Over 100 people attend the Combined Authority Roadshow 

Over 100 people attend the Combined Authority Roadshow 

The Combined Authority was delighted to meet over 100 people from across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough during their Six Keys Roadshow, a tour of all six districts that took in Wisbech, Cambridge, Gamlingay, Ely, Peterborough and Huntingdon over a month-long period. The campaign reached over 12,000 across our digital platforms and on line articles.  

Amongst the many conversations that took place during the roadshow, topics included: 

• Buses 
• Sustainable Travel Zone 
• Adult education 
• Cycling infrastructure 
• Access to GPs and hospitals 
• Climate 
• ARU Peterborough 

Across the six events, members of the community came to speak to the Mayor, Dr Nik Johnson, and officers from across the Combined Authority’s teams, about the subjects that matter to them. The one constant topic of conversation across all the events was transport, and in particular the future of buses in the region, including the number 68 bus in Wisbech and the Ely Zipper, and the services recently withdrawn by Stagecoach. The Combined Authority were able to share the hard work being done by the transport team to ensure that rural communities and the people who live there continue to be serviced by a bus network that meets their needs. It was clear that the impact that bus cuts could have on people and communities cannot be underestimated, but the Combined Authority were able to share their longer-term plans for the bus network, including how to make buses more sustainable with projects such as Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) and Zero Emission Buses Regional Area (Zebra) schemes.  

Other subjects that were discussed included the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s Sustainable Travel Zone consultation, where attendees were encouraged to take part in the consultation to ensure that their voices are heard on the future of transport in and out of Cambridge city centre. There were also conversations around how the Combined Authority are developing the Further Education and Adult Education course offerings in the region, including discussions around Skills Bootcamps, their purposes and how they have expanded since the pilot, as well as the recent successful Adult Education Budget (AEB) commissioning. Cycling infrastructure was also another topic of interest, and in addition to specific plans such as the Soham to Wicken cycle way, the Combined Authority discussed their Active Travel plans, which could soon receive a major boost if a recent pitch for active travel funding is approved by the Government. 

It was clear to see that for every topic that was discussed – from roads to education, from climate to health, from transport to housing – each of the Combined Authority’s projects are being unlocked by at least one of the Six Keys, which are the fundamental principles that the Combined Authority believe are essential to levelling up our communities and enabling our good growth ambitions. They are: 

• Climate and Nature: restore our region’s natural capital and address the impacts of climate change   
• Health and Skills: build the health and skills of our population to ensure that people in our region are healthy and able to pursue the jobs and lives they want  
• Innovation: build on our reputation for new thinking, new technology and new ideas   
• Reducing Inequalities: close the regional gaps in life expectancy and people’s income by investing in our communities  
• Infrastructure: build public transport networks, improve digital connectivity and deliver energy and water system infrastructure  
• Finance and Systems: ensure that the way we spend our money and how our decisions are taken are cost effective and transparent 

After the success of the first six events, there are plans to bring future version of the roadshow to more venues across the region next year.