Gareth Wilson

This is a list of the issues relating to Witchford 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 needs to be addressed or would like further information on anything below, please contact me at gareth.wilson@eastcambs.gov.uk

Tory County Council ignores Witchford Views

Despite all arguments by the Parish Council and very many residents, it looks like the County Council is ploughing ahead with their original plans to put the Household Recycling on the entrance to Witchford. We have argued that Angel Drove in Ely would be much more suitable, as there are more households in Ely and the site is in an industrial area and not on agricultural land.

The latest plans submitted show detailed plans of the access road, with traffic islands preventing any right turn from Witchford, all traffic must come from the roundabout. However, the recycling centre will cause thousands of extra cars on the already busy A142.

2. Rubbish Collection and Recycling

The Recycling Service in East Cambridge remains extremely poor, recycling only 36% of its waste compared to around 50% for other councils in the county. One recurrent problem is that residents are not being given the right recycling bags in sufficient quantities. Despite hundreds of complaints, residents are still not receiving brown paper sacks to recycle organic waste, with the consequence that the bulk of material is still being sent to landfill. People who are keen on recycling have told me they are going to give up, because of their frustration with the poor service. 

3. Speeding in Witchford

Speeding is a serious problem in Witchford, as throughout the county. What not everyone realises is that the Conservatives who control the County have made a series of decisions which not only fail to tackle speeding, but encourage it. I am strongly in favour of implementing a 20mph speed limit in Main Street, 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 persuaded the Tories to review this policy.

One scheme worth mentioning is “Neighbourhood Speedwatch” which is now being implemented in Witchford, and other parts of our Neighbourhood Panel Area.  It was first used it in Witchford on the 14th of February: 22 cars were noted as speeding, or 18%.  Top speed was a motorbike doing 46mph.

 My hope is to use this tool reduce speeds through the villages, to make crossing the road safer for children and the elderly. Operated by local volunteers, Speedwatch works by recording the speed of approaching vehicles and showing this speed on a screen to the motorist. It has a number of advantages. Firstly, it is an educational tool: it teaches drivers to be more aware of the speeds they are travelling at. Secondly, it allows us to provide hard evidence to the Police Authority and County Council that there are speeding problems on some roads, so they will in turn be able to target the right roads at the right times, to better enforce the limits. And finally, persistent offenders receive letters and police visits. Anyone interested in participating should get in touch at gareth.wilson@eastcambs.gov.uk.

4. Mereham

Five years ago developers proposed to build 5,000 new houses, with space for another 2,500, on all of the agricultural land between Stretham and Wilburton, effectively linking these two villages together. This new town would havae been as big as Ely, but without the facilities, without the station, and right on our doorstep. Following a public enquiry at Haddenham, the planning inspector turned this application down, and Government Minister Hazel Blears backed this decision.

Incredibly, this development is now being resurrected, following a new bid, which the East of England Regional Assembly accepted, which local Liberal Democrats have attacked.

Tory county councillor John Reynolds claimed that “it might be a completely different project to the one that was rejected before.” I have repeatedly made it clear to him that this is completely naïve. Even Hazel Blears said ‘No to Mereham’. What is it about the word ‘No’ that Cllr Reynolds does not understand?

East Cambridgeshire taxpayers are still counting the cost of the Mereham fight which left the district with a £150,000 bill which it cannot claim back from the developer. We have proved to the Government that Mereham is totally unacceptable and now, just two months after the appeal victory, we appear to be back to square one.

The Regional Assembly should never have accepted the submission of Mereham as a ‘new’ proposal as the definition clearly excludes proposals that ‘have previously been deemed by the Secretary of State to be inappropriate locations’.

A complete history of this ongoing saga is provided in the “Mereham” section of this site.

5. Council Tax: 2.45% or 3.9% Increase?

Cambridgeshire Lib Dems have proposed a 2.45% County Council Tax increase, compared to the Conservative plan for a 3.9% hike, one of the higher increases in the country. Which figure would you prefer?

We are also proposing to invest an extra £10.5 million in priority services.

