New councillor, Cheney Payne is calling out the Labour run Council for being complacent on the safety of people in the city at night after Labour councillors said the council is already doing enough to promote safety in the evening in the city.

Cheney asked the City Council to formally support the 'Ask for Angela' campaign. This encourages people feeling uncomfortable or at risk on a night out to tell a staff member they wish to speak to "Angela", and they will call for a taxi or help the person to leave discreetly. A lot of establishments in Cambridge are displaying "Ask for Angela" posters to show they operate the scheme but there is not yet a recorded usage in Cambridge.

Cllr Payne said: "Cambridge has a vibrant night time economy. People in our city can spend an evening in a bar or a club, at the theatre, or go for a night cap after an evening at Kettle's Yard. However, almost three quarters of 18-24 year olds have witnessed some kind of sexual harassment on an evening out.

“We need a Cambridge where everyone feels safe being out at night alone or meeting new people and this campaign is a good start towards making that happen"

The works on the A14 have lead to Huntingdon Road being used as a diversion route for HGV's throughout the night.  Histon Road is also being used incorrectly by many HGV drivers, as it is not part of the approved route.  This is causing huge disturbance to residents at night.

The disturbance caused reflects a complete failing of our Labour County Councillors to prepare for the extensive diversions.  Resurfacing of the roads so they are smooth would significantly reduce the noise caused by the vibrations from the lorries. 

Your Lib Dem City Councillors have been working to limit the noise and vibrations caused by the HGV’s.  So far, we have:

• Written to Highways England repeatedly to raise these concerns.
• Successfully worked with the police to have the speed camera on Huntindgon Road turned around so the HGV’s need to observe the speed limit. 
• Paced a bid for improved speed signage on Histon Road.  This will be reviewed by the County Council at the end of January.
• Asked the County Council and Highways England to re-activate the flashing speed limit sign on Huntingdon Road.
• Asked the police to look into a night time speed restriction to 20mph for the duration of the work.

We have so far been unsuccessful in persuading the police or County Council to commit to a night time 20mph speed restriction, so will be looking into for further ways of doing this over the coming months.

Residents have approached us to request that trees be planted along the verges on Eachard Road, to match those on Woodlark. 

We are pleased to announce that the Council have agreed to look into this possibility, and will be beginning consultation and feasibility studies later in the year.  

If successful, planting would begin in 2019.

In the meantime, I have been reporting numerous potholes and areas of pavement damage in this area.  I would encourage residents to report any potholes or damage to this link on the County Council website: https://highwaysreporting.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/ 

Every year, the County Council provides funding for small-scale projects to improve our local highways. This is known as the Local Highways Initiative, and it provides funding for small projects costing up to £10,000.

Projects which are allocated funding must show that they improve road safety, create lasting improvement, and also have the support of the community. Examples of projects are new/improved signage, repairing road surfacing, new road markings and planting.

How can we improve the highways near you? If you have any ideas for how we could improve the roads near you, please get in touch via email or by adding your suggestion to bit.ly/roadimprovement

The deadline for these projects is the end of July, so we have time to establish the feasibility of a project before making a bid.

Cheney and Valerie are very keen to hear your thoughts and ideas – please do get in touch.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership (the City Deal) will be introducing some form of residents’ parking scheme in the Castle area.  The consultation for this will open in Autumn 2018, with a view to making the changes in 2019. 

Before the consultation opens, the local Labour and Lib Dem County Councillors for these areas will be meeting to establish the boundaries for the new parking zones.

The Lib Dems are keen to ensure you can have your say on where these boundaries will be.

Please complete the survey at the following link to ensure the Lib Dems can represent your views in this meeting: bit.ly/castleparking

Lib Dems campaign for reinstatement of popular Citi 8 Service

Castle Lib Dems are campaigning for the Citi 8 bus service to be reinstated, which used to travel from Cottenham, along Histon Road directly to the station and Addenbrooke’s.

As a result of congestion, the bus now terminates in the city centre, forcing local users to change buses.

Cheney said: “We’re pressing for improved signage in the short-term and a full reinstatement of the service in the long-term, once congestion issues are tackled.”

Please sign the petition here: bit.ly/citi8

The Liberal Democrats are keen to hear your views on the safety of the ‘Ridgeway’ cycle path.

The new cycle path and bridle way is a great local development, but local pedestrians and cyclists have raised concerns that the three staggered gates near the connection to Storey’s Way mean pedestrians are at risk, and also cyclists on tandems or with trailers cannot easily leave/enter the cycle path.

While it is important to slow down cyclists and stop cars using the bridleway illegally, the Liberal Democrats feel other solutions could be safer for all users.

Complete our survey here.