The Cambridge Connections reset is taking too long, and the public is frustrated and in the dark about where the project is at.
The drop in session in March last year which was abandoned. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Jo Davies-Colley
“All they know is they’re sitting in their car. Cambridge is becoming more congested. They can’t move anywhere,” Cambridge Community Board chair Jo Davies-Colley told Waipā District Council’s Strategic Planning and Policy committee last week.
The board highlighted two issues from its six-monthly report to the council: the inadequate library and Cambridge Connections, the transport infrastructure plan for the next 30 years, which stalled a year ago after the infamous Blue Blob debacle.
Council staff identified a route for a third Waikato River bridge through a long-established central suburb, and the first residents learned about it was by reading Cambridge News.
See: Cambridge News 29 February 2024
The board has been acting as the go-between since then and had heard little about progress.
“The apology over things that could have done better was a really commendable step and it went a really long way with the community. But that apology was a year ago and we really believe there is not enough information out there on what is happening, and we believe the community is in the dark on where this project is heading,” said Davies-Colley.
Steph O’Sullivan
Chief executive Steph O’Sullivan said the council had to do a reset and as a new CEO she was conscious of wanting to get things right.
However, she acknowledged that this was no excuse for a lack of information, something she addressed within 24 hours of the meeting by updating the council website content and issuing a media release.
A recruitment campaign for a programme director had taken longer than anticipated to find the right person, she said.
“But we’re not far away from that and you appreciate from my perspective, we want to know that we’ve got a team out there that (you, the community board and councillors) have got confidence in, and we can really start to reset not only the community engagement process but the assumptions we’ve made in that project and methodologies,” she said.
“So it’s not just about the Blue Blob, it’s about the broader picture for transport connectivity in Cambridge.”
Cambridge ward councillor Roger Gordon said the project was the biggest issue facing the town today.
Susan O’Regan
“There is an urgent need for that information.”
Mayor Susan O’Regan interrupted him and said Cambridge Connections was a district wide significant project.
“I’m pretty keen to progress it myself with everybody else around the table,” she said.
In her media release the next day, O’Sullivan said the council would revisit everything about Cambridge Connections.
“It’s not just about a third bridge and where that might be – it’s about the broader picture for connecting Cambridge, and a critical part of the wider district and inter-regional connections.”
Cambridge Connections drop in meeting. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
