At the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) Board meeting today (Thursday 28th September 2023), following South Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats’ vote to oppose the revised proposals for a Sustainable Travel Zone (STZ), it became clear that the consensus required to progress the revised proposals had been broken.

Councillor Mike Davey (Leader of Cambridge City Council, Labour) stated: ‘Cambridge Labour therefore did not support the recommendation to submit the proposals to the County Council as we cannot afford to waste money, time and energy progressing a scheme that we know cannot be delivered’

Councillor Davey added ‘It is regrettable that the Liberal Democrats’ resolution to withdraw support for the proposals was made in the interests of the local and national Liberal Democrats without any regard to the consequences for residents, particularly in relation to:

a) future GCP funding and other related GCP projects for sustainable transport, 

b) future congestion and CO2 emissions and their impacts on our net zero carbon commitments, air quality and public health, 

c) delivery of the new Joint Local Plan required to meet our future housing needs.’

He continued: ‘Cambridge Labour will redouble our efforts to bring together residents, partners, stakeholders and Government to find a way to tackle the issues we see across the city and Cambridgeshire. Our focus will be to combat transport inequality: providing buses for people not profit, lobbying for investment in trains and delivering safer cycling and walking networks, while reducing congestion and tackling greenhouse gas emissions.’

‘Labour will act for the benefit of all residents and businesses as part of our mission for a greener city, fair for all. We hope that political interests won’t make it difficult for us to face those challenges, and we urge all relevant political leaders to join with us to bring together a plan for the future.’

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