Councillor Price from Cambridge City Council, said after the meeting: "It was an interesting meeting with the Secretary of State Greg Clark MP and Lord Heseltine, who clearly recognise that Greater Cambridge is the biggest engine for future growth in the eastern region. However, it is still not clear to us and many others in Cambridge, how this sudden new ‘three county’ devolution proposal of 23 councils and a regional Mayor will address our area’s growth challenges and benefit Greater Cambridge and our residents.
Councillor Ray Manning, said: “We welcome the invitation from the Government to state what Greater Cambridge wants from devolution to ensure our rapid growth can be delivered successfully. We have agreed to respond ahead of future meetings planned to explore what we and other councils see as essential if devolution is to be successful in the East of England.
“At the heart of any devolution deal would be affordable housing. We need to protect the number of homes we have available for local people in the district and be free of national policy which is currently restricting our plans to build thousands of new social rented homes. New road and rail is also vital to deliver our ambitious plans for growth in the Greater Cambridge area and we would want to see more local decision making on these through the Greater Cambridge City Deal”
Councillor Lewis Herbert, Leader of Cambridge City Council, said: “At the centre of our growth challenge and at the centre of our ask from government is affordable housing. Our joint request will be to win freedom from current national constraints which prevent us from building more housing at social rents, along with wider vital measures to protect existing council and affordable housing in Cambridge along with measures for local people seeking to buy in the Cambridge area too.
“We will also be proposing more regional investment in rail, plus greater local control and fairer distribution on Council funding and seeking expanded local Greater Cambridge decision making through the City Deal on housing and public transport. The Government’s response will be a measure of how well regional devolution will work for Cambridge and the whole region.”
Councillor Kevin Price added: “We know well the continuing concerns of many in the Cambridge business community who are at the core of the Cambridge Phenomenon and who fear that the opportunities from Cambridge growth could be lost in this new initiative. I reminded the Minister at the meeting about the words of his predecessor, Eric Pickles MP, who said in 2010 ‘We do not believe arbitrary government regions to be a tier of administration that is efficient, fair or popular.’ For any devolution deal to work, communities like Greater Cambridge must gain genuine local autonomy and control within any new devolution plans.”
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