It is rare that I agree with sentiments expressed by a government minister, and this is one of them, especially in the ongoing context of the transport plans for Bourn Airfield Development as contained in the draft county council transport strategy document.
Cabinet minister and Communities secretary Eric Pickles lashed out at Cambridge city’s high car parking charges and warned councils not to force the transport choices of the “elite” on the rest of the population.
He told Cambridge News this week that his call for local authorities to ditch their “anti-car dogma” very much applied to the city and said efforts to improve cycling provision should not completely override concern for motorists.
But the city council, which charges up to £26 a day for stays in its multi-storeys, is standing firm – claiming its policies have the backing of retailers. I rather doubt that very much, as I am just of of many that refuse to go and shop in Cambridge and would only do so if I had no other choice.
Mr Pickles, who is publishing guidance stating councils should understand the role parking can play in supporting shops, has warned that “draconian” parking policies and sky-high charges are forcing people to use internet retailers and out-of-town superstores rather than high street shops. He is right on that one!
He said: “Town halls need to ditch their anti-car dogma. Making it easier to park will help support local shops, local jobs and tourism.” Mr Pickles said it was up to Cambridge to decide its own parking policies but, when asked whether he thought the charges were too high, he said he thought they were.
Mr Pickles told the News: “I accept there is a historic part of Cambridge that makes it not particularly friendly to cars and that’s the nature of having a very ancient city but, if we don’t put our plans together on how people live and how some of the elite think we should live, we are just asking for trouble. “While this is not the sole cause of the high street’s problems, it is certainly a contributory factor.”
Mr Pickles acknowledged historic buildings could not be destroyed to make way for cars, but said cyclists should not be given total preeminence in the way that car drivers were for many years.
He said: “What I’m seeking is not to replace one binding ideology with another, I’m asking for basic common sense and pragmatism.” Well said, Eric!
Mr Pickles cited research by the Association of Town and City Management which showed a strong relationship between parking provision and high street footfall, which led the organisation to warn that the pursuit of revenue had led councils to forget the original rationale for parking management.
But Cllr Tim Ward, the city council’s executive councillor for sustainable transport, said Mr Pickles was wrong. Of course he would, what else could he be expected to say.
The city council is investing in plans for hundreds of extra cycle spaces, while the County Council has multi-million pound plans for better cycle links and speedier bus journeys. This indeed is what is in the current Transport Strategy for Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire that is undergoing public consultation simulatenously with the South Cambs Local Development Plan consultation.
As I said before in a previous article, the strategy is bonkers, as it depends on “forcing” people to change how they travel. In other words, as Mr Pickles said the councils are trying to force the transport choices of the “elite” on the rest of the population.
Cllr Ward said: “If Mr Pickles is interested in the wellbeing of retailers, he should listen to them. He went on to say that “Retailers want people coming in spending two to three hours shopping, they don’t want the car parks silting up with commuters and tourists and them not being available to shoppers, which would happen if we took the prices down.
“We are busy providing a lot more parking spaces in the city centre in the next few months, for something like 800 bicycles, and figures show it doesn’t take many cyclists to equal one car drivers in terms of retail spend.”
Apparently, more than one in five journeys in Cambridge are now made by bike and half of all residents now cycle at least once a week. But this is the rub, the whole Cambridge premise for its anti-car policy excludes the needs of those who don’t live in the city, but need to or want to travel into the city to work, for business or leisure.
The County council transport strategy for the Bourn Airfield Development is also heavily based on cycling, walking and bus transport. There are no plans to add any further road capacity, and yet, an additional 5000 homes are being proposed to go on the A428 corridor, a corridor that is arguably the worst served by public transport in the district.
The administration of Cambridge City, South Cambridgeshire District Council and the County Council will do well to listen to Eric Pickles this time!.
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