WHAT PRICE FENLAND LIVES ?

Cambridge News 12 March 2008 "More than £8 million is to be spent to make St Neots cleaner and safer."

Have you every asked yourself why nothing seems to be spent on Fenland?

Visit most Cambridgeshire towns and it's clear that lots of public money is spent on things that are needed. However meanwhile, Fenland is left year after year with poor and frequently dangerous roads, a lack of adequate public leisure facilities and town centres that would clearly benefit from investment.

Why does Fenland continually fail to attract investment?

It seems that St Neots is about to receive huge amounts of public money due to its town centre problems from vehicle exhausts. Plans are for a whopping £8 million to be spent co-ordinating traffic lights to improve the flow of vehicles and on improvements to pedestrian and cycling facilities.

What could we do with £8million in Fenland ?

For a start we could do something about the 40ft road. A couple of years ago County Council said that it would cost £750,000 to sheet-pile the bank. A similar amount to make the 16 foot road safer would amount to £1.5 million.

And how about pedestrian safety in Fenland ? Or any kind of cycling facilities at all ? It would obviously be very nice if residents could cycle to work or the shops in safety, and we were all able to let our children out on their bikes for leisure or to cycle to school without worrying if they might come to grief. Fenland is also a natural haven for cyclists and it would be a delight to be able to cycle from one community to another, or just cycle for pleasure. Think of all that enjoyable exercise and the natural beauty of the Fens to enjoy, and think about the potential for fewer cars on the roads.

A few million would go a long way to providing cycleways,.

And there are many places in Fenland where safe road crossing places are desperately needed. Many residents of Chatteris drive into town from Doddington Road rather than run the gauntlet of the A141/A142 roundabout. And any morning, or after school, you can see numbers of youngsters or mothers with pushchairs and toddlers teetering on the kerb waiting for a gap in the roaring traffic, so they can get into town, or home again.
This situation is intollerable! The recently built Fordham by pass has a pedestrian and cycle fly over link to Soham, and the new Thorney by-pass has a similar link which seems to be little used at all. But in Chatteris, where two major roads converge, there is a complete absence of attention to public safety. You have to ask yourself why?

Fenlanders, just as much as any other residents of Cambridgeshire, deserve money to be spent on them!

We need safety on roads and the ability to walk or cycle about in safety and with pleasure, just as much as anyone else!

Could the problem by any chance be down to the fact that all of Fenland is represented exclusively by Tory County Councillors? Tory Councillors who are ineffectual and apparently don't wish to upset their ruling Tory colleagues at County Hall by asking for any money to be spent in Fenland!

Let's face it, the sitting Tory Councillors haven't even been able to persuade their colleagues to stick to their promise for a roundabout at the Goosetree junction.
What ARE the local Tories doing for you?