Councillors have to make decisions on behalf of the public. In order to make good decisions they need good evidence, which leads to a good debate. Unfortunately the County Council debate regarding the Cambourne to Cambridge (C2C) proposal from the Greater Cambridge Partnership failed on multiple counts. That is why I have asked the County Council to reconsider the decision it made not to compare the GCP scheme with the Cambridge Past Present and Future (CPPF) scheme again.
I have to ask why did so many councillors take the GCP line in their responses. For example, there is no room for a cycleway and a bus route the length of the road, when that is not and never was being proposed. The only reason I can think is members were invited to a briefing on the GCP proposal, but the administration at the County Council denied the CPPF the same opportunity to present. As the comparison is now a substantive motion I have asked the Chief Executive to arrange a members seminar to brief members on the CPPF proposal. I honestly feel that if members actually took the time out to consider what CPPF is saying they may change their mind. Whereas what they actually considered was pre-prepared responses from the GCP to be trotted out, without checking if they were accurate or not.
Whilst I could pick apart the debate on the day point by point, I think it’s important to concentrate on what is the benefit to revisit this decision with a fresh pair of eyes. If the CPPF proposal stands the rigour of the comparison and holds water, we could save a historic orchard just for starters. Apart form the obvious ecological damage proposed in ripping through the countryside, the GCP proposal destroys an ancient apple orchard. The GPC would also save somewhere close to £180m pounds. Think what improvements to public transport that could go towards instead. With their plans to impose a congestion charge being rejected by the public, they clearly now need all the money they can get. As their dreams of a implementing a massive Taxation on car drivers, is rapidly turning to dust. Additionally, the CPPF proposal could be built using current highways powers, shaving years off of the delivery timescale and thereby improving public transport now, not at some distant point in the future.
What if Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Independents decide once again not to compare the two routes and chop down an ancient orchard, spending £200m+ on a busway that doesn’t improve public transport to major employment sites such as the Bio Medical Campus. I cannot honestly see it going ahead. Treasury are keeping a close eye on devolved funding. The current proposal has a direct benefit cost ratio of 0.43. This means for every £1 of Taxpayers money spent on the scheme, the return is only 43pence. No-one should back this unless they have ruled out every possible alternative. Something the public inquiry will soon learn they haven’t.
I have not used this opportunity to derail the TWAO, which the coalition have managed to force through. I believe that by not putting that at risk, and giving them an opportunity to actually understand the proposal properly there is a better chance this time around of some of them refusing the whip and voting with good sense and their conscience. If they undertake this comparison it could be completed in time for them to reconsider whether they want to pursue their dream of a a concrete scar cutting across the landscape.
I hope that this time members of the administration attend a briefing by the CPPF to properly explain what their proposal is. That way many could approach this debate with a fresh pair of eyes and hopefully agree to directly compare the two proposals.
Councillor Steve Count 