Royston Liberal Democrats

On Thursday, October the 19th, popular local County Councillor Susan van der Ven will speak about The Royston-Melbourn Pedestrian/Cycle Link: Cracking and Connecting the County Border at Coombes Community Centre, Burns Road, Royston, SG8 5PT, from 8pm-9:30pm. Please contact Carol on carol_stanier@hotmail.com for tickets, or see the event’s page on Eventbrite (follow that link).

Separated by an administrative county border, Royston and Melbourn sit in close proximity and share a great deal of travel to and fro. A safe off-road connection for walkers, cyclists and mobility scooters would be transformative to daily life.

In 2013 the A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign was formed to create a Cambridge-Royston cycle route, with huge support from Royston residents. Even in the age of austerity, most of the route has now been funded or built – with the final stretch to Royston in sight. Key to success is total collaboration, and persuading the funders to see beyond administrative domains to a common cause.

The talk will be accompanied by a fish and chip, chicken and chips, or veggie burger and chips supper. Please email your choice to carol_stanier@hotmail.com or we will be unable to provide you with food on the night.

The deadline for the consultation on changes to train services to or through Royston proposed to start next year is this Thursday (27th July). The proposed timetables can be seen at https://www.transformingrail.com/download-timetables. Whilst there are improvements in the service at some stations it is clear that there is a problem with the proposals for Royston.

The biggest problem is that the current evening fast trains will cease to run (or rather, they will no longer stop at Royston). This means that people who work late or return from an evening in London will have a much longer journey home.

There is also a problem in that no morning peak hour trains will start at Royston. Since these are currently the only trains on which Royston people can get seats, this will make many people’s journeys much worse.

There is a simple solution to both these problems:

• Start the two morning trains that are planned to start at Baldock at Royston.
• Stop some of the evening Cambridge fast trains at Royston (and possibly Letchworth), as happens at the moment.

Edward Carder, who commutes from Royston (and is a LibDem member), has launched a petition about these changes which you can sign at https://www.change.org/p/great-northern-govia-keep-the-evening-fast-trains-to-royston-and-letchworth-after-19-12. You can also respond to the train company’s consultation by emailing gtr.timetableconsultation@gtrailway.com. But please do it today, as the deadline is Thursday!

Stagecoach have announced that they are going to reinstate an hourly service for the number 26 bus, starting at Royston and terminating at Trumpington Park and Ride, Cambridge, for off-peak journeys. This trial of a new route is entirely dependent on strong ridership. According to Stagecoach, the previous hourly 26 service would have needed an additional 300 passengers per day to make it commercially viable; the new route could prove more successful. The new timetable will commence at the end of July.

The number 26 bus, which runs between Royston and Cambridge, currently runs hourly. However, Stagecoach have apparently decided that, from January, it will run just once every two hours at off-peak times. This is because the route does not generate a significant profit, because the bus is used primarily by elderly people with bus passes.

This will obviously affect people in Royston and in the villages through which the 26 runs. A less regular service may make it harder for many villagers, including those unable to drive or unable to afford a car, to travel into the city. It may also lead to an increased number of cars being used on this route and may therefore contribute to increased traffic on the A10 and into Cambridge city centre.

See the Cambridge News story here. A local resident has created an online petition to try and stop Stagecoach from cutting the service; see here.

Following up on the immediately preceding post – last Wednesday, Royston Lib Dems issued the following statement:

Today, the 2nd December, Royston Liberal Democrats took chairs for the convenience of bus travellers who use the bus stop at Tesco. The shelter has been refurbished to a poor standard overall, but in particular without seating.

“Having written to Tesco on a number of occasions since the summer, we felt we should draw attention to the fact that they have not bothered to reply. We hope that by offering seats and a seasonal chocolate to waiting passengers, we made their trip more comfortable, ” said former Lib Dem Councillor Elizabeth Freeman. “We hope that our action will shame Tesco into some response.”

29th November 2015

Standing Room Only

Tired of waiting for the seating in the refurbished bus shelter at Tesco’s to be reinstated, Royston Lib Dems have decided to draw attention to the plight of the elderly waiting for the bus at Tesco’s.

Local Lib Dems have written to Tesco to ask why the seating has not been put back, and have not had any reply. The Town Council have confirmed that responsibility lies with Tesco, not with Highways or local councils.

So on Wednesday 2 December at 1pm, local Lib Dem activists will be at the bus shelter offering chairs to waiting passengers.

Ex councillor Elizabeth Freeman said “It is a disgrace that Tesco shoppers have to stand waiting for the bus. We have seen young people sitting on the pavement, but that is not an option for the elderly.”

Local Lib Dem Chairman Caroline Coates said “In the season of goodwill we hope that drawing attention to Tesco’s lack of action in providing seating in the bus shelter, something will be done. It is lamentable that Tesco will not address the problem and choose not to make their shopping experience more convenient for those visiting them using public transport.”

For Further Information:
e-mail: carolinecoates@btinternet.com
Telephone: 01763 243293
Mobile: 07748 755587

The bus shelter at Royston Tesco has now been restored following the accidental damage it suffered – but it has not been replaced like-for-like, as it still lacks seating.

We’ve looked into this, and although Tesco tried to claim that this is a council matter, it does seem to be up to Tesco to deal with the problem, as the shelter is on their property. However, they don’t seem interested in making things easier or more comfortable for their customers.

We can only suggest that people write to Tesco’s manager – or to their head office, who may have responsibility for this.

Market days in Royston are not what they were. The marketplace used to be a “No Parking” space; now, as the market is shrinking, that rule seems to be shrinking too. Members of the Royston LibDems party have seen cars endangering pedestrians who don’t expect vehicles among the stalls. We feel that the Council needs to get a grip on this before someone is hurt.