Milton Road trees at risk from Cambridge City Deal plans

There are plans to completely redesign both Histon and Milton Roads to improve access for buses and bikes

07:08 Thursday 4th February 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: If you live on Milton Road in Cambridge you’ve probably seen these signs that have appeared all the way down the street saying “SAVE OUR TREES”. The notices have been put up by members of the Milton Road Residents’ Association, as they believe plans to change the road could mean four out of every five trees there are lost. We went out and asked people what they thought of the plans.
PUBLIC ONE: We live in the area. We feel very very strongly we want to save them at all costs. Many times they have tried to demolish the trees, and they have failed. And I think they should be preserved. It makes this place look really beautiful, especially in the Spring with the blossom out.
PUBLIC TWO: I’ll get on to my pet subject. I know the last project they did here was actually create the cycle path, to save actually doing other amendments to the road. But then the next problem is the cyclists don’t use the cycle path. That would save one of the traffic problems and help save our trees.
PUBLIC THREE: Well I think things have to progress. As long as it doesn’t become a motorway.
PUBLIC FOUR: You come in May, the blossom here is beautiful. It makes this road beautiful. So ..
PUBLIC FIVE: I understand Cambridge has got to expand. I understand that. This is a key route in and there’s a lot of traffic on here, but the changes that are proposed aren’t going to benefit the residents. We’re just going to get stuffed basically.
PUBLIC SIX: it depends really on how much it’s going to change the road and make it better, and how much we lose more of the trees, environmentally for oxygen and that, and also for looks.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Well our reporter Julia Greenaway is on Milton Road for us this morning, and Julia, you’ve been taking a look at these plans for changes to the street.
JULIA GREENAWAY: Yes. You can probably hear it’s actually quite busy along Milton Road this morning. Anyone driving this way just can’t help but notice those signs that you’ve mentioned. They’re attached to most of the trees down here using a piece of string. So this is one of the key routes into Cambridge that the City Deal board is proposing to develop, to improve congestion and access into the city. There are plans to completely redesign both Histon and Milton Roads to improve access for buses and bikes. Here on Milton Road one of the ideas is to have two bus lanes running down the middle of the road, with cars on the outside of those, followed by raised cycleways and then finally pavements. But in order to put in these extra lanes the road here would need to be widened, so that means getting rid of most of the trees and verges, which many of the people living here aren’t happy about, hence the “SAVE OUR TREES” posters. They’re also concerned about the extra noise and vibrations from the traffic, and argue that they won’t see any benefit from the buses coming down Milton Road.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And Julia, the save Our Trees campaign, it has got some backing from local politicians.
JULIA GREENAWAY: The Labour Party in Cambridge who are the ruling party on the City Council has produced a leaflet saying “City Deal – we are listening”. The leaflet says they agree two bus lanes aren’t needed on Milton Road, and trees and green spaces should be kept. Although this is a good endorsement for the campaigners, it’s not the City Council’s decision. That’s down to the City Deal executive, which is also made up of councillors from South Cambridgeshire Council and the County Council too.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And when can we expect some kind of decision on this?
JULIA GREENAWAY: Well the proposals are out for consultation at the moment. If you live in the nearby areas you’ve probably had a leaflet through your door explaining all the plans, and inviting you to have your say. That consultation will end on Monday 15th February. The results will then go back to the City Deal board to be discussed. We’re not expecting building work to start on any of these projects until next year at the very earliest.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And there is actually a meeting to talk about these issues tonight.
JULIA GREENAWAY: It’s the North Area Committee Meeting. This type of meeting happens regularly all over the county, and they’re an opportunity for people to raise concerns to the police and to the Council about what’s happening in their neighbourhood. But there is only one item on the agenda at this evening’s meeting, and that’s the City Deal plans. Councillors and officers will be there to take part in a public question and answer session for both the Histon Road and Milton Road proposals. That starts at six o’clock tonight at Chesterton Community College. And if previous meetings on this subject are anything to go by, we can expect a full house and plenty of interesting debate.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Julia Greenaway, thank you very much. On Milton Road for us this morning. Well Gerri Bird is the vice-chair of the North Area Committee, which is holding its meeting tonight, and joins me now. Morning Gerri.
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Stewart Jackson on a British exit from the European Union

