Agenda, decisions and minutes

Councillor Tim Wotherspoon was ELECTED Chairman of the Greater Cambridge Partnership Joint Assembly.

Councillor Tim Wotherspoon was ELECTED Chairman of the Greater Cambridge Partnership Joint Assembly.

Councillor Kevin Price as the outgoing Joint Assembly Chairman expressed his thanks to Joint Assembly members and to Councillor Wotherspoon for his support as Vice Chairman. He thanked officers for their help, advice and guidance during his time as Chairman and thanked members of the public for their engagement with the Greater Cambridge Partnership during this time.

The new members of the Joint Assembly; Jo Sainsbury, Heather Richards and Councillors Massey, Sollom, Topping and Wilson were welcomed.

Councillor Tim Bick was ELECTED Vice-Chairman of the Greater Cambridge Partnership Joint Assembly.

Councillor Tim Bick was ELECTED Vice-Chairman of the Greater Cambridge Partnership Joint Assembly.

Councillor Tim Wotherspoon thanked the former members of the Joint Assembly for their work during their term as members of the Joint Assembly and passed on the Joint Assembly’s best wishes for a swift recovery to former Joint Assembly member, Councillor Kevin Cuffley.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

To authorise the Assembly to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 February 2018 as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 28^th February 2018 were agreed as a correct record, subject to the following amendment:

·         Replacing the figure ‘200,000’ with ‘20,000’ on page 5 of the minutes in relation to the additional jobs planned in the west and to the south of Cambridge.

The minutes of the meeting held on 28^th February 2018 were agreed as a correct record, subject to the following amendment:

·         Replacing the figure ‘200,000’ with ‘20,000’ on page 5 of the minutes in relation to the additional jobs planned in the west and to the south of Cambridge.

The Chairman notified the Joint Assembly that a petition had been received regarding Histon Road, asking to ‘implement a 20 mph speed limit for the lower part of Histon Road and a night time HGV Traffic Control Order’. The petition contained more than 50 signatures but had not reached the required 500 signatures to be formally considered by the Joint Assembly.

The Chairman notified the Joint Assembly that a petition had been received regarding Histon Road, asking to ‘implement a 20 mph speed limit for the lower part of Histon Road and a night time HGV Traffic Control Order’. The petition contained more than 50 signatures but had not reached the required 500 signatures to be formally considered by the Joint Assembly.

Update on work to further define the public transport elements of the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s transport strategy.

The Joint Assembly considered the report which updated the Assembly on the work to further define the public transport elements of the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s transport strategy, and provided a reminder of the range of schemes under development.

There was broad agreement from the Joint Assembly members who welcomed the paper.

Edward Leigh was invited to ask his public question. The details of this and a summary of the response are set out in Appendix A to the minutes.

The GCP Transport Director presented the report which provided an update on the work to further define the public transport elements of the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s transport strategy, and provided a reminder of the range of schemes under development.

The Joint Assembly discussed the report and made the following points:

·         Cllr Williams pointed out that the main mode of public transport at least in the short term was the bus, the main difficulty with which was deregulation. Even if the Mayor chose to pursue franchising, this would take a long time to achieve. Therefore a way had to be found to work with Stagecoach and other bus operators for the Greater Cambridge Partnership to achieve what was set out in the report. It was felt that the report was light on detail in relation to this.

·         The report highlighted that public transport journey times, even for short journeys, were appalling. This made the car a more attractive option even for short journeys. Councillor Williams suggested that as the precedent had been set by the Greater Cambridge Partnership subsidising the Park and Rides, until demand management measures were brought in the GCP should be prepared to subsidise an enhanced bus services from areas with poor bus journey times, so that the shift from car to pubic transport could be made.

·         Councillor Kavanagh supported the intention to  trial autonomous on demand vehicles on the southern section of the Busway between the railway station and Trumpington Park and Ride, via Addenbrooke’s. However he raised concern for safety along the proposed route; it was thought this was getting more dangerous due to cyclists and walkers being directly alongside buses, with no barrier between them. Councillor Kavanagh requested that the Greater Cambridge Partnership put aside funds to make this stretch of route safer as it due to its success, it was only going to get busier with cyclists and pedestrians.

·         The creation of the Bus User Group was supported and their input to the Greater Cambridge Partnership was welcomed and encouraged.

·         Councillor Price pointed out that although the Mayor was not in favour of buses, the Joint Assembly recognised that they had a part to play.

·         Making effective use of buses was essential in the short term at least. However Councillor Topping felt the GCP needed to look further into the future on the concept of mobility as a service, making use of IT systems that made the best use of bus routes to collect the most number of people on a route. Councillor Topping urged the Greater Cambridge Partnership to work with private sector partners such as the science parks in South Cambridgeshire, who were currently spending nearly a £1 million a year on providing travel for their employees from the railway station to the science hubs, to make better use of bus services. Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Full Outline Business Case for options for investment Cambourne to Cambridge.

