I am proud to have led a cross-party campaign to improve the bus service between Soham and Wicken. The current Tiger On Demand service is not timetabled, does not run late enough and is poorly utilised.
As a result, we have secured a meeting with the Mayor, Paul Bristow, at the end of September to discuss the future of local transport here. It comes as many residents start to use the new Tiger 5 service, linking Soham to Cambridge directly which is great news for younger people accessing their education.
Paul has himself led a cross-party effort to attract investment into Ely North Railway Junction, causing the government to soften their hard ‘no’ to a possibility in the future. It makes sense – the return on investment is huge for our local economy.
This is also great news for Soham’s transport, as it would enable the dualling of the line and pave the way for direct services to Cambridge.
In other news, ECDC has written to the Government urging them to keep local councillors involved in the planning process. Plans to revamp the planning system will be less democratic and possibly more harmful to local areas.
With the withdrawal of national funding for Neighbourhood Plans, and higher compulsory housing targets, listening to what kind of development local people want is essential.
For example, ECDC has just closed applications for 3 more £100k homes. This means local, lower-income families can 100% own their own home for just £100k. Owning a home is more than just land – it’s a place to watch a family grow up, start a business or settle down in life.
This comes at zero cost to the taxpayer – ECDC’s Council Tax is frozen for 12 years running, with no external debt. I’m proud of that record, which meets our commitment to young people.
Our next Full Council is on 18th September.
Please do get in touch via lucius.vellacott@eastcambs.gov.uk.
