Guide price £500,000, freehold
Extended semi. Downstairs: Entrance hall, WC, kitchen/dining room, family room, living room.
Upstairs: Four bedrooms, bathroom.
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Garage in nearby block.
Author: chris
Internal Communications Officer – Internet Watch Foundation
The Internet Watch Foundation on the Vision Park are recruiting for this role.
Internal Communications Officer 12 months fixed term contract – 3 days per week to work with the Project Change Manager and the Communications Team to ensure that all areas of the organisation are kept informed and engaged with the change programme. The IWF’s ‘Project Change’ is a transformation programme to lead IWF into the future, to better support Members, help them meet the requirements of increasing global regulation, supercharge their technical capability and ultimately benefit victims of child sexual abuse. You will develop an approach that focuses on constructing messaging, presentations, reports and other relevant collateral that supports the programme, with a strong focus on people. Apply by Sunday 2 March 2025.
A big high five for HI HUB!
As HI HUB celebrates five years of hyperlocal journalism here in Histon & Impington, Amanda Borrill reflects on how local news is every bit as important as the headlines splashed across national media.
Take yourself back to 1 February 2020 – the calm before the storm. A brand new style of community communication in the form of hyperlocal journalism was about to launch here in Histon & Impington and was quickly going to prove more valuable than any of us could ever have anticipated.
Launched into a socially distanced ‘new normal’
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For HI Fibrecrafter Moira Neal – lockdown was a time for making masks. Within weeks of HI HUB’s launch, in an attempt to shield us from the COVID-19 pandemic which was ripping across the world like a murderous wildfire, the UK entered lockdown and the virtual world would soon become our ‘new normal. Working lives were about to change dramatically. Working from home made the need to be online savvy more important than ever, and the arrival of the Zoom call – our pathway to maintaining a link to friends, family and neighbours – offered a new way for the community to come together and share in social and commemorative events.
HI HUB’s focus veered towards tightening community connections as we strived to encourage the village to sign up to our weekly newsletter. Restrictions on public gatherings left our What’s On pages looking sadly bare whilst our News started to fill with vital health notices from the local GP and info from our village schools. Features focused on pandemic related topics including ways to make use of your daily outdoor exercise allowance, how to get a socially distanced drink and stories of how people were using their time getting creative and finding ways to give back to the community.
We covered charitable missions, sourdough baking, jam making, virtual scout camps, nurturing our frazzled mental health, keeping our sanity in lockdown and, ultimately, at the end of 2020 the long awaited news from Cambridge’s Addenbrookes Hospital of a potentially life-saving vaccine.
HI HUB’s role in the community was beginning to take shape and the need and value of a trustworthy independent news source becoming ever more apparent.
Getting to the heart of local politics
Nowhere is reliable fact-checked information more valuable than during election season. Regulated by Impress (the independent monitor of the press), HI HUB operates within strict codes of integrity with a full complaints procedure in place.
Image Marc Hatot Pixabay Party political broadcasts and door-to-door leafleting deliver a certain level of news but information and answers on those local issues that really matter to a community can be harder to come by. In its five years of publication, HI HUB has covered the 2024 general election, introducing its candidates to those with the power to elect them; reported on multiple local elections including District and County; explained boundary changes; and alerted residents to by-elections and Parish Council (PC) elections too.
Reporting of news from our Parish, County and District councillors is vitally important and HI HUB has offered our community a deeper insight into the activities and decision making of our local representatives – not without a little controversy along the way. Without HI HUB’s reporting, though, where would the community have read news on the very real topics that impact us all; including planning decisions, Parish Council spending, community grants, PC meeting outcomes and more.
Supporting and assisting our community
Over the years, the editorial team has become very familiar with the topics that really matter to people and stories relating to our local GP surgery, new business, crime and what’s happening with our local pubs is always top of the weekly newsletter pops.
