Local issues
This is a list of the issues relating to Romsey which I am most often asked about. They are not listed in order of priority. I have put together a few facts on each. If you feel that an issue that needs to be addressed is missing or would like further information on anything below, please contact me at kilian.bourke@gmail.com
INDEX
1. Supporting Independent Businesses
2. Speeding
3. One-Way Violations
4. Streetlights
5. Pavements
6. Improving Our Environment
7. Brookfields Hospital
8. Romsey Mosque
9. East Mill Road Development
10. Improving Recycling
11. Antisocial Behaviour
12. Cromwell Road
13. Public Transport
14. Residents Parking
15. Cycling
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1. Supporting Independent Businesses
One of the positive effects of the debate over Tesco has been to draw attention to the importance of local businesses to the vital and diverse character of Mill Road. Many of the shops in Cambridge city are identikit franchises which can be encountered in almost any busy street in the country. As well as providing an impersonal, standardised service, the profits made by these companies go not to local people but to shareholders; indeed, many of these companies are progressively diverting their revenues abroad in order to avoid paying corporate tax. (Tesco is one of these, according to a recent article in The Guardian.) On the other hand local retailers like Hillary’s, Limoncello and The Black Cat Cafe provide a unique and friendly service to customers, often source their produce from local suppliers, and the profits are not siphoned off to some tax-haven in the Bahamas but circulate within the community. Catherine and Kilian are working on an exciting proposal which would not only preserve but enhance the independent character of Mill Road’s shops. More information is provided on this in the Mill Road Masterplan section of this site, which can be accessed by clicking on the following link: The Future Of Mill Road.
2. Speeding
Speeding is a serious problem in Romsey, as throughout the county. What not everyone realises is that although the Liberal Democrats control the City Council, it is the County Council which has almost total responsibility for financing highways and transport related issues, and the Conservatives who control the County have made a series of decisions which not only fail to tackle speeding, but encourage it. We are strongly in favour of implementing a 20mph speed limit on many roads in Romsey, but the Conservatives have decided (despite government recommendations to the contrary) that 20mph speed limits shall no longer be implemented in Cambridgeshire on roads where the average speed is 21mph or above. We have been working to have this overturned, and have made good progress, persuading the Conservative group to review this policy. This review is, unfortunately taking place behind doors so closed we don’t know which doors they are, and will eventually reach a Policy Development Group - another closed door, alas - but it looks like the Tories have finally realised they need to do a U-turn on this policy, if only for political reasons, as the County elections are taking place next year.
We also intend to install traffic-calming measures on a number of roads in the area. Most recently, Cromwell Road was approved by the AJC for these measures. I strongly recommended tabletop ramps like those on Brampton Road, and urged the officers to consult the Cambridge Cycling Campaign throughout. Having spoken with Allan Brigham about this, I am also trying to encourage the officers responsible for the job to plant some trees on Cromwell Road at the same time. It is actually quite a nice area, but looks much too bleak because of the lack of Greenery.
Two positive developments: The County, after trying to take away our money for an accident reduction scheme, recently reinstated it further to a petition organised by Nichola Harrison of Petersfield and myself. We have now been guaranteed the sum of £400,000 to make traffic improvements to Mill Road. We have been in discussions with County officers on this and a consultation will reach the public this spring. This is great news: finally, something is happening. Secondly, my pestering of the County for a Watchman scheme has paid off. Romsey and Petersfield, and the rest of the East Area, are to be the first parts of the County in which this scheme will be tested. It involves using Radarlux technology to show motorists what speed they are travelling at. Persistent offenders will receive letters and police visits. Anyone interested in participating should get in touch at kilian.bourke@gmail.com.
3. One-Way Violations
Since the No Entry Except Cyclists sign on Cockburn Street was replaced with the infamous low-flying motorcycle one there has been a huge increase in the number of people violating the one-way system. This is partly due to confusion regarding the signposting, and we strongly urge the county council to allow us to return to the old sign. They are refusing to do so. In the meantime, to stop this happening we need there to be more enforcement, and our new PC’s in Romsey have expressed their committment to stemming this dangerous problem.
4. Streetlights
The streetlights in Romsey are antiquated and no longer meet modern standards. I have publicly asked the Conservative administration to visit Mill Road to meet me and some local residents, who would be happy to show him the problems with the current streetlighting, but the Conservatives have refused this invitation. However, a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) application to central government has recently been accepted, which means that - if, as expected, the County Council takes up this offer - all streetlights over 25 years old will be replaced in the coming years. The vast majority of those on Mill Road meet these criteria, and will be upgraded in due course.
However, a few concerns remain. Firstly, additional lights are needed in a couple of places, particularly the unlit stretch on the corner opposite the Royal Standard pub. It is ridiculous that one of the only corners on Mill Road should be unlit, especially when this is a problem spot where the road suddenly narrows, often leaving cyclists in a vulnerable position where they are liable to be run off the road by careless drivers.
And secondly, the upgrading of the streetlights needs to take place in conjunction with our integrated plan for the neighbourhood, including work on pavements and pedestrianising certain areas. This is the only sensible and viable way of making the radical improvements the Liberal Democrats envision for Romsey.
