Govia’s Drop-In re the Closure

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…

Progress Update

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?

Campaigning against the Closure – 150 signatures and counting :)

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…

 

Petition and website launched!

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.

Petition - Over Mill Road Bridge
Sign our petition to press for pedestrian access to be maintained over Mill Road Bridge for the time that it's closed to vehicles in Spring / Summer 2019
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