Last Chance To Put Your Views Forward For Changes To City's Future

MAY I use your columns to remind local people that the Ely Masterplan consultation is closing on November 16. This really is the last chance to put your views across. If you decide to make a contribution please look at the appendices to the plan, that

MAY I use your columns to remind local people that the Ely Masterplan consultation is closing on November 16. This really is the last chance to put your views across.

If you decide to make a contribution please look at the appendices to the plan, that is where a lot of crucial evidence lies. Particularly pertinent are the transport consultants' findings. If Ely is to be expanded at the rate and to the size proposed there will be huge negative impacts. Do we really want journey average speeds to more than halve, and journey trip times to more than double in the local area?

Is the building of an out-of-town sports centre, in the face of evidence that a central location is more likely to sustain the local economy, a good idea? The financial base for this project has to be suspect, relying as it will on borrowing against future receipts from housing that had not been built or planned for.

We have a new Local Development Framework, which proposes modest growth, we have seen nationally the impact of gambling on property values to finance lifestyles, why then would a local authority gamble on a similar basis. The attempt to lever in funds to the district council by accelerating growth is doomed to failure, the gap between infrastructure needed and provided becomes ever wider as more houses are constructed. That gap consists of traffic gridlock, inadequate school and medical provision and a degrading of the local environment.

Please use your last chance to comment based on the evidence that has been gathered, the background documents are crucial if hard to interpret.

CLLR IAN ALLEN

Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats.