Why I am campaigning for better transport governance in South Cambridgeshire
When it comes to public transport in Cambridgeshire, too many cooks spoil the broth.
Everyone agrees there are too many people with responsibility for transport in Cambridgeshire. We have three local authorities who employ their own Head of Transport, each involved with transport policy in different ways and each running their own projects, often without talking to each other about their plans! That includes the County Council with devolved responsibility for roads as highway authority, the Combined Authority with millions of pounds to spend on local growth and transport, and the GCP with a £500m City Deal to improve transport in Greater Cambridge (South Cambs and Cambridge City). Adding to this mess is the Combined Authority's less than stellar record in delivering on its statutory responsibility for developing a Local Transport Plan and a county-wide Transport Delivery Plan, that impacts not just South Cambs but the entire county. All of that comes before the District Council and City Council, who have planning responsibilities and remain consultees on other projects, as well as over 75 town and parish councils in our area alone.
We need this to change, and I've made the case that the Department for Transport should conduct a review of governance in our area.
So far, I have
- Met with the Secretary of State for Transport to make my concerns known
- Written to Ministers and met with Department of Transport officials
- Met with the Mayor of the Combined Authority to discuss changes in the area
- Met with the GCP Board to outline their role and push for a more joined-up approach
- Held Parish Council forums to gauge the opinion of local representatives
- Written regularly in print and online media
- Campaigned alongside local transport and environment groups for changes
Campaign success
At the time of writing, I have advanced conversations with the Treasury and Department of Transport around the ongoing role of the Greater Cambridge Partnership in this area. While we need to look at the area as a whole, it is clear there is a democratic deficit in the GCP as the two other transport authorities are more directly accountable to voters,