4.2.8

Showing comments and forms 1 to 2 of 2

Object

Grafton Area of Major Change SPD 2017

Representation ID: 32062

Received: 01/11/2017

Respondent: Frances Dewhurst

Representation Summary:

There are parking queues in Newmarket Rd at the weekends which block the street. Most of the people seem to be families. Attracting more people to central Cambridge to shop seems an odd idea. I think it is a fantasy to imagine these families will arrive from e.g. Waterbeach by bike, or bus as they will not want to carry purchases home. People now have the option of park & ride, but it is still busy. How are you planning to manage the transport of the increased numbers?

Full text:

I am a local resident living in Christchurch St

These are my comments on the exhibition shown today at the Grafton, but first of all I think you must consider extending the consultation period. I was only notified of this by a leaflet through the door last week, and it is only by chance I was free to go today. There must be many others in the area who will have missed this. Why did you not leaflet us at the beginning of the consultation period in September?

1. Improving the area around the Grafton particularly the service areas we have to walk through for various activities would be a good,

2. Because the Grafton is shut at night, or almost shut apart from access to the cinema, it acts as a barrier. It is especially annoying if you forget and try to get in or out by one of the locked doors and then have to walk quite a long way round at night through the depressing service area to get home. Some thought given to enabling a better through route would be good.

3. I have very little interest in the shopping offer in the Grafton which doesn't cater for middle-aged middle-class women. I spend my money elsewhere. Nor will a gym be of much interest. The discussion I had at the display seemed all about serving younger incoming Cambridge residents. But the population of Cambridge is aging and older people have more cash. A bit more thought should be given to who might use the facilities here.

4. There are parking queues in Newmarket Rd at the weekends which block the street. Most of the people seem to be families. Attracting more people to central Cambridge to shop seems an odd idea. I think it is a fantasy to imagine these families will arrive from e.g. Waterbeach by bike, or bus as they will not want to carry purchases home. People now have the option of park & ride, but it is still busy. How are you planning to manage the transport of the increased numbers?

5. Housing. We need more housing in Cambridge but "affordable" is not affordable for the lower paid. Social housing, not student or private housing would be a good idea, but no more parking, the area is heavily congested.

6. The picture of Fitzroy St showed a bland and anonymous shopping area. It could be anywhere. Where is the veg stall and the hot dog stall? The veg stall plays an important part in our community as people stop there and chat. They also take veg shopping to elderly people in the area. You don't get that at Waitrose. We need more of the idiosyncratic and particular, not less.

7. Shopping in Fitzroy St and Burleigh St needs to retain units that will be affordable for shops that serve local people, such as the vacuum cleaner shop. I would prefer to shop locally and on foot and would spend more in the area if there were more e.g. food shops. (Wilko has been a welcome addition to the area extending the range of goods available.)

8. East Rd. This is a fairly horrible street and the shops/restaurants seem to be marooned. The pavement is too narrow to encourage lingering, and the buildings lack any kind of coherence. So yes, to ideas about how this could be made more attractive.

Frances Dewhurst

Object

Grafton Area of Major Change SPD 2017

Representation ID: 32182

Received: 06/11/2017

Respondent: Russell Whitehead

Number of people: 2

Representation Summary:

While we support the provision of more homes and amenities etc, they will of course only add to these challenges as they will all order things online, need to get to the hospital occasionally, have things that need mending in their homes from time to time, and so on. It seems to us that the disadvantages caused in these respects outweigh the potential advantages, and we hope further consideration and consultation is undertaken.

Full text:

We would like to make the following points about the draft Masterplan:

Generally, enhancing the area and in part making up for previous erroneous decisions is to be welcomed, and it is preferable to house more people within cities than to take over more green spaces, be they agricultural or other amenity spaces.

Of particular concern, however, are aspects of the transport arrangements.

1 A current problem with Fitzroy Street is that there is insufficient signage to use the intended cycle routes through the area and so too many irresponsible cyclists cycle along Fitzroy and Burleigh Streets, often with risk to pedestrians. There is little evidence of attempts to police this.
The solution is NOT to turn both pedestrian areas into streets for cycles. Even in the simulated artwork, one can see a child in proximity to a cyclist.
Where would all the existing things in the streets go? (Café seating, public seating, cycle parking, street trading etc) There isn't much space as it is.
There is no reason why this pedestrian area should be given over to cyclists.

2 Reducing parking spaces in conjunction with turning East Road into a sort of bus station will cause a significant increase in congestion (and pollution).
As it is, several streets in the Kite area are treated as free car parks by non-residents and this problem would worsen.
The obstructed traffic caused will of course include taxis used by non-car-owners, tradespeople such as emergency plumbers and those maintaining homes and businesses, doctors and carers on visits, and delivery vehicles of all sorts. For these categories of user, switching to bicycle, bus or foot is generally not a viable solution.

3 We would suggest, incidentally, that the Dover Street car-park is made into residents-only, including cycle parking, freeing up some of the street parking to return to no-parking and making the zone no-other-parking except residents and their permitted visitors. With effective signage, the zone could be protected from those seeking free alternatives to the paying car-parks and prevent the current problem of cars circulating apparently endlessly looking for spaces.

While we support the provision of more homes and amenities etc, they will of course only add to these challenges as they will all order things online, need to get to the hospital occasionally, have things that need mending in their homes from time to time, and so on.

It seems to us that the disadvantages caused in these respects outweigh the potential advantages, and we hope further consideration and consultation is undertaken.