These proposals can be afforded because we have identified fat in the Council’s budget - and cut it out! Reserves are 27% higher than forecast a year ago, yet during the same period highway repairs have been halted and more bus services lost.

Aside from the Council Tax reduction, our proposals include a £10.5 million 2 year spending package which will fund:

- A new policy to put more police officers into our local communities to beat anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime.
- Delivery of lower speed limits and better enforcement where requested.
- A major £7 million package to transform our neglected roads and pavements.
- Practical projects to give young people something to do in the evening.
- Much needed improvements for bus and rail travel.

This Tory administration is a shambles. It has frozen highways repairs while spending a small fortune on glossy publications that are shamelessly political; it is cutting back already substandard care for Adults and Children and is now proposing one of the highest council tax increases in the country, in a time of deepening recession. They call their leaflets “In Touch”, but has any budget ever been quite so out of touch?

6. Ely Masterplan

The Ely Masterplan is a plan for Ely’s future. Which ought to be a good thing. Unfortunately the Conservative administration have turned it into a plan for massive housing growth; potentially as many as 10,000 new houses over the next 20 years. They should have listened to the people, who want future developments to conserve and enhance Ely’s unique character.

Infrastructural development has not been able to keep up with the rapid expansion of the city in recent years, and it is my view that we need to consolidate the environment in the centre of the city, instead of building thousands of new houses.

The first version of the Masterplan was scrapped, because it was found to be illegal, wasting a lot of time and taxpayers’ money. All work on the original Masterplan was immediately stopped.
However, a new Ely Masterplan Working Party has been set up. And the Conservative members of the working party remain convinced that Ely should expand by 5,000 to 10,000 more houses, virtually doubling in size and including all the farmland to Chetisham.

The Tories are bulldozing ahead, ignoring public opinion and political opposition alike. How many people do they need to tell them thousands of new homes don’t guarantee instant commercial success for Ely?

What do you think? The Regional Plan already has 1,700 more homes. Is this sufficient? What about the extra facilities that all these thousands of new people will need?

For more information, see “The Ely Masterplan” section of this site.

7. Gravel Lorries

Heavy lorries carrying tons of gravel could thunder through Haddenham and Wilburton every two minutes under a controversial county council plan, which would allow gravel extraction at Mepal. There could be more than 1,000 extra lorries a day – or a massive 40 per cent increase. It is my worry that children walking to school could be put at risk to boost the profits of gravel and waste companies.

Most of these lorries will take gravel to Northstowe and other Cambridge developments, where 40,000 houses are planned to be built, or to the works on the A14. The idea of dispersing the heavy traffic through village roads to avoid the cost of improving the necessary trunk roads is not acceptable, especially when childrens’ lives are being put at risk. I raised this issue at the latest meeting of East Cambridgeshire District Council’s strategic development committee.

The latest report reveals that three million tons of gravel would be extracted from the Mepal site every year, transported by 70,000 20-ton lorries. This amounts to over 500 lorries a day. These figures are on top of the lorries travelling through the area taking oil to Cottenham for recycling, new hazardous waste planned for the Grunty Fen tip and the lorries carrying five million tons of London waste. Not to mention the hundreds of lorries that already use Haddenham and Wilburton as a rat run.

My fear is that the lorries would travel from Mepal along the A142, turning into Haddenham village from Witcham Toll. They would then travel along Station Road, which is designated as an A road but only has pavement on one side at a time, which alternates from one side to another - this means that children going to school have to cross this busy road three time. This is profoundly wrongheaded planning. Once through Haddenham the lorries would head through Wilburton, turning along Twentypence Lane, causing chaos throughout Cottenham and Histon.

If only a third of the lorries chose this shorter route, this would still produce one every two minutes from 7am to 7pm. What is more, county council officers have hinted that the journeys could be made at night, to prevent congestion getting worse on the A10 and A14 during the daytime. Hundreds of Heavy Carriage Vehicle rumbling through our quiet villages in the middle of the night? This would be intolerable.

My proposed solution is to build a bypass around Sutton, be financed by the gravel extractors, and another one around Willingham, paid for by the Northstowe developers. These companies and developers should not be profiting at the expense of our communities. Let them foot the bill for once.