Update 22nd March 2021
Dear all,
Update, 22nd March, 2021
Cambridge Market Concerns
The future of Cambridge market matters not only to residents and to residents but to the small businesses that depend on it including nurseries, farms, market gardens, and market traders.
Some of you may have seen this covered in the media
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/cambridge-market-traders-outraged-over-20050233
Environment Scrutiny Committee meeting– Thursday 25th, March 2021
https://democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=3788&x=1
See link below for the Open letter sent from the Cambridge Market Traders, FeCRA, Friends of Cambridge Market and Living Streets Cambridge to all councillors.
Open letter from CMTA, FeCRA, FoCM and Living Streets to Councillors 20th March 2021
Agenda for Environment Scrutiny Meeting 25th March includes
Residents and traders say there are a lot of unanswered questions. There are difficult choices and decisions to be made, but they say they should be identified and made openly as successful change in the public realm depends on understanding the issues and involving the public and all interested parties.
If you want to ask a question at the Scrutiny Meeting 25 March, you have to register to do so with Democratic Services by midday tomorrow, Tuesday, 23rd March. The more public speakers and questions that are asked the better so that councillors have to address the issues that have been raised at the meeting and so that concerns are recorded in the minutes.
Please also write to MP’s and councillors and members of the Consortium that bid for the Wider Cambridge Visitor Project, including board directors of the bodies involved in the Consortium and publicise the issues on social media channels. Scroll down to Visitor Welcome.
https://www.cambridgebid.co.uk/news/2021/2/4/293gy09lrmjh7uhun5h0u265p8n1w8
Thank you for all the letters. Please keep copying us in on correspondence with councillors. Many of you write that you are very disturbed about the way the market traders have been treated, and about market square redevelopment and the plans for the city centre and green spaces and future accelerator parks. These are part of the wider Cambridge Visitor Project facilitating development on which the public have had no input. See link below, highlighted confidential appendices in the Combined Authority Minutes forwarded to FeCRA by the Market support group posted https://www.fecra.org.uk/documents
Combined Authority Meeting Minutes regarding the market plans
The report contained two appendices which were exempt from publication under Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, in that it would not be in the public interest for this information to be disclosed – information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person, including the authority holding that information. The Mayor asked whether any member of the Board wished to discuss the information contained in the exempt appendices. No member expressed the wish to do so.
Councillor Herbert…. expressed the hope that there would be the opportunity to discuss this issue more fully with the Mayor and leaders of the other constituent councils as the situation evolved.
Mr Adams commented that the revised application had received unanimous and enthusiastic support from the Business Board. The Business Board would welcome further proposals from local authorities or other parties on how to stimulate the visitor and wider economy.
On being proposed by Mr Adams, seconded by Councillor Bailey, it was resolved unanimously to:
Approve funding for the Cambridge Visitor Welcome project based on the project scoring criteria and external evaluator recommendation.
See link below for some of the questions that have been asked at council meetings by FeCRA and the market support group. Questions raised also relate to the graziers concerns about the proposal to cut the pinder emergency service for cows on Cambridge commons. This was covered by The Times, Daily Telegraph and BBC News, 80% of CamCattle sales are at Cambridge market.
Other documents about Cambridge market are posted under Documents on the FeCRA website https://www.fecra.org.uk/documents/
FeCRA Question to Full Council 25th February 2021
FeCRA Question for West Area Central Committee 11th March 2021
West Area Committee Agenda items covered City Centre Recovery. The question asked on behalf of the FeCRA Committee was:
What proportion if any of the Wider Cambridge Visitor Project Fund will go to support the market trader? A supplementary question was asked about the governance of the Wider Cambridge Visitor Consortium making decisions about Visitor Welcome and Cambridge City Centre and green spaces and their terms of reference.
John Preston of Friends of Cambridge Market asked questions about the Quarterbridge report which features on Thursday’s Environment Scrutiny agenda 25 March and in the Open Letter.
West Central Area Committee meeting, Thursday 11th March.
https://democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=3788&
scroll down for link to recorded meeting and responses to questions
For those short of time, timings (estimated) :
https://democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=3788&x=1
0.47 Cllr Jocelynne Scutt re Histon Road
0.51 Pesticides
1.08 City Centre Recovery / Open Spaces, Tourism, Market Concerns – Qs from Wendy Blythe and John Preston
1.38 Update from Joel Carre
Break at 1.40 for about 5 mins
Market cont’d
2.00 – 2.26 Questions and Discussion
Life on Cambridge Market
This website charts life on Cambridge Market and key functional needs of the market and its traders.
https://www.lifeoncambridgemarket.com/
Best wishes,
Wendy
Wendy Blythe
Chair, FeCRA
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