Council’s Multi Million Pound Investment To Protect Services

A multi-million pound investment in Cambridge to secure and improve services for years to come has been unveiled by the Liberal Democrats as part of the Cambridge City Council’s budget.

They have set aside £3.4 million to carry out crucial work at the city’s Park Street car park. A study in the new year will look at how the council can be smarter in the way it uses the car park while still retaining much needed spaces for shops and businesses.

Work refurbishing the city’s Lion Yard toilets is included in the budget at a cost of £300,000. The toilets will be retained on ground floor and money will be spent bringing them up to a high standard with the facilities that people want. A working party will oversee the work.

Cambridge’s crematorium and cemetery buildings will be refurbished at a cost of £240,000.

This will also include renovation of the chapels and waiting rooms at the Huntingdon Road Crematorium and the waiting room and reception area at the Newmarket Road Cemetery. The work will follow the major £2 million project to upgrade the technical side of the crematorium, enabling greater energy efficiency and the most recent environmental standards, which is currently nearing completion.

Neil McGovern, Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Customer Services and Resources said: "It is vital that in these difficult times the council continues to invest in its assets and does not let them deteriorate. This investment now will help keep services running for years to come."

Also the council plans to recruit a new Head of Property Services to manage its £100 million commercial property portfolio.

Cllr McGovern added: "Our commercial property brings in about £8 million a year in extra income. This is the same as council tax receipts, so it is vital that we use our assets to keep tax low and protect services"

City council rejects new plans for Lion Yard toilets

Cambridge City Council has rejected revised plans for the city’s Lion Yard toilets because they do not give the public what they want.

 Leader, Sian Reid said that the proposals are still driven by maximising ground floor retail space and not providing good city centre public toilets.

 “We are listening to the public and as such, we are refusing these plans,” she said. “It is time the developer started listening to the public as well.

“These proposals will not solve the problems we are facing. Residents clearly want ground floor toilets but these plans are driven by maximising ground floor retail space.

“The developer is still looking at the proposals in terms of what is adequate for a shopping centre and not in terms of what is right for central toilets serving a city.”

The developer has consulted disability groups in the city on its amended proposals which include one ground floor disabled cubicle accessed with a radar key and a baby changing facility on the first floor. The new plans include only two cubicles in the male toilets compared with four in the original proposals and there will be a lift.

Cllr Reid added: “We want to make sure that our residents are completely happy with the finished plans. These amended proposals do not address their concerns and therefore we cannot endorse them.”