5. Pavements
The pavements on Mill Road are also a problem. One of the most painful and unpleasant incidents I have witnessed in Romsey involved an elderly lady with mobility problems tripping up on a protruding pavement slab and falling forward onto her face, causing her extreme pain and embarrassment.
The problems stem from a number of causes. Tree roots have dislodged some sections of the pavement. Degradation over time is also an obvious a factor. And the problems were drastically worsened when a number of cable companies put down cables under the pavement, leaving them in a dire state. Fixing this is a complicated process for the simple reason that the city only owns the part of the pavement immediately adjacent to the road; the shopowners are actually responsible for the area immediately in front of their shops. Any solution will have to be a joint one, with funding coming from the City Council, County Council and shop-owners as well.
Improving the pavements in the area is part of an integrated plan of improvements we are working towards.
6. Improving our Environment
A certain amount of money is given to the area committees to be allocated to environmental improvements. In the past, the hanging baskets on Mill Road are one of the improvements that have been made. Contrary to groundless rumours propagated by the Labour group none of the hanging baskets have been removed; indeed, if they took the trouble to actually go for a walk through Romsey they would see that they look better than ever!
During the Autumn we are going to consult local residents and especially youths who use Vinery Road Recreation Ground, to see how they would like to see it improved. Invitations will be circulated nearer the time, but if you are particularly interested you can contact me at kilian.bourke@gmail.com to reserve a place. The plan is to decide what changes to make and depending on what is agreed, we hope these improvements will be implemented in the new year.
We have a triannual tree maintenance program (last meet, 2004/5) so we will have a full consultation in the coming period. There are a number of difficulties with introducing extra trees to the neighbourhood. Space limitations are a problem, and there is a very limited number of trees that would thrive in a tarmac environment. However, the two problems we tend to run into are that trees would reduce the number of available parking spaces, which invariably provokes an outcry of public indignation, and all trees – including, contrary to common belief, evergreens – shed leaves, causing our dangerous pavements to become even more slippery during wet conditions.
7. Brookfields Hospital
The campaign that was headed by David Howarth MP and also COPE (Cambridge Old People’s Enterprise) seems to have had a significant impact on the Primary Care Trust’s decision, because they have retained some of the existing beds. (Davison house is remaining open.) This means that people recovering from major operations, who are not quite fit enough to go home, but can’t justifiably occupy a bed in our cramped hospitals, can recuperate in safety and comfort.
Moreover, the majority of beds are going to be allocated to a dedicated neurosurgical centre, which is a good thing. As things stand, neurosurgical surgery patients have to be farmed out around the country, a disgraceful state of affairs. This way we will be bringing them home. Also, the Headway Club for people who have head injuries meets on same site, so there is a clear possibility for collaboration and cooperation between these two groups, which is also a positive thing.
Overall, it looks as though the PCT actually listened to the opinions of residents, and we are happy with this.
8. Romsey Mosque
The old Robert Sayle site (309-313 Mill Road) has been bought by the local mosque, with a view towards developing it into a larger mosque, due to overcrowding in the existing one on Mawson Street, which is clearly inadequate to needs. Romsey Action organised a public meeting at which various possibilities were discussed, and their ideas were for the most part well received by the people there. We are reserving judgement until detailed plans are provided, but are receptive to the idea. The main concern expressed by local residents concerned the impact on parking the development would have, but the Mosque assures me that the main weekly service takes place on Friday lunchtime, and having inspected the surrounding roads at this time for a number of weeks, it is clear to me that there is a very minimal demand for parking in area at this time, so parking problems would be minimal.
Some information on the proposed relocation is provided here.
9. East Mill Road Development
This development concerns the old Priory or Hollands’ Garage site on Mill Road. We have had a development brief done which a lot of residents contributed to, including Romsey Action. Two applications have been rejected for not satisfying the specifications compiled through the consultation process. We want to see some affordable housing: 40% is the minimum requirement (3:1 social let / “key-worker” or part-rent-part-buy – “key workers” being hospital, fire service and police workers. In the local plan it did say that if this site came up it might be considered for student housing, but that was before we had the unexpected Sedley School site, which was entirely devoted to student accommodation so our view is that we don’t therefore need to have more student housing. This is not a vendetta against students per se, but a reflection of the fact that large amounts of housing in Romsey are already rented out to students, who are a transient part of the community. Some green space is also hoped for, preferably at the front of the area.
10. Improving Recycling
We are continuing to improve our recycling service.
We are still trialling recycling “nets”, which should stop problems with flyaway refuse from recycling boxes during windy conditions. The results of this trial will be reported in the autumn.
We are also trying to spread recycling to a number of residential flats in Romsey – Winstanley Court will be on board soon. More modern flats tend to provide access and space for recyling bins, the problem is with slightly older flats which don’t have in-built facilities for recycling.
We are also looking to increase recyling for trade businesses. Our push to increase recycling of Trade Waste is going well.
11. Antisocial behaviour
We are against it.
