Huntingdonshire forced to compete for transport funding

HUNTINGDONSHIRE will have to compete with the rest of Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Rutland to get funding for major transport schemes.

However Councillor Ian Bates, cabinet member for growth and planning at Cambridgeshire County Council, said a new arrangement, which puts the district in a new Local Transport Body (LTB), would at least mean decisions about allocating money would rest with local councillors.

The Department for Transport is giving the Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Rutland group £21million to spend between 2015-19.

Cllr Bates, who represents The Hemingfords and Fenstanton, said: “It sounds like a lot but it’s not when you consider what it costs for major work. Major projects don’t come cheap.”

As a result the LTB, which is made up of three Cambridgeshire councillors, two from Peterborough and one from Rutland, will have to look at the growth across the area and prioritise the most important projects.

However he said: “The real message is that it’s coming down to a more local level and will be in the hands of councillors who know the local area.

“They will be able to make the right decision for those areas.”