PAPER WITHDRAWN – Due to pause requested in Mayoral Transport Statement.

Decision deferred to October 2018.

A paper on the A428 Cambourne to Cambridge had been withdrawn from the agenda due to a pause requested in the Mayoral Interim Transport Statement, as agreed a the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority meeting on 30 May 2018. This decision was deferred until October 2018.

A paper on the A428 Cambourne to Cambridge had been withdrawn from the agenda due to a pause requested in the Mayoral Interim Transport Statement, as agreed at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority meeting on 30 May 2018. This decision was deferred until October 2018.

To consider the preferred option preliminary design for Milton Road along with the strategic outline business case as a basis for public consultation to facilitate the final preliminary design and outline business case.

The Joint Assembly considered the report which set out the preferred option design for Milton Road which met the original objectives of the scheme and took into account the considerable public engagement that had taken place.

Joint Assembly members were broadly supportive of the overall design and approach being recommended to the Executive Board for Milton Road. In addition to this the Joint Assembly supported the further exploration of a Traffic Regulation Order to be part of the plans and proposals going forward for Milton Road, in order to prevent verge parking.

Anne Hamill, Michael Page, Barbara Taylor and Maureen Mace were invited to ask their questions. Nick Flynn and Erik de Visser were unable to attend to ask their questions. Details of the questions and a summary of the response are provided in Appendix A to the minutes.

JocelynneScutt, Chair of the Milton Road Local Liaison Forum, was invited to address the Assembly and made the following points:

·         The Milton Road LLF was generally pleased with the plans coming forward for Milton Road. Ms Scutt paid tribute to the residents, residents’ associations, Camcyle and the GCP and County Council officers and consultants for their work on the scheme.

·         General appreciation was expressed for the plans and the importance of consultation with local residents was emphasised.

·         There were still some concerns regarding the scheme, which were:

o   Concern regarding crossings; there was a wish for a crossing at Downhams Lane. An issue regarding the Westbrook Centre was highlighted and it was requested that attention be paid to this.

o   The length of bus lanes.

o   Floating bus stops in relation to the elderly and people with disabilities.

o   Issues with the positioning of bus stops

o   Buses failing to stop

o   A request had been put to Andy Campbell of Stagecoach to pay attention to the B bus on Histon Road.

o   The protection of verges.

o   The LLF wanted to work closely with GCP officers on residents parking.

It was felt that there had been a real recognition of the importance of public consultation regarding the Milton Road scheme.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership Transport Director presented the report, which set out the preferred option design for Milton Road. This met the original objectives of the scheme and took into account the considerable public engagement that had taken place. The Joint Assembly was informed that:

·         The technical work on the Downham Lane proposal was ongoing.

·         The removal of residents parking would form part of the public consultation.

·         The existing bus lane was being reduced in size. Additional lanes were going to be on the outward bound side. This was to improve bus services which would still be needed after the introduction of the CAM Metro.

Joint Assembly members discussed the report and made the following points:

·         Councillor Price pointed out that Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) to prevent parking on verges, had been successful in other areas such as Kings Hedges. A TRO for Milton Road had recently been applied for, but had been unsuccessful. Councillor Price suggested that a TRO should be part of the plans and proposals going forward for Milton Road, to ensure there was no parking on verges.

·         Councillor Bick raised concern regarding the absence of sufficient crossing points along Milton Road, which exaggerated the separation of the community across the road and did not provide enough crossing points for cyclists to enable them to use the directional cycle lanes. It was felt that due to the lack of crossings, the project did not achieve as much  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To update on the City Access programme including a detailed intelligent signals review delivery plan and to give approval to consult on demand management principles and measures.

PAPER AMENDED – Update on City Access Programme, including report on future transport requirements.

Decision on demand management principles deferred to October 2018 due to pause requested in Mayoral Transport Statement.

The Joint Assembly considered the report which provided an update on work to explore a number of options for reducing congestion and improving air quality in and around Cambridge. Joint Assembly members were broadly supportive of the proposals set out in the report and for work proceeding on this.

The GCP Transport Director presented the report which provided an update on work to explore a number of options for reducing congestion and improving air quality in and around Cambridge. The Joint Assembly discussed the report and members made the following points:

·         Councillor Williams welcomed funds generated through demand management methods being used to improve public transport further by subsidising fares, routes, frequency and hours of operation, as well as being borrowed against. He emphasised the importance of the Park and Ride to the residents of the South Cambridgeshire villages that would never have a good public transport link to the city. He said that parking at the Park and Ride sites had to be free and hoped that there would be more Park and Ride sites.