I recently attended a meeting at which Sergeant Simon Cross announced 70% drop in incidents on Mill Rd involving streetlife people. The main factor in this decrease has been that Addaction took over the drug rehab service at the beginning of April, and have since changed the way methadone is administered, so people go to their local pharmacy rather than down Mill Rd to Mill House. This has vastly reduced problems on this side of the bridge, although Petersfield still has difficulties. The Romsey part of Mill Road as a consequence is no longer a part of the section 30 dispersal orders.
Mill Road was recently designated an Alcohol Impact Zone which means any new license application will have to prove that it has responsible approach and that there is a need. It is unlikely that such a licence will be granted since Mill Rd has already reached saturation point. Consequently it is extremely unlikely that, if Tesco were to go ahead, it would be granted a license to sell alcohol.
E-Cops continues to be effective. People can join on the E-Cops registration page.
12. Cromwell Road
The recent consultation regarding possible improvements to Cromwell Road was approved by the AJC. The original measures implemented many years ago were disastrous, with bollards being knocked down dozens of times. Catherine Smart and her fellow councillors have been campaigning for changes since these disastrous changes were made. We are looking for some “sleeping policemen” to be installed (these have been effective on Brampton Road). We also feel that either the existing cycle lane needs to go, or for the road to be made one way, because the current arrangement is unworkable and dangerous. The baby roundabout by Winstanley Court will also be removed if these plans are pushed forward. Cllr Bourke also asked the council officers overseeing the process to consult the Cambridge Cycle Campaign throughout.
13. Public Transport
Of the two bus services which pass through Romsey, Citi 2 seems to be performing fairly well. It is anticipated that changes to Emmanuel Street will vastly diminish delays in the middle of the city-centre, further improving the service. We will be conducting a survey in Autumn about this.
The other service, the Coldham’s Lane bus, is proving hard work. We will be conducting tests to make sure that the service is running on time as contracted, which does not always seem to be the case. We are also investigating ways of improving the service. Kilian intends to contact all of the councillors of the wards the bus route passes through, to try and campaign for a better service; in exchange for improvements in the service, the councillors would promote it in their areas, providing residents with revised timetables, etc. If the Congestion Charging program goes ahead, this service will be a prime candidate for further subsidies.
Regarding overcrowding on the King’s Cross Train, David Howarth MP has been to see the head of the OneRail franchise to express the concerns of his constituents.
14. Residents’ Parking
We will shortly be conducting a survey on whether residents want us to apply for residents’ parking in Romsey.
In the past when we have explained what RP actually involves and then conducted surveys, people have always lost interest. The problem is that anyone who lives here gets a permit, and the parking problem stems primarily from the fact that there is often more than one vehicle per house; so if we were to introduce RP we could potentially end up with exactly the same shortage of parking, and be fifty pounds poorer each! (This, the approximate annual cost of a permit, is likely to rise sharply in the near future.)
In addition, Romsey is fairly secluded compared to Petersfield (near the rail station) and also Queen Edith’s (near Addenbrooke’s). The only area which is comparably affected by the station in Romsey is Charles Street and the immediately adjacent roads. We would like to conduct a consultation on RP in these roads, but the new policy the Conservatives have introduced on the county council of introducing RP to large areas at a time, not small ones, precludes this.
And additional problem is that one of the main inhibitors to trade on Mill Road is the sheer lack of available parking spaces. At a recent meeting with traders from Mill Road and Romsey Action one of the main concerns expressed was that visitors cannot find space to park, and consequently go elsewhere. This creates a problematic conflict of interests: on the one hand some residents want there to be residents’ parking, but this would exacerbate an already difficult situation for our local businesses.
Streetcar Car Club is of some relevance. Some families with more than one car find that they rarely use their second vehicle, and decide that membership of a car club is more economical and gives them enough access to a car. There is a rapidly increasing number of Car Club members in the city, and a particularly high concentration of them in Romsey. The pickup point is Great Eastern Street car park. We hope that car clubs and the anticipated modal shift away from car dependency will gradually diminish the parking problem.
15. Cycling
Romsey is an extremely difficult place to cycle around, and the Broadway is particularly dangerous.
There are numerous cycle-accident black spots on Mill Road. Particularly at the corner of Ross Street, opposite Cutlacks, where the road suddenly narrows. This means that motorists who are simply following the line of the road often collide with cylists who are parallel to them, knocking them off their bike and onto the pavement by Ross Street. Living across the road from this location, I have personally witnessed SIX such incidents in my time, several of which have caused physical injury to the victim. It is unacceptable for this situation to exist. The road clearly needs to be altered.
Moreover, an almost identical situation exists opposite the Royal Standard pub. In some respects the situation is even worse there, because the road narrows on a corner, and - incredibly - it is the one stretch of Mill Road that is completely unlit.
A third such blackspot exists at the foot of Mill Road railway bridge, on the Petersfield side. Motorists often turn left here on to Devonshire Road, without checking their rear view mirrors, and taking out cyclists which were cycling parrallel to them. There have been a number of serious incidents here.
As such it is hardly surprising that cyclists sometimes opt to use the pavements instead of the road, not that I condone this.
I am steadily working to resolve these situations, and hope that we will be able to make radical improvements under the aegis of making Mill Road an Independent Business Zone.