09:24 Wednesday 3rd February 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: We’re off to Europe. We’re in. We’re out. We’re shaking it all about. After months of waiting and negotiating David Cameron has returned from Brussels with a draft deal on Britain’s future in Europe. It will allow Britain to immediately impose what’s called an emergency brake on the payment of in-work benefits to EU migrants, if of course you, me and everybody else votes to stay in, whenever the referendum may be. It also includes plans for a red card system allowing national parliaments to collectively block EU proposals for new legislation. Mr Cameron described it as a ‘substantial change’.
DAVID CAMERON: I think that is a very strong and powerful package. As I’ve said, none of this is agreed yet. None of the detail is fixed. There’s more work to be done. This European Council doesn’t meet and discuss and debate all this for a couple of weeks. But I think we have secured some very important changes which go directly to the issues that we raised as a Member of the European Union.
PAUL STAINTON: However the proposals have been criticised for not going far enough. David Cameron wanted to deny benefits to EU migrants for four years, but the proposals stop short of that. Instead benefits will be withheld to start with, then gradually restored over the four years. It’s also not clear how easy it will be to pull the so-called emergency brake, or how long that might last. The Conservatives also pledged in their manifesto to stop EU migrants sending their child benefit back home. Under the new proposals the payments will continue, but they’ll be linked to local prices in the child’s country. Richard Tice is the founder of Leave.EU. Not impressed I think it’s fair to say.
RICHARD TICE: There’s absolutely nothing in this document. The Prime Minister is trying to deceive the British people by saying that there’s substantial change. There is nothing except a restatement of the existing status quo. We’ve already got a veto with other parliaments, with other nations, through the Council of Ministers, so the red card system is a complete red herring.
PAUL STAINTON: So what do you make of it? Has he got the deal that you wanted him to get? Is it enough to make you vote to stay in the Union if we get a referendum say June or July? Or has it all been a complete waste of time? We’d like to hear what you think this morning. 03459 252000. 81333 on text. Let’s get the reaction from some of our local MPs. Stewart Jackson is the MP for Peterborough. Very critical of David Cameron’s stance on Europe before. Has he brought home the bacon Stewart?
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Cambridgeshire Police Commissioner candidate warns of incipient privatisation

10:24 Monday 1st February 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: We’re also talking anti-social behaviour. Many of you getting in touch today with your stories. We heard from John earlier. Les from Cambridge says “After nine months of stone-throwing against my window amongst other things my support worker organised mediation. Any way, I think we need to join up the thinking between unemployment, anti-social behaviour and immigration.” says Les from Cambridge. Obviously I haven’t seen any studies that do link those, but maybe there is something there says Les in Cambridge. But if anti-social behaviour is making your life a misery we’d like to hear from you this morning. And how do you think we should stop it? We heard about the Arbury Estate in Cambridge earlier, where residents say drug use and poor driving were causing problems. Well now a row has broken out in Peterborough about how the city there should tackle anti-social behaviour. Some councillors say they want council staff to be able to tackle anti-social behaviour, which includes aggressive begging. But others are concerned about the scheme and want it thrown out. One of them who wants it thrown out is Labour councillor Ed Murphy. Ed, morning.
ED MURPHY: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: What’s wrong with it, on the face of it, tackling anti-social behaviour?
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Bushfield Bowls Club launch new season with ‘spot the player’ competition

Bushfield Bowls Club has decided to launch the new season with a ‘spot the player’ competition. The photograph shows the club opening in May 1982, with our founding members ready for bowls. Do you recognise anyone? Can you ‘spot the player’? Can you find a relative or old colleague in the photo?

We offer discounted club membership for positive identifications and a prize for the best information. If you know anyone in the photograph, please contact Bernard Barker (01733 236241).

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Cash-strapped council raises rates and defers interest repayments

17:20 Friday 29th January 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: It looks like council tax will be going up by 4% in Peterborough next year. It’s one of the proposals in the City Council budget, announced today. Despite facing a deficit of £24 million next year, the Council is maintaining that no services will be cut. Our Political Reporter Hannah Olsson has more.
HANNAH OLSSON: It’s a legal requirement that every council must present a balanced budget, and this year hasn’t bee easy. Councils are facing a significant reduction in the amount of money they get from central government, alongside an ever-growing demand on their services. Peterborough City Council has a £24 million gap in its budget for next year. The first half of savings were announced at the end of last year, and today we found out about the second half. Many councils including Cambridgeshire say they’ll have no choice but to cut services, but Peterborough City Council say they’ve managed to pull the political rabbit out of the hat and balance their budget, and still provide the same services they are at the moment. I asked David Seaton who’s in charge of finance at the Council how they’ve done it.
DAVID SEATON: We’ve done it through things like the benefits of growth that we’ve seen, the extra income from council tax, the extra income from business rates, our innovative ways of doing things. And we’ve talked before about our customer experience programme, what that can do for us, and also the joint working we’re doing with other councils, and the income we’re getting from that.
HANNAH OLSSON: As David mentioned there, the key reason that Peterborough is in a healthier position that other councils is that it’s had so much growth in recent years. Peterborough is the third fastest growing city in the UK, and with new homes being built and new businesses opening, the Council simply gets more money.
CHRIS MANN: Yes Hannah but even with that, the Council still needs to find an extra £24 million next year. So how are they going to do that?
HANNAH OLSSON: Well one of the ways they’re saving money is through some clever refinancing of the Council’s debt. They’ve already told us in budget part one how they’ll be extending the debt on their assets from 25 to 42 years. They’ve now said they’re also going to be making these debt repayments more like mortgages, so the rate of interest is higher, but means the repayment is the same over the whole period, which in short means they won’t cost them as much now. There’s also going to be some savings in their staff costs. They’ll be closing their office between Christmas and New Year, stopping all the automatic pay increases for around 20% of council staff, and changing the way their staff are paid for travel. And of course they’re also planning to raise money by putting up council tax by 4%. Councils always have the option of increasing tax by 2%, but this year the Government also said they could add on an extra 2% as long as this money is spent on adult social care. Earlier in the week we heard that Cambridgeshire County Council isn’t planning on taking the Government up on this extra 2% offer, but Peterborough is.
CHRIS MANN: So ratepayers will want to know just how much does this extra money, this 4% rise, work out at.
HANNAH OLSSON: Well for the average Band D property, the council tax increase would work out at an extra 87p a week. Now the Band D property is a benchmark people use when we’re talking about tax rises. But it’s worth saying that the average property in Peterborough is actually Band B, so they would see an increase of 67p a week. This rise would add up to an extra £2.4 million for the Council’s coffers, although as I said half of this will have to be spent on adult social care. At the moment these are all still proposals. The final decision will be made on 9th march following a public consultation.
CHRIS MANN: Hannah Olsson there with that special report. Well let’s bring in the Leader of Peterborough City Council, John Holdich. Evening John.
JOHN HOLDICH: (DELAY) … believe me after an introduction like that. She’s really understood it.
CHRIS MANN: Good. (LAUGHS) Well glad that we’re presenting the facts.
JOHN HOLDICH: Good.
CHRIS MANN: But you’re caught between a rock and a hard place, because you say that you’re not cutting any services, but you have to save money. Are you sure nothing is going to be cut?
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Cambridge for Europe campaign underway