Back in 2022, local news met national with the country and villagers alike mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The HI HUB team worked hard to ensure the grieving community was aware of memorials and public acknowledgements including then PC Chair Denis Payne’s reading of the Proclamation of accession to the throne of King Charles III on our village green and the subsequent, happier, celebrations of our King’s 2023 coronation too.
Through our online pages, the community has been invited to read about the adventures, anniversaries and antics of many a village club or group – including the much loved HI Fibrecrafters, HI Runners, HI Drink and Draw, our community choirs, Histon Hornets, Histon FC and our long-running local Womens Institute.
Histon Beer Festival 2019. Photo Keiran Harvey Fundraising efforts by village groups and clubs are bolstered by HI HUB’s support. HI Friends’ plans ahead of and during our Queen’s platinum Jubilee celebrations were shared with our readers. Our coverage of events across the community in Features and on our dedicated What’s On pages offers free high quality publicity simply not available otherwise. Write-ups from events and initiatives including quizzes, the village fireworks, Holiday at Home, the innovative Swish, Histon Manor’s glorious events, Feast Week, the work of HI Trees, fundraising bi-annual Open Gardens and record breaking Histon Beer Festival are among those featured over the last five years.
Real lives
For the HI HUB writers, real lives matter and five years of features have seen some real gems put under the spotlight.
Steve at home with owners Clare and Jake in 2020. Steve’s heart condition sadly meant they lost him in 2022. Uplifting stories of charity haircuts and charity shops, quirky tales of benches and cat burglars, adventures underground, a parachuting pensioner, borrowed dogs on walks, dancer hitting the big time, a pitch perfect footballer, a young musician with a passion, teens with a cause, local ‘celebs’, high flying ladies, long-time village volunteers and a village’s fond farewell to a much loved community superstar.
Add to these the poignancy and very personal stories of a cancer scare, living with life-changing speech loss, a heartfelt personal legacy, coping with grief and the untimely loss of some very special people and we have five years of community collaboration, dedication and care by a team of enthusiastic writers who share a passion for communication. Long may it continue!
Thank you to everyone who has written or contributed to a HI HUB story during the past five years. We value your support immensely. To all our sponsors and supporters too – thank you! We hope to see many of you at our anniversary event this Saturday 1st. If you are interested in joining the HI HUB team, we would love to hear from you. Find out more about what’s involved here.
Pedestrians punched by cyclist near busway
Two female pedestrians in Impington were assaulted by a man on a bike on Monday.
In separate incidents at around 1pm near the Railway Vue pub, and then on the guided busway, a male cyclist shouted at two women and then struck them both on the head as he cycled past.
The first incident took place on New Road, Impington and the victim ran after the man as far as the guided busway, where she was able to take a photo as he cycled in the direction of Oakington.
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The victim described feeling shocked and said: “I felt something coming up behind me so I looked behind and saw a man on a bike racing towards me really fast. As he cycled past, he punched me in the side of the head and shouted ‘watch the road’.
“He turned back and saw me running after him with my phone out so he quickly turned away from me and cycled off. I managed to get a few pics of him and have sent these to the police. I was really shaken up and sobbing. It was the shock and violation that upset me the most”.
In addition to contacting the police, the victim also shared her photo on a local Facebook page, where a second victim replied to the post, stating that she had also been assaulted while walking her dog at around the same time, by a man fitting the same description.
Identification
Since the initial report of the crime on social media, a contact of the cyclist has reached out to the assault victim and identified the man in her photo as a vulnerable adult in the care of a professional service. HI HUB is not identifying the service at this time to protect the individuals in its care.
However a spokesperson for the service confirmed that they have been in contact with the police both on Tuesday and Wednesday this week concerning a vulnerable person in their care and the alleged assaults, and said they are “putting a plan in place to make everyone feel safe.”
They continued: “This is being dealt with seriously alongside the police, and I am dealing with the safeguarding team and the police around what we can put in place”.
Ongoing investigation
Cambridgeshire Constabulary confirmed that they are looking into Monday’s incident, and said: “A crime has been raised for common assault and is pending further investigative opportunities”.
Witnesses with further information can contact the police and use the crime reference number 35/6158/25 .
