To receive any questions on joint meetings.
Minutes:
Councillor Ray Manning, Leader of the Council, invited Members to ask questions regarding the Greater Cambridge City Deal.
Councillor Bridget Smith, as one of the Council’s representatives on the City Deal Joint Assembly, reflected on what she felt was a poor meeting of the Executive Board in comparison to the significant debate that took place on priority infrastructure schemes at the meeting of the Joint Assembly on 12 January 2015. She felt that the schemes agreed for inclusion in the City Deal infrastructure programme for the first five years were very city-focussed and asked for the Leader’s views, together with his views on cycle routes following a comment he made at the meeting of the Board questioning the value of cycle routes longer than two miles in length.
Councillor Manning said that his comments regarding cycle routes had been taken out of context. He acknowledged that people cycled for longer than two miles and explained that he was talking about increased Park and Ride facilities to include adequate cycling facilities, so that people would only need to cycle two miles to get into Cambridge rather than drive their private vehicles into the city.
Councillor John Williams referred to comments made by Councillor Tim Bick, Chairman of the City Deal Joint Assembly, in November 2014 who had expressed his concern that transport schemes would go ahead without adequate scrutiny. Councillor Williams suggested that this was exactly what was happening and asked the Leader for his views.
Councillor Manning explained that the Executive Board at its meeting on 28 January 2015 agreed a programme of priority infrastructure schemes, with each individual scheme now having further feasibility work undertaken to assess options and deliverability. The outcomes of this work would be reported back to the Joint Assembly and the Executive Board for further consideration.
Councillor Aidan Van de Weyer asked the Leader whether he was aware of the significant evidence available which outlined the benefits of cycle paths to aid congestion and enable journeys to be made more quickly and safely without coming into contact with other road users.
Councillor Manning was of the opinion that the only realistic way to solve the congestion problems in the centre of Cambridge was through providing Park and Ride facilities on the outskirts of the city, together with sufficient facilities for cyclists. He accepted that people wanted to cycle, but did not believe that the provision of long cycle ways would fundamentally change the way in which people travelled around the Greater Cambridge area and in and out of the city.
Councillor Manning added that the Greater Cambridge City Deal was constrained by the Government as schemes had to be identified that could be delivered in the first five years of the Deal, with evidence of their delivery being necessary in order to secure the next tranche of funding.
Councillor Francis Burkitt, as one of the Council’s representatives on the City Deal Joint Assembly, asked the Leader whether he thought it was wrong to compare the deliberations of the Joint Assembly with those of the Executive Board, especially since most Members of the Board were in attendance at the meeting of the Assembly on 12 January 2015. He also asked the Leader whether he felt it was wrong to say that the schemes within the programme were city-focussed and that it was wrong to say that schemes had been given the go ahead, since they were only concepts at this stage that would be worked up into more detailed proposals for further consideration at a later stage.
Councillor Manning agreed with Councillor Burkitt’s points and reiterated that the schemes put forward as priority schemes by the Executive Board at its meeting on 28 January 2015 would be worked up into much more detailed proposals, setting out options and more accurate information on anticipated deliverability and cost.
Councillor Sebastian Kindersley did not think that decisions made at the Executive Board should be based on opinion, but should be supported by evidence. He asked the Leader for evidence to support his claim made at the meeting of the Executive Board that most children in South Cambridgeshire came into Cambridge to be educated. Similarly, he asked the Leader for evidence to support his statement at the same meeting where he said that a third of the people living in Cambridge worked in South Cambridgeshire.
Councillor Manning responded by clarifying that, with regards to education, he was referring to higher education rather than education generally. He explained that he attempted at the meeting to put across the point that residents of South Cambridgeshire, or people working in or travelling through the district, had a vested interest in the City Deal, as well as a significant interest in improving Cambridge’s congestion problems.
Councillor Roger Hickford, as one of the County Council’s representatives on the Joint Assembly, did not think that the schemes were city-focussed and asked the Leader whether he felt they were.
Councillor Manning emphasised that the City Deal was a partnership and had attracted so much potential Government investment because of the way in which the District Council was working with Cambridge City Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, the Local Enterprise Partnership and University of Cambridge. He did not believe the schemes put forward by the Executive Board were city-focussed but acknowledged that the title ‘City Deal’ was perhaps slightly misleading.
Councillor Roger Hall asked what consideration had been given to those people who did not have their own private cars, but who could also not use a bicycle.
Councillor Manning reported that he and other Members of the Executive Board had recently met with senior representatives of Stagecoach, who were very keen to engage with the City Deal process and have an opportunity to provide an improved bus service across the Greater Cambridge area.
Councillor Ben Shelton, in his capacity as Chairman of the Partnerships Review Committee, informed the Leader that his Committee recently agreed to invite Members of the City Deal Executive Board to attend a future meeting and discuss the Greater Cambridge City Deal. He asked whether the Leader would be willing to take part in such a meeting.
Councillor Manning indicated that he would be willing to attend a meeting of the Partnerships Review Committee to discuss the City Deal.
Councillor Tony Orgee asked the Leader to confirm that the process followed ahead of the Executive Board’s consideration of the City Deal prioritised infrastructure scheme programme commenced with an original list of schemes totalling £752 million and that a more appropriate list was recommended by the Joint Assembly which discounted approximately £400 million of schemes. He took this opportunity to emphasise that other funding sources were available for infrastructure schemes that could be embedded as part of the City Deal programme.
Councillor Manning confirmed that this was the process that had been followed in the lead up to the Executive Board meeting on 28 January 2015 and that the programme agreed by the Board at this stage totalled approximately £180 million.
Councillor Deborah Roberts was keen for money to be spent only on those schemes that would add value, and referred to a cycleway that had been introduced in her ward recently at a cost of £300,000 which she felt was hardly used. She was also of the opinion that Park and Ride facilities needed to be made more attractive, and that one way of generating more use would be to remove the parking charge.
Councillor Manning confirmed that individual proposals would be considered very closely, involving consultation with local Members and residents.