Arrogant Tories Give Green Light to Thousands More Homes (South East Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats)

South East Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats <info@secambslibdems.org.uk>

Arrogant Tories Give Green Light to Thousands More Homes

January 22, 2009 5:28 PM

Arrogant Tory councillors have ignored the residents of Ely and the government and voted for an extra 5,000 homes for the city.

The decision means that East Cambridgeshire District Council will now be pushing for more homes than the government target.

But there are no definite road or rail plans in place to cope with the extra people who will move into the city. In fact, the £27 million Southern Bypass project, a vital link in the Masterplan, has been declared a "poor fit for government policy" and fails to meet any of the criteria to recommend it for funding.

Liberal Democrats failed in their plea to Tuesday's meeting of East Cambridgeshire District Council's strategic development committee to delay a decision on the Masterplan until the results of a Transport Study were known.

Now they plan to call the decision into the council's overview and scrutiny committee today (Thursday) on the grounds that it should be delayed to wait for the Transport Study.

Ely North and East Lib Dem Councillor Nigel Bell said: "The Ely Southern Bypass is a proven non-starter for government funding and yet the Tories are still trying to impose their plan to bring thousands of extra new homes to a city already choked with traffic.

"This is despite knowing, from their own consultation exercise, that this is not what the people of Ely want. Any perceived advantages the bigger population might bring are surely completely outweighed by the severe problems such disproportionate expansion will create."

The Masterplan, which has so far cost the East Cambridgeshire taxpayer £50,000, proposes up to 5,000 new homes to the north of the city.

But the East of England Regional Assembly has already rejected Ely as unsustainable and not suitable for more than 3,000 extra houses to 2031. Consultants employed by the assembly have also declared that the Southern Bypass fails to meet government criteria as well.

The Tories have ignored the findings of a telephone survey which found that only 16 per cent of people interviewed supported further growth for Ely.

Haddenham Councillor Ian Allen said: "The council is now in the situation of ignoring the electorate and bidding for more houses than the government is setting as a target figure, so much for Conservative boasts of New Localism.

"The council has spent £150,000 opposing Mereham - public money - now it intends to inflict something similar on Chettisham without the evidence base to back it up.

"Liberal Democrats will continue to oppose these proposals and support a more organic approach to securing housing and facilities."