Over the winter the local team have been conducting a survey of the division. Many thanks to everyone who took the time to give us their thoughts on several local issues, the results were very interesting:

How best would you describe our area?

• Very clean: 23.2%
• Reasonably clean: 68.6%
• Not very clean: 8.2%

People generally think the area is pretty tidy – the City Council runs regular ward walkabout and cleaning sessions, which anyone can take part in. If there are specific areas which you think needs more work, you can let the Streets and Open Spaces team at the City Council know.

Have you had any difficulty getting a child of yours into your preferred state school?

• Yes: 22.2%
• No: 77.8%

Whilst not as bad as we feared, this still shows a significant problem with a lack of school places in the division. This is a continuing issue in the area, and schools really need some extra funding. Furthermore, with new developments springing up all over the city, the County needs to plan for places that will be needed in the future. Unfortunately, funding from central government is severely lacking in this area, but the local team will continue to push the Council to try and provide the places required.

Would the proposed closures to Hills Road, East Road, and Coldham’s Lane cause you issues?

• Yes: 55.7%
• No: 44.3%

The PCCP plans would have caused problems for a majority of the residents in the division – from the comments on the surveys, some of them quite significant. Fortunately these plans have now been dropped by the City Deal; however, there have yet been no comparable plans put forward to try and combat the congestion problems that plague Romsey

Do you agree with plans for more residents parking?

• Yes: 50.7%
• No: 49.3%

An almost 50% split. As we’ve already mentioned, there are plans being progressed through the Councils to hold a consultation on introducing residents parking to parts of the city. If and when these progress, the local Lib Dem team will keep residents informed.

Are there improvements to bus services that you’d like to see?
There were a variety of answers to this, however there were a few main issues that were brought up:

1. The buses are too expensive
2. The buses are unreliable or not frequent enough
3. A lack of a regular bus service along Coldham’s Lane and Coleridge Road

Unfortunately the County Council doesn’t have any direct control over the routes, timetable, or pricing of the buses, as those are run by private companies Stagecoach and Whippet. However, the new Cambridgeshire Mayor will have some control over bus franchising; this combined with the transport subsidy options open to the City Deal should allow some indirect control to try and improve the bus services to the area.

Do you support opening of the lakes by Burnside to walkers

• Yes: 95.3%
• No: 4.7%

An almost unanimous result there! We hadn’t heard much about plans for the lakes for a couple of years, but Anderson held a new exhibition in February with some more information on what’s been going on and what their future plans are, which include proposals for new homes to be built on an ajoining site. This will provide the funding to open up the lakes, and finally make this valuable amenity publically accessible.

Do you support proposals for an elected Mayor for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough?

• Yes: 41.5%
• No: 58.5%

The majority of the respondents are not in favour of the Mayor as an extra layer of government in the County, and the Lib Dems campaigned as such last year. However, the plans have now been agreed by the various constituent Councils, so you’ll have a chance to elect Cambridgeshire’s first Mayor in May. The Lib Dem candidate, Rod Cantrill, has his own website where you can find out more about him and what he would do as Mayor, and get in contact if you have any questions.

Would you be prepared to pay more Council Tax to protect services across Cambridgeshire?

• Yes: 27.7%
• No: 13.8%
• Maybe, depends how much: 58.5%

The majority of people (86.2%) would be willing to pay more Council Tax to stop services getting cut. As I’ve talked about on my website, the County Council is faced with severe financial difficulties over the next few years; if Council Tax is not increased, services that people currently depend on will have to be cut.

There were of course several specific issues raised in the surveys, which the local team will be looking at. We’ll be using the results of the survey to guide our priorities over the next 12 months. Thanks to everyone who took part across the division.

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