Councils accused of relegating Haverhill to the 'garden shed'
Monday, 17th June 2013.
One of Haverhill's new county councillors has accused localauthorities of treating Haverhill as the 'garden shed' of Suffolk, where they can put the stuff they don't want to see around the house.
Cllr Tony Brown, recently elected UKIP member for Haverhill, praised the recent transport meeting, but said there was negativity there from people who didn't live in the town and have to suffer its disadvantages.
Cllr Brown said in a public letter this week that a light railway or guided busway to Cambridge was a minimum requirement.
He wrote: "It was very encouraging to have a meeting last week to talk over the possibility of rail/enhanced transport links for the town.
"The town council must be congratulated for hosting and promoting the meeting. It was very well attended with maybe the largest concentration of the people that plan for our future transport needs, business folk and public representatives in one room for a long time.
"There was a mixture of great enthusiasm and pessimism (there’s no money, will-never-happen mentality).
"The negative view seemed to mainly come from the people that didn’t actually live in the town and did not have to put up with the congested/dangerous A1307 on a daily basis.
"There was one school of thought that seemed to think that a bus link (virtual railway) with Stansted airport would be all we could hope to achieve in the short/medium term.
"This was tried a few years ago with a Stansted express bus service and ended up being shelved due to lack of passengers after a short time.
"The thing is there is not much call for most people's daily needs to go to Stansted. What we need is a stand-alone transport service that links Haverhill – the new enterprise park – Linton - the TWI research site – the new Babraham research site – Addenbrooke's – Cambridge.
"A light railway or guided busway as a minimum. There is no use laying on more buses as they will just get snarled up on the congested A1307 or stuck in the early morning traffic queue into Cambridge.
"As I have said before, most of the people that make the big decisions and have the power about our future do not live in the town and do not have to put up with the lack of health provision, transport and decent high street facilities.
"Haverhill seems to be the garden shed of Suffolk - you know, the thing out of the way at the bottom of the garden where you put the things that you don’t want cluttering up your nice house or garden (ie 3,000 houses), and the only tender loving care that you get is the occasional coat of creosote.
"The Vision 2031 is now out for consultation. Please take the time to look at it. Before you do, please prepare yourself. It’s a bit like the one for Milton Keynes 1983 without the shopping centre, hospital, railway, dual carriageway or concrete cows.
"Please sign our petition and try to make a difference."
Cllr Tony Brown, recently elected UKIP member for Haverhill, praised the recent transport meeting, but said there was negativity there from people who didn't live in the town and have to suffer its disadvantages.
Cllr Brown said in a public letter this week that a light railway or guided busway to Cambridge was a minimum requirement.
He wrote: "It was very encouraging to have a meeting last week to talk over the possibility of rail/enhanced transport links for the town.
"The town council must be congratulated for hosting and promoting the meeting. It was very well attended with maybe the largest concentration of the people that plan for our future transport needs, business folk and public representatives in one room for a long time.
"There was a mixture of great enthusiasm and pessimism (there’s no money, will-never-happen mentality).
"The negative view seemed to mainly come from the people that didn’t actually live in the town and did not have to put up with the congested/dangerous A1307 on a daily basis.
"There was one school of thought that seemed to think that a bus link (virtual railway) with Stansted airport would be all we could hope to achieve in the short/medium term.
"This was tried a few years ago with a Stansted express bus service and ended up being shelved due to lack of passengers after a short time.
"The thing is there is not much call for most people's daily needs to go to Stansted. What we need is a stand-alone transport service that links Haverhill – the new enterprise park – Linton - the TWI research site – the new Babraham research site – Addenbrooke's – Cambridge.
"A light railway or guided busway as a minimum. There is no use laying on more buses as they will just get snarled up on the congested A1307 or stuck in the early morning traffic queue into Cambridge.
"As I have said before, most of the people that make the big decisions and have the power about our future do not live in the town and do not have to put up with the lack of health provision, transport and decent high street facilities.
"Haverhill seems to be the garden shed of Suffolk - you know, the thing out of the way at the bottom of the garden where you put the things that you don’t want cluttering up your nice house or garden (ie 3,000 houses), and the only tender loving care that you get is the occasional coat of creosote.
"The Vision 2031 is now out for consultation. Please take the time to look at it. Before you do, please prepare yourself. It’s a bit like the one for Milton Keynes 1983 without the shopping centre, hospital, railway, dual carriageway or concrete cows.
"Please sign our petition and try to make a difference."
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