·         Councillor Price welcomed the report which outlined the alternative ways of congestion charging. Councillor Price pointed out that he had originally been opposed to congestion charging as he felt that this penalised people who could not afford to live in Cambridge but worked in the city. It was highlighted that unless there was a good alternative public transport system, people would continue to use their cars and until there was such an alternative, people should not be penalised for having to use their cars to get into the city.

·         Councillor Bick expressed reservation regarding trying to reduce congestion with a pollution tax, as this benefitted those who could afford to replace their vehicles with less polluting alternatives, while disadvantaging those who could not afford to do so. Any powers to use a pollution tax should be used to target commercial vehicles and buses as this would target businesses which could choose which vehicles to deploy.

·         Councillor Topping urged that intelligent charging should not exacerbate the inequalities that existed around Cambridge, expressing concern that the proposals would inflict the most cost on those who could not afford to live in Cambridge but worked in Cambridge. It was questionable whether Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire had the critical mass needed in terms of population to make intelligent charging viable. Councillor Topping supported pollution charging which although was not a complete solution, may achieve buy-in from the public and persuade them that something needed to be done.

·         Councillor Topping was pleased that parking was not being charged for at Park and Ride sites, but acknowledged and expressed concern that this cut off an income stream.

·         Jo Sainsbury cautioned against doing too much work on physical demand management interventions as this was likely to alter traffic distribution and therefore skew public transport analysis. A clear programme of short, medium and long term studies and implementation would be welcomed in order to understand timescale, progression and impact.

·         Helen Valentine requested that the Joint Assembly be able to see the early work on equality and fairness and queried whether there would be an intelligent approach to intelligent charging.

·         Councillor Massey pointed out that the report did not discuss school traffic which accounted for 15% of peak time traffic. She suggested  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To consider the outcomes of initial engagement and approve public consultation on proposals during 2018.

The Joint Assembly considered the report which provided an update on the progress of the creation of a network of Greenways and set out a programme designed to deliver short term improvements to the Greenways network.

Joint Assembly members indicated their broad support for the Greenways initiative. Whilst supporting the initiative however, concerns were raised regarding the maintenance of Greenways and the importance of schemes coming forward with a maintenance plan was highlighted. 

Wendy Blythe was invited to ask her public question, the details of which and a summary of the response given are provided in Appendix A to the minutes.

Councillor Rod Cantrill was invited to address the Joint Assembly. In response to Councillor Cantrill’s concerns regarding respect of the existing streetscape, Councillor Cantrill was assured that the Greater Cambridge Partnership was committed to there being no removal of verge trees on Barton Road.

Mike Davies presented the report which provided an update on the progress of the creation of a network of Greenways and the key issues. Funding had been allocated over a two year period to develop 12 Greenways. A bottom up approach was being used in order to maximise buy-in. 25 public events had been held to inform the routes for public consultation. Barton and Haslingfield would be the first route for consultation. Assurance was provided that there were no proposals to remove cobbles or historic features.

Joint Assembly members discussed the report and raised the following points:

·         Councillor Kavanagh welcomed the Greenways initiative. He welcomed the reference to The Tins path route and bridge on this route, highlighting that the bridge had been a significant danger to cyclists and pedestrians particularly in freezing conditions. A possible new bridge was welcomed.

·         Councillor Williams raised the maintenance of greenways as an issue. The path at the back of Fulbourn Tesco was given as an example where low hanging trees and undergrowth coming from Network Rail’s side of the fence, had made the path virtually impossible to negotiate. Councillor Williams highlighted that it had been very challenging trying to get Network Rail to do anything about this. Councillor Williams highlighted that there was no money in the budget to maintain routes and asked that it was ensured that budget was assigned to the maintenance of greenways and suggested that a maintenance plan was needed.

·         Councillor Williams requested that a safe crossing at Yarrow Road and the roundabout be ensured, as there were no safety facilities for cycling here and it was dangerous for cyclists to negotiate the roundabout. Officers provided assurance that this would be looked at.

·         Councillor Williams suggested that a decent cycle route from Cherry Hinton North to the greenway was needed. In response to this, officers advised that Section 106 negotiations regarding Cherry Hinton were underway, covering cycleways and greenways.

·         Councillor Topping queried whether the GCP was confident that cycle paths would not need to be widened in future, as this would raise issues with budget and land ownership. In response to this officers advised that path width was a matter for public consultation. It was likely that there would be a 3.5m wide tarmac path with a green strip alongside for horse riders and ramblers.

·         Councillor Topping welcomed safe cycleways linking villages, which were needed in order to encourage mode shift.

·         Councillor Sollom welcomed the public engagement that had taken place with villages regarding the Barton/Haslingfield greenway, however pointed out that Grantchester had not felt sufficiently  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Presenting results of public consultation and to note preparation of Outline Business Case.

