Mini Motorbikes & the Accidents Waiting to Happen

If your mini motorbike doesn't have a light you're invisible

Everyone saw an accident coming.

Everyone, except the lad on the bike and the poor driver whose car unavoidably hit him.

Just before 9pm on Thursday night (1st December 2016), a lady driving a Chevrolet Spark along London Road in Fletton Hempstead, Peterborough collided with a man in his 20s who was riding a mini motorbike. The biker wasn't wearing a helmet, there were no lights on his bike and, according to some unverified witness accounts that I read on social media, he jumped a red traffic light. The lady driving the car had no opportunity to take evasive action and the motorcycle and its rider ended their journey under that car. Our treasured MAGPAS air ambulance took the young man to hospital and it is reported that he has sustained 'life-changing injuries' including a broken pelvis. The driver of the car is, mercifully, unharmed.

The motorcyclist (and his friends and family) have learned a very hard lesson in the worst way possible. These bikes are not road legal for a reason. Even if they were, riding without a helmet is foolhardy. Riding without lights could kill someone. If you ride in the dark on public roads without lights on your bike you're invisible. No matter how carefully you think you're riding, if you cannot be seen then you're putting everyone in range of you at risk of great harm.



Yesterday, I gave an interview to the BBC Radio Cambs Breakfast Show expressing my concern about these mini motorbikes. Although the request for an interview was triggered by this incident, I have long voiced concerns about anti-social behaviour involving these bikes in many areas of Peterborough, including Dogsthorpe, Werrington and Orton.

Many residents of Orton have spoken to me about their anxieties regarding these bikes and the aggressive and anti-social attitude of the young people who ride them on the pavement, often narrowly missing pedestrians and certainly terrorising them.

Where Are The Police?

Residents also complain very bitterly that the police rarely respond to their reports about the mini motorbikes, despite it supposedly being a priority for police in Orton. Calls to 101 are frequently dismissed and if they attend at all, the police tend to arrive long after the rider has left the area.

Evidence of the problem is difficult to capture as the bikes travel so fast, with no licence plates to identify them, and the riders usually cover their faces with scarves to hide their identity.

Unsurprisingly, this has led some residents to describe parts of Orton as 'lawless', with many believing that neither the police nor the council cares about them.

What Should Be Done?

Education

If you're riding a bike you and your bike should always be safe, road legal and visible. Venturing out without lights on your bike at any time of day is risky and at night it is extremely dangerous. 'Life changing injuries' generally means 'will never walk again'. This is a terrible life sentence for a person in their 20s. Put lights on your bike, even if you don't agree that you need them. They will one day save your life and probably someone else's life too.

Policing

While some riders mean no harm, a considerable number of mini motorbike riders in Orton deliberately ride anti-socially, terrorising families, older people and pets. Putting people's lives at risk. Where those riders are concerned the police must intervene.

On 5 June 2016, Community Inspector Kate Firman of Safer Peterborough Partnership wrote in the Peterborough Telegraph about seizing bikes and issuing warnings to anti-social riders, and yet the problem seems to be worse than ever. I don't know whether the 101 operators are failing to handle the calls correctly (we know this happens sometimes when 'drifting' is reported) or whether the police are simply overwhelmed. However, it's very clear that residents feel a more visible police presence in the community and a faster response when crimes involving mini motorbikes occur would make a difference.

Somewhere to go

Peterborough is a property paradox. We have a desperate housing shortage (depending on whose 'facts' you choose to believe). At the same time, our newer housing estates are cramped. Planning that probably made very good sense on paper has led to narrow streets and areas of very dense housing. People in some areas feel that they are living on top of each other. And as new estates are built, where is the infrastructure needed to create communities? Is it any wonder that young people are using residential streets for recreation? If you are interested in mini motorbikes, where can you go in Orton to ride them safely and legally?

If you listen to the BBC Radio Cambs interview on the link above, you'll also hear from Wayne Arbon of the Gauntlet Auto Project. This business operating in Ramsey provides a place for mini motorbike enthusiasts to ride safely and teaches them how to maintain their bikes to keep them in good working order. Wouldn't it be great if we had such a facility in Peterborough?

What do you think is the answer the problems caused by young people riding mini motorbikes illegally and unsafely in Orton?

UPDATE: Read about my visit to the Gauntlet Auto Project in Ramsey where they are giving young people the opportunity to learn how to ride mini motorbikes safely and responsibly 


Audio transcript: Dotty: Now the use of mini motorbikes in Peterborough has reached epidemic proportions, that’s according to a member of the city’s Green Party. Julie Howell says people riding them without lights and helmets are a hazard to residents as well as themselves. Last night in the city, a rider on a mini motorbike was reported to have sustained life-changing injuries after a collision with a car on London Road. Julie Howell joins me now. Good morning. I mean epidemic proportions Julie, what do you really mean by that?

Julie: Good morning, Dotty. Well the first thing that I’d like to say is how terribly sorry I am for everyone involved in that accident on Thursday, particularly the driver of the car. It sounds absolutely horrific. Now, we call this epidemic proportions because we have been complaining about this for over two years now. It’s a problem in Werrington, in Dogsthorpe, in Orton, various places across Peterborough. We’ve told the police time and time again we’ve got a real problem with people driving these off-road bikes, these illegal bikes. They’re not wearing helmets, well, that’s their risk, isn’t it? But they’ve got no lights on their bikes and this is a huge risk to everybody.

Dotty: And you said that you feel particularly sorry following this accident on Thursday night for the person who was driving the car that was involved. I mean it was the rider of the motorbike that has suffered such serious injuries.

Julie: And it sounds like it was a miracle the person behind the wheel of the car wasn’t injured or indeed any pedestrians passing by because I believe this was round about 9pm, a very busy time. I know that location well. It’s quite a built-up residential area and if you’re riding a bike with no lights on then you are responsible for any accident that happens, absolutely right. I’m sorry someone’s hurt themselves but this was bound to happen if you ride in the dark with no lights on.

