Minutes:
Councillor MJ Mason advised that he attended regular meetings, on behalf of the Council, of the Cambridgeshire Guided Bus Local liaison forum. He had attended meetings at which the Longstanton B1050 to Park Lane, Histon, and the Park Lane, Histon to Milton Road sections of the Guideway had been discussed, covering all ancilliary work including junctions with existing roads, drainage, landscaping and construction of noise mitigation measures to trackside properties.
He had also been involved, jointly with Parish Councils, in submission of responses in connection with the discharge of planning conditions reserved to the Council under the terms and conditions applied to the Transport and Works Order. Meetings occurred very regularly as the clearance and construction work proceeded. At all meetings, the contractor, Nuttalls, produces a schedule of work planned and in progress. This was a very large infrastructure development of vital importance to the delivery of Northstowe. Councillor Mason advised that he would not normally report to Council after each and every meeting but on this occasion felt compelled to do so because of two meetings held recently at Oakington and Histon. At these meetings, residents and Parish Councillors were given very short notice of a series of road closures in connection with work at the former railway level crossings. Residents and businesses were absolutely incensed at the lack of notice from the County Council and its contractors, at the lack of consideration, courtesy and the unnecessarily short notice of work which, if properly planned, could have been advised months ago.
Furthermore, the total closure of the C156 Oakington to Cottenham Road and the length of the works planned at all locations had been vigorously challenged by all residents. Councillor Mason understood that the local press, radio, television and Members of Parliament had already been contacted by the businesses who stood to lose trade and possibly even close down as a result of the length of the works and road closures or traffic restrictions. During the meetings Councillor Mason and other local Members protested in the strongest possible terms to the Leader of the County Council who chaired the Oakington meeting, and to Mr. Menzies who was responsible for delivery of the Guided Bus project. Councillor Mason had found the response from the County Council to be unsympathetic and aggressively defensive to what Members perceived to be poor contract management.
Councillor Mason urged the Council to investigate further and support local residents in their attempts to improve the management of this work and to minimise inconvenience to local businesses and compensate for any financial loss.
Councillor Mrs CAED Murfitt reported that the Clerk to Guilden Morden Parish Council had praised the service recently received from the Contact Centre and requested that this feedback be passed to the Contact Centre by the Staffing and Communications Portfolio Holder.
Councillor SGM Kindersley advised that the Cambridge Fringes Joint Development Control Committee had recently held its first meeting and that the first meeting of the Northstowe Joint Development Control Committee was due to take place shortly. Councillor Kindersley requested clarification on reporting arrangements from these bodies, and from the Joint Strategic Growth Implementation Committee to Council, which the Growth and Sustainable Communities Portfolio Holder agreed to provide.