Issue - meetings

City Deal – Histon Road and Milton Road Improvements: Display and introduction to the consultation process. Full details of consultation can be found at www.gccitydeal.co.uk/transport

The Committee received a presentation from Richard Preston, Project Manager, Major Infrastructure Delivery regarding the City Deal – Histon Road and Milton Road proposals. The presentation covered the following:

 

     i.        The initial consultation had achieved a good response rate.

    ii.        At this stage the consultation was considering ideas and not firm proposals.

   iii.        Suggestions from the public were welcomed.

  iv.        Outlined the next steps of the process which would begin to develop a business case for the proposals and to investigate any mitigation measures that might be needed.

   v.        The governance structure of the City Deal Board was explained.

  vi.        The Board had five members but only the three Local Authority Leaders had voting rights.

 vii.        The Assembly sits below the Board.

 

Richard Preston invited questions from those present.

 

Q1. Councillor Pitt

Do decisions require a unanimous vote?

 

A. Richard Preston stated that there was an expectation that the Board would reach a consensus on decisions.

 

Q2. Michael Bond

A number of new Residents’ Associations have been formed and are talking to each other about their concerns regarding the proposals. The public are animated as there appeared to be a tendency for the proposals to favour the needs of commuters over local residents.

 

A. Councillor Todd-Jones suggested that this sort of question would be discussed at the Special Meeting of the North Area Committee on the 4^th February.

 

Q3. Richard Taylor

Would modelling of the proposals be available in the near future?

 

Q4. Richard Taylor

The fate of trees in the area was missing from the environmental study. If trees were lost, would members talk to the Board and ask them to consider replacing lost trees with mature, established tree?

 

A. Councillor Todd-Jones stated that the meeting of the 4^th February would fall within the consultation period. Councillors were currently listening and gathering public opinions.

Councillor Price agreed that at this stage Councillors were seeking public opinions before they formed a view on matters under consideration.

 

Q5. Member of the Public

More information was needed on the next rounds of the consultation process and the wider City Plan.

 

A. Richard Preston outlined the suggested timeframes as follows:

 

Early Summer: Reports on initial consultations and on the wider City proposals would go to the Board. This would put the proposals into context.

 

Mid-Summer: A14 corridor report would be added and this would bring the three stands together.

 

Later in the year, options would be selected and further consultations would follow.

 

As more detailed proposals emerged, further consultations round would follow as needed and as required by statute.

 

Q6. Member of the Public

Expressed concerns that the consultants appointed were are not fully aware of the requirements needed to ensure safe cycling.

 

A. Richard Preston confirmed that the consultants had been given a brief and were delivering on that brief. Cambridge cyclists were not a homogenous group and had different needs.

 

Q7. Councillor Manning agreed the concerns regarding cyclists. Live trials should be carried out as used in New York.