Where is Fenland’s Voice?

As a Whittlesey resident, I want Fenland to have a strong, but co-operative, voice at the organisations that the Council is involved in. This is particularly true at the Combined Authority (the Mayor’s organisation).

Today, their Transport and Infrastructure Committee met. This is the one that met last month and where Fenland shot itself in the foot by failing to support something that would result in a £7m investment in March. Thankfully the March Area Transport Study was back on the agenda today and was supported, albeit a month later than it should have been.

There were a number of other really, really important items on the agenda, including Active Travel (walking and cycling), bus franchising and the March to Wisbech rail project, you can read about the update on that latter item here. As far as that project is concerned, I am delighted that at least some of the people involved have moved away from the obsession with a heavy rail solution. That idea is pie in the sky and it is right that more innovative solutions should be pursued.

However, the reason for this post is that I was astonished by the lack of a voice from Fenland at the meeting. Every other Councillor made appropriate comments and asked appropriate questions, but apart from the item about the March Area Transport Strategy, there was barely a word spoken by the Fenland representative. Now, it is worth saying for fairness that the representative from the District Council was, apparently, not well - and he appeared at the meeting remotely (which also meant he couldn’t vote). I would stress that I wish Chris a speedy recovery, but I do not buy that as an excuse for my local council not engaging, not least because he was very quick to interject when he thought the County Council’s representative was suggesting that too much focus went on Fenland (and I think Chris’s interpretation of those comments was also wrong). Also, if Chris truly was ill then surely someone from Fenland could/should have gone in his place? Sadly that solution perhaps risked a repeat of the debacle of last month.

This is the second of these meetings in a row where the residents of Fenland have been let down. It is no wonder that I get the message from everywhere in the Combined Authority that they find it difficult to work with our council.

If you want to check out whether my view stands up to scrutiny, then check here.