Wisbech Travel Improvements on Hold

Getting around Wisbech by bus and cycle - won't be made easier.. because the Lib Dems say most of the cash for improvements, is going elsewhere.

Councillors in the town say they don't want to see money set aside for improving things like bus stops and cycle paths - to inside - go into filling the £116 million black hole that is the Cambridge busway instead.

Dave Patrick told heart "it's not just Wisbech, but all of the Cambridgeshire County Council area which will now lose out.

What concerns me is that having gone ahead with the £116m project, they've now cut £1m of public money in order to help with the overspend."

However, the authority says that's not true.

Roy Pegram, Cambridgeshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Growth, Infrastructure and Strategic Planning, told heart "The Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats seem to have very poor memories as they have been told numerous times that these reductions are not specifically related to The Busway.

They have used a pick and mix approach to the figures they have chosen to fit their claims.

The reductions are in fact part of the Council's overall budgeting this year which reflects the cuts we expect the Government will make in the
amount of transport funding we receive because they bailed out the banks.

"We are taking a prudent approach to managing our finances, which is exactly what the public expect from the administration.

"We are aiming to cover any potentially higher costs of The Busway scheme with developer funding, but we have already openly said that we
are also setting aside some of the money that Government gives us for transport projects.

Should this money not be needed, we will spend it on transport schemes in future years."