Low Road due to flooding.

When will someone realise that the county council is subjecting the residents of Fenstanton to difficulty and risk. The only way home for them to come from St Ives is to queue and join the dangerous and congested A14 at St Ives, travel in the slow lane as the filling in a lorry sandwich and leave the road at the next junction.

Surely this is one of the most dangerous ways of using this road.
The Low Road needs effective maintenance and management.

The road closures should be used to address the problem of Fenstanton High Street being used as a rat run and a car park for A14 users.
P E Marsh
Cherry Tree Way
Fenstanton

Thanks for cancer support
>> Macmillan Cancer Support would like to thank Catherine Stokes.
Catherine held her 50th birthday party at The Golden Lion in St Ives and raised £400 for us, just because she wanted to.

She felt Macmillan Cancer Support is a 'super charity' and if she could help someone in need of our support, then this was the way to do it.

Geoff Coles, treasurer of the Huntingdon Committee of Macmillan Cancer Support (MCS) received the cheque on February 1 at the Golden Lion.
Di Polley
Chairman of the Huntingdon
Committee of MCS