Dotty: So what really is the problem, especially if these kids are, you know, just knocking about, if they’re just having a bit of fun, I mean, is it really a big deal?

Julie: They’re not just knocking about though. I’ve spoken to many residents about this over the weekend and certainly what we find in Orton is that there’s a lot of very anti-social behaviour there with these bikes. The kids who are riding the bikes, I say kids but it’s also young people in their 20s, are riding them with their faces masked by scarves so they know they’re doing wrong and they don’t want to be identified and they’re driving along pavements, they’re putting children at risk. It’s something we’ve raised with the police many, many times and it’s just a matter of time before a pedestrian is really badly injured or killed.

Dotty: Yeah, I mean in the last six months we’ve spoken to you Julie about concerns over fly tipping, over drifting and now mini motorbikes. You say you’ve complained about all of these things to the relevant authorities for months at a time. Do you feel that Peterborough is being effectively policed?

Julie: Some parts of it you have to wonder, don’t you? I don’t think this is entirely a policing issue. Clearly, we need to tell our young people to put lights on their bikes. That’s really important. And I know that some residents feel, as I do, that we need some place for people to be. Peterborough’s becoming so built up with new housing, it doesn’t have great transport infrastructure, and people will always as they have since motorbikes were invented, wanted to muck about on them. So they need somewhere safe to be able to do that. But for years residents have been complaining to police about this sort of thing and they’re feeling terrorised now by these young people and I doubt hearing about this accident on Thursday is going to make any of the residents feel any better about it. Where are the police? Where’s the presence? Where are the police telling these riders if you don’t have lights on your bike it’s not just your own life you’re putting at risk it’s the life of anybody who is unfortunate enough to get in your way.

Dotty: What do you think should be done about this?

Julie: Education about how important lights are. I can’t believe that we’re saying this. Isn’t it obvious? If you choose not to wear a helmet it’s on you. If you choose not to have lights on your bike that could affect all of us. And somewhere for people to be so that they can do this and they’re not doing it out on our streets.

Dotty: Okay Julie, thank you very much. Julie Howell there from Peterborough Green Party, concerned about the number of mini motorbikes being ridden illegally around Peterborough.

Beautiful Bushfield Blighted By Bottles

I wish I could tell you this was a day's work.
I picked this lot up in just 20 minutes.

I try very hard not to let it get to me.

We live in a very beautiful area. So can anyone tell me WHY the littering around Bushfield playing fields is so bad?

Yesterday, I joined a local litter picking group run by resident Barrie Tulloch to clear the area from the top of Cherry Orton Road in Waterville and along the paths past Bushfield playing fields. The amount of rubbish we collected was quite disgraceful.


Stop Dropping Bottles!

There are two main categories of litter in this area.

The first is dropped by people who use the fields for sport and the paths to get to and from the school. So it's sweet wrappers and crisp packets.

But the main offender is plastic drinks bottles. Many of them are still half full of liquid. They are routinely dropped at the sides of the playing fields, presumably because the people who leave them there believe the 'bottle fairies' will spirit them away (I know I'm sounding like your mother now, but perhaps that's what it takes!)

Newsflash: If you leave bottles on the grass they don't disappear by magic. Either the council or volunteers come and get them. If we don't, they will eventually cause great harm to the area, including the wildlife. Check out my exchange with local wildlife charity Froglife on this very problem...

Newts may be difficult to spot but they are here and our littering is putting them in danger.

Awful. But moaning does nothing. Only action on the part of residents will make a difference. The message is really simple: please take your litter home with you. If you're fit enough for sport, you're fit enough to carry your drinks bottle to the nearest bin (even if that's at your house).

Here's another idea. Why not fill your own bottle with your favourite drink and take it back home with you to use again?! I make it sound so simple. That's because it is simple.


Join Our Litter Picking Group!

If you'd like to join us on this litter pick you will be very, very welcome. We supply all the equipment, just bring yourself in suitable clothing (waterproof, ideally!). It can be a nice way to meet other people who care about our area and there is satisfaction in doing something that helps our community and our environment and local wildlife.

Drop a line to me or to resident Barrie Tulloch (barrie.tullock@btinternet.com) and we'll let you know when we'll next be picking.

Lovely litter-free field, cleared by volunteers, not by magic!

Traffic Fears at Lynch Wood and Wistow Way

Xs mark the spots where crossing the road at Lynch Wood is dangerous.

This morning I accompanied a local Orton Southgate resident to the roundabout where Lynch Wood meets Wistow Way, Oundle Road and Orton Parkway to see for myself why local people are growing increasingly concerned about the volume and speed of traffic in the area.

Lynch Wood is a thriving business park. The businesses there employ many people from our local area and further afield and long may this continue. However, the recent arrival of a new business has resulted in a huge surge in traffic to the area, particularly at morning and evening peak times.

Posted by Julie Howell on Tuesday, 25 October 2016

Traffic from the Lynch Wood roundabout along Wistow Way is often heavy and fast moving. Although there is a bridge for pedestrians to use if they want to get from Orton Brimbles to Orton Wistow, residents trying to access Wistow Primary School on foot from Orton Southgate and Orton Northgate are more like to use a crossing that has no facility to make it safe for pedestrians. People I've spoken to fear it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed.

Eventually, I was able to cross the road when a car slowed and waved me across. However, this is only safe when traffic coming the other way is also willing to stop. One can easily imagine why a pedestrian in a hurry might take their chances and dart through the traffic, but it really isn't safe to do so.

Another Orton Southgate resident says, "As one who walks to Wistow Primary School most days, it's very tricky crossing the road at Lynch Wood as cars are normally non-stop. Nine times out of ten it's a case of waiting for a car to slow and flash its headlights. We always cross at the spot with the traffic island so at least we can wait safely in the middle of the road. Making it an official pedestrian crossing would be a huge help."