HI HUB anniversary to bring improved services
A new ‘What’s On’ email, higher profile for local traders and businesses, a sharper focus on current job vacancies, and better terms for promoting events outside the village are among a raft of new initiatives being launched to coincide with HI HUB’s 5th birthday.
Knowing What’s On
The recent closure of HILights magazine was the catalyst for re-thinking how to offer a better service to those who run events in the village.
Administrator Kate Jakubowska, who works with community groups to present their events online, explained: “The number of news items, features and events in the Thursday HI HUB email newsletter has grown a lot over the years, and we felt the events deserve higher profile.
“Most of these take place thanks to the very hard work of many local residents.
“By launching a separate email to promote them, we hope to instantly raise their profile and encourage more people in the community to support them.
“But we also recognise that the world doesn’t end at the village boundary. Whilst we only offer free listings for events taking place in the village, we also want to ensure that our community knows What’s On at other locations nearby. That’s why we have reduced the price for listing these events from £30 to just £10.”
Better coverage
Community groups are being encouraged to tell HI HUB about their events using an online form to post a What’s On listing and any posters or related photos. A news form can now be used to suggest stories, and capture details about interesting activities, achievements and initiatives in the village.
While the regular ‘News’ emails will continue on Thursday afternoons, the ‘What’s On’ email will be sent on Tuesday afternoons, aiming to give readers more time before the following weekend to open and read it, and put dates in their diary.
Also in that email will be links to the other ‘temporary’ listings, namely property for sale and to rent, and job vacancies.
Chris Cox, who runs the village Job Club, explained the changes to the jobs section: “The local jobs market has tightened a bit recently, so listing all the individual jobs available – not grouped by employers each week – will help everyone to spot the vacancies that appeal to them more easily.
“The jobs where applications are still being accepted will appear in the email, and on the website they will be tagged ‘current jobs’ and listed on a separate page.”
Business opportunities
Opportunities for businesses to promote themselves to the Histon & Impington community have also disappeared with the loss of HILights, so giving local traders a high-profile space to talk to readers was a priority for the relaunch.
Chris Cox is also in charge of the HI HUB website and email services. He said: “A very limited number of advertising slots will be introduced into the emails and embedded in the news and feature articles online, so that local businesses can continue to promote themselves to residents.
“We know that digital advertising can be very effective, but are conscious that too many adverts can be a real turn-off for readers, so we will be strictly limiting the number that appear – striking the right balance between them being highly visible but not annoying!
“HI HUB is a not-for-profit publication, so it goes without saying that all the revenues we generate from advertising go towards sustaining the future of HI HUB. We want this to be a winning formula for local traders, local residents and HI HUB itself.”
New High Street home for Hayward Moon
The property experts at Hayward Moon specialise in helping other people move house. Lucy Callington finds out what happened when they undertook their own move to sparkly new premises near you…
The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed a change on the High Street recently. Since the local branch of Barclays closed down last year, its old shop front at 13-17 High Street had been looking rather sad, unloved and desperately in need of a lick of paint. Cue property conveyancers Hayward Moon moving in, to well and truly breathe new life into this prime spot on our busy High Street.
Julia Schofield, Director at Hayward Moon is ‘over the moon’ about the company’s recent move and explains the reasons behind it to HI HUB: “We have been on the High Street for many years, however, our offices were tucked away on the first floor (above Gin House) making it difficult for clients to find us sometimes. Thankfully, we now hold a more prominent position on the High Street, which should mean you can’t miss us!”
The company has been thriving recently, so much so that recent expansion in its business and therefore its staff team had seen it outgrow its previous office space. Since opening the Histon branch (Hayward Moon has five other branches across the region) a recruitment drive saw lawyers Sharon Harding and Kerryanne Pond join the firm.
Julia says: “Our Histon office has gone from strength to strength, building up excellent relationships with clients, estate agents and mortgage brokers. As a result of this, we took the opportunity to move to premises that allowed us to expand.”
