Castle ward is currently at the forefront of the city's plans for expansion, with new development at Eddington, Darwin Green and NIAB changing the face of our local community.  

Local campaigner Caroline Stoddart has 40 years of connection to Castle ward, and shares her thoughts on how we manage this development responsibly and with integrity.

Your Castle Lib Dem team believe in working hard for you all year round.  Here is our update from the last few months.

Following yesterday’s news that the Grafton Centre has been put up for sale, city Opposition leader, Lib Dem Cllr Tim Bick, has renewed his call for the city council to take the lead in the way Cambridge city centre is re-shaped for the future. 

Amidst fears of a re-run of last year’s anti-social behaviour over the weekend when Midsummer Fair would normally have taken place, local councillor Jamie Dalzell has called for decisive action to safeguard local residents. 

Liberal Democrat Councillors are calling for the Labour-led City Council to immediately suspend the current, highly flawed, consultation on the Market Square redevelopment project, until the proposed “demountable stalls” can be viewed and fully tested by traders and shoppers.

Planning conditions for the new developments of Trumpington Meadows and Clay Farm required that they were fitted with modern solar panels when they were built. Many residents were told that they could save money on their energy bills, by creating renewable energy themselves. Apparently not! Our team members Ingrid Flaubert and Philippa Slatter have been investigating and have found that the solar panels in many new houses have not been registered to the grid or connected at all for several years. The builders who were responsible for the installation and BPHA, the housing association responsible for the affordable housing in the new developments, have so far not been able to clarify the situation. As local Lib Dem campaigner Olaf Hauk noted, not only are these solar panels not effective, they may even be a waste of money and - with bitter irony - of valuable energy. Not to speak of the lost trust of the residents in their developers and housing associations! The Trumpington Lib Dems are campaigning for a quick solution so that residents can benefit from the green energy they were promised.

Back to Lib Dems Trumpington

Most houses in Trumpington's new developments, such as this one on Allbutt Way, are fitted with solar panels. But are they actually connected to the residents' electricity supply or the national grid?

Photovoltaic panel controls - do they actually serve a purpose at the moment?

Today Cambridge City Council has approved the erection of a phone antenna on Bridge House to replace the one which has been located on the city council car park in Park Street.

The Liberal Democrat team in Market Ward for Cambridge's crucial 2021 local elections has been confirmed. Current representatives Cllr Tim Bick, Cllr Anthony Martinelli and Cllr Katie Porrer are standing for re-election to the City Council. They have been joined by new candidate Yemi Macaulay, who is standing for the Market County seat, and Mark Argent who is standing for the Petersfield County seat which covers the Newtown area.

The latest Trumpington Labour leaflet is a disgrace. In it, they claim an extraordinary variety of things were achieved by one labour councillor since 2018. This is not how local democracy should be!

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

The community, not Katie Thornburrow, planned the expansion of Trumpington.

The main claim is that the new developments around Trumpington, complete with their open spaces, play areas, skatepark etc. were the work of the Labour City Council. This is outrageous. It was a community effort, led by the Trumpington Residents’ Association (set up for this purpose) in partnership with councillors, planners, and many others.

If you want proof, here is a flyer for a public meeting held in February 2004.

The TRA then published its own ‘brochure’ to counterbalance the plans already being prepared by developers, leading up to the 2006 Cambridge Local Plan. It is an extraordinary document, showing a generous and far-sighted approach to the provision of homes that impressed all who read it.

The Trumpington Liberal Democrats have significantly shaped the development of Trumpington for several decades. Just as an example, there were many references to the issues raised by the new developments in our Focus magazine 2004 and for the following 15 years.

How dare Labour claim that they were even playing a useful part in it? Labour opposition councillors did their best to sabotage the plans to build on Marshalls airport; Cambridge East would have provided much needed public buildings (sports stadium, concert hall etc) as well as housing.

LABOUR CLAIMS THE CREDIT FOR COVID-19 COMMUNITY WORK
Throughout the pandemic, a vital role has been played by a brilliant partnership of council officers, councillors and local volunteers. Support networks were set up in record time, but most of those involved have scrupulously avoided ‘playing politics’ in the process. Not Trumpington Labour. They print a photo of volunteers at the Pavilion Food Hub, and although Katie certainly took an effective lead in setting it up (as the Lib Dem County Councillor candidate Philippa Slatter did with the Trumpington Volunteer Service) it would have been nothing without the faithful work of many volunteers of all parties and none.

SPEED LIMIT ON THE BUSWAY
We all know that it was the tragic death and inquest of the young father who was killed last year that prompted the introduction of a speed limit for the buses on the Trumpington section of the busway. No doubt Cllr Thornburrow supported the many voices of concern, but it is an insult to claim the credit for this improvement.