Posted by Julie Howell on Tuesday, 25 October 2016

It's half term at the moment, so traffic is much lighter that normal and I will take another look next week to see how bad it is when parents as well as employees are trying to use these roads. I'm told it's quite normal now for traffic to be backed up along Orton Parkway all the way to the roundabout at Newcombe Way, making it very difficult to exit Orton Southgate residences by car.

It's very clear that the roads in this area can be dangerous for pedestrians and very congested for motorists too.

Are you affected by the traffic at Lynch Wood in the mornings? Do you feel safe negotiating these roads in the morning and afternoon at peak times? How do you think safety or congestion could be improved?

Transcript of video one: Good morning. So I’m at Lynch Wood this morning which is the main business park in Orton Waterville. We’ve got a real probably with traffic as you can probably see behind me. So, the roundabout behind me here is the one that feeds into Lynch Wood and it also has other roads off it such as Wistow Way, Oundle Road and Orton Parkway. It’s actually relatively quiet this morning because it’s half term, but still it doesn’t look quiet. Now as you can see it’s very, very difficult for pedestrians to get across here. Children need to get across to get to school and if you just about look behind me you can see that that’s the pathway across there and how am I ever supposed to get across this road. It’s very dangerous. So this morning I’ve come here with a resident and she’s going to show me the problems here and I don’t think this is the worst of it. I think if we go round the corner in a second we’ll find it's even more of a problem so I'll catch up with you there.

Transcript of video two: Good morning. So I’m now at Oundle Road where it feeds into Lynch Wood and it’s about 8:45am. This is actually half term at the moment so it’s not as busy as it might otherwise be but as you can see behind me there is a lot of traffic. It’s moving in, well the queue is not that slow is it? It’s very, very hard to cross here. I’ve actually been waiting to cross here for a while. So you can see there’s the crossing just behind me but I’m not able to use it unless a car slows down and lets me across. And then the problem that you have – I’ve got a big truck coming past now, very big truck – the problem that you have if someone says to you okay you can cross now you’re dependent on the people in the other cars realising that otherwise you might be stepping out in front of traffic. So it’s very, very dangerous here and me and someone who’s opposite me on the other side of the road right now have been trying to cross here for minutes and no one’s stopped to let us cross and there’s been no gap in the traffic. Imagine if you’re a young child with not too much road sense or you’re pushing a pushchair or you’re disabled. It is possible to walk a bit further down. You can see in the distance a footbridge there but people don’t always use footbridges do they, and one can't help but think we need some kind of measure here to make it safer for pedestrians.

An Ice Skate, a Thousand Cigarette Ends and a Bear in a Tree

I had a fantastic time last Thursday on a huge community litter pick of the Lynchwood Business Park. This fabulous event was organised by the team at the Marriott Hotel Peterborough, which is located on the corner of the Lynchwood estate, very close to our border with Alwalton.

What started out as a conversation about what the staff of the Marriott might do to become more involved in the local community became an amazing day of fun and exercise in beautiful weather. The whole team embraced the event wholeheartedly. There was even a competition and prizes available to the team who picked the most litter, the team who found the oldest piece of rubbish and the team who found the most unusual discarded item.

Some of the Marriott team with their litter hoard

The cycleway that runs along Lynchwood is a notorious litter spot.
These ladies did a great job of clearing a lot of the rubbish away.

Different areas yield different types of litter.
These chaps collected a lot of cans from the bushes that line Lynchwood.

A Bear in a Tree

We were really fortunate with the weather and delighted that some local residents joined us on the litter pick, including 13 four-year-olds and their teachers from one of the local nursery schools.

The children loved helping us to find items to put into our rubbish sacks. They found a discarded leather jacket, a bicycle tyre and one young lady told me that she found a bear in a tree (I'm not so sure about that one - the bear must have run off by the time I got there)!

While it's fairly unlikely that you'll find a bear in a tree when picking litter
in Peterborough it is wise to keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you.

Why Litter Picking Matters

It's really important to help children - as well as adults - to understand why and how litter harms our environment. For one thing, a community strewn with litter looks awful and makes the people who live in that community feel awful. I probably hear more complaints about rubbish on our streets and in our green spaces than I do about anything else.

I cannot overstate the great harm that litter also does to our natural environment. If you find the litter that you see depressing, just imagine what harm the plastic rubbish that has become trapped under hedges is doing to the ground beneath it. The longer it lies there the more damage it does, suffocating the ground, harming plants and wildlife, reducing biodiversity.

This is why, when we do our litter picks, we encourage everyone to dig their stick as far as they can into and under bushes to reach the bottles, cans and plastic wrappers that are hidden there.

So what was the most unusual item that the team from the Marriott removed from the bushes in Lynchwood? You'll never guess.

Team 5 found a rusty ice skate in a bush.
Its partner is still unaccounted for.

One can only wonder how a single ice skate came to be in the middle of a business park. And what happened to its partner? We may never know.

The Butt of the Problem

Hundreds, if not thousands, of cigarette ends just like these
were found on our litter pick of Lynchwood Business Park

There are several bus stops on Lynchwood and bus stops attract one type of litter in particular: cigarette ends. Contrary to popular belief, cigarette butts are not biodegradable. In fact, they are made from cellulose acetate, which is a form of plastic. Yes, that's right, PLASTIC. If you drop one on the floor it stays there until someone picks it up. If no one picks it up it will eventually be blown under the nearest hedge and it will stay there, suffocating the earth beneath.

The Marriott team valiantly removed a huge number of cigarette ends from the street and for that alone we, and the environment, are very grateful.