A warm welcome
So will it be business as usual for the team? Julia confirms: “Yes very much so. It will be business as usual, however, we are also very excited to show off our new reception area and conference room to clients. With a more obvious entry to the building and a welcoming reception space, it will be great to meet with customers and clients in our relaxed new environment”.
The new office is also a more sociable space which will enable the team to host events for the community such as Macmillan coffee mornings and charity events like those already hosted in other branches.
There has already been a positive reception to the company’s glow-up from the community too. Julia tells HI HUB: “We have had an overwhelming amount of support from clients and also residents in Histon and Impington. The team is looking forward to welcoming more customers and helping them on their property journeys”.
So if you’re passing, do pop in and say hi to the team!
READ ALSO: Selling your Property? Here’s how to get ahead of the game | HI HUB
Lifeline for IVC trees
The line of mature trees that was due to be cut down under plans to improve the netball courts at Impington Village College (IVC) could now be saved.
The trees form a 60m hedge that creates a natural screen between the courts and neighbouring residential properties.
Fence approved
Despite objections from neighbours, including those living on Park Drive, immediately in front of the courts, the planning application for upgrading the facilities included replacing the trees with an acoustic fence.
This was approved by the planning authority when they gave permission for the development in December 2024. They said: “the use of the courts shall not commence until the acoustic fence has been installed in accordance with the approved details. It shall be retained as such thereafter.”
But the Decision Notice also allows for variation of the permission if there is local agreement.
Change of heart
At a meeting with residents and other stakeholder last week, Ryan Kelsall, Deputy CEO of Eastern Learning Alliance (ELA), the academy trust that runs IVC, confirmed that they had listened to residents’ objections and that the trust’s preferred option was now to retain the trees.
He told HI HUB: “We can’t confirm that we can keep the trees until we get confirmation from Planning that this is supported…
“The Parish Council are following up with the Planning Department to seek confirmation/clarification; once we have this we can confirm either way.”
Courts to open
The IVC Liaison Group will now be considering whether the trees alone or a combination of both the trees and a fence would mitigate the expected levels of noise and light pollution.
Whatever the outcome, ELA is not in a position to put floodlights in place yet, as they are prioritizing progress on creating an all-weather 3G football pitch elsewhere on the IVC site.
But the resurfacing of courts has now been completed, with top dressing and lines due to be added in March. IVC students will be able to use the courts shortly, and when all the work has been completed, the public and clubs will be able to use them on a pay-and-play basis during daylight hours.
READ ALSO: Decision time for IVC netball development | HI HUB
Pothole prevention back on the agenda
Melvin Way is back on a list of roads selected for re-surfacing, but of the 91 sites across the county now scheduled for some type of surface treatment, this is the only one in Histon & Impington.
Five roads in the village were earmarked for treatment in 2022/23 when Micro Asphalt was due to be applied to prevent further deterioration and extend their life.
Although ‘carriageway patching’ was done in Melvin Way to prepare a suitable surface for this work, when inflation squeezed the highways maintenance budget, other roads in the county were deemed to be greater priorities. The pavements were pre-patched and slurry sealed in 2023, but the roadway work was never completed.
Limitations
While other streets in Histon & Impington may appear to be more deserving of surface improvements than Melvin Way, County Councillor Ros Hathorn pointed out that Micro Asphalt treatment is “like a thin layer of butter – if the potholes are too deep it won’t work”.
She told HI HUB: “It is really important to stress that this is not a ‘resurface’, and that this type of treatment is cheap and cheerful and simply not available to Pepys Terrace, Milton Road or Impington Lane as they are in too poor a state of repair. This is intended to stop the decay of roads in a relatively good state of repair. It can’t fix roads which are too far gone.”
Drop in the ocean
The newly announced plans to improve some of the county’s roads have been drawn up following the Government promise of £10 million in 2025/6 to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority for highways capital maintenance. It replaces the £2.3m potholes funding from HS2 cancellation, which has been withdrawn.
