"For far too long, the environment has been damaged by greed and indifference. This cannot go on. From global warming to polluted rivers and asthma in children, everyone is already paying the cost of environmental damage. The longer action is delayed, the higher the cost will be."

Sustainability and the Environment of the City

One of the worst problems facing Cambridge is pollution. Air pollution in particular is very serious. Levels of nitrogen dioxide, which is associated with asthma and other lung disorders especially in children, regularly breach international guidelines. In some parts of the city, carbon monoxide emissions pose a threat to the health of the old, the infirm, pregnant women and babies. And disturbing levels of hydrocarbons, including benzene, particulates and low level ozone (also a cause of lung disorders) have been found.

We share the widespread suspicion that the main cause of this pollution is motor traffic. For the sake of our health, and the health of our children, the reduction of motor traffic in the city must be a very high priority. We fully support the efforts of residents of some of the worst affected streets, such as Parker Street, Maids Causeway and Victoria Road, to combat excessive traffic.

What we will do to tackle pollution

Public transport
Improving Cambridge’s poor public transport will be the central aim of a Liberal Democrat administration. This can only be done by a major commitment to funding public transport. The City Council has all the necessary legal powers, but Labour councillors refuse to use them. They have even cut the modest funding we obtained for supporting extra evening and late night buses. We have supported Park and Ride from its inception and will continue to work for a comprehensive and effective system. Liberal Democrat councillors have helped to initiate local minibus services linking outer housing areas with edge of town shopping centres, and we will seek to develop such services.

We will progressively shift resources into the support of public transport in Cambridge. We will start with evening and late night buses, which are important not only for encouraging commuters to use public transport in an age of flexible working hours, but also for public safety. We will introduce a £200,000 a year programme to ensure that Cambridge has a comprehensive evening bus service, at least one late night bus service and an increased number of community bus and dial-a-ride services.

The City Council also has a role to play in ensuring that local people have easily accessible and accurate information about local bus services, for example through its literature, its web-site, and its bus shelters.

We support the development of additional local railway stations and we will look favourably on innovative public transport proposals, such as reopening the railway link between Cambridge and Oxford and guided buses or trams. We support efforts to safeguard the railway line between Cambridge and St Ives and want the City Council to contribute towards securing the best public transport option available on the route.

We will work for a rationalisation of the coach, bus and rail stations with a view to helping to integrate the local transport system.

We will co-operate fully with any central government initiatives that will help to improve local public transport, including initiatives to find extra funding for public transport.

Heavy Goods Vehicles
More and more areas of the city are reporting serious environmental problems caused by heavy goods vehicles. In many instances either the vehicle does not need to go through the city or it is being used as a travelling warehouse and will deliver only a small quantity of goods to a city shop. We will work with the County Council and surrounding district councils to look for a permanent solution to these problems. In particular, we will investigate the possibility of encouraging retailers to share delivery systems, as in some German cities, and of expanding transhipment in smaller , more environmentally friendly vehicles from the edge of the city, as already practised by Boots.

Reducing need for commuting
The City Council should use its planning powers with the long term aim of reducing the need to use cars for travel to work. Cycling and walking become options for more people when they live near to their place of work. We will promote changes to the local plan that will encourage the conversion of empty offices into flats. We will also follow a number of policies designed to encourage people to live in and around the city centre.

Encouragement of distance working and flexible working
We will work in close collaboration with the private sector, the Universities and the County Council to facilitate distance working, that is working from home or from local community offices, both in Cambridge and in the surrounding area. We will also encourage employers to introduce flexible hours of working for their employees.

Cycling and walking
We will encourage cycling and walking wherever possible. In particular, we will endeavour to make sure that the needs of cyclists and pedestrians are given a higher priority than those of motor vehicles in all new traffic schemes. Where there is a conflict between pedestrians and cyclists, we will support wherever possible the separation of cycleways from footpaths. We support the idea of designating and creating safe routes to school.