27 Bags of Rubbish

Some of the Marriott litter picking team

Marriott staff hard at work to support our community

By the end of two hour-long shifts of litter-picking, the Marriott team had managed to collect an incredible 27 bags of litter (plus a number of items such as street signs and parts of a computer that didn't fit into the bags). 

It's worth pausing to think about that. 27 bags of litter from a non-residential area and most of it was food packaging. 

Peterborough City Council does a fine job of keep our streets clean and safe, but the amount of litter that is thrown into bushes is overwhelming and it isn't put there by nature, it's put there by human beings.

If you work in or visit Lynchwood Business Park, I have one very simple request. Please, take your litter home with you. We had a lot of fun on this litter pick, and it was really satisfying to clear so much rubbish from such a small area, but we really shouldn't have to. If you have finished with the wrapper from your sandwich or your can of cola is empty but there is no bin to hand your only option isn't to throw it in a bush and assume fairies will take care of the rest.

Take your litter home with you!

The Menace of Speeding on our Streets

UPDATE: 28 August 2016

On Wednesday of this week, the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Breakfast Show covered the issue of drifting in Orton Southgate and invited myself, a City Councillor, a Cambs Police Sergeant and a Peterborough City Council Director to respond to residents' concerns. A number of residents were also invited to express their point of view, as were two young men who enjoy the pastime of drifting elsewhere in the county.

The piece came about after BBC Radio Cambs presenter Dotty McLeod read about the problem right here on this blog.

I have posted a full transcript of the broadcast here.

In summary, Cambridgeshire Police has apologised to residents of Orton Goldhay and confirmed that the police share the responsibility of addressing the drifting in Orton Southgate, while Peterborough City Council referred via a statement to measures that will shortly be put in place with the cooperation of the land owner to ensure that residents' sleepless nights are a thing of the past.

I would like to thank BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Dotty McLeod and her team for picking up this issue so enthusiastically on residents' behalf. I would also like to thank both Sgt Nikki Hall of Cambs Police and Adrian Chapman of Peterborough City Council for their robust response to residents' concerns.

Last night was the first quiet Saturday night residents of Orton Goldhay have been able to enjoy in a very long time. Thanks to the support of BBC Radio Cambs and the response of Cambs Police and Peterborough City Council we hope that peace will soon be restored on a permanent basis, and that the people who enjoy doing and watching the drifting will have a place to do it away from people's homes where they can enjoy their pastime safely and without bringing stress to people who live here.

Julie Howell, Peterborough Green Party, 28th August 2016


The Menace of Speeding on our Streets

I'm writing this with wet eyes, having just watched Sophie Morgan's powerful 2013 documentary 'License to Kill'. If you think you know that speeding is dangerous, why it happens and what should be done about it, I ask you to please watch Sophie's documentary anyway. Sophie adds a much needed fresh voice to the conversation about speeding. It's the voice of a young woman driver who drove without care when she was inexperienced. 18-year-old Sophie lacked the skills and understanding to handle her car at a high speed. As a consequence, Sophie's car crashed, and after weeks in a coma she awoke to be told she had lost her ability to walk for life.

Sophie's powerful story isn't a simple moral tale about the consequences of driving too fast for thrills. From her perspective, she is able to explain why she did what she did the night of her accident, and what she believes needs to be done to prevent more young people from causing accidents that result in serious injury or loss of life.

Sophie's documentary, highlights the dangers posed by newly qualified drivers. But what about drivers with 10, 20 or even 30 years of driving experience who pose grave danger to people, pets and property by driving too fast and too carelessly along our residential streets? These are the drivers who feel safe in their powerful cars and safe in the knowledge that their experience will protect them from having an accident.

I receive more emails and phone calls from residents about speeding than I do about any other issue. 

The emails and phone calls fall into two categories.

The first is the careless driving and speeding that happens along Wistow Way, Goldhay Way, Brimbles Way, Dunblane Drive, Loch Lomond Way, at the junction between Cherry Orton Road and Oundle Road, and just about any residential street you care to mention. It isn't just young people in souped-up cars, showing off. It's every kind of driver, driving too fast, making the roads dangerous for everyone. (I wrote an article earlier in the year about the death of a cat in the cul-de-sac where I live.)

Twenty's Plenty

Peterborough Green Party supports a national campaign called 'Twenty's Plenty', which calls for speed restrictions of 20mph in some residential streets. 

We recently wrote an article for the Peterborough Telegraph to explain why 20mph can save lives. I've pasted the text of the article below in case you missed it.

We need to change our attitude towards speeding. Why 20 is plenty.

Have you witnessed ‘near misses’ on the residential streets where you live? Have you heard that yet another beloved family cat has been crushed to death under the wheels of a car? Are you worried that your child isn’t safe on the streets near their school because of speeding motorists?

Let’s be honest. Have you ever driven faster than 30mph in a residential street? Do you believe that because you’re an experienced driver you are able to take the same remedial action to prevent an accident, whether you’re driving at 40mph, 30mph or 20mph?

If you do, you’re wrong about that.

You may believe that you are a careful driver, but if a pedestrian steps out in front of you when you’re doing 40mph it is five times more likely that your car will kill them than if you’re doing 30mph.

The 30mph speed limit for residential roads was introduced in 1934. A lot has changed since then, including the type, size and capabilities of the cars on our streets. Car technology has improved greatly, making driving much safer for the person behind the wheel. Human technology hasn’t advanced at quite the same pace, meaning pedestrians have become more vulnerable as drivers have become safer.

30mph is safer than 40mph but it is not as safe at 20mph. When it comes to driving on residential streets we believe that 20mph is plenty.

Driving at 30mph rather than 20mph increases stopping distances by 134%. This isn’t due to your skills as a driver. The fact is, a car braking from 30mph will still be travelling at 22mph when a car travelling at 20mph will have stopped. In some situations, that’s the difference between life and death.

