Nichola Harrison

If you have burning questions about the County Council’s financial affairs, now’s your time to ask. The Council does little to promote the fact that, every year, members of the public have the right (under the Audit Commission Act 1998) to inspect the accounts for the previous year. Contracts, receipts and invoices are open to scrutiny, with little room for the Council to claim confidentiality.

This year the inspection period runs from 13 August to 10 September. If you’d like help with applying for information, do let me know.

Nichola has challenged the County Council’s Conservatives to live up to their promise to promote new technologies to save money and reduce carbon emissions. Last year, she approached Cambridge University Professor Colin Humphreys, a world expert on LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology, to ask for advice on the possible use of LEDs for street lighting. Prof Humphreys agreed to help the County Council set up a pilot project in Cambridgeshire, but the offer was rejected by senior Cabinet members on the grounds that LED street lighting was not a viable technology.

Read about LED street lighting and Nichola’s challenge here: Read the rest of this entry »

Congratulations to the Cambridge Cycling Campaign for spotting that Cambridgeshire County Council has argued in its published response to the CB1 station area planning application that the development should be designed to accommodate articulated bendy buses 18 metres long.

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The County Council’s Lib Dems continue to campaign over rules governing the introduction of 20mph limits. As previously reported, Nichola led a challenge against a Council decision not to allow 20mph speed limits to be introduced on roads where the existing average speed is above 20mph. The new rule means that a street with existing average speeds of just 21mph cannot qualify for a 20mph limit.

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Following an earlier refusal of planning permission to extend the building, Tesco has now been refused permission for air conditioning and refridgeration units at the old Wilco building in Mill Road, Romsey. As with the previous application, local residents and the No Mill Road Tesco Campaign led a strong and influential campaign against the proposals. Read the rest of this entry »

The County Council’s ruling Conservatives have chosen to add millions of pounds to the Council’s Reserves rather than spend them on front-line public services. Underspends from last year and new grant money will sit in the bank rather than go towards making up some of the drastic cuts in vital services that have been seen in recent years. Read the rest of this entry »

The government’s Post Office closure programme has identified three Post Offices within Cambridge and another 20 throughout Cambridgeshire. The three are 33 Regent Street, 2a Trumpington Street and the St Johns Post Office, Hills Road (south of the railway bridge).

Petersfield’s Post Offices in Mill Road and Hills Road are safe, which is a relief for our local community. However, in common with Lib Dem colleagues all over the County, Nichola is worried about the effects of the closures especially for less mobile people such as the elderly. The Lib Dems have created the Save Cambs Post Offices website (see link on the left) which carries information and a petition.

The City Council will be holding a public meeting about the closures at the Guildhall, at 7pm on Tuesday 22nd July.

All of Cambridge’s Liberal Democrat councillors have expressed fierce opposition to the decision of the Conservative-run County Council to hand a powerful role in deciding Cambridge’s long term transport future to business organisations and special interest groups. The bus company Stagecoach, Marshalls Aerospace, the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses, Addenbrookes hospital and Cambridge University (but apparently not Anglia Ruskin!) have been invited to form a Transport Commission to advise the Council what to do about the congestion charge/transport investment scheme currently under consideration for the city. Read the rest of this entry »

Car clubs work well for people who want to give up car ownership or go without the second car. They also have a wider benefit to the whole community because a shared car can result in 6 private cars being taken off the road. This reduced demand for scarce parking spaces is a major benefit in a densely occupied area like Petersfield. The Cambridge car club is up and running with local cars at Queen Anne Terrace and Adam and Eve Street car parks. The club was brought to Cambridge by the Lib Dem City Council and is run by a London company, Streetcar (www.streetcar.co.uk ). Their website explains how to join and use the club - it looks like good value and very simple to use. Nichola has recently been in touch with Streetcar to ask them to bring more cars to Petersfield so the service is convenient for residents throughout Petersfield. Obviously they will do this more quickly if there is plenty of demand for the service.

Success in securing funding from the County Council for an accident reduction scheme along Mill Rd means that Nichola is pressing County Council officials to make progress with the promised public consultation. She believes that any scheme will succeed only if local residents and businesses are fully involved in the design. Read the rest of this entry »