Tag: Cambridgeshire County Council

Stagecoach concern at fewer passengers since the parking fee

07:06 Wednesday 12th November 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Parking charges are to be introduced at the two park and ride sites along the Guided Busway. Do you agree? The £1 all-day parking fee was brought in at the five other sites in Cambridge in the summer, and now county councillors have voted to bring in the same fee on the sites at St Ives and Longstanton. My producer Katharine Park has more details. Just tell us the background Katharine.
KATHARINE PARK: It was earlier this year, as you said, that councillors voted to bring in the £1 charge at the five park and ride sites around Cambridge. Those are the ones at Milton, Madingley, Trumpington Road, Newmarket Road and Babraham Road. The Council said they had to bring in the charges to help pay for the running of the sites. Those charges were brought in in July this year, and according to Stagecoach which runs the bus services, passenger numbers have dropped approximately 10% compared to the same time last year.
CHRIS MANN: So why are they being introduced along the Guided Busway route now?
KATHARINE PARK: Well initially when councillors discussed introducing the charges, they didn’t look at the Guided Busway route. However at a later stage they decided they would, and this is the result of that process, which led to yesterday’s vote on introducing the changes at Longstanton and St Ives. Reading through the Council papers, they say running the Guided Busway and the two park and ride sites is cost-neutral, because they recoup the money from the bus companies. However they say that it’s the concessionary fares that are costing them money. So for example, if somebody has a bus pass and can use the bus for free, the Council are losing money there. And they say they need to make the money back, or will have to make cuts to vital services elsewhere.
CHRIS MANN: So how much money could they make?
KATHARINE PARK: Well the St Ives site can hold up to 1000 vehicles, whilst Longstanton can hold 300. So in theory the Council could make up to £1,300 a day. In reality though the Council tell us there are about 600 to 700 vehicles using the site each day, so if those people paid to pay, that’s between £600 and £700 a day. Calculate that over a year and that would add up to £200,000.
CHRIS MANN: It’s a pretty contentious issue, even though it’s only £1 we’re talking about. So what’s the reaction been to the news Katharine?
KATHARINE PARK: As you say there’s been a very mixed reaction to the news of this £1 charge. You’ll be talking in just a few moments time to Stagecoach who run the majority of the services along the route. BBC Radio Cambridgeshire has spoken to Whippet Coaches who run some of the services. They’ve told us they do have concerns that the charges will affect passenger numbers. They point out that they have to pay a charge to the Council to run routes along the Busway, and need to attract more passengers to make services viable. They also point out that when they first tendered to run the service along the route, the new town of Northstowe was an integral part of the plan. And as you know, that’s now been delayed, and with the service being relatively new, it’s only been going for three years, they say they’re still working to increase passenger numbers. ..
CHRIS MANN: When will the charges be introduced?
KATHARINE PARK: Well the Council says it will take them a little time to order machines, put them in place and get them running, and it’s anticipated that the charges will be brought in at some time early next year. But obviously if they’re not, then cuts need to be made elsewhere.
CHRIS MANN: Katharine thank you. That’s our producer Katharine Park. Well joining me in the studio now is Andy Campbell, who is the Managing Director of Stagecoach in Cambridge. Andy, good morning to you.
ANDY CAMPBELL: Good morning.
CHRIS MANN: And your connection to all this is you run the buses.
ANDY CAMPBELL: We run the majority of the buses on the Busway.
CHRIS MANN: But you don’t run the park and rides. ..
ANDY CAMPBELL: No we don’t actually manage the car parks. No. But we do pay for that in the access charge.
CHRIS MANN: So what do you think of the charges?
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Estover Road playing field preservation campaign petition to sack Fenland Leader