If your car hits a pedestrian hit at 20mph they have a 95% chance of survival. This reduces to 80% at 30mph. At 40mph the chance of a fatality is 90%.

Reducing your speed to 20mph has many immediate benefits. Traffic noise and pollution will decrease. Walking and cycling will increase as safety perception improves. In Hull, child pedestrian casualties dropped by 74% when widespread 20mph limits were introduced.

Peterborough Green Party ran a petition recently in West Ward where residents have suffered from speeding problems along Mayors Walk and Aldermans Drive. The petition – which received considerable support from residents - was rejected by Peterborough City Council on the grounds that there is currently insufficient evidence that 20mph limits are effective. We dispute this and are campaigning for PCC to reconsider its position in the face of the overwhelming societal benefits that 20mph can bring with safer, healthier residential streets for people, pets, property and wildlife too.

We want drivers to think again about the risks of driving at more than 20mph in residential areas. This is not a draconian measure to bring the city to a grinding halt. It is a public safety message that could help Peterborough’s residents to re-claim our residential streets as safer places to be. 

'Car Cruises' & Noise

Speeding and dangerous driving is causing other harm to our environment and huge distress to residents in some areas of our ward, in particular, to people living in houses in Orton Goldhay close to Orton Parkway. On the other side of Orton Parkway, lies the Orton Southgate industrial estate. On late evenings throughout the summer, roads on the industrial estate are being used for unauthorised 'car cruises' of the type Sophie highlights in her documentary. 

People right across Peterborough are aware with the dangers of these unauthorised and un-stewarded events. On 8 August 2015, several spectators were badly injured when an inexperienced driver attempted a manoeuvre that resulted in him ploughing his car into a group of bystanders. I've seen footage of the accident. It is horrific. The driver - who is from Stamford - is currently serving a prison sentence for what he did that night. The injuries and the trauma will be with the people he hurt for life. Read more about this incident.

Anxiety and distress

You don't have to hit people with your car to cause immense anxiety and distress to them. Residents who live in earshot of Stapledon Road, Orton Southgate (who live across the Orton Parkway in Orton Goldhay) tell me that their lives are being made a misery by the noise from screeching tyres that can start as early as 8pm and finish as late as 3am almost every night through the summer months, as the motorists who attend the unauthorised car cruise meets attempt to 'drift' their cars around roundabouts. 

Stress and lack of sleep can have serious, long-term effects on people's health. I'm told that residents are unable to open their windows on hot summer nights because of the noise, children cannot get to sleep, people who have to leave for work early the next day are exhausted and everyone affected is stressed and anxious from the moment the screeching of tyres begins.

While some people are of the opinion that the people taking part in the car cruises are only a danger to themselves, this just isn't case. And it's not fair. The noise is causing real human suffering.

Call 101

If you are affected by the noise created by the car cruise, please call the police on 101. When you do, please remember to get an incident number from the call operator. The more times the matter is reported, the more likely the police are to prioritise your concern. Peterborough Green Party has written to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire asking for action to be taken.

While we completely understand that it is far safer for drivers and the public that these events happen on industrial estates rather than on public roads (though, of course, roads on industrial estates are also public roads, just less busy on weekend evenings apart from lorries making deliveries), the noise nuisance is very harmful and it would be better for everyone if these events happened well away from residential areas.

Residents should also call 101, the police non-emergency number, to report other incidences of dangerous driving. 

I know how much speeding cars worry you because you tell me all the time. I would be very interested to hear what you think about 20mph limits, traffic calming measures and speed cameras. What do you think is the solution to speeding on our streets? 

Hello, Hello, Good Morning!

The path along Ham Lane, where I had this lovely experience

I had a lovely experience on my way to a meeting at Ferry Meadows this week.

As I walked down Ham Lane, every single person who passed me smiled and said 'Good morning'.

What's so special about that?

It's special because acknowledging one another really matters.

We are social creatures

A very long time ago, when we were all 'hunter gatherers' and had to forage for our food it was really difficult for us to survive by ourselves. We needed to search for food together, to build shelters and make clothes together, and to rely on each other for protection.

We live differently now, however, feeling that we are part of a community and feeling that others value us as individuals is still very important for our survival. Why? Because being acknowledged is vitally important for our mental and emotional wellbeing. In turn, our mental and emotional wellbeing is very important for our physical wellbeing.

We used to live like this.
If we still did we might acknowledge one another a bit more.

'By yourself' and 'lonely' are different things

More of us than ever before now live by ourselves, through either choice or necessity. I lived by myself for ten years and absolutely loved it. But key to doing well on my own was knowing that I was 'by myself' but not 'alone'. I knew my neighbours and I had friends so I felt supported and acknowledged in the world. Emotionally and mentally I felt well.

But many people struggle with the loneliness that can come with living alone, or don't live alone in the literal sense but feel lonely in the emotional sense. A simple 'hello' from an acquaintance or a total stranger can be the only human contact a person living by themselves has that day, or even that week.

A few years ago, when I was writing my book, I spent many days alone (I tend to work through the night and sleep through the day when I'm writing). I needed the social isolation but I also needed human contact. Sometimes, I'd think of an excuse to go to the corner shop just so I could have an interaction with another person.

We're all really busy, and it is of course true that some people don't want to be bothered with others when they are going about their daily business, and this is their right. But I would ask you to take up a challenge that I often set for myself. It's really simple.

Adults forget that smiling at one another is important.

Smile, make eye contact, say 'hello'

When you're out and about, and someone is about to pass you in the street, smile, make eye contact, say 'hello'. We're social creatures and most people will return your greeting automatically. Others will be so surprised they won't react until you've passed by. Others will be shy or may experience social anxiety. They may not return or even acknowledge your greeting, but on the inside your simple acknowledgement will have made a difference. And of course there are other people who will just ignore you because they're grumpy, and that's alright too.

