Agenda item

Questions by Members of the public

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

Minutes:

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 also offered the services of the Cambridge Cycling Campaign, for free, to assist in updating the document to reflect at least recent Cambridge standards with a desire for world-class infrastructure.

 

Councillor Herbert highlighted that this item would be considered later at this meeting and that the Joint Assembly had submitted a recommendation to request that further work be undertaken on the document.  He accepted the offer from the Cambridge Cycling Campaign to have an input in any further work that took place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supporting documents: