Guided Busway Problems Discussed in Cabinet

The Conservatives at Shirehall have again discussed the current stalemate on the Guided Busway. The meeting minutes are available here. The agenda and other items are available:

http://www2.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/db/council2.nsf/e0c624b01b2e9ade80256b14004eb73b/298394afce81eedb802577070046c665?OpenDocument

The Guided Busway starts at point 171.

You'll notice that in typical County-style point 172 excludes the press and public and count 173 presents a confidential report. It's disappointing, but perhaps understandable, that some legal issues need to be discussed in private.

Cabinet resolved to:

i) Note the progress that is being made towards sectional completion and the opening of the busway between Cambridge and St Ives and in particular, the current overall timescale from the contractor for addressing the notified defects;

ii) Confirm that the notified defects should be addressed satisfactorily before buses could run on the guideway and that whilst the maintenance track could follow the opening of the guideway, that could only be the case if a clear way forward to resolve the problems had been agreed.

iii) That a further update report should be received at the May Cabinet meeting

The one key point that I think all the Cambridge candidates in the recent election agreed on is that the money has been spent. Wisely or unwisely the money is gone. Julian Huppert joined us on the County Group calling for an independent enquiry into where the money has gone and the problems delivering the busway BUT the key point is that now we have a guideway, now we have buses, and now we need to get the service running as soon as possible while ensuring value for money for Cambridgeshire tax payers.