There's a bit of science to it.

When we greet someone (in a nice way) we trigger in that person and in ourselves a release of the chemical 'oxytocin'. This is a hormone that helps us to feel good about another person. In fact, the moment your start smiling, you're making yourself feel better. So if you're not a good mood on a particular day, the best thing to do to make yourself feel better is smile and say 'hello' to someone!

If you're the one receiving the greeting from someone else, smile, make eye contact and say 'hello' back to give yourself a boost of feel-good chemicals. This is a completely natural way to feel good and you may notice that you begin to feel better about yourself and more confident in yourself the more you do it.

Think about it: why do you love your favourite comedian? Because he or she makes you smile and smiling makes you feel good.


An act of giving

If your greeting is ignored, don't be disheartened. This isn't about rejection or failure. Your act of giving acknowledgement to another person is good for you. This is not just about your need to be acknowledged. Rather, it's an act of giving acknowledgement to another person that is hugely empowering and life-affirming for both parties.

On Christmas Eve, for example, I set myself the challenge of seeing how many people I can say 'Merry Christmas' to that I pass in the streets where I live (if they reply that's bonus points!).

We've become not very good at the simple act of acknowledgement but we can so easily put that right. You can tell how happy those people on Ham Lane made me feel because I'm still thinking about it (and writing about it!) two days later. I bet they have no idea of the positive power of their simple 'good morning'.

If you would like to help to make our community happier, stronger and safer, it all starts with 'hello'.

Driven Batty

If you had asked me a month ago what I know about bats I'd have said "very little"!

That was before I took a week-long break on a farm in Cumbria.

You may be thinking that a week on an isolated farm is the ideal place to get a bit of peace and quiet, and it is, but at certain times of day the converted barn that I was staying in was anything but silent as its resident swallows and bats made their presence felt.

I first noticed the bats on the first evening of my stay. I heard some scratching in the roof space above my bedroom so went outside to investigate. Sundown is quite late at this time of year in Cumbria, so it was 11pm - and still light - when I ventured out into the garden to find out what all the noise was about.

When I stood just below the eaves of the house, a squeaking noise could clearly be heard coming from the direction of the barn roof. Shortly afterwards a bat flew out from a space between the roof tiles at great speed! It was soon followed by another. And then another. And then another. When the count reached 18 I stopped counting but the bats did not stop coming. I reckon there must have been at least a thousand in there, sleeping all day, and flying out at dusk to feed on insects on the wing.





There are a few things everyone needs to know about bats.

All bats are protected

Bats do a lot of good in our environment. Over 500 species of plant rely on bats to pollinate their flowers. Bats are insectivores (they eat insects) and will eat thousands of insects every night, including blood-sucking mosquitoes. Bats also play a vital role in distributing seeds of trees and other plants.

Some bats are 'indicator species'. This means that changes in their population can mean that there are also changes happening in the biodiversity of their environment.

So bats are very special little creatures. In fact, they are a protected species in the UK.

According to the Bat Conservation Trust, you are committing a criminal offence if you:

1. Deliberately capture, injure or kill a bat

2. Intentionally or recklessly disturb a bat in its roost or deliberately disturb a group of bats

3. Damage or destroy a bat roosting place (even if bats are not occupying the roost at the time)

4. Possess or advertise/sell/exchange a bat (dead or alive) or any part of a bat

5. Intentionally or recklessly obstruct access to a bat roost.

So bats are important and they are protected by the law. But what should you do if you find a bat in trouble?

Bats in distress

A couple of days into my stay I was in the garden in the early evening when I noticed the now unmistakable sound of squeaking bats. This time, however, it was clear that the noise wasn't coming from the roost in the roof. I followed the sound, and it led me to a covered drain on the ground. Looking up, it became clear what must have happened. A drain pipe leads from the guttering below the roof, very close to where the bats were roosting. Some of the bats must have flown down the drainpipe by mistake and become trapped in the drain with no way of getting out.

I knew immediately that the bats needed help. I knew also that a number had probably already died down there. Upon lifting the drain cover my suspicions were confirmed: six poorly bats and a number of others that had already succumbed to being stuck in the drain for however long. 

Before doing anything else, I immediately called the National Bat Helpline for advice. It being the evening by now, I got no reply from the local number that was suggested so I immediately called the local out-of-hours vet, who was incredibly helpful.

Should you ever find a bat on the ground and in trouble but are unable to reach either a bat rescue centre or a vet right away, this is what the vet told me to do:

1. Bats don't do well on the ground or away from the location you found them in, so don't leave them on the ground and don't take them far away from where you found them.

2. Never touch a bat with your bare hands as they can carry dangerous diseases.

3. If you need to move the bat, pick it up the way you would a spider, i.e. put a box over it and slide a piece of card underneath.

4. Put the bat into a box (I used a washing up bowl) with a piece of material, such as a tea towel or small towel, and a small container, such as a plastic milk container top, filled with water. Do not put a lid on the box.

5. This is important. Bats naturally want to climb. When they've climbed high enough they will be able to launch themselves and fly away. So put the box somewhere high up by a wall so they can climb out and keep on climbing. The perfect place for the bats I had found was in the garage which was close by and where other bats were roosting.

6. Now leave the bats alone!

The vet told me that I should call again if any of the bats were still there the following day. However, I'm delighted to report that they all recovered, climbed out of the box and up the wall and eventually flew off!

One of the bats that was rescued

This wasn't the only bat encounter of my stay. A bat appeared in the hearth. Another was found roosting in the curtains in the living room. And yet another was found on the outside wall of the barn, close to the ground and facing downwards. All three were subjected to the same procedure that the vet had suggested and all three survived and flew away. I left a note for the owner of the barn to let her know what had happened. Hopefully, no more bats will fall into the drain or get into the barn through the chimney!