07:18 Friday 31st October 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: A petition has been launched calling for the Estover playing fields in March to be protected from development. It also calls on the Leader of Fenland District Council John Clark to resign over what it says is an ‘unprecedented breakdown in trust‘ between him and the people of March and Fenland. There are proposals to build on the former grammar school fields, but with Cambridgeshire County Council highlighting the town has a lack of green spaces, some local residents are calling for the plans to be put on hold. Our reporter Johnny D. has been on the fields this morning.
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JOHN DEVINE: Dotty I’ve come down to the Estover playing fields, and I’ve got with me Trevor Watson. He’s a resident and one of the organisers of the petition. So just to put us in the picture, paint a little picture of what we can see in front of us Trevor.
TREVOR WATSON: Well at the moment we’re standing in front of a long-established playing field, going back many decades, probably seventy, eighty years. It’s been used by previous schools. It’s now used by the public and for football matches for the last fifteen years. As you can see it’s a beautiful field. It’s got about fifty very mature trees, some about a hundred years old, they’re all covered by tree preservation orders. And it’s more than just a playing field. It’s like a small town park.
JOHN DEVINE: And we’ve got some residential housing just over the road, so it’s quite close to people as well.
TREVOR WATSON: Indeed. Yes. It’s being increasingly used by people as the population grows around this area. They’re using it as a very pleasant place to walk the dog, and for children to play in in the evenings and at weekends during the summer. So it’s a very well used playing field.
JOHN DEVINE: So why have you set up the petition then Trevor?
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Council v contractor over busway repair bill

17:38 Tuesday 7th October 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: The bid to recoup the costs of repairs to Cambridgeshire’s Guided Busway will cost £30 million and take three years to complete. But engineers say defects on the Busway must be repaired if the route is to remain safe. The big question of course is who will pay the bill. Councillors say it should be the contractors who built it. Today they voted to take legal action against Bam Nuttall, but legal action of course doesn’t come cheap. Look East reporter Ben Bland went along to the meeting.
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Cambridgeshire councils share more services

17:15 Thursday 2nd October 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Another of our big stories, an ongoing story actually, one that we discuss regularly: three Cambridgeshire councils have announced the next steps towards sharing services. South Cambs, Cambridge City and Huntingdonshire save hundreds of thousands of pounds by pooling their I.T. and legal provision. So, is this just the first step towards a Greater Cambridge unitary authority? Let’s find out. The men in charge are with me. Cllr Ray Manning, the Leader of South Cambs District Council, a Conservative of course. Ray, hello.
RAY MANNING: Hello there.
CHRIS MANN: Welcome. And how long have you been running the Council?
RAY MANNING: The Conservatives, since 2006.
CHRIS MANN: And how long have you had to start making cutbacks since? When did that .. ?
RAY MANNING: About 1896 I think.
CHRIS MANN: Yes. It’s that long. (LAUGHS)
RAY MANNING: Yes. I can’t ever remember a budget that wasn’t a reduction.
CHRIS MANN: And right now the demands on you are .. ? How much do you have to lose in the next few years?
RAY MANNING: We’ve got to save another million.
CHRIS MANN: Out of a budget of .. ?
RAY MANNING: Sixteen.
CHRIS MANN: Also with us is Cllr Jason Ablewhite. Hello Jason.
JASON ABLEWHITE: Good evening Chris.
CHRIS MANN: The Executive Leader of Huntingdonshire District Council, another Conservative controlled authority of course. Give us the picture as far as you’re concerned.
JASON ABLEWHITE: Financially or politically? Politically obviously we’ve been Conservative since 1976, so quite considerable longer than South Cambs. (LAUGHS) But we’re in exactly the same boat as everyone else. We need to save multiples of millions of pounds over the next five years, and we’re looking at new ways of working and new initiatives, and that’s why what we’re saying today is so important.
CHRIS MANN: And you’ve taken some tough measures already. You’ve had to let people go, look at services.
JASON ABLEWHITE: We have yes, like everyone else in local government. It’s been tough. The last five years, frankly, has been tough in local government, and we’ve seen a considerable reduction in our staff.
CHRIS MANN: Third member on the panel is Cllr Lewis Herbert, who became Leader of Cambridge City Council when Labour took control after the elections earlier this year. Hello Lewis.
LEWIS HERBERT: Hi.
CHRIS MANN: You inherited some problems, not unique to your council, but give us an idea of what Cambridge City have got to cut.
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Lewis Herbert Cambridge City Council on Coalition cuts, bankruptcy and council borrowing

