Elections

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Question 9 - we asked:

Would you reinstate the full-time Cycling Officer position, or even expand this to two full-time posts? This post has been crucial in the past for scrutinising new developments for cycling-related issues, as well as developing work to encourage responsible cycling.

We asked this question only in Coleridge.

4 of the 5 candidates (80%) who were asked this question responded as below.

Those candidate(s) which were elected are highlighted.

Sam BARKER
(Conservative Party)

These are tough fiscal times, and we must use money wisely. My support for all these initiatives is in the context of tighter budgets which are increasingly drawn down for statutory social care provision. I would probably prefer a formal role for the cycling campaign and other actors in an open policy and decision making process.

the dragon fairy PUFFLES
(Independent)

Yes - personally I'd go for two full-time posts because of the scale of developments happening in Cambridge that really could do with 'cycle-proofing'. Furthermore, I'd like to see citizens engaging with developers 'at design stage', and greater transparency between developers and council officers in the discussions they have. All too often I feel that developments are 'dumped' on Cambridge by wealthy interests that have few roots in the city.

The question big-picture-wise is how to fund it. Because Cambridge City Council does not have much control over its income - much of it comes from a central government grant that has shrunk significantly in recent years. Hence why the other parties that have looked into this in detail could produce a few options about what the impact would be of employing 1 or two full time cycling officers. The point being that while I back the principle of 2 FT officers, the city needs to make an informed decision. It might be at this stage we cannot afford 2, but that come 2017 we might be able to.

Lewis HERBERT
(Labour Party)

There are other options to ensure the same impacts of a FT post. With the growth in population and in cycling by people of all ages, the next tranche of cycle related initiatives mean we need to review the dedicated cycling staffing for new schemes. We and the county will need staff ensure quality design for all cycling measures that can be funded by the City Deal and other funding.
We will also review to ensure there is sufficient specialist cycling staffing input to planners for new development, big and small. These roles are probably best filled by specialists rather than appointing a single, generalist person.

Donald Marshall ADEY
(Liberal Democrat)

I would like to support this post again. Funding for local government is very tight. I would need to consult with colleagues to see how we could re -establish this post. I suspect it would be most difficult to add a 2nd post.

Camcycle is a non-partisan body. All candidates are given an equal opportunity to submit their views. Information published by Camcycle (Cambridge Cycling Campaign), The Bike Depot, 140 Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0DL.