If you find a bat in distress

I encountered these bats in Cumbria, but there are plenty in Peterborough too!

In almost all cases bats should be left alone. However if you come across bats that you think may be in distress please get in touch with either a vet or the Bat Conservation Trust on 0845 1300 228 and follow the advice that you are given. 

Bats are precious, protected and we need them as much as they need us! But it so important to give them the right sort of help, so always, always contact the Bat Conservation Trust or a local vet if you come across a bat you think may be in need of help.

The Tales of Two Cats

I have two stories about cats to share, one heart-breaking, the other heart-warming.

Why 20 is Plenty

On 4th December 2015 at 10am there was a knock on the door of my house which is in a cul-de-sac in Orton Northgate. I opened the door to a young woman who was clearly in some distress. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but there is a dead cat in the road and I can stand to just leave it there", she said. I craned my neck to look down the street in the direction she was pointing, and could just about make out a black shape in the road, with cars swerving to avoid it.

While my partner and a another gentleman from a house further down the road gently removed the cat from the street and washed the tarmac, we knocked on doors to see if we could find the cat's owner, but without success.

This is the street where the incident happened.
It's a residential cul-de-sac, much the same as many around our area.

I own two cats. I know how I'd feel if one of them simply went missing without explanation. So rather than call the council right away, my partner and I drove with the cat to our vet in the hope it might have a microchip with details of the owner. The vet was very caring and saw us right away without an appointment. Unfortunately, the cat was not microchipped.

Earlier this year, a new law was put in place that requires all dogs be microchipped. However, the law does not currently extend to cats (although I believe it should and I have signed a petition to Parliament in the hope of addressing this). You may think that you cat doesn't need microchipping as it never goes anywhere. However, it's those cats that never go anywhere that are least streetwise and most likely to be involved in an accident if they do stray into the road.

This is my cat Derek.
He is microchipped.
He's also quite grumpy.

I really wanted to find the owner before calling the council. Unfortunately, this hadn't been possible so I had no option but to call the council to ask them to collect the cat from me. The council workers arrived within the hour and treated the matter very sensitively. I told them that I was sorry they had to deal with things like this and they said that, unfortunately, it's a common occurrence in Peterborough.

The following day, I put notes through the doors of several of the houses in my street asking anyone who had lost a black cat to get in touch with me. Thankfully, this solicited a quick response from the owner and I was able to tell him what had happened on the previous day. It wasn't a conversation I'd care to repeat but I felt very relieved to have been able to tell him what had happened to his cat, as dreadful as the news was for his family. If it had been one of my cats, I know I'd have been very grateful to know what had happened.

The cat had been run over (and died instantly) in a hit-and-run incident. It was clear from looking at the aftermath that it had been hit by a large vehicle, such as a delivery van, and dragged some distance. Whoever hit the cat must have known what they had done, as it was obvious from tyre tracks that they had driven past the scene to leave the cul-de-sac shortly after the incident happened. In the UK, if your car hits a dog you are compelled by law to stop and report it. However, cats are not included under this legislation. A petition is calling for the law to be changed to include cats.

One would hope that whoever was driving the van would have realised that stopping was the right thing to do. Sadly, it appears not.

If you're running over pets you are driving TOO FAST.

Delivery drivers work to very tight schedules, and as this was just before Christmas the driver must have been under great pressure. Even so, driving without care and attention in our residential streets is not acceptable. What if this had been a child? There is a children's playground at the end of the cul-de-sac so it is even more important that delivery drivers take greater care than this when visiting our neighbourhood.

So what can we do to prevent this from happening again? Clearly, drivers need to drive with greater care and attention on our residential streets. If you're driving fast enough to run over a fit and healthy cat in a cul-de-sac your either driving too fast, not paying sufficient attention or both.

Peterborough Green Party supports a campaign called '20's Plenty' that aims to encourage drivers to slow down in residential areas, particularly around schools and other areas where children congregate. There is no expectation that drivers will all slow down to 20mph, but the hope is that seeing the signs will remind drivers that residential areas are not motorways and that it's all to easy to knock down a child or animal when you're going too fast in a built-up area.

What do you think about this? Would '20s Plenty' make a difference to the road safety in your street?

The Orton Wanderer!

Let's finish this post with a heart-warming story, that serves a as a reminder of how wonderful our community in Orton truly is.

Orton Southgate has an active residents' association and a Facebook group where residents share information and post messages of concern. It was about 10pm one evening in April when I spotted a call for help. A lady living in Orton Southgate had discovered a cat behind a shed in her garden that appeared to be lost. The usual advice if you see a cat that you believe may be missing from home is to leave the cat where it is but give it access to water. Put posters up in nearby streets and put messages out on social media in the hope the owners will recognise the description of the cat and come to collect it. Cats roam, and in many cases will find their own way home.

This particular cat had been seen near the shed for a number of weeks, however, and it was quite clear from its behaviour that it was truly lost. The lady who had taken the cat in was unable to keep it overnight due to having other animals so was asking whether anyone could look after the cat prior to it being taken to the vet the following day to scan for a microchip. I dug out a cat basket from our garage and made my way over to the lady's house and collected the cat.

The cat was a real sweetie, a female not much more than a kitten really. She was no trouble and enjoyed a restful night with me. I posted information about the cat onto some local Facebook pages in the hope that someone might be looking for her. One of these was the fantastic Orton Sellers and Stuff.

Orton Sellers and Stuff Facebook Group

The following morning, we took the cat to the vet. Unfortunately, no microchip was found. We were wondering what to do next when a message from another resident appeared on my phone. A family had lost a cat that fitted the description that I had posted. A picture of their cat was attached to the message. It was immediately clear that this was the same cat!

A short time later, a gentleman arrived at my home and before even seeing the cat or a picture of it he described it very accurately to me. He also showed me photographs of his missing cat on his phone. There was no doubt at all that this was his cat!