Supporters include Labour MP Daniel Zeichner, his predecessor Julian Huppert, and the Conservative peer Lord Balfe

17:21 Thursday 28th January 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: A new cross-party organisation to campaign for the UK to stay in the EU will launch at this time just tomorrow. Cambridge for Europe argues the case for continued membership of the EU, in preparation for the referendum which is expected to be later this year, perhaps as early as June. Supporters include Labour MP Daniel Zeichner, his predecessor Julian Huppert, who is a LibDem, and the Conservative peer Lord Balfe, as well as the Chair of Cambridge LibDems, Mark Argent, who joins me now. Mark, hello to you.
MARK ARGENT: Nice to meet you.
CHRIS MANN: Tell us, why is it important to have this organisation campaigning?
MARK ARGENT: I think the UK’s future is very much to be at the heart of Europe, leading change there, rather than running away. That matters for our prosperity and our cultural survival, and also how we compete on the world stage, with countries like China and Brazil growing much bigger.
CHRIS MANN: And will you be making specific arguments for Cambridgeshire to stay in the EU, arguments that are relevant to this part of the world?
MARK ARGENT: I think the whole Cambridge region, so the city and the whole area around it, draws a huge amount from being in the European Union. And that’s partly about just general trade with the rest of the Single Market. It’s about investment in the universities, and research and business coming out of that.

So you’re going to go on a platform and say all those tens of thousands that are coming, moving around, those economic migrants, they can come here no problem?

CHRIS MANN: OK. Well I’m sure you’ll have many debates over the next months. We don’t yet know when the referendum will be, but your first one is right now ..
MARK ARGENT: Thank you.
CHRIS MANN: .. because we’re going to bring in somebody from UKIP, because UKIP will be leading the anti-Europe campaign in this part of the world. And a senior official with them is Nick Clarke, a former of course Conservative Leader of the County Council. Nick Clarke, hello.
NICK CLARKE: Good evening Chris.
CHRIS MANN: Will there be a Cambridge against Europe coalition announced too?
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Opposing views on a rate rise for Cambridgeshire

We have the asset portfolio in my opinion to become self-sufficient a couple of years down the line.

08:20 Thursday 28th January 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: Let’s return to the subject of council tax. Would you pay more of it if it meant social care services in the county faced fewer cuts? Would you be happy to pay a little bit more each year? In last year’s Autumn Statement, the Chancellor George Osborne announced plans to let councils increase council tax by 2% if they spent that money on social care. This in the face of continuing cuts that threaten social care services. Richard O’Leary is from the GMB union. I spoke to him earlier. He says there’s only one option.
RICHARD O’LEARY: It’s a very complex question. I think our general view is they have no option but to implement this, and that’s because as you’ve already said earlier in your report, local government has been affected more than any area of the public sector with the cuts since 2010. If you take the national figure, local authorities have lost 51% of their budget in those six years, and Cambridgeshire is one of the hardest affected authorities in the country.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Cambridgeshire County Council at the moment will be advising the Government that they are ‘not minded’ to increase council tax by 2% for this purpose. A final decision will be made next month. Just to put it in context, for the average Band D property, a 2% rise on council tax would mean an extra £33 a year. With me now are two men with very different views on this. Ashley Walsh who is the Leader of the Labour group on Cambridgeshire County Council, who is calling for a rise bigger than 2%. Morning Ashley.
ASHLEY WALSH: Morning Dotty.
DOTTY MCLEOD: And also Paul Bullen who is the Leader of the UKIP group who thinks there should be no rise at all. Morning Paul.
PAUL BULLEN: Good morning Dotty.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So Ashley we’ll start with yourself. You’re calling for a 4% rise, an extra £60 on a year for the average householder. Why? Why do we need the money?
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