Cambridgeshire Residents’ Group with Cambs Against the Congestion Charge hold public meeting over proposed Cambridge road charge

Care workers, doctors, shift workers, academics, parents and pensioners were among the hundreds of people to attend a public meeting called by campaigners objecting to a Cambridge road charge.

It was organised by the Cambridgeshire Residents’ Group, a non-political organisation fighting the proposed congestion charge, and was chaired by Sally Parkinson.

The group says the proposals from the Greater Cambridge Partnership are “far too draconian and must be stopped”.

They are calling on the GCP to go back to the drawing board and find a solution that “benefits all road users so that we can share our infrastructure in harmony”.

A statement from the group said: “It was great to see such a cross-section of attendees, all united in pursuit of a common goal – to put a stop to the proposed congestion charge.

“The meeting was very interactive, with many people adding ideas and volunteering their time to plan a strategy and ensure our voices are heard. It was an enormous success and there will be more details on further meetings to discuss plans in further detail.”

The meeting was also attended by Cambs Against the Congestion Charge, a sister group, which was represented by Kieron Johnson.

It was held at the Cambridge Joint Ex-Services and Royal Mail Social Club in Barnwell Road on Sunday.

The GCP is proposing to introduce a £5 weekday daily charge for cars, which would operate between 7am and 7pm.

The money generated by the charge will be used to continue to fund an improved bus service.

The improvements would be forward-funded by the GCP to enable them to be in place before any charge is introduced.

It launched a consultation on the plans on Monday, as reported above.

The public meeting heard fears that the GCP wants to drive cars out of Cambridge “regardless of the impact that this will have on residents, tradespeople, and local businesses” and that their policy of road closures – like those introduced during the pandemic – were creating the congestion.

Residents were then asked to put forward ideas that will enable a reduction of traffic rather than resorting to the “sledgehammer method of securing an endless source of revenue at the expense of the population of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire most of whom simply cannot afford it”.

The group has launched a petition that will have to be debated by Cambridgeshire County Council if it reaches 1,344 signatures.

Adele Lord, from Fulbourn, who said her family has an income of less than £35,000, is already being impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.

She said: “My little boy is likely to be attending a nursery within the area. And due to the fact that I then have to get to Bar Hill before 7.30am I will have to use the car as it’s not possible on the bus.

“Also, my partner works as a specialist band two at Addenbrooke’s. If I also have to drop him as his transport is out of action for any reason it will eat even further into a very small budget.

“We barely get by and it seems we are likely to face the prospect of leaving Cambridge altogether.”

Niki Hughes, Sleaford Street, Cambridge, regularly visits her father to look after him.

She said: “ I have a sick and elderly father in Milton Keynes and I need to get to him twice a week for care.

“The bus will not allow me to do this in the time that I have available as I work full-time. I work in a medium-paid job in Cambridge and I feel that this is a tax on living in this wonderful city. It is my home but I feel that I am being pushed out by an additional cost of living in an already expensive area.

“On top of fuel and car costs, I will not be able to care for my dad. It is breaking my heart that I am being pushed out to make way for only the more well-off people who can afford to pay these costs.”

Dinikantha Kumararaten said: “I am 73. I work full-time as a doctor at Addenbrooke’s, in a speciality where there is a national shortage. If I retired, the vacancy will not be filled, and it will take upward of 10 years to train someone to replace me.

“I have an inherited condition that makes me highly susceptible to respiratory viral infection. Hence, using public transport especially during winter will be a risk.

“Due to this I was given authorisation by occupational health to travel by car and park my car at Addenbrooke’s, paying daily charges.

“I am not fit enough to cycle. The congestion charge will be a disaster for me.

“My wife who also works at Addenbrooke’s, full-time, plays a cello in the Cambridge Philharmonic orchestra.

“It is not practical to take a cello by bus to rehearsal and concert venues and return, as an elderly lady encumbered by a cello late at night from concert venues, by bus. Taxi will not be affordable.

“I help to transport my granddaughter, living in Sawston, to lessons outside school, and to see her other grandparents living in Cambridge.

“The time added if we had to go by bus will make this impossible.

“In other countries, including the US, school buses are organised to ferry children to school.

“There is no such thought given in Cambridge.

“Regarding staffing at Addenbrooke’s and Papworth hospitals: nurses and support staff cannot afford accommodation in Cambridge, and travel from afar.

“If they have young families, they need to travel by car for work-life balance. They do not get an uplift like London weighting.

“They will all have to work in other parts of the UK, where they are better looked after.

“The hospitals will be faced with another crisis.”