And this is the amazing part of the story... the cat, which was only 8 months old, had been missing for THREE MONTHS from an address in Orton Malborne THREE MILES AWAY! Where on earth had she been all that time? And how had she managed to travel so far from home, over at least two very busy roads?  It turns out the family had put 'missing' posters up in their area, but who was to know the cat would have travelled from Malborne, through Goldhay, through Southgate to finally end up in Northgate!

The family took the cat to the vet and apart from a few tics (that fortunately had not transferred onto me or anyone else!) she was found to be in good health. But what a story she could tell!

Now reunited with her family

What a lovely example of a community pulling together to reunite a family with their beloved pet.


Microchip Your Cats!

Please microchip your cats and make sure the information held on the microchip company's database is up-to-date. Microchipping can't protect them from accidents or from going missing. But when a cat is found, a microchip means it can be reunited with its family sooner rather than later.

Any vet can microchip your cat, and a number of animal charities, such as Wood Green, can also help. Microchipping is as important for your cat's welfare as food and shelter, so if your cat doesn't have a microchip yet, please get it chipped today!

A vet scans a cat for a microchip

Not Alright By Me

Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice, Peterborough

Wonderful things happen in our community every day, and over the coming weeks and months I intend to tell you about as many of them as possible. Orton is a lovely place to live and in our wider city environment of Peterborough there are many fantastic facilities and services that help to make our area a truly terrific place to live and to work in.

But it's not all good, no city ever is. Anti-social behaviour, in its myriad forms, happens all over the country and Peterborough is by no means immune to it.

However, something happened outside our precious Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice this week that, for me, is beyond the pale: fly-tipping.

Article in the Peterborough Telegraph

I was first alerted to what had happened by an article in the Peterborough Telegraph. It explained that a 'van-load of rubble, broken wood and insulation' had been illegally dumped in an area of natural beauty that had just been painstakingly re-created by volunteers for residents and visitors to enjoy.

The anger and upset I feel is difficult to put into words, but I will try.

People in need hospice care are not rubbish and where they are cared for is not a rubbish tip.

At some time in all of our lives we, or someone close to us, will need the care and support of our local hospice, either for end-of-life palliative care or for support living with the consequences of a long-term illness. At these moments we are at our most vulnerable, our most bewildered and in most need of the dignified and unconditional support that hospice staff and volunteers provide. Treating the grounds of the hospice as an open refuse site is the opposite of dignified and it burns my heart to think how the staff and residents of Thorpe Hall must have felt when this very selfish thing happened right on their doorstep.

If you've never needed the services of a hospice, perhaps I can explain a bit about what they do by sharing some of my family story.

On Christmas eve 2009, my dad was diagnosed with late stage terminal cancer of the throat. Treatment was not an option, so he was quickly transferred to the hospice in his area (not Peterborough) where he peacefully passed away on 12th February 2010. Had he not had access to a hospice, where the care he was given gave him great dignity and peace and where we as a family always felt very welcome and supported, he would have died in a noisy hospital with none of the support or care that he experienced at the hospice, quite simply because hospitals are not equipped to support people with terminal illness in the same way.

I found my dad's death very difficult to deal with (I still do, and expect I always will). I can be a tough cookie and the relationship I had with my dad when I was a teenager was certainly fiery at times, but he was still my dad and I loved him and wanted him to know that. I was really, really scared that my dad would pass away without knowing how much I loved him and needed him, and it was the kind and caring hospice staff who I turned to for advice and support on how to stem the flow of my tears long enough to be able to have a final, proper conversation with my dad before he died. In a regular hospital that would not have happened.

The best way I can describe the experience of being with a loved one who is in the late stages of a terminal diagnosis is this: it is like you're both in the departure lounge of an airport. Your loved one is about to go on a one-way journey and you know you won't see one another again. But the plane has been delayed. You know it will come eventually, but you don't know when. In the meantime, you are both sat in the departure lounge feeling terrified but with no idea what to say to one another.

In this most dreadful of situations, hospice staff are there to help and I don't know how they do it or what we would do without them.

As many of you know, I have multiple sclerosis (MS). I was first diagnosed with MS when I was just 19 and am now 45. I am acutely aware of the incredible care Sue Ryder provides to people with MS through our hospice and others like it. A friend worked in a hospice where I used to live and she said to me 'You matter until the last day of your life'. This is so important to remember. Being in a hospice doesn't mean your final days have no meaning, quite the opposite, They are an opportunity to squeeze as much from life as there is to be squeezed (in the circumstances). I don't know what course my MS will take. My dad's mum also had MS and she passed away at the age of 55 owing to complications. A close friend of mine, who also had MS, passed away aged 43 as her weakened immune system couldn't cope with an otherwise 'simple' chest infection. What I do know is whatever the future holds, if the hospice isn't there to support me and my family the outlook will be far more bleak.

The hospice costs £2.8million per year to run. The last thing it needs is unexpected clear up costs.

I wondered what I could do to help. Peterborough City Council has advised the hospice that the specialist clear up will cost £200. What was needed was money, and so I have sent the hospice a cheque for £200 which I hope will go some way to at least clearing up most of the mess. Moreover, I would like to take the opportunity to let people know why our hospice matters. It is one of the jewels in Peterborough's crown and its staff and volunteers should be treated with our greatest respect.

The hospice now needs more help to install CCTV in the hope of deterring further fly-tipping at its site and catching those that do. If you can spare anything at all (I could ill-afford the money I sent, but I can ill-afford a future without our hospice so I really don't care about the money) please send Thorpe Hall Hospice a donation. You can do so very easily via its website.

This was difficult to write and it may be difficult to read. If you or a loved one are currently coping with a terminal diagnosis I send you lots of love.

In loving memory of my dad, George Williamson 1942-2010.