Month: November 2018

Our supporters have provided more feedback on the drop-in on Tuesday.  The Spencer Group need to be clearer on two points:

• Can Spencer Group change the timing of the closure to July / August 2019? There should be less impact at this time both to residents (eg school runs) and businesses.  We understand that “yes”, and “not sure” were both given as answers to that question.
• Spencer Group are considering two possible temporary bridge designs.  Does either provide 24×7 pedestrian access over the duration of the work?  We heard “no”, and “yes” for one of the designs.

Spencer Group need to work to find a way to make 24×7 pedestrian access possible during a bridge closure that happens in July / August 2019.

OMRB is just back from the Govia / Spencer Engineering’s drop-in at the Earl of Beaconsfield.

Good news: they’re talking about maintaining pedestrian access for the majority of the period of the works, and changing the timing to the summer holidays when any periods of complete closure will have less impact, eg on school runs.

But we don’t have anything definitive on the periods when the bridge will be completely closed, and need confirmation on the rescheduling of the works to summer 2019.

There will be a further public briefing in January 2019 at which Over Mill Road Bridge will be expecting clarity on these outstanding questions.  In the meantime, if you haven’t done so then please sign the petition!

Govia Thameslink have published a response in the face of the wave of public criticism of their plan for a complete closure of the Bridge next year.  But are they really listening?  Hard to say…

Please keep the pressure on by signing the petition, and do come to one of the drop-in sessions next Tue 27th November:

https://www.facebook.com/events/2073055913006021/

Govia Thameslink have organised 3 public drop in sessions on Tuesday the 27th November at the Earl of Beaconsfield 133 Mill Road, Cambridge CB1 3AA.

Please do come along to ensure Govia understand the strength of local feeling.

The sessions will run from 11:00 – 13:00, 14:00-16:00, and 17:00-19:00.  Go through the pub to the Billiard Room / Swap Library at the rear. Step free access is available through the side gate on Gt Eastern Street, and the landlady will open that on request.

See poster from Govia Thameslink, they may be listening, but it is unclear what “planned periods of pedestrian access” will mean in practice…

After a morning collecting signatures on the Bridge we are now up to 600 – and counting!  Thanks for all your support…

We’re demanding that pedestrian access is maintained over the 2 months that Mill Road Bridge will be closed in 2019.  It’s Day 5 of the campaign and we’ve got 370 signatures on our petition.  And they’re still coming in.

We need more though – please use the social media links at the bottom of this post.  Or email the link to the petition to your friends and family that are going to be affected.

Sophie Barnett one of our Romsey City Councillors has invited Network Rail to a meeting with Romsey and Petersfield Councillors.  She is waiting for a response.  The Councillors will want to ask how Network Rail and Govia Thameslink can address resident and business concerns about the impact of the Bridge closure.

Noel Kavanagh, Cambs County Councillor for Romsey, has asked about the process Network Rail will follow to get permission to close the Bridge.  They will need to apply for a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO).  Cambs County Council will publicise the Order, but there is no public consultation.  So there is no direct consideration of public objections to the closure.  We’ve asked Noel if he can find out how Cambs County Council will assess the TTRO application.  We’re assuming the application will need to meet some criteria – what are they?

We collected 75 signatures in a couple of hours outside the Co-op on Mill Road yesterday.  And about the same number have come in through this website, so we’re really building some momentum already 🙂

Lots of people we talked had no idea that the bridge was closing, and almost no-one knew that Network Rail and Govia Thameslink were planning to close it to pedestrians.

Let’s ask friends and neighbours whether this sounds sensible to them, and to sign the petition!

And please use the buttons below to spead the news on Facebook / Twitter…

The proposals by Network Rail and Govia Thameslink for the closure of Mill Road Bridge in 2019 are clearer after last night’s public meeting (Thu 1-11-18) and you can see their presentation here.

Network Rail and Govia Thameslink indicated that they were planning a total closure of the bridge for around two months from May 2019.  The audience were both vociferous and united in their response.  Mill Road Traders, Cambridge Cycling Campaign, local Councillors and the public spoke with almost one voice to say total closure of the bridge including to pedestrians was not going to be acceptable.

This site has been established to give a voice both to those that attended last night and to those who didn’t, and who do not want the bridge closure to divide the people who live and work around Mill Road.

Our first action is to get as many signatures as possible on a petition so that we can make our voice heard.  As interest grows we shall continue to provide information about the closure, there will be comments pages, a twitter feed, email address and a facebook page.  But for now welcome, please join us by signing the petition and make sure the closure of the bridge does not divide our community.

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