Elections
Cambridgeshire County Council elections, May 2021: Woodditton
Summary: | Cambridgeshire County Council elections, May 2021 |
Polling date: | Thursday 6th May 2021 |
Division: |
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Candidates (by surname): |
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Questions for Woodditton division candidates (6 questions)
# Question 1
What challenges do people face in your area that prevent them from cycling, especially children and those using cycling as a mobility aid? How should cycling and walking infrastructure in your area be improved so that people of all ages and abilities would feel safe cycling there?
Responses to this question from all divisions…
Elaine MARSHALL (Green Party) |
The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
Steven John O'DELL (Labour Party) |
The ward is split in two areas. The area towards cambridge is well served by a well connected shared cycle Route/ Footpath. But the rest of the Division is has no cycling infrastructure. A close network of Cycle routes linking the villages to a key service Community well away should be constructed. |
Charles Edward POWELL (Liberal Democrat) |
Through most of division there are no dedicated cycle facilities of any sort. Lode has a limited cycle route but this disappears without connection to any ongoing network. The county council has funded nothing in this division. Road surfaces are downright dangerous. |
Alan Gordon SHARP (Conservative Party) |
We need safer routes for people to be able to cycle and we need joined up approaches with Suffolk colleagues, as we are on the edge of the county and a lot of the area is very rural. I am Chair of the Bus, Cycling & Walking working group at East Cambs District Council which is looking at how we can improve these facilities for residents and put our proposals forward to the County Council, Combined Authority and other funding bodies to bring them to fruition. |
# Question 2
Transport is the largest source of UK carbon dioxide emissions (34%). Physical inactivity is responsible for one in six UK deaths. What role do you think cycling can play in tackling the urgent climate and health crises we face?
Responses to this question from all divisions…
Elaine MARSHALL (Green Party) |
The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
Steven John O'DELL (Labour Party) |
Cycling and the promotion of cycling would be encouraged and campaigned for within the communities of Woodditton ward. As its health benefits for leisure activity would reduce obesity and would increase physical activity. Also leaving the car at home would lesson the particulates in the air leaving the air we breath less polluted. |
Charles Edward POWELL (Liberal Democrat) |
Public transport itself is largely dire in this division. Cycling facilities even worse. Distances can also be large. Cycling for recreation is seemingly growing in popularity and this indicates potential. Villages communities like ours contain large numbers of older people who need more public transport first. |
Alan Gordon SHARP (Conservative Party) |
The area that I currently represent on East Cambs and the bigger County division has a lot of very rural areas, which makes it difficult for residents to cycle for employment, shopping etc, because of the distance and safety issues. In the urban part of the ward around Newmarket and the larger villages of Bottisham and Cheveley, then it is easier for residents to safely cycle. Cycling is one of the pieces of the jigsaw that will help reduce emissions and help people to become more active. However, I feel that we need to be more proactive in getting this to happen by better safe infrastructure and giving encouragement for people to make that step. Working with cycling groups, that cater for the average person wanting exercise, would be very useful and i look forward to having that interaction. |
# Question 3
Safe and responsible use of the roads is a major issue. Our view is that traffic policing, of all groups of road users (cyclists, drivers, etc.), should become a greater police priority, and that this should be evidence-based, namely based on the relative levels of danger presented by each such group. What are your thoughts, and where would your priorities be?
Relevant links (each opens in a new window):
Responses to this question from all divisions…
Elaine MARSHALL (Green Party) |
The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
Steven John O'DELL (Labour Party) |
Rural roads are very unsafe. However the police are under immense pressure. I would Campaign for better Cycling facilities well away from rural roads with an increase in cycle/ pedestrian crossings near built up areas. |
Charles Edward POWELL (Liberal Democrat) |
Cycling and non car transport urgently need policy attention at all levels of government but government attention is seen as threatening to cars just now without ant committment to alternatives. More police attention without viable transport options would fail us all. |
Alan Gordon SHARP (Conservative Party) |
I am Vice-Chairman of The Cambridgeshire Police & Crime Panel and have the opportunity to discuss some of these issues on a regular basis. |
# Question 4
What do you think should be done to enable more children to walk and cycle safely to school? How can the county support more school communities to implement School Street schemes?
Relevant links (each opens in a new window):
Responses to this question from all divisions…
Elaine MARSHALL (Green Party) |
The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
Steven John O'DELL (Labour Party) |
The school street program was supported by the former councillor for the ward. I will continue to support the scheme. I will also discuss with the schools in the ward on further measures to ensure more children can get to school by foot, Cycle or scooter. |
Charles Edward POWELL (Liberal Democrat) |
In this area place schools within range of homes. In this division there is only one secondary school and it a long way from most residents. Busses galore and endless cars choke the roads at school transport times. |
Alan Gordon SHARP (Conservative Party) |
As a Governor of two schools within my division, I am very aware of the issues that parking, dropping off, picking up causes. Children, by necessity, especially for my secondary school, arrive in school buses that bring them in from the outlying villages, so there is not much opportunity there. However, for the pupils who live in the village, then a safer environment is very important. It is certainly a proposal that I would look at for my two schools and the others within my division, to see what we can achieve. Looking at how the schools currently adopting this policy work, would be a first step and then talking to school colleagues and then to the community would be the next step. In the current schools that have adopted this, has it moved the problem elsewhere |
# Question 5
How important is it for every rural village to have at least one safe and accessible off-road path for people walking and cycling, connecting to the growing network of such routes in the county? What action should be taken to enable everyone in the county to have access to the cycling network?
Responses to this question from all divisions…
Elaine MARSHALL (Green Party) |
The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
Steven John O'DELL (Labour Party) |
It is very important that every village has a safe off road path. Every village should have a footpath/ Cycle route to a key service Centre so the car is not used and encourage more healthy ways of getting about. |
Charles Edward POWELL (Liberal Democrat) |
Essential if any meaningful policy is to work. |
Alan Gordon SHARP (Conservative Party) |
As I responded to an earlier question, as chair of the East Cambs Bus, Cycling & Walking working group, we are exploring all options to facilitate safe off-road provision. We will be working with Parish Councils to achieve this aim and it is an aim of the group to get a joined up network. As a County Councillor I would want this approach to be adopted across the county |
# Question 6
LTN 1/20 is the government's new cycling design manual, with a focus on inclusivity and accessibility for all. How would you support our call for the county to affirm that they will use LTN 1/20 (and its successor documents) in all current and future schemes related to cycling?
Relevant links (each opens in a new window):
Responses to this question from all divisions…
Elaine MARSHALL (Green Party) |
The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
Steven John O'DELL (Labour Party) |
I would join a call for the use of LTN 1/20 and get a written confirmation from officers before any road improvement scheme went ahead so that shared footpaths/ Cycle routes would become the norm. |
Charles Edward POWELL (Liberal Democrat) |
Is I am elected I will work towards a coherent transport policy, work and leisure, which includes this. |
Alan Gordon SHARP (Conservative Party) |
If elected I would look at what the County Council has in place currently and how we can adopt the recommendations of the Government's proposals to ensure safety for all road users. The safety of all road users, reducing the carbon footprint and improving the physical health of everyone must be at the heart of every decision made |
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.