Agenda item

To note the progress of the March Area Transport Study (MATS).

On being put to the vote, proposed by the Chair and seconded by Cllr MacDonald, the motion was not supported.

An update on the MATS proposal would therefore be re-presented at a future meeting.

The Acting Transport Strategy and Policy Manager introduced the report which provided an update on the work on March Area Transport Study (MATS) and sought approval for the drawdown of £7,000,000 from the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) to continue the project.

During discussion, the following points were noted:

a)   The initial MATS project was outlined in Fenland’s District Council’s (FDC) Local Plan published in 2014, and in 2018 was first approved by the CA Board for inclusion in the region’s Transport programme.

b)   The progress made with the full business case (FBC) was the result of long term and extensive collaboration with FDC members and officers, with a desire to deliver the ambition.

c)   Cllr Dr Nawaz, the substitute member for Fenland, commented on the wider rurality of the March and Whittlesey areas and the problems of connectivity, and whilst not opposing the improvements, felt that the project did not go far enough, and its scope could be widened.

d)   Despite wishing to see similarly large projects in their own areas, several members of the Committee stressed their support for the scheme as representatives for the whole CPCA region citing the integrated nature and importance of the project in March.

e)   The MATS Member group, with FDC and Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) representation, are fully supportive of the FBC and the drawdown of the £7m from the MTFP and that was why the paper had been put forward.

f)    The Mayor expressed his concern that the Fenland representative was unsupportive of the project in light of the extensive consultation that had happened and the collaboration that had been evidenced.

g)   In bringing the discussion to a close, the Chair laid out three possible options for the Committee; that the vote be postponed to a later meeting, that it be specifically minuted that the project sat within the wider Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP) and the Committee were strongly supportive of the need for this connectivity thus recognising Cllr Dr Nawaz’s comments, or that an additional recommendation be made.

h)   Members felt that the link with the LTCP was implicit and therefore there was no need to stress this point or to make an additional recommendation. No objection was raised to these points.

On being proposed by the Chair and seconded by Cllr McDonald the following recommendations, as set out in the report, were put to a recorded vote:

B.  That the Combined Authority Board be recommended to approve the MATS Full Business Case 2 (FBC 2)

C.  That the Combined Authority Board be recommended to approve the drawdown of £7,000,000 of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) from subject to approval to approved for the MATS project to be spent in Financial Years 2024/2025 and 2025/2026.

And

D.  That the Combined Authority be recommended to delegate authority to the Assistant Director of Transport in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer and Monitoring Officer to enter into Grant Funding Agreements with Cambridgeshire County Council.

The voting was recorded as follows:

* denotes Members who represent the Transport [Highway] Authorities

N.B. The voting requirements on transport issues are laid out in the Constitution at 5.17.8 and state that

Any decision on a question relating to any spending plans or plans for the allocation of transport related funding requires a vote in favour by at least two-thirds of all Members (or their Substitute Members) present and are to include both the Members appointed by the transport authorities, Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council.

The motion therefore was not supported.

Following the vote, and in discussion with officers, the Chair announced that an update on the March Area Transport Strategy proposal would be presented at a future meeting.

ACTION:

1.   Officers to circulate to the Committee the full list of Councillors who sit on the MATS Member Group.