Issue - meetings

To receive any questions from members of the public.  The standard protocol to be observed by public speakers is attached.

Councillor Lewis Herbert, Chairman of the Executive Board, reported that a significant number of people had registered to speak in relation to specific items on the agenda for this meeting.  He therefore proposed that those questions be put at the relevant item.

The following questions did not necessarily relate to any items on the agenda for this meeting or it was the preference of the speaker to ask the question at this stage of proceedings.  Questions were therefore asked and answered at this stage of the meeting, as follows:

Question by Dorcus Fowler

Dorcus Fowler said that enhancing Park and Ride was acknowledged as an important element under the Greater Cambridge City Deal and added that if the aim was to accommodate additional commuter numbers by making the best use of existing sites, as well as creating new ones, it was obvious to her that there was potential in the North Cambridge Station site.  As a transport hub, with provision for more than the current 400 parking spaces, she said it could in effect serve as a Park and Ride and also help to ease congestion caused by school traffic.  She asked whether any further work would be done on exploiting the North Cambridge Station site to its full potential.

Bob Menzies, Director of Strategy and Development at Cambridgeshire County Council, confirmed that the site was being developed as a transport hub, which included a high level of cycle parking.  He said that the number of car parking spaces at the site would not be increasing and that it was not the right site for a Park and Ride facility, in view of it being too close to the city centre and there being other Park and Ride sites in the area.  Mr Menzies said that the prospect of a further Park and Ride site as part of the A10 scheme was being investigated. 

Question by Stephen Brown

Stephen Brown explained that the timing of meetings of the Executive Board and Joint Assembly, being during working hours, effectively meant that the working population was being excluded and that this limited those able to attend.  He asked whether it was fair and democratic to hold these meetings at times when a large section of the population would be excluded from attending. 

Councillor Herbert acknowledged that this was not something that had recently been considered.  He agreed, in principle, that the Board could benefit from evening meetings and confirmed that he and the Board would take this issue away for further consideration.

Question by Robin Heydon

Robin Heydon referred to the minutes of a previous meeting in answer to a question he had asked about world-class cycling infrastructure.  The commitment given to him at that meeting in answer to the question, he felt, was not supported in the Urban and Environmental Design Guidance document scheduled for consideration later at this meeting.  He referred specifically to the width of cycle lanes and asked the Board to reject the Design Guidance document.  Mr Heydon  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6

To receive any questions from members of the public.  The standard protocol to be observed by public speakers is attached.

Councillor Roger Hickford, Chairman, reported that a significant number of people had registered to speak in relation to specific items on the agenda for this meeting.  He therefore proposed that those questions be put at the relevant item.

The following questions did not necessarily relate to any items on the agenda for this meeting and were therefore asked and answered at this stage of proceedings, as follows:

Question by Mary Pountain

In view of the late publication of consultation responses, some of which not being published until the evening of 31 May 2016, Mary Pountain was concerned that this was not a democratic process with there not being enough time allowed for proper reflection on the schemes, particularly in view of the Executive Board meeting having been brought forward by a week.  She therefore asked whether the Joint Assembly would recommend the postponing of the Executive Board meeting to allow sufficient time for the Joint Assembly Members, and members of the public, to assimilate all the information and review the impact of each scheme when combined with the other City Deal proposals.

Bob Menzies, Director of Strategy and Development at Cambridgeshire County Council, said that officers supporting the City Deal programme were committed to openness and the democratic process, together with making sure as much information as possible was in the public domain.  He stated that the consultation report was published five clear working days in advance of the meeting, as required, but that some of the information contained within background reports had not been available for technical reasons.

Question by Wendy Blythe

Wendy Blythe reported that Cambridge communities were finding it difficult to maintain faith in the process, especially in view of the publication of late information and the officer responsible for community engagement being seen to limit attendance at the recent Histon Road and Milton Road briefing.  In respect of the proposed Local Liaison Forum, she asked how Forum stakeholders would be identified, on what basis objectives would be set and what success would look like.

Mr Menzies reported that Local Liaison Forums would involve all local Councillors from the County Council, City Council and District Council where appropriate and that it would be up to them to decide which stakeholders they wished to invite.  The Forum itself would set its own terms of reference, setting out its objectives.  In terms of what success would look like he highlighted that Local Liaison Forums were not decision-making bodies.  He therefore added that success would be judged by the end product of the scheme.

Question by Roxanne de Beaux

Roxanne de Beaux asked whether the Joint Assembly would recommend to the Executive Board that the designs for Milton Road should include dedicated, segregated and sufficiently wide space for people who walked, together with separate, dedicated and sufficiently wide space for people who would be cycling.  She also asked whether the Assembly would remove the recommendation that floating-bus stops were not considered. 

Stuart Walmsley, Head of Major Infrastructure Delivery at Cambridgeshire  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6