The recently-published agenda is hardly worth having the meeting for. Taking place on 19th June from 2pm at The Guildhall in Cambridge, you’re probably better off standing outside protesting and waving a placard. At least that way you might get more media coverage!
There’s nothing on the agenda to indicate the changing party political balance of the Greater Cambridge Partnership – one that now puts the Liberal Democrats in Political control of the GCP for the first time in its history.
This will mean the Liberal Democrats will have to take a firm position on the busways – something they tried to avoid in the run up to the General Election 2024
From one of the campaigns opposed to the Cambourne-Cambridge busway, the hustings they held on 02 June 2024 started off asking all of the candidates where they stood on the busway plans.
The eventual winner of the South Cambridgeshire contest, Pippa Heylings MP, wrote to the Transport Secretary on 08 Jan 2025 setting out her concerns about the busway following the announcement of the public inquiry (which is standard for large transport planning applications submitted to the Department for Transport that inevitably generate local opposition). I’ll leave you to be the judge of the content of the letter from Ms Heylings and also of the documents now submitted to the public inquiry here.
The Public Inquiry into the Cambourne-Cambridge busway begins on Tues 16 September 2025
“Yeah when is the GCP going to disband and dissolve itself in response to the new CPCA Mayor’s manifesto?”
It won’t. Ultimately such a move would need the consent of ministers as The Government is a co-signatory to the Greater Cambridge City Deal of 2014 that established it.
Above – Cllr Naomi Bennett (Greens – Abbey) on the predicament that Mayor Paul Bristow faces not just on the GCP but also on the busways which he said should be replaced by light rail schemes.
Note Mayor Bristow went on public record about his views on busways and the GCP at the first CPCA Board Meeting which I wrote about here.
My issue is the uncertainty caused by the lack of an agenda item in the GCP Assembly. I can understand why councillors and GCP officers don’t want to discuss it. All such an agenda item would do is let vocal angry people like me moan at officers about things that ultimately will be discussed at the public inquiry. So why bother creating something that will do nothing but generate negative local news headlines for the political parties involved?
At the same time, is the harder decision to have the local election results and Mr Bristow’s manifesto calls as items for discussion on the floor of the Guildhall?
Because despite the electoral thumpings the once mighty Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association received over the past decade from the electorate here, they still have one councillor (Councillor Heather Williams) as one of the three elected representatives for South Cambridgeshire District. While I don’t share her politics, I think it’s important for democracy and scrutiny that she at least gets the opportunity to put her questions to the GCP officers for responses. Because at some stage (ie at the GCP Board in at South Cambridgeshire Hall, Cambourne on 10 July 2025) they will have to face Mayor Bristow and between them try to figure a way forward – mindful that Peter Freeman has already indicated his preference is leaning towards light rail given the election results, along with whatever decisions ministers may have. The final government gateway review may well put the whole thing to bed – or rather be the least politically-controversial way of doing so given that no spades have been put into the ground to build any of the busways.
In the meantime, CamCycle has updated the governance structure diagram of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire
Above – how Cambridge has been governed for the past decade or so – now with added Development Corporation! (Accountable to ministers, in the form of the Cambridge Growth Company) In CamCycle Magazine Summer 2025
Anyway, spending review day is…oh! Today already! Given that Mayor Bristow met with ministers in advance of the spending review (his main focus seems to be getting funding for the long-delayed Ely Junction improvements), it will be interesting to see what else he secures.
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