But the contribution that the £10 million will make to the backlog of highways maintenance in the region – estimated at £600 million – will inevitably be minimal, and £2.5 million of this has to be held back until the Peterborough and Cambridgeshire Councils have proved they will meet some criteria that have yet to be specified.
READ ALSO: Pothole priorities to focus on personal safety | HI HUB
Mayor advised to go ahead with bus franchising
Changes to how the bus network is managed have moved forward another step.
Bus franchising across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has been recommended to Mayor Dr Nik Johnson now the findings of a public consultation have been reviewed.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) transport committee met last Friday (January 24) to discuss the analysis from the consultation, which concluded in November last year. Over 1,600 stakeholders responded, including councils, bus companies, community groups and bus users.
The consultation proposed two potential approaches for running the bus network: an enhanced partnership model and, a more favoured model of franchising. The committee unanimously voted to recommend that the Mayor chooses franchising as the best way to reform the region’s bus network. He is due to make a final decision early next month.
Judith Barker, executive director of place and connectivity at CPCA, told the meeting: “We had to look at each case and all the representations and concluded that, to deliver the strategic objectives and to deliver value for money within the funding envelope, the best way forward was to recommend franchising.”
Current system
Currently, our bus services are mainly run by private operators which have control over the routes, timetables, ticket options, fares and frequency of buses.
Dr Nik Johnson, the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Under the proposed franchising model, the CPCA would gain control over these areas and private operators would no longer be able to independently decide to withdraw services.
Instead, operators would bid to run services under franchise contracts, with the CPCA overseeing the process and monitoring operations based on travel needs rather than profits. It also means an integrated ticketing can be introduced, where the same ticket can be used across the network.
A report put before the CPCA’s transport committee meeting revealed that 1,468 participants in the consultation provided an answer to whether they supported or opposed the bus franchising proposals.
A total of 42 per cent of responses strongly supported franchising, with a further 21 per cent tending to support, putting 63 per cent of participants in favour of the new model.
The report revealed that 18 per cent of responses neither supported nor opposed, while seven percent tended to oppose and a further seven percent strongly opposed.
Rural services ‘woefully inadequate’
South Cambridgeshire District Council responded to the consultation, saying “in principle” it supports the proposed franchising scheme.
The Council said it “wants the franchising decision to drive economic growth in new settlements” but also consider current transport needs and economic growth objectives. It particularly highlighted that “a key consideration” should be getting children and students to places of education and training.
The Busway. Photo: Guy Richardson It also shared firm words about the current situation with the consultation, saying: “The Council expects to see better bus services within South Cambridgeshire, and improved connections with other destinations such as Cambridge.
“Buses should be affordable and reliable. This is especially important for those most reliant on public transport. As a rural district, our residents have long suffered woefully inadequate bus services, and we expect these to improve significantly under a franchising arrangement.”
South Cambs added it “expects the CPCA to ensure it has the funding, capacity and capability to manage the transition and service” and is “keen to see” a transition to a net zero fleet and accessibility prioritised.
Councillor Peter McDonald, South Cambridgeshire District Council’s lead cabinet member for economic development, described the franchising scheme as “an opportunity for step change” at Friday’s CPCA committee meeting
He told officers: “We fully support the work that has been done… but please keep rural connectivity in mind, especially for those areas where there isn’t a rail connection. Then, the whole principle of franchising and having to control that bus network is increasingly important.”
Further discussions
Bus franchising will be discussed in detail at further meetings before the Mayor makes a final decision. According to a Combined Authority report, the total operational costs for franchising would be £9.65 million.
The franchising option would require the Combined Authority to acquire bus depots. The capital costs of depots in the outline business case is £31 million, funded by £5 million non-ringfenced capital grant, £4 million ringfenced capital and £22 million borrowing.
Reporting by Joe Griffin, Local Democracy Reporting Service. Additional words from HI HUB.
READ MORE: Businesses Against Abuse – offering a safe place for those in need
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Histon Post Office needs newspaper deliverers.
Immediate start.
Contact the Post Office shop counter for more information.
