Cambridge traders furious after GCP removes parking bays before consultation ends

Shop owners are furious that parking bays outside their businesses have been removed overnight - despite a consultation on the plan set to run for another three weeks.

Businesses on Milton Road say they feel they have been “stitched up” after discovering on Tuesday morning that the parking bays had been painted out by contractors without notice.

Milton Road is undergoing a £32 million improvement scheme by the Greater Cambridge Partnership to improve cycling and bus access on journeys in and out of the city. Traders say before the roadworks there were 18 parking spaces available to serve their businesses.

Now that number has been reduced to three 30 minute bays to serve the 19 businesses on the affected part of Milton Road and Arbury Road corner. A fourth bay has been so badly drawn that no car could park in it, they explain.

Robin Standring owns garden centre Cam Home & Garden on Milton Road, in the parade of shops near the Arbury Road junction. He said: “These 30 minute stay parking bays were the lifeblood for our shops, giving us passing trade.

“At the start of July when roadworks wrapped up, the GCP put back eight of the 30 minute parking spaces only. We were happy to at least have some! Imagine our surprise when we got a consultation letter last week saying four of these bays would become loading bays or disabled parking only, so they would not be not accessible to most passing trade customers.

“This is so bad for the traders because the whole neighbourhood has become residents’ parking only under a new GCP scheme – so customers can’t park on nearby streets either. So it is really important that we keep free 30 minute bays as the only free parking in the whole neighbourhood.

“Traders wanted to have a chance to express their views on these changes and were told the deadline for consultation was 6 September. We hadn’t requested these changes and we did not think these were the right locations for what was proposed. We wrote yesterday (Monday, 12 August) to clarify proposals as the drawings online were incorrect.

“But then this morning we found out to our surprise that the works were done overnight before we had heard back and three weeks before the consultation was due to end on 6 September. Not only does this make a mockery of the democratic process but it also shows the works had been pre-decided. The sub-contractors had already been given drawings to do the works – regardless of the views of the traders. It feels like a stitch up.

“We feel like we have been the victims of bad design. None of us traders want a loading bay in place of 30 minute customer bays. None of us were asked before this supposed “consultation”. The main lorry deliveries here are from the Co-op and Chesterton Carpets – both of which park to unload on private land. We need spaces for customers!

“Traders are furious and this just reflects the lack of joined up thinking, bad planning, poor design and chaos of the Milton Road scheme. The shops here are part of the fabric of this community and we are being destroyed by a thousand cuts. It’s enough to make me want to chuck it in!”

The roadworks project, which the GCP said would cost £24 million, but has now risen to £32 million, and take two years to complete, includes new off-road cycle lanes on both sides, alongside pedestrian paths. Junctions between the Cambridge Science Park and Mitcham’s Corner have been changed to make it easier for cyclists to have a continuous route towards the city. Construction is expected to finish later this year.

A new CYCLOPS junction at King’s Hedges is nearing completion, with the final surfacing and lining of the road to be carried out before it becomes fully operational later this summer.

A GCP spokesperson said: “We have been working with the community, local businesses and councillors to develop the Milton Road scheme throughout the last two years to ensure we balance their needs with our aim to make the area safer and easier to walk, cycle or catch a bus. We have been incredibly grateful for their support and ideas throughout this process. In this case, we understand works have taken place before an engagement exercise has been completed. Our contractors will be remedying this and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience and upset this has caused.”

Further details of the proposals, including a drawing, may be examined via the online traffic consultation portal at: https://consultation.appyway.com/cambridge and select the Order “CoC CEA WRSPP Order 2022 Am 49 Milton Road”

Feedback including objections stating the grounds on which they are made, must be sent in writing by 6 th September 2024 using the portal link below or by letter to Cambs CC, Policy and Regulation Team PE29 6PY.