PAPER AMENDED – Presenting results of public consultation and approval of programme quick wins.

Decision on strategy approach deferred to October 2018 due to pause requested in Mayoral Transport Statement.

The Cambridge South East Transport Study Survey Responses 2018 can be viewed here: www.greatercambridge.org.uk/cambridgesoutheast

The Joint Assembly considered the report which set out the results of the public consultation on the Cambridge South East Transport Study.

Tony Orgee, Chair of the Cambridge South East Transport Study Local Liaison Forum, was invited to address the Assembly. He provided an update following the 6^th June meeting of the LLF:

·         There was concern that closure of the central reservation at the Dean Road crossroads would lead to HGVs diverting to unsuitable roads through local villages in order to access the A1307 towards Cambridge.  There were similar views about having no right turn (except for buses) out of Linton High Street with the Back Road being considered to be completely unsuitable to deal with increased traffic. The LLF therefore welcomed that the Dean Road crossroads proposal would be given further consideration and that the Linton High Street no right turn proposal would be re-evaluated.

·         The LLF wanted further consideration be given to speed limits along the A1307 and there was much support for a single speed limit outside villages.

·         It was felt that further work would be necessary in relation to safety at the Babraham crossroads and in cycleway access to Granta Park. The consultation included cycleways and a greenway that went close to Granta Park but with gaps of hundreds of yards to the actual site entrance. The LLF felt that it was important that local councillors and stakeholders should also be involved in the further work on these matters.

·         There was a plea for landscaping to be an integral feature of designs and for ecological matters to be given appropriate consideration.

·         There were particularly adverse comments about the greenway, focused on the present section of cycleway between Wandlebury and the roundabout entrance to the Babraham Research Campus.  It was felt that this narrow section of cycleway immediately next to the A1307 did not meet the principles of a greenway and was dangerous for cyclists.

·         The LLF was pleased to see progress and that some interventions could be implemented this financial year.  The LLF strongly requested that local councillors and stakeholders (for example, parish councils, CPPF, Granta Park, The Gogs Shop) were actively involved in working up the details of the interventions.

·         A representative of the Trumpington Residents Association made a statement at the LLF meeting that was strongly critical of the delay in making decisions on the strategies in the consultation.

The GCP Transport Director presented the report which set out the results of the public consultation on the Cambridge South East Transport Study. Joint Assembly members made the following comments:

·         Councillor Williams pointed out that the proposed AgriTech development, which appeared on the maps at pages 109 and 110, had been refused planning permission. The maps would be amended to reflect this.

·         Councillor Williams also pointed out that the consultation response regarding the Wandlebury multi-use underpass had been negative, however there was no explanation of this in the report. In response to this, the Project Manager informed members that the Wandlebury underpass was well supported overall, however some groups had queried the cost. It was explained that signals had been rejected as a solution to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

To monitor progress across the GCP workstreams including financial monitoring information.

The Joint Assembly received and noted the Quarterly Progress Report.

The GCP’s Head of Strategy and Programme presented the report which updated the Joint Assembly on the progress across the GCP programme, GCP Communications and Engagement and the West of Cambridge Package – Park and Ride. In response to queries raised by Joint Assembly members in discussing the report, officers clarified the following:

·         The Government had been slow to publish information regarding apprenticeships. The national trend was declining significantly. The Greater Cambridge area was likely to see a decline in apprenticeships but this was not expected to be as steep as in other areas of the country. As information was not to hand at the meeting, the Head of Strategy and Programme would inform members following the meeting of the average age of apprenticeships. The next phase of work would go into primary schools to promote apprenticeships.

·         Information regarding the location of Smart Panels was not available at the meeting, but would be circulated to members following the meeting.

·         The Joint Assembly was informed that work on autonomous vehicles was on track.

·         At officer level, work was being shared and discussed between the GCP and Combined Authority.

·         In response to a query regarding the principles to determine whether the GCP would fund a project, members were informed that the GCP would not provide funding for projects that would have happened anyway, without the GCP’s intervention. The GCP received many applications for funding, all of which were assessed.

·         The GCP Communications Manager explained the concept of a community sounding group and the rationale for establishing this. The group was in its formative stages.

·         Members were informed that when the pause on the Cambourne to Cambridge project had been lifted, the GCP would engage with the Local Liaison Forum.

The Joint Assembly noted the Quarterly Progress Report.

To note that the next meeting will take place at 2pm on Thursday 20 September 2018.

The Joint Assembly noted that the next meeting would take place on Thursday 20 September 2018 at 2pm.

The Joint Assembly noted that the next meeting would take place on Thursday 20 September 2018 at 2pm.