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 »

The planning application by Ashwell PLC (www.cb1forcambridge.co.uk) to redevelop the railway station area with a new transport interchange, offices, 331 homes, 1,250 student rooms, a hotel and GP surgery, shops, bars and restaurants and multi-storey car park) is ploughing its way through the planning system and may be decided in the autumn. The City Council will determine the application, but the County Council has a key role to play in getting the transport aspects of the scheme right. The design of the new station forecourt, which must provide a safe and effective transport interchange as well as a vibrant and enjoyable new city square, is crucial and Nichola has attended an event in London looking at how such a space might be designed and managed. Read the rest of this entry »