09:39 Tuesday 23rd September 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Marion’s been on. Morning Marion. She says, “Paul, some of the managers in the NHS just need to go. There are so many of them now. Surely money can be saved in that way. No way should the NHS be means-tested.” But how do we find this £30 billion? When do we stop pouring money in and find a different way? Or should we? Or should the Government just direct money from somewhere else? Julian says, “There’s a substantial waste of financial resources inside the NHS, and a culture of only selecting candidates for the top jobs from people already working within the system.” says Julian this morning. ” How on earth are they going to get new blood in the system? It really needs a shake-up from the top downwards, and rooting out dead men’s shoes, automatic promotions. Let’s face it, Marco Cereste was in charge of our patch at one time and that didn’t work either.” says Julian this morning. Keep your comments coming in on the NHS. How do we work it out? How do we find a way to fund it properly? And talking of funding, it seems to be the in thing at the moment for local authorities to mention bankruptcy when talking about their dire financial situations. Indeed, the much-mentioned Marco Cereste told me that the Peterborough City Council was looking at every area of finance in order to avoid bankruptcy, and that his staff are selling their expertise just to try and balance the books.
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MARCO CERESTE: It’s the money that worries me. And we’ve done a lot of things in the city to train our staff, so that we can sell their expertise. We’re not only just saving money in the Council, we’re actually selling the Council’s expertise. We’re doing this where lots of other cities don’t really know where to start. And so that’s doing really really well. I wish we’d have started earlier. I wish we’d have had this drive earlier. But we didn’t, and we are where we are.
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PAUL STAINTON: That’s the Leader of Peterborough City Council, Marco Cereste. They’ve got a £22 million budget shortfall. Cambridgeshire needs to save £150 million. And Cambridge itself needs to save £30 million over the next five years. Well the Local Government Association says local government is nearing crisis point. So what would happen if a local authority actually went bankrupt? Would assets be seized? Would dustbin lorries be carted off – the street sweeper? What would happen to our services? Well let’s talk to Cambridge City Council Leader Lewis Herbert. Lewis, good morning.
LEWIS HERBERT: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: Are local councils just scare-mongering? Are you scare-mongering a bit?
LEWIS HERBERT: We’re certainly not. We haven’t said we’re going to go bankrupt. Our job is to work for residents and to make sure that we deliver quality services. We’re not a poor city, but as you’ve introduced, we have to save £6 million a year by 2020, and that’s about a quarter of our budget, and that’s after we’ve taken all the easy wins and cut our spending in line with the Government’s spending cut of 30% in the last few years.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes, it’s a lot of money, isn’t it? You can understand then why some councils are using the B-word. But equally, financial experts we’ve spoken to say local authorities could never go bankrupt.
LEWIS HERBERT: Well they have in America, and they have in other places. It is possible.
PAUL STAINTON: Would the Government not just step in?
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Cambridgeshire MP calls for Network Rail to be opened up to scrutiny

09:20 Friday 5th September 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: The MP for North East Cambridgeshire Stephen Barclay wants David Cameron to confirm when Network Rail will be accountable to the public. At the moment it’s not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, and according to the MP, with £34 billion added to the national debt this week from Network Rail at a stroke, that needs to change. So what do you think about giving a company billions of pounds, when there’s no way of finding out publicly how where or when the money is spent? Well Stephen Barclay is here. Stephen morning.
STEPHEN BARCLAY: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: It’s almost inconceivable that can be right.
STEPHEN BARCLAY: It is, and I think it’s a matter of time that those paying their rail fares will want to see this done quickly. It’s not just the Freedom of Information that we need opening Network Rail up to, it’s also to give the National Audit Office unfettered access. At the moment, the National Auditors have to go through the Rail Regulator, which creates a barrier in terms of the scrutiny that our public money is under. So I think we do need to let the public have access to information, and really open up the challenge that informed people in the community, particularly those with a knowledge of railways, or engineering, someone who perhaps has had a lifetime as an engineer, allow them to start looking at some of the infrastructure projects, and see whether we can deliver them in a more cost-effective way.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes. It’s almost like it’s been all done behind closed doors, with billions and billions of pounds of our money.
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LibDem Sandford backs Cereste’s solar ambitions

07:12 Wednesday 6th August 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: A working group of Peterborough councillors has met once again to discuss the financial risks of a proposed solar farm in the city. The cross-party group had previously pooh poohed the scheme, saying the risks were too high, and too much public money had been invested already. But fellow councillors deemed their report as light on detail, hence why they’ve been asked to meet again. Meanwhile Cambridgeshire County Council has submitted its own plans for a 50,000 solar panel farm near Soham. Well let’s speak to Nick Sandford. He’s the Leader of Peterborough LibDems, and on the working group looking into whether the expense of a huge solar farm at America Farm near Peterborough might be worth it. Nick, good morning.
NICK SANDFORD: Morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: Why are you having to meet again?
NICK SANDFORD: Well I wasn’t actually at the original meeting that took place, but I was actually at the Scrutiny Meeting when they presented their report, and they were recommending that the project be discontinued..
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Sitting on a fortune- local authority farm estates rise in value

07:11 Monday 4th August 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Let’s move to farmland and the cost of it in Cambridgeshire. Apparently it costs more than ever before. The price of an acre of English farmland has risen past £10,000 for the first time ever, according to research from a national property consultancy. So is this good news for farmers, or does it limit those who want to expand? And what does it mean for those who want to enter the farm industry? Is the rising cost of land pricing out the next generation of farmers? Well Jason Beedell is Head of Research at Smiths Gore, who are rural property advisers. They have offices in Peterborough and Newmarket and elsewhere. Jason, good morning. What’s happening then to the price of farmland in Cambridgeshire? Why is it rising so steeply?
JASON BEEDELL: It’s been rising steeply all across the country, and for quite a while now.
PAUL STAINTON: So it’s not just here?
JASON BEEDELL: No no. No. For the last ten years it’s been going up, so it’s really gone up 100% over the last ten years. And that’s purely because of the demand. It’s been a relatively profitable period for farming, and so those farmers who’ve got farms and land already want to expand their businesses, so they’ve been buying.
PAUL STAINTON: We keep being told it’s difficult for farmers out there.
JASON BEEDELL: It is for some, and for some sectors it’s terribly difficult. So if you’re a dairy farmer for example, and I know there are not too many Cambridgeshire dairy farmers, but if you’re a dairy farmer, only the top 25/30% are making a profit. But for arable farmers so much more important here, it has been a good decade.
PAUL STAINTON: Right. So it’s just farmers that are wanting to expand. Is that what’s causing the spike?
JASON BEEDELL: Well most land is bought by existing farmers, and like you say it’s very difficult, very expensive for new people to buy land. But it’s also bought by investors, people who want to put their money somewhere safe. And farm land is really seen as a safe investment. And it’s also bought by just normal people like you and me, who’ve got a little bit of money, and want their patch of England. So there are three types of buyers really.
PAUL STAINTON: It could be a good investment.
JASON BEEDELL: It’s a very good investment. hardly any investments have done better during the recession, over the past ten years.
PAUL STAINTON: Well I can’t think of anywhere where you’ve got 100% return on your money.
JASON BEEDELL: In ten years?
PAUL STAINTON: Yes.
JASON BEEDELL: No no. And there are some really good inheritance tax benefits as well, if you’re an individual. So there are lots of good things about it. And people seem to love farming, not just the people who do it at the moment, but a lot of people want to get into it.
PAUL STAINTON: And Bob Lawrence is with us as well, from the Cambridgeshire National Farmers Union. Bob, morning.
BOB LAWRENCE: Good morning to you.
PAUL STAINTON: